InQuire The University of Kent’s student publication Monday 19 September 2022 18.1www.inquiremedia.org Plus: Opinion (page 9): We can't afford to be depressedScientistsdiscoversixnewspeciesofminiaturefrog Science and Tech: Page 15 80s Music inTVModernandFilm Lifestyle: Page 11 Exclusive: Interview With Portico Prize Winner Jessica Andrews Culture: Page 20 Entertainment:Page23 How to Safely Navigate Dating During Freshers Gulbenkian: Page 25
the British Empire and saw Britain’s place in the world change, and steered the monarchy through turbulent times, as Britain’s Empire ended and its place in the world fundamentally changed. In a statement immediate ly after her passing was announced, Prime Minister Liz Truss described the Queen as ‘the rock on which modern Britain was built’.
Queen
London Bridge is down
spouses excluded from the Lambeth Conference would remain welcome to stay at the University. The University Council criticised the invitation pol icy, expressing that it raised ‘serious issues at the core of these values’, and ‘significant ethical concerns’. ‘Council members were clear that exclusion of same-sex spouses, on grounds of orien tation, would be contrary to the values of the University’. The reaffirmation of Resolution 1.10...
Image Courtesy of Julian Calder/Wikimedia Commons
Image courtesy of Frank Logue
By Issey Stevens News Editor
Elizabeth II died on Sep tember 8th 2022. She ruled for over 70 years, making her Britain’s longest reign ing monarch, and was 96 when she passed away. Over 15 Prime Minis ters served under her rule, having
University staff stage solidarity march for LGBTQ+ community
Mr Mousin described the march as ‘just like a wave of love’. He went on to say, ‘Whenever there’s a sense of wel come, there’s a sense of joy. And what I felt was that this university commu nity came together to say, ‘We are glad you’re here’’.
Continued on page 3.
sworn Liz Truss in two days before herThedeath.Queen died peacefully at Bal moral after her family had arrived to be by her side earlier in the day. Her eldest son, Charles, will ascend to the throne alongside Camilla as Queen Consort, and will be known as King Charles III.
By Sam Webb Newspaper Editor
The Queen reigned over the end of
The issue of sexuality has long been a contentious subject within the Anglican Church, and due to the wide-ranging background of those attending the con ference, has caused controversy in the past from both sides. In the build-up to the long-awaited conference, the first since 2008, among the series of draft texts distributed to the 650 attending bishops and archbishops, one called for the reaffirmation of an infamously divisive resolution from 1998. Lambeth Resolution 1.10 ‘upholds faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union’, and rejects ‘homo sexual practice as incompatible with Scripture’. In a letter to the bishops attending, Archbishop Justin Welby
The Bishop of Maine, the Rt. Revd. Thomas Brown was among those in attendance at the march alongside his husband, the Revd. Thomas Mousin.
said that this resolution was ‘not in doubt’.Bishops in homosexual relationships were permitted to attend the confer ence, in contrast to the previous event, when Gene Robinson was excluded for this reason. However, in attempts to compromise with bishops from more conservative and traditionalist provinces, same-sex spouses were not invited, while opposite-sex spouses were. Citing Resolution 1.10, the organ isers explained that it would be ‘inap propriate’ for same-sex spouses to be
At
invited. The Archbishop of Canterbury defended the position on the basis that if same-sex spouses were invited, that ‘there [wouldn’t] be a Lambeth Confer ence’. The event, already delayed due to the fractious relationship between differing opinions within the Anglican Church, particularly on the issue of homosexuality, was originally sched uled for 2020, before the Covid-19 pan demic forced it to be delayed a further twoDespiteyears. this, the University of Kent confirmed in 2019 that same-sex
least 100 people joined an LGBTQ+ solidarity march on Wednesday 27th July, the first day of the decennial assembly of Angli can bishops. This march was held in response to the positions of the Angli can Communion on the LGBTQ+ com munity in wider society. Several bishops attended the march, some alongside their same-sex spouses.
The main message of the Conservative Party after the announcement has been a call for unity. Sunak tweeted that 'it's right we now unite behind the new PM'. This was also reiterated by Boris John son who called ‘for all Conservatives to get behind her 100 per cent’.
However, since coming into office, she has already announced a freeze on energy bills for the average household at £2,500 until 2024. The government will pay energy suppliers to cover the gap with market prices from October 1st. This policy will mean families will be spared the expected leap in aver age bills from £1,971 to £3,549, sav ing an average of around £1,000 this year. This extra government spending will likely have to be recuperated via increased taxes, a policy that Truss heavily criticised in her leadership campaign.Alarge
2 Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire News
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a ‘bold plan’ to cut taxes and grow the UK economy. The new Prime Minister will tackle the energy bill crisis by tack ling both the bills and the supply issues. Throughout the hustings, Truss refused to go into too much detail about her plans to combat the crisis, with many hoping she will announce her plans soon after formerly becoming Prime Minister.
Image courtesy of No. 10 Downing Street
change’ in 2001. She is the first to have received below 60% since the rule change, with 57% of the vote secured. This is in comparison to Boris Johnson receiving 66.4% in 2019, David Cam eron receiving 67.6% in 2005, and Iain Duncan Smith receiving 60.7% in 2001.
Liz Truss elected as new PM
A further factor is supply chain short ages. Both fuel and drivers have been in short supply. This raises the cost of distribution, and this is added onto the total cost of the end product. While a shipping container used to cost £3,000 from Asia to the UK, it has now reached £15,000. With these costs being added to the final product, the consumer is spending more on each item.
If you have spotted any inaccuracies in this issue, please contact us at editor@inquiremedia.org so that a correc tion can be issued in 18.2
sia to Germany, which is then further distributed across Europe. Russia has indefinitely cut this off. This will lead to a lack of supply with the same lev els of demand. This will lead to price increases and possible power cuts due to a lack of supply. The war between Russia and Ukraine also meant that some exports were not able to be sent out due to safety concerns. One of these exports was wheat which has only recently started to be exported again. This again leads to a lack of supply, which leads to prices being increased, and has added further to the crisis. These factors have led to food prices and energy costs skyrocketing. Though individually these challenges would not constitute a problem, the combination has led to an economic crisis. Since April, there has been a 54% increase
For
The war between Russia and Ukraine led to further issues. One impact was on the cost of oil and gas due to sanctions. Countries had hoped that sanctions on Russia would lead to them withdraw ing from Ukraine, but six months down the line, this is not the case. The Nord Stream 1 pipeline carries gas from Rus
Opposition leader Keir Starmer con gratulated Truss, but called for an end to ‘low wages, high prices and a Tory cost of living crisis’. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey argued that Truss will bring the same ‘crisis and chaos as under Boris Johnson’. Both the leaders of Scotland and Wales urge Truss to act quickly to combat the growing cost-ofliving crisis by tackling rising energy bills.There will be a long list of issues for the new Prime Minister which will need to urgently be attended to. At the top of this list is the cost-of-living crisis.
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will report any inaccurate information published as soon as the error is discov ered. Editorial corrections, including factual errors, missing photo credits etc., will be printed on this page. For more information, contact Rashida Hassan at editor@ inquiremedia.org
By Issey Stevens News Editor
Enquiries
This rise in living costs is due to many factors. For example, Covid led to large debts for the government due to schemes such as furlough. This eco nomic fragility is also seen in other industries such as ‘transport, travel,
On
Truss is victorious she has received the ‘lowest membership vote since rule
The cost-of-living crisis is only going to get worse
Monday 5th September, Liz Truss was announced as the next UK Prime Minister after beating Rishi Sunak in the final round of voting among Conservative party members. Boris Johnson formally
ThoughIII.Liz
Corrections
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criticism of Liz Truss is founded on her lack of support for the LGBTQ+ community. During hus tings on August 25th, Truss, alongside Sunak, said that trans women were not women. Truss also failed to reinstate a panel for the LGBT Advisory Panel after she disbanded it in March 2021. This shows a shift in the Conservative Party after both David Cameron and Theresa May had been supportive of LGBTQ rights. In 2011 Cameron recalled the legalisation of gay marriage under his tenure as his proudest moment.
hospitality, entertainment and leisure’ and means that the country is not ready for any further economic hardships.
By Issey Stevens News Editor
in gas and electricity bills. The Bank of England predicts this may increase by up to, a further 40% in October. This will cause the average domestic bills to become higher than £2,800 a year. These rises in energy bills, food shops, and other living costs will impact those most vulnerable the most. This will also lead to students needing to budget more, due to the weekly shop increas ing, as well as bills, if not included in your rent. The Guardian notes that graduates of 2022 will be going ‘into the worst cost of living crisis for dec ades. This is primarily due to wages not increasing at the same rate as the cost of living. This will mean that making ends meet will become more difficult, and many households may need to decide on what to prioritise spending their income on over the winter.
stepped down following the announce ment after meeting with the Queen. Liz Truss and Boris Johnson both travelled up to meet the Queen in Balmoral prior to her death. Truss was the 15th Prime Minister during the Queen’s rule, and will be the first to serve under King Charles
many in the population, mak ing ends meet is nothing new, but it is predicted to get worse and impact the whole of the UK. The Bank of England forecasts a recession towards the end of this year as costs soar. Interest rates were raised to 1.75% in August, the highest in 27 years. They are expected to reach 4% next year, and remain at that rate into 2024. The Bank of England also predicts that inflation will hit 13%.
Truss stated that she has
This is after a summer of husting events across the UK. These events were streamed for party members, and were available for them to attend. This comes after the 357 eligible Conserva tive MPs held a series of votes to choose the final two candidates. Initially, eight candidates stood for the position.
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Tuesday 6th September. This will lead to ballots across 151 universities, and the University of Kent will likely be included in this balloting, as many staff are members of the UCU. These ballots will run until Friday 21 Octo ber and are aggregated, meaning that a majority is needed, with a turnout of over 50%.
Continued from front page... received backlash from several notable figures, including current host of QI Sandi Toksvig. In an open letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury published on
members keep up with the increase in the cost of living’. This request for wages to be inline with cost of liv ing is seen across all those striking and highlights the financial strug gles workers are preparing for with increased bills over the winter.
exams returned in 2022, after two previous years had seen teacher-calculated grades due to the cancellation of ex ams during the Covid-19 pandemic. This year’s return to normal also saw grades return to pre-pandemic levels. Many students worried that they would receive lower grades than pre dicted (due to this change). There was a fall in A and A* grades this year to 36.4%, from 44.8% in 2021. How ever, A and A*’s saw a large increase when compared to 2019, where they made up 25.4% of grades. This is like ly due to the mitigating factors put in place such as adjusted grade bounda
These lower boundaries of A and A*’s were also reflected within Scot tish exams. Pupils getting an A to C in their Highers dropped from 87.3% in 2021 to 78.9%. This is still an in crease compared to 2019, when 74.8% achieved an A to C grade. Advanced Higher and National 5s also were lower than those in 2020 and 2021.
By Issey Stevens News Editor
3 News InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
tained the grades they had needed for their desired university, while others had received higher grades than ex pected, and were applying to Univer sity of Kent for this reason.
Over the summer, multiple train strikes have impacted many commut ers across the country. Another strike had been announced for September 15th, when train staff planned to walk out due to failed discussions that pay would be in line with the rising cost of12living.companies were set to strike, including Southeastern. Previous strikes in July and August saw dis ruption due to cancellations on the days of strike, and also on surround ing days, as trains were not situated where they should have been.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport said that ‘for the ninth time this summer, union leaders are choosing self-defeating strike actions over constructive talks’. They criticise the unions for ‘not only disrupting the lives of millions’ but also ‘jeopardis ing the future of the railways and their own members’ livelihoods’.
Mr Whelan, Union general secre tary, said that they wanted ‘compa nies– which are making big profits, and paying their chief executives enormous salaries and bonuses– to make a proper pay offer to help our
Criminal barristers
The Royal Mail went on strike on August 30th, and on September 8th. This led to the disruption of delivery of packages and letters. There had also been a strike scheduled for Sep tember 9th, but following the death of the Queen, this industrial action was called off ‘out of respect for her ser vice to the country and her Membersfamily’.of CWU’shasspokesperson£25,777.erswithiswagerentlycost'coverspayarepay(CWU)WorkersCommunicationtheUnionrejectedariseof2%,andcallingforaincreasethatthecurrentofliving'.CurthemedianatRoyalMail£32,465ayear,deliverydrivreceivingaroundARoyalMailcriticised‘theself-centred
ries to accommodate for teaching im pacted by Coronavirus.
This year, the University of Kent offered clearing in several courses. These applications could be made on line and over the phone with many, including me, working on the clearing hotline. Some students had not at
By Issey Stevens News Editor
David Ward, CWU general secre tary, argues that ‘the reason for the strike is simple; workers will not accept a massive deterioration in their living standards’. These strikes will lead to disruption across all Royal Mail services, and compensation will not be provided for any late deliveries.
Research done into grade attain ment in different school foundations shows that the gap decreased when compared to 2021, but increased when compared to 2019. This demonstrates the continued issue that independent, comprehensive and academy schools can impact a student’s grade attain ment. Reports have shown that there is ‘overwhelming evidence’ that the education system leaves poorer stu dents behind, despite decades of poli cy focus on this issue.
Last year, multiple strikes took place across University of Kent. Staff worked to contract, limiting teaching and boycotting marking. This year may see a return of this industrial action.TheUniversity and College Union (UCU) will open strike ballots on
Imageaction’.courtesy
As with A-Levels, grade boundaries were slightly altered to accommodate for the ongoing disruption caused by coronavirus. Scottish Education Sec retary, Shirley-Ann Somerville, noted that the results were ‘particularly im pressive’ given the impact of corona virus and lockdowns on education.
of Steve Eason/Flickr
University lecturers
The government has offered a 15% pay increase which would not start immediately or apply to exist
Postal workers
A-Level
On results day, UCAS confirmed that 425,000 students received a place at university. This was the second high est number on record. Though many students received offers on the day, 20,360 students did not, and will have had to go through clearing.
lead to 10,460 places being accepted across the UK. This was an increase on previous years. With these caps back in place medical school plac es will have been more competitive for this years applicants, with only around 7,500 places available.
A-level results still higher than before covid
Twitter, Mrs Toksvig said that ‘it was a sin in 1998 and you just wanted to make clear in 2022 that no one in your finely frocked gang has moved on from that’. She also included the fact that suicide is contemplated by young LGBTQ+ peo
Train drivers
This summer has seen strike action taken by several differ ent unions. The sudden escala tion to costs of living is a major factor for thousands of workers taking this extreme action. The ongoing pres sure for companies to adapt working practices and how these impact on employees is also relevant.
Strikes are due to a dispute with the government over working conditions, legal aid funding and pay. This will lead to delays for thousands of cases, with many pointing out the impact this will have on the ability for victims to achieve justice. The Ministry of Justice figures suggests that around 1300 cases, including 300 trials, will be disrupted for every full working week of striking.
actions’. They say that this is ‘putting jobs at risk, and making pay rises less affordable’ with this leading to ‘Royal Mail’s future’ being ‘more uncertain than at any time in its long history’.
Preceding the start of the Lambeth
Lambeth Conference March
The conditions on the ballot are ‘a pay uplift of 12% or Retail Price Index (RPI) plus 2%, an agreed framework to eliminate insecure work practices such as zero hours contracts, and action to address dangerously high workloads’. Alongside this, issues of insecure pensions have again been raised.TheUCU general secretary Jo Grady urged ‘vice-chancellors to put the sec tor first by addressing staff concerns and helping us to avoid industrial
However, following the death of the Queen, the scheduled strikes on September 15th and 17th were sus pended, in order to respect the period of national mourning. RMT boss Mick Lynch sent his ‘deepest condolences’ to the Queen’s family and friends. It is now unlikely to that any further strikes will disrupt specific events including the Queen’s funeral or the coronation of King Charles III. How ever, it remains to be seen whether these strikes will be rescheduled for a later date.
Changes in grade calculations led
ple at higher rates than their non-LG BTQ+ peers. She also revealed that she had faced death threats herself, and questioned the Church’s interpretation of Jesus’ views on homosexuality.
ing cases. This is in response to the CBA asking for a 25% rise in pay for legal aid work, where they represent defendants who could not otherwise afford a Nationwidelawyer.demonstrations to draw the public’s attention to the criminal bar’s dispute with the government over legal aid funding have been from September 12th out of respect for the late Queen Elizabeth II- however, barristers are set to continue their allout strike.
the event could cause some distress some students, and made an effort to offer its wellbeing services in order to make students feel supported and val ued.
Members of the Criminal Bar Asso ciation (CBA) are going on a continu ous and indefinite strike. This started on September 5th across England and Wales. Prior to this, strikes were coordinated on alternating weeks to initially limit the impact on cases.
Conference, Kent Union released a statement acknowledging that ‘the position of the Anglican Communion on the place of LGBTQ+ people within the church and the wider community, does not fit with our values of equality, inclu sion, tolerance, and mutual respect. We say that unambiguously and with con viction’. The Union acknowledged that
Strikes hit multiple unions in the UK
to worries about university places. A record number of applications to higher education were made this year. UCAS informed students they should be offered a place on their preferred course, despite the fall in grades. Let ters were sent to students by Ofqual to recommend that they did not com pare their grades to those achieved in 2020 and 2021 due to the differing circumstances.Universities warned of places on medicine and dentistry being more competitive compared to 2020 and 2021. This is because universities had expanded these courses during pan demic years, but had reintroduced caps on the number of places. In 2020 and 2021, the government removed caps on medical school places which
UKRI
come.In2000 during June, the UK experi enced 32.6° as the hottest day recorded that year. Although this was 22 years ago, this can be used to observe the stark change in climate in the UK, as the 20th of July 2022 set the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the country at 40.3°, a 7.7° difference inTotemperature.putthisin context, such drastic changes to the climate are typically supposed to take place over centuries rather than a couple of decades.
Image courtesy of Aitoff/Pixabay
The
mers are urged to keep away from any wastewater in the sea as it could lead to illness. Those who are in con tact with untreated sewage may suffer from stomach bugs and infections.
a summer as cool as 2022’. The future for the earth’s climate seems bleak if measures are not put in place to rectify the damage done by excessive fossil fuel pollution. The speed of global warming is happening at a rate ten times that at the end of the ice age, which is the fastest known natural change ever to take place on a global scale.
By Elma Maka Science and Tech Editor
Image Courtesy of Blende12/Pixabay
4 News Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
The Intergovernmental Panel on Cli mate Change (IPCC) reports that future changes include a warmer atmosphere, a warmer and more acidic ocean, higher sea levels, and extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and hailstorms increasing in frequency.
Multiple beaches have been issued with pollution warn ings due to untreated sew age and wastewater being pumped into the sea. This is due to the recent downfalls after a period of droughts, which meant that the ground was not absorbent. These warnings included Whitstable, and Southeastern Water has warned that this ‘may be impact ing water quality’.
plans to further increase minimum PhD student stipends by 10%
However, data would suggest that this overflow is not infrequent. In 2021, the Environment Agency claims that ‘raw sewage was pumped into riv ers and seas around 375,000 times’. So far this year, six companies have been investigated by Ofwat for CSO occur ring when it was not necessary.Southeastern Water argues that these overflows are neces sary to prevent flood ing. They also state that the discharge is 95% rainwater. Despite this, swim
Sewage in the sea
The local beach of Whitstable has been hit with raw sewage. Swimmers told the BBC that they saw 'toilet paper and baby wipes' in the sea. Calls for re-nationalisation of the water com panies by SOS Whitstable hopes that investment will prevent further dis charges of raw sewage into the sea.
PhD student salaries in the UK are designated by three categories: whether a potential student is assist ing in research, assisting in under graduate teaching, or has obtained a PhD position with a stipend. A stipend is a tax-free grant, that does not have to be repaid, provided to help doctoral students with living costs such as rent, food, bills, and essential travel.
This means that both rainwater and wastewater are distributed through the same pipes. Most of the time the sewage is taken to a treatment plant, however, due to excessive rainfall after dry periods, the total capacity is being breached. This potentially would lead to flooding and overflow of sewage works.Toprevent this, pipes will occasion ally distribute the excess wastewater into rivers and the sea. This is legal and is known as combined sewer overflows (CSOs). There are certain requirements that must be met, oth erwise the Environment Agency (EA) can investigate and fine waste compa nies for improper practices.
In the English county of Essex in the cities of Chelmsford and Edenbridge, the Taylor family, who has been grow
There is a combined sewage sys tem used across much of the UK.
"this is just the beginning"
has announced its plans to increase minimum PhD student stipends by 10%. UK Research and Innovation are increasing its minimum student sti pend for the 2022/2023 academic year by 10%, compared to its previously announced stipend increase of 2.9%, equating to an extra £2000 for students between 2021/2022 and 2022/2023. This higher stipend is planned to be given to those continuing or com mencing their studies from 1 October 2022, at £17,668 full-time equivalent. Before the planned increase comes into effect, the minimum PhD sti pend in the UK is £15,609, roughly equivalent to the national minimum wage and comparatively the low est income postgraduate research ers are receiving in the past 20 years.
Feargal Sharkey, an environmental campaigner, argues that it is ‘decades of regulatory failure, underinvestment and profiteering had led to the current situation’. Downing Street has con demned the actions of water compa nies, but Labour calls for ministers to do more. In mid-August, over 40 loca tions had warnings in place.
The government points to fines of over £137million since 2015 as a demonstration of adequate regula tions. One company recently fined was Southeastern Water, £90 million, for ‘dumping billions of litres of untreated sewage into the sea in Hampshire, Kent and West Sussex’. The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, criticised the government for ‘not being tough enough on water companies, while cutting funding for the Environment Agency’.Southeastern Water publishes an interactive Beachbuoy map to help swimmers know where CSOs have taken place. The Safe Seas & Rivers Service, provided by Surfers Against Sewage’s also offers an interactive map to alert swimmers where poten tial health risks have occurred.
By Rashida Hassan Editor-in-Chief
ing apples for decades, reports that the heatwave this year has left their orchard scorched. The family details that due to the unbearable tempera tures the apples literally baked while still on their branches (CNN, 2022). This is just one of the ter rifying consequences of the ongoing climate cri sis that is gripping many countries around the world.The Environment Agency officially declared a drought in nine areas across England includ ing Kent and South Lon don. In many of these areas, water companies like South East Water and Thames Water have imposed hosepipe bans due to the lack of rainfall around the UK in July. Due to this, the price of utility bills such as water and electricity will go up in the coming months, which is sure to negatively impact university students, especially those planning to
UKRI announces
By Issey Stevens News Editor
summer of 2022 the UK expe rienced what has been called ‘a milestone in UK climate history’ by the Met Office. For the first time ever recorded, UK residents experienced their first 40° day, with some parts of the country going as high as 40.3°C.
Although this kind of heat is relatively novel in comparison to what the UK is used to, experts warn that this may become commonplace in the years to
The Great British heatwave: 40 degree summers will become a thing of the future, scientists warn
The difference between this type of doctoral salary and the two previous is that there are often no obligatory duties attached apart from the partic ipation necessary for the qualification.
live in private accommodation. Dry and humid temperatures have caused the River Thames to shrink more than 5 kilometers with the source of the river moving 8 kilometers down stream.'Thisis just the beginning,’ says Bill McGuire, a professor of geophysical and climate hazards at UCL, ‘when our children are our age they will yearn for
The planned increase in stipends fol lows many calls for action from post graduate researchers, as well as over 10,000 signatures on the open letter
“Against Low Pay”, to provide support for the ongoing cost of living crisis and drastic inflation, as energy bills are expected to rise significantly in the upcoming months.
Over this summer, the UK has expe rienced an unprecedented increase in temperatures, which has left UK resi dents both overwhelmed and fearful for what is to come. Reports suggest that this fear may be justified.
Though each university will spend fees differently, Skoulding found some generalisations about how fees are spent by universities. Firstly, 45% of fees on average are spent on teach ing. The remaining fees goes towards marketing, the student union, build ings, mental health services, and the vice-chancellor’s pay.
Though certain causes of the current economic situation were out of Mr. Johnson’s control, such as the inva sion of Ukraine by Russia, a major driving factor for rising fuel prices, his response to the cost-of-living cri sis has been criticised by those on both sides of the political divide. One main point of criticism is breaking the election promise that taxes would not be hiked whilst in power. In April, National Insurance rose by 1.25 per centage points, causing the British people to receive less of their earn ings. The opposition leader, Sir Keir
nominal increase. Increases are based on RPIX, which is the measure of in flation which excludes mortgage pric es. However, there have been issues with the calculation of this increase due to forecasting errors.
By Issey Stevens News Editor
The Sue Gray Report, along with the 126 fines issued to 84 people by the Metropolitan Police due to Partygate demonstrated the leader of the coun try had broken the lockdown rules he had set out himself. These parties occurred during the first lockdown in 2021 when the strictest rules were in place.Sue
Image Courtesy of Emily Ranquist/Pexels
The parties
allow for universities to remain 'via ble'.These calls for fee changes are both due to inflation and the fall in UK un dergraduate numbers alongside an increase of international students. For example, over 50% of the intake for the London School of Econom ics and University College London are currently international students.
Gray, a senior civil servant, wrote in the conclusion of her inter nal investigation that 'the senior lead ership at the center, both political and official, must bear responsibility for this culture’. It is also being inves tigated as to whether Mr. Johnson knowingly misled parliament when saying that he had not been aware of the parties, when it was later proven that he even attended some of these events.
tion of Mr. Johnson's decision mak ing, leaving Ministers who had stood by Mr. Johnson feeling deceived.
One change that will impact current students is the increase in the interest rates on student repayments which will likely see an increase from 4.5% to 7.3%. This has been capped to pro tect students from rising inflation, as they had originally been predicted to rise to Maintenance12%.
THE REASONS BEHIND BORIS JOHNSON'S RESIGNATION
ly three times, this will vastly increase student debts and make university unattainable for many. This increase in debt will also increase the likeli hood that the debt will need to be written off by the government. This is because most will not pay off the en tirety of their debt before it is written off by the government.
The Resignations and the By-Elections
The cost-of-living crisis
The Pincher accusations Chris Pincher who was, at the time,
5 News InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
If fees were to be increased by near
According to vice-chancellors across England and Wales, the increase in international intake is done in an at tempt to cover the costs of fewer UK undergraduates.Thesecallsfor higher fees may cause students to question where this increase in funding will be spent.
Support on this topic can be found at advice.kentunion.co.uk/here-for-you/
By Issey Stevens News Editor
loans will also see a
However, the last straw that may have led to Mr. Johnson's resignation was the numerous resignations from the Government. This began on July 5th, with senior cabinet members Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, both with damning resignation letters demonstrating that they no longer felt Mr. Johnson was fit to lead and that they could not stand beside him if he did so. Mr. Javid criticised 'the tone' set by Mr. Johnson in recent months. This was followed by over 50 minis ters resigning from the government, leaving the Prime Minister to scram ble to fill positions to show that he still had control and power.
deputy chief whip of the Conserv ative party went out on the 29th of June and, in his words, 'drank far too much' and 'embarrassed himself'. Accusations of Pincher groping two men later surfaced, with previous accusations from prior to his appoint ment also becoming public. Some have seen this as the first of a chain of events that set off Boris Johnson's resignation.Thisledto a lack of trust in Boris, as Downing Street initially claimed that he was unaware of 'specific alle gations’ about Mr. Pincher before his
On 21 August, university chiefs reportedly requested that UK home students begin to pay fees closer to that of international stu dents.Currently, home students study ing in the UK pay £9,250 per year to study at university. This increase would see a rise from £9250 to closer toIn£24k.2012, fees were previously raised from £3,290, which led to student strikes and controversy. A further increase would likely lead to more of theSirsame.David Bell, the vice-chancellor at the University of Sunderland, told the Times that 'you cannot expect to run universities’ with the current fee level as 'by 2025 [the current amount] will be worth around £6,000 in real terms because of inflation.’ Colin Riordan, the vice-chancellor of Cardiff Univer sity, reiterates this point, saying it will
In the last year, we have already seen multiple new rules put in place concerning student debt. The first of these is the change to the repayment time frame before it is automatically written off. This has gone up by a decade, from 30 to 40 years. Secondly, the minimum amount students need to earn before they start to repay your loan has fallen from £27,000 to £25,000. These changes will start to impact stu dents enrolling in the 2023-24 intake. Fees are currently frozen until the end of the parliamenta ry period. However, it is unclear if this is referring to the next gen eral election (2024) or the end of
Starmer, stated that 'in the middle of the worst cost of living crisis for dec ades ,today the government chooses to increase taxes on working people’.
Image courtesy ofTim Hammond / Flickr
the parliamentary year (2022).
A government wants a leader who can keep them in power. Instead, Mr. Johnson lost seats in Tiverton and Honiton to the Liberal Democrats, and Wakefield to Labour. These had all been strongholds for the Conserv atives in 2019, but now were demon strations of Mr. Johnson and the Conservatives losing grip on control. The repeated by-election losses hinted to the Conservatives that Boris may not be the man to hold their majority at the next general election. To make matters worse, Mr. Johnson rejected the idea that he would change as a reflection of these losses to maintain power and support from the elector ate stating he would not undergo a 'psychological transformation’.
appointment in February. This was repeated by other Ministers in sup port of Mr. Johnson. This was not true. It later became apparent that Mr. Johnson had been made aware of earlier accusations, as reported by the BBC on July 4th 2022. This was supported on July 5th by Lord McDonald, a former civil servant. Mr. Johnson later admitted that in 2019 he had been made aware of previous allegations against Mr. Pincher and apologised for his decision to appoint him as deputy chief whip. However, this had led to a fall in public percep
Calls for Higher University Fees from University Chiefs
In 2019 Boris Johnson succeeded in acquiring the ‘biggest election victory since 1987’ for the Con servative party. Now three years on the 7th July 2022 he resigned. But what was it that led to his resignation and the race for a new Conservative Party leader? Here are some of the events which lead to his resignation.
But aside from the societies talk, my second and brief piece of advice for you is to use your chance at university to explore who you are and your aspirations in life. Uni versity is undoubtedly the best time to do so, because you get to try on different things, and with new experiences there will always be new discoveries!
Sam Webb Newspaper Editor
there, I am the website editor for this year, and if you are reading this it means you are interested in the newspaper. Just like you I was interested in InQuire even long before I enrolled at Kent, which is why last year I undertook the position of website news
i everyone! It is officially the most magical time of the year: freshers’ week. To withered old third years who have probably had enough and star ry-eyed freshers about to embark on the most exciting time of their lives, welcome one and all to InQuire! In case you are entirely clueless as to who we are and what we do, allow me to share some titbits of magic with you. We are the University of Kent’s official publication, which is entirely student run, led and produced. This academic year we are lucky to have a full team of insanely talented editors and a new media and marketing team, however,
Hi
emphasize on the advantages of joining one of the best student societies at the university. My piece of advice for the new and returning students is to join societies that interest you and would help you in your career goals. If you are not sure of your career goals just yet, best thing is to experiment with different things. After all, everyone is experimenting whether they know they are going or not. Not to mention, that as an international student I have always believed you need to make yourself extra appeal ing to your employer, especially if you are thinking to seek work in the UK or another foreign country following
hands, and it is completely what you make of it. So join as many societies as you can to start with, as they are the best way to meet new and like-minded people. Try some thing new, whether it’s a political campaigning group, or academic group, or sports club. I know that writing and journalism isn’t for everyone, but if it is, join InQuire. Heck, you’ve picked up the paper already, so something must’ve caught your eye. Just don’t lock yourself away in your room. University is full of opportunities, so don’t let them pass you by.
A
Gharam Al-Zubi Website Editor
H
time went. Four years into my course, that is definitely the case for me. But let’s be honest, the most memorable moments at university will not be when you’re desper ately trying to complete your 3000-word essay at 4am the night before it’s due (though you will find yourself in that situation at least once, trust me). Instead, your most treasured memories will be of you and those around you, simply having a good time. Whether that’s going to the Gulbenkian to watch a performance, or winning the final of a BUCS competition with your sports team, your university experience is completely in your own
your studies; and nothing looks better than a committed and varied CV.
UKC about crucial topics from strikes of our professors to how to avoid getting a hangover. In short, whatever your interests may be and wherever they may lie, there is a place in InQuire for you and there is someone who needs to hear the stories you want to tell. If perhaps this hasn’t convinced you enough, it also looks great on your CV. Thank you for reading my possibly incoherent ram blings. I am so honoured to be your Editor-in-Chief and I absolutely cannot wait for all the amazing editions to come.
s you come to university for the first time, you will not get many better opportunities to start afresh.
editor.Being editor for a year, provided me with loads of expe riences and skill sets, mainly being able to be thorough, consistent and precise with all the news pieces that come way. After a year of editorial work, I decided to take on more responsibilities as website editor because I cannot
Have something you want to say? Write a letter to newspaper@inquiremedia.org and be featured in the next InQuire newspaper
Rashida Hassan Editor-in-Chief
Joining InQuire, although it has only been 8 months, is shaping up to be one of the best decisions I have made since coming to university last year. In InQuire I found a community of likeminded individuals that share a pas sion for telling stories that need to be heard, informing
The likelihood is that you know no one else here, and you will not be judged for reinventing yourself. So, what are you waiting for? Put yourself out there! Fresh er’s week is put on for the sole reason of helping you set tle into university, and while you may be nervous at this point, the three (or more) years that you spend at Kent will probably be the best of your life. Before you know it, you’ll have finished your studies, and will be moving on to bigger and better things, wondering where the
Across 1 Going by air (6) 5 Begin (5) 8 English county (4) 9 Weapon maker (8) 10 Egyptian god (6) 11 Sewing tool (6) 12 Video recorder button (4,7) 15 Parliamentary break (6) 17 Academic award (6) 19 Reprimand severely (8) 20 Pace (4) 21 Verse of poetry (5) 22 English river (6) Down 2 Yorkshire city (5) 3 Unpaid trainees (7) 4 Police informant (informal) (5) 5 University class (7) 6 Entertain (5) 7 Multiplied by three (7) 12 First-year university student (7) 13 Celebratory (7) 14 Enraged (7) 16 Written composition (5) 17 Aspiration (5) 18 More (5) Puzzles Find the solutions on page 26
Editorial Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire6
there is still this nagging feeling in the back of my head that there is something important missing – hint: it’s YOU. Getting involved in societies is (and will be) one of the most rewarding parts of your university experience; they offer outlets for you to explore your hobbies and interests as well as make new friends that share them!
Puzzles compiled by Matthew Sapsed
ing that you are responsible for climate change. When celebrities religiously use their private jets for small journeys, why should we use public transport or purchase electric vehicles?
• Refrain from purchasing products in plastic packaging. Loose vegetables are often cheaper than pre-packaged and whilst some soft plastics are now ‘recyclable’, it is bet ter to avoid these, as the packaging can often only be disposed of at large super markets.•
So, to become a positive and influen tial article, here are some small and fea sible changes we can all make to reduce our impact upon the environment:
• Reducing red meat intake, as rearing cows is responsible for the high est proportion of emission production. If you want to explore more about the environmental and ecological impact of animal agriculture, I recommend watching Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy (which are both on Netflix).
By Ainy Shiyam Head of Marketing and Media
Just like Holmes and Delvey, Igna tova had a distinctness that helped her to appear genuine. Holmes opted for black turtlenecks, messy hair and a fake alto voice whereas Delvey strutted around Manhattan in her thick black
• Joining environmental
Ruja Ignatova, started out as a visionary.Atthetime there were no lead ing female figures in the all boys club of cryptocurrency enthusiasts. She dubbed herself as the ‘Cryptoqueen,’ and sold out Wembley stadium, introducing a form of currency that went against every rule in financial investment. Her company OneCoin was said to be the next big thing since Bitcoin. But it all quickly changed once it was discovered that her cryptocurrency company was a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of billions of dollars.
interesting to see at a time where we are all being hit by a pandemic and tory-in duced recession. It feels especially nice to see a woman win by playing the scam while we struggle to heat our homes and feed ourselves. These women remind me of the Molly-Mae ‘we all have the same 24 hours’ moment. Painfully una ware of her privilege and place within the capitalist nightmare, the most girly of girlboss quotes was born. Ignatova and Delvey represent the extremes of girlboss feminism: a startling pursuit of self-interest matched with the desire to be deemed succesful under capitalist conditions.Whiletheir exploits are surely bring ing them infamy and a loyal fanbase, willing to drop hundreds on used under wear and awful pencil sketches, the fact is, the ‘girlboss’ must exist within cap italism to succeed. She is never going to dismantle the structure that enabled her to build her success. This is a solo project that is about networking, influ encing and making use of one’s assets to achieve maximum market value - for oneself.Thecryptoqueen is turning into a folklore much like the alleged creator of bitcoin – Satoshi Nakamoto. Unlike Nakamoto, who used the pseudonym to hide their real identity – Dr Ignatova’s description is out in the open thanks to the FBI’s most wanted list. Maybe deep down, all she ever wanted was to be a savior for the never ending financial worries for some but her smart antics were nothing but a mask hiding greed, deceit and an uncontrollable hunger for power.
The cryptoqueen is widely being com pared to the likes of Elizabeth Holmes – the creator of Theranos, an at-home blood testing service that failed to live up to its expectations, and Anna Delvey - who deceived her way into Man hattan’s upper class claiming to be a German heiress. Just like Holmes and Delvey, Ignatova had the ability to put wool over others' eyes to protect the
glasses and covered in this-season designer from head to toe. Dr Ignatova had seduced the whole of Wembley arena in silk ball gowns, diamond jew elry and her signature red lipstick to invest in a fraudulent scheme. It is no doubt that human nature is susceptible to the façade that these con artists put up. For Holmes, the low alto voice that made her appear trustworthy and genu ine. For Delvey it was high fashion that made her look like she was from ‘old money’. The cryptoqueen was no differ ent, her knowledge, a law degree from Oxford and her charisma was simply a smokescreen that millions fell for – but at an expense of $4 billion. Their tales are inciting a range of genre of grifter-related entertainment. Hulu has dropped a series called ‘The Dropout’ starring Amanda Seyfried and Shondaland produced a nine part series detailing the story of Anna Delvey. There is already a development in talks regarding the cryptoqueen. If anything, the arrests and subsequent trials of Delvey and Holmes served to boost their profiles. Delvey has announced an art show of her prison sketches and a range of ten NFTs for sale- in an effort to ‘move away from this, like, quote, unquote scammer persona.’ Currently, a single ‘Reinventing Anna’ NFT will set you back 0.8ethereum, equivalent to about £1100. Buying three ‘ultra-plati num’ NFTs from Delvey’s collection will grant you phone calls and a meet-andgreet with her, and according to Page Six, access to underwear she wore in prison. There is clearly a level of celeb rity surrounding these women, which is
But OneCoin was about much more than getting rich. Bank ers and governments had been ripping off the common man for decades, all because the banks have the power to con trol the money for the sake of the economy. If we learnt any thing from the 2008 financial crisis, it is that banks can be the judge, jury and executioner.
Rise and flyyyy: Kylie Jenner vs. the environment
Try to use public transport when possible.
groups on campus, such as the Sustain able Working Group (SWG), and volun teering on conservation initiatives run by student groups and the university.
It is important that with the worsen ing of climate change we continue to hold celebrities and the rich accounta ble for their ignorance and contribution to these emissions, as they are respon sible for 50% of global emissions. The normalisation of sustainable living will only benefit the environment, but should not be something that compa nies profit from. With everyone making small changes, it can help to apply pres sure on institutions to initiate reform and therefore necessitate the reform of the top 1% before it is too late.
and OneCoin were the solution thanks to a revolutionary idea hidden in plain sight: fixed supply. Angry with the way the government bailed out the failing banks in 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto cre ated Bitcoin in an anarchist fashion. To avoid the pitfalls of hyperinflation, he introduced a cap on the number of bitcoins that could be produced at 21 million, which would be released at a pre-programmed, tamper-resistant rate which even the government had no authority to override.
Dr Ignatova had designed OneCoin to be bigger than Bitcoin, although it followed the same principle. Rather than printing 21 million, there would be 2.1 billion OneCoin in circulation. The scheme went against every rule in the book of economics 101. When the supply of something goes up then the price goes down. So how was it possible to increase the number of coins without affecting the price? To make things even weirder, OneCoin cannot be used to buy real life goods and does not leave a trail of transaction history unlike other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. It was clear from the start that the only people that benefited from the scams are the founders and the conspirators.
The Rise and Fall of the Cryptoqueen
‘
The sheer distancing of the rich from society poses a real threat to environ mentalism because their realities are so warped that they do not consider (or care about) their impact on other peo ple and their futures. The ignorance of the rich is a massive discouragement for many concerned about the environ ment, and those most likely to make some lifestyle changes in favour of it. In recent months, environmentalists have attacked Kylie Jenner online for her tone-deaf post concerning the exces sive usage of her multi-million dollar private jet. The caption to the post, ‘you wanna take mine or yours,’ subti tles a photo of Jenner and her partner Travis Scott embracing, with their fouryear-old daughter Stormi hiding her face between their bodies. In the back ground sits two private jets and a Rolls Royce, presumably owned by Jenner and Scott. This photo, posted to Jen ner’s 363 million Instagram followers, prompted outrage at a time when the UK was experiencing the hottest tem peratures to date- almost 40℃. It was later that her flight logs were shared online, revealing evidence of obscenely short trips. One came in at 12 min utes, flying Jenner from one side of Los Angeles to the other, a journey which Twitter users have claimed would take just over 40 minutes in a car. Celebrities using their private jets is nothing new, but for short journeys such as 12 min utes is absurd. Incensed netizens replied, ‘but it’s us who must use paper straws’ and ‘that carbon footprint be wild’, among many others who voiced theirAdvertisingirritation.campaigns have no doubt
Image by Vogue Taiwan/ WikimediaCommons
• Purchasing more locally sourced vegetables, especially mush rooms, which release less CO2 than other farmed veg, and are significantly more space-efficient
By Abbie Cushion Opinion Writer
Bamboo toothbrushes, shampoo bars, tote bags, oat milk– these products may have once sounded like an upper-class shopping basket, but are becoming more widely used in the eco revolution. ‘Sustainable living’ is all the rage among boho TikTokers and influencers, but what does it mean, and how can we– as students– achieve this?
The call to ‘sustainability culture’ must be multi-faceted and understand that there are financial barriers to engaging in green behaviours. Yet it is important that we do not lose hope for the future. This is not to say that we should start being more reckless with our actions- it is still vital that we change, and normal ise this change in our communities.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin
7 Opinion InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
raised awareness for the climate crisis, but have also successfully pushed the responsibility onto the individual for their personal contribution to envi ronmental decay. The term ‘carbon footprint’ first appeared in ecological research during the 90s, and was a sin gle method of measuring the impact of behaviours on the environment, alongside others like ‘water’ and ‘land footprints’. However, in 2005 British Petroleum (BP) realised that by pop ularising the concept of a ‘personal carbon footprint,’ they could shift the culpability for the massive amounts of destruction they inflict. While the sen timent is not wrong- there are some actions that we can take to live greener lives, the focus on the personal is hugely disproportionate when you consider the impact of BP’s operations on our earth. Hundreds of millions of dollars were poured into adverts that touted the significance of knowing your carbon footprint, and advised viewers (in an interesting iteration of 00s diet culture) to begin a ‘low-carbon diet.’ These tac tics pulled from previous campaigns led by the tobacco and plastics industries that blamed individuals for problems like underage smoking and plastic pol lution, marking them as results of bad decision-making on the side of the con sumer.Most disgruntled greens are under standably voicing their irritation about having to make massive lifestyle changes due to pressures from the gov ernment and other media outlets whilst celebrities disregard their environmen tal impact. Do not let the media and governments guilt trip you into think
Dr
con, for the sake of power and profits. In the tech world, Ignatova told the skeptics, it’s never the person who has the idea first who gets rich—it’s the person who makes that idea work for the man and woman on the street. Jeff Bezos didn’t invent e-commerce; he simply made it accessible to every one. MySpace came before Facebook, but it was Mark Zuckerberg who changed the world. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, even Thomas Edison took ideas that were already out there and turned them into something ordi nary people could use. That was One Coin—cryptocurrency for the masses. It might have been smaller than its better- known rival Bitcoin, but not for long. Ruja promised that it was faster, smoother and easier to use. She pre dicted that, one day, workers would get their wages in OneCoin. Buy their shop ping in OneCoin. Anyone who invested now, before the price skyrocketed, would make a killing.
One day, workers would get their wages in OneCoin. Buy their shopping in OneCoin. Anyone who invested now, before the price skyrocketed, would make a killing '
Image by FBI/ Wikimedia Commons
Ultimately, sustainable living refers to how we conduct our lives that reduce our environmental impact– such as reduc ing our meat consumption or using sin gle-use plastic. Sustainability is a widely debated topic within social science and environmentalism, but most recognised as a more ‘environmentally friendly’ lifestyle and preserving the necessary ecological balance for the future of our planet. My first year of studies exposed me to this concept, as most high school and sixth form lessons did not promote this idea of care and consideration for the environment and our consumption patterns. Many publications and celeb rities in the previous years have shone a light on the importance of reducing our impact on the ecosystem and what we can do to change, such as taking public transport and ditching single-use plas tic bags. Since Thatcher' privatisation of public transport, ticket prices have soared, creating a barrier to accessing more sustainable transport– not forget ting to mention the sheer unreliability of buses. So, what do we do when the cost is too high for better alternatives? How are we to mobilise environmental ism when we cannot afford it?
Postponed from 2019, the conference began on the 26th of July 2022 and lasted two weeks.
Image by Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk
By Harry Mayfield Howson Opinion Writer
Ireceived my first Bible before I was old enough to remember my age.
accepted gay marriage, and decline to take communion in the presence of bishops in same-sex unions. ‘Today, in Canterbury, we may be ‘gathered together’, but we most certainly cannot ‘walk together’, said GSFA Chair, Archbishop of South Sudan, the Most Revd Justin Badi. ‘Provinces which have gone against scripture, and the will of the consensus of the bishops, [should] repent and return to orthodoxy’. He added that ‘only major surgery’ could protect the health of the communion.
Coming to university from Norfolk, (think Texas of the UK- kinda racist and lots of farming) and meeting a larger queer community was a lifesaver. I felt safe to explore my queerness, and had a huge library to research queer theory and his tory; like wow, suddenly I don’t need to feel so hopeless about trying to live as who I want! The University of Kent was for me a lifesaver, yes, but we must hold our insti tutions accountable for their actions. It will be interesting to see where the money goes…University, if anything, is a place to ques tion. Question everything you know: your traditions, your ‘truths,’ yourselves. You’re paying at least £9,250 a year for university! Make it worth it!
A sleepover at my grandparents’ house meant being woken up at 7am, and then onto ‘Sunday School’, which concerned sitting in the soft shade of their entirely brown living room reading the Bible. I have strangely happy memories of these times. Around 10 o'clock, my grandmère would come in with pink milk and I would be tested on the Tower of Babel and Lot’s wife with these salt pillars. My grandpère is one of these people who seems to believe in God, but I’ve never seen him actually go to church. Grandmère, on the other hand, has never been seen without her Virgin Mary pendant, and still visits the Roman Catholic cathedral with some Mauritian friends to pray. Maybe they were just train ing my reading comprehension (which as an English student I thank them for!), but I think they were
just doing the same things they did as chil dren. Yes, they attended church as a place of worship, with a God in their minds, but it served just as equally as a community space, where friends and family would meet, sing together, and maybe find peace.
together to discuss the intersections of faith and sexuality. Unfortunately, I was out of Canterbury during the summer and there was no video link to join the talks. You would think after two years of Zoom uni they would have figured out a way to stream content. I guess not. The Lambeth Walk seemed like a joyous affair though, with several LGBT+ bishops joining the cohort of nearly 200 staff and students marching across campus. It was truly heart-warming to see such a display of sol idarity.TheUniversity of Kent released an offi cial statement regarding concerns over the church’s stance on LGBT+ life. They wrote: ‘We have been clear and unambiguous that the Church's position on homosexuality does not accord with our deeply held commitment to equality, inclusion and mutual respect.’ Management have repeated that their val ues do not align with those of the Anglican Church through multiple blog posts. How ever, details of a substantial payment have been published in various newspapers, and free financial records can back this up.
sive wind power plans in place- by 2030, wind power will suffice all homes in the UK (so long as the wind blows)as well as electric car sales increasing to 12% of all car sales. Recent data pro vided by the UK Committee on Climate Change (UKCCC) shows that these sales are trending ever more upwards. One area that is falling behind in this sector is that the number of charg ing points being installed round the country does not match the levels pro posed by the government. Elsewhere, the failures flow thick and fast, from energy efficiency in homes barely being mentioned in policies- grants given to accelerate heat pump sales over gas boilers have largely failed due to the grants not meeting the necessary price
I was a bit shocked when I first read Badi’s words at the conference. I am lucky to be able to be supported by other queer people and friends at university. Surrounded by students, I am sometimes granted the luxury of forgetting that life as a queer person can be unforgiving. The animosity behind Badi’s words- there’s some subtle malice with the ‘major sur gery’ comment, is quite unnerving. His hostility, though, helps to demonstrate the shifting influences in the global Anglican Church. From the relative safety of the UK, and other LBGT+ friendly nations in the Global North, it is easy to dismiss the church’s anti-LGBT+ stance as a relic of a declining, more religious past. But in the Global South, church membership is rising steadily, and so is their influence on the modern Anglican church. The GFSA claims to represent 75% of Anglicans, and Badi has put the growth of their churches down to ‘biblical faithfulness’, calling out the CofE as ‘not respect[ing]’ scriptures. Towards the end of the conference, Arch bishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: ‘The Anglican Communion is a family. Families have to work through their dif ferences’. After admitting that there is ‘a deep divide’ in opinion, Welby then stressed that Lambeth 1.10 was ‘still very much part of the Anglican Communion. [Proclamation 1.10] is not in doubt and that whole resolution is still in existence’.
So let me break it down for you: at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, there was a statement (known as Proclamation 1.10) which clarified marriage as between a man and a woman. It was ruled that homo sexual practices were ‘incompatible with scripture.’ But the church can’t legally dis criminate against the gays, so they seemed to pretty much let it be. Since 1998, that has remained the official position of the Anglican Church, despite several regarded positions within the Church being held by LBGT+ individuals.
T
While the top 100 companies are the greenhouse gas devils in our soci ety, it is not to say that you should give up on your own climate-saving techniques. We all should try to help that little bit extra by reducing our footprint where ever we can, but the main point that supersedes all else, is that without smart climate policy and massive change from the top 100 fossil fuel companies, turning off the shower while you soap up is not going to change the fact that the world may end in a raging fireball.
A ticket invited bishops (and their spouses) from across the Anglican denom ination to Canterbury, to celebrate the diversity of the Church and discuss press ing matters. On the agenda this year were topics like climate and gender justice, Christian unity, and inter-faith relations. For the small price of £4,950, attend ees were able to stay in Parkwood, eat at Woody’s and Mungo’s, and sit in talks over Christian matters. But these same Chris tians allowed the church to exclude samesex spouses from taking part in certain conference events.
Focus on lobbying against corpora tions and the governments which give
I probably won’t ever be out to my grand parents. I was reminded of that fact, and those hazy Sunday school mornings when I heard that the University would be host ing the Lambeth Conference this year.
and tax credits to aid the transition to cleaner energy. These policies must be implemented in the UK if we are to match the success of Biden. It is this decarbonisation of the economy that will force fossil fuel providers to start looking elsewhere to earn their profits. We live in a capitalist society, and so the only way to stop the perilous antics of the unrenewable energy companies is to provide the opportunity of more money in renewable sources. While this is a sad reflection of the types of behaviour that the capitalist system allows, it is the best available method to combat the single most threatening issue facing Earth today- it’s hard to believe that asking them nicely to think morally will make a dent.
8 Opinion Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
and believers to live peacefully together and accept their differences of opinion. The reaffirmation of Proclamation 1.10 serves to show the decreasing relevance of the Church of England in the UK today. But hate crimes towards LBGT people are soaring: transphobic hate crimes hit a three-year high in 2020. The reality of LGBTQ+ existence cannot be condensed down to a ‘difference of opinion.’
Since 2010, £259million has been cut from youth services by councils. Almost £60million has been cut from council budgets for parks and open spaces. At the same time, young LGBT+ people are twice as likely to contemplate suicide than their nonLGBT+ peers. These are terrifying set of statistics.
he Inflation Reduction Act, recently signed into law by President Biden, is a major step forward and a great example of when lawmakers get it right. Leaders around the world should take a leaf from Biden’s (surprising yet welcomed) left-leaning turn and formulate policies to similarly combat climate change.
Looking closer to home, the UK is in dire need of similar action- the next General Election could be crucial to the future of the country, as the policies being put in place by the Conservatives currently are simply not good enough. There are positives, such as the exten
Image by University of Kent Staff
By Hestia Linford-Allen Opinion Editor
Religion can be many things: meditation, self-care, community. Religion should be love.
cut levels to make it worthwhile, to plans in agriculture, a key area for reducing emissions, similarly being pushed aside. Although the positives do remain and provide a certain level of hope, it seems, as ever, that the UK government is all talk and not so much action.Thekey to success for these policies is not to create an aura of negativity around fossil fuels, but rather to pro vide rewards for becoming closer to carbon neutral. This is exactly what Biden’s plan entails- by offering energy rebate programs (such as tax credits) for citizens to purchase clean vehicles and switch to cleaner energy provid ers. The tax credit will save money for households, thus providing the incentive to switch. At the corporate level, companies will be given grants
It was a ‘children's illustrated version’, with simplified verses and pretty draw ings of Mary holding baby Jesus, and my favourite, Noah’s ark, with all the animals climbing the gangway two-by-two. I myself was never actually religious growing up, but like most kids in my area, attended a Church of England middle school. Harvest time meant walking down to the village church, holding a tin of soup to donate to the community food bank. At Christmas, we would have a choir concert and all the parents would bundle into St Margaret’s to listen to renditions of ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Come All Ye Faithful,’ (accompanied by the recorder club of course).
Cheery stuff, isn’t it? Why you shouldn't care about recycling
The LGBT+ Staff Network organised a stirring show of support for the LGBT+ community with the Lambeth Walk and Rainbows in Religion symposium, which saw religious figures and academics come
these corporations free reign to wreak havoc on the planet. It is through ral lies, marches, petitions and by stand ing as political candidates for a green world that will make the difference.
During Pride month?!
This was what propelled the Lambeth Conference into the national media. Les bian broadcaster and writer Sandi Toks vig, penned an open letter, arguing that the ‘lives of LGBT+ people are at stake here.’ And she’s right. A third of lesbian, gay and bi people of faith (32%), and one in four trans people of faith (25%), aren’t open with anyone in their faith community about their identity. Living authentically as a person of faith can pose risks- sometimes to one's personal safety.
The acceptance of casual discrimina tion by a church that seeks to represent a huge population of the UK has created an internal PR problem for an organisation whose membership is already dwindling. We know that the amount of young people identifying with religion is on a downward trend worldwide. According to the Brit ish Social Attitudes Survey, The Church of England has seen a massive reduction in affiliation, from nearly 40% of the pop ulation in 1983, to just 20% in 2020. Just 14% of that demographic attend weekly services. Rural churches, many of which are at risk of literally crumbling down, no longer have the traditional churchgoers to financially support themselves. After a decade of cuts to social and public services, we need physical spaces, like churches, to serve as community hubs more than ever. Likewise, it is clear that churches, even just as historic buildings, need us to help main tain and use them as community spaces.
Life can seem like a cap italist nightmare right now. The reluctance to stand up for the rights of LBGT+ people to live free from harassment is a disgrace to British youth. Fundamentally, it distances LGBT+ youth from engaging with religion and spiritual ity. Scientists say that loneliness can kill us. I'm not the biggest fan of organised religion, but I acknowledge the unifying nature of practices that can help to keep us grounded, instil self-love, and respect for others and the environment. Religion can be many things: meditation, self-care, community. Religion should be love.
For the last ten years, Archbishop Justin Welby has struggled to keep increasingly polarised factions of the church together. He has urged bishops
My schooldays housed some of my fondest memories, and was a period where I made some of my closest friends. Equally though, my schooldays included times where I would struggle to get out of bed in the morning, when each day felt like an impossible battle. If I’d have realised then that admitting I was struggling wasn’t a sign of weakness, an embarrassing admission of defeat, I might have helped others open up about their difficulties too.
We can't afford to be depressed: How the cost of living crisis will price millions out of mental health support
You have just got into the University of Kent (hooray), and you have no idea whom you will live with. You find that only one of seven of your flatmates come from the same cultural background as you, the rest being from areas you have never ever encountered. This article is not going to list you a thousand ways of interacting with different cultural backgrounds, but it will demon strate how to ‘prepare’ yourself (using prepare lightly because this should be as easy as anything) for facing such matters, as well as why someone might take offence to the way you react to their culture or nationality. The number of people of colour that have discussed microaggressions during my time at university (all round- not just applicable to Kent students) has been drastic, and very easily pre ventable with the correct actions being put into place.
The first don’t is inspired by something that happened to me in the first year of university. Cooking, an essential part of survival as a student (either that or constant takeaways every night) led to a member of my accommodation screwing up their face in disgust. To answer your question, no, I am not a bad cook, it was just that this person had never encountered curry chicken, its scent, colour, and consistency before. Rather than simply enquiring what it was that was being cooked, this person chose to go along the more difficult route of offending myself and making them look more ignorant. This leads me to highlight the first thing that should not be done during your university years: judgement. It can cause upset for the person receiving it, and usually just ends up making you look stupid.
By Charlie Gurr Opinion Writer
You may wonder why they can’t just use the free services provided by the NHS. It’s true, they can. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 saw the government pledge equal access to effective care for those experiencing mental or physical health problems. But by 2020, one in nine people had to wait more than six months for a second appointment after an initial mental health assessment. That exceeds the terms set out by the NHS on their website, which states: ‘The maximum waiting time for non-urgent, consultant-led treatments is 18
I’ll take myself as an example. At a time when I was particularly struggling with anxiety, I had an initial assessment, before being assigned to six sessions of group therapy. These sessions began at 3:30pm and gave me just ten minutes from when my school day ended to make the 15-minute journey to the venue. I must add that these sessions were supposed to be tailored specifically for schoolage children. So, from the start, I was already going to miss the beginning of the session, and the rush to get there would just exacerbate the stress that I
Let’s talk About Race, Culture, and Nationality
9 Opinion InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
They say a problem shared is a problem halved. It may not nec essarily always seem like that, but talking to someone really does help.It’s not an admission of weakness, it’s a sign of strength.
So, how can we educate ourselves? The first, is so simple, but not done anywhere near enough; ask your peers (politely and inquisi tively, of course). Regarding their culture- your peers will be the best people to ask, especially since what you learn on the internet may not be accurate to the person’s experiences- Jamie Oliver’s Jerk Rice scandal comes to mind. To my non-Jamaican peers who cannot emphasise with the feelings of disgust and disgrace, it was very much scandalous. The idea of someone coming in, taking a culture that is not theirs and remixing it sounds very familiar, but since it’s Jamie Oliver MBE, he really thought he could get away with this abomi nation.Thesecond, would be your own research, and discussing what you have learnt with others. Things spread fastest with word of mouth, so it’s always best that you know what you are talking about (as much as possible) before spreading misinformation, especially about a culture that is not yours. With this being said, it is important to remember that cultural and racial experiences are not monolithic. One person’s experience of the world will not be the same as another, even if they are of the same race or culture. Avoid the toxic cycle of accepting all information that is given to you and rolling with it, or you might end up getting cussed at in your university kitchen after turning your nose up at good food.
According to Times Higher Education, 30% of Students who attend Kent University are International students. This is a massive statis tic, but does not include the even larger number of students who are second, third, or even fourth generation to people who have immi grated to the UK. Given this, it is clear to say that upon your arrival here, you are bound to be confronted by a culture you are yet to be appropriately educated about. I give you a list of dos and don’ts, for mulated to hopefully better prepare you for the next three or more years:
This was all after I had expressed that I felt a one-to-one session with a clinical psychologist would be something I was more comfort able with, as it would make speaking about my personal struggles that bit easier, and would mean receiving specific support tailored to me. Whilst I’m not suggesting that group therapy is an ineffective method of treating mental health difficulties, I do feel that in this instance I was allocated treatment that would be cheaper to run (as there were around six of us in a session at one time), and would help the NHS adhere to the waiting time mandates set out by the government.Thelastthing
By Renee Da'Costa-Green Opinion Writer
The views expressed in each article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of InQuire Media. To publish a response, contact newspaper.opinion@inquiremedia.org
I hope I have given you an insight and appreciation into the experi ences of people of other cultures. Granted, this was written from the perspective of someone who is a minority, but it goes without say ing that this is another perspective for you to add and discuss with your peers. With this information, university should hopefully be a lot smoother sailing, with one thing less to argue with your flatmates about- not that anyone should be disputing how someone feels about their own race, culture, and nationality.
I know that people always say you shouldn’t have regrets, but I do regret not opening up more about my anxiety. I spent my schooldays desperately trying to conceal it. I remember when my teachers were made aware of my anxiety by the student support team, one of them said ‘I never would have guessed you suffer with anxiety. You seem so happy’. But that’s the thing, I found myself putting on this front, needing to seem like I was keeping on top of everything when below the surface I was treading water. I’m not saying that I was never happy, because in truth, I was and still am a happy person.
This brings me on to the easily achievable do’s whilst staying at a highly diverse university. The first would be to educate yourself, the easiest task of all. Independently educating yourself can be achieved in a series of ways, and does not just mean subjecting yourself to one source. Finding more than one source of research is so important to formulate the most appropriate insight of a certain culture. Basing your perspective of a culture from a single source you have read or learned from is essentially prejudiced.
was already feeling.
Image by Garry Knight/Wikimedia Commons
In the past, I have found talking about my anxiety incredibly diffi cult. The idea of exposing my vulnerability to others seemed embar rassing, weak even. I went through my school days panicking each morning before getting on the bus, and doing all I could to conceal my stress, conceal something that might make me different. If I missed a class as I’d had to go to the student support office because of my anxiety, I would return to the next class with students asking questions about where I’d been. I had been bullied in the first few years of secondary school, and so now, if I missed a class, I found myself trying to make up excuses for why I wasn’t there, because accepting that I needed help, that I was struggling each day, felt humiliating. It might give people a reason to single me out.
I want to do is sound ungrateful for receiving treat ment earlier by having group therapy sessions. I understand that some people will have had to wait longer. The issue for me lies in the fact that those dealing with my case failed to acknowledge what I felt would be most appropriate for me. If they had instead said, ‘we know that you would prefer one-to-one sessions, but as this will be a significant wait, we can offer you group therapy sessions in the meantime’, then I may have been more comfortable with the situ ation. I agree that in this instance, group therapy was going to be better for me than no therapy at all. But I never received one-to-one support. Instead, the group therapy cycle finished, I was discharged from the service, and after being in an environment that I felt wasn’t right for me, I was back to square one.
For more information about student support and wellbeing at Kent, visit: https://www.kent.ac.uk/student-support
Since leaving school, I have been more open about my anxiety. At first, it was difficult, but the more I have done it, the more I have come to accept that I am not alone. There are people out there who care, and equally, they may also be going through something them selves. So, reach out to your friends, your family. Send them a mes sage, give them a shoulder to cry on, or even just let them know you’re there for them.
consequences of the cost-of-living crisis are stark. Accord ing to the House of Commons Library, UK absolute poverty will rise by 1.3 million people in 2022/23. That is on top of the 10.5 million already in this bracket. Suicide rates of those in the most deprived areas of the UK are almost double than the least deprived. What happens if those in absolute poverty are in need of private mental health support? A single counselling session can cost up to £85, and when there’s a choice between feeding your family, or ther apy, there’s sadly only one answer. The ongoing cost-of-living crisis means an average UK household will now have less than £100 of monthly disposable income. This wouldn’t cover more than one ses sion of counselling, and parents may be forced to make the impossi ble decision of which child needs therapy the most.
Howweeks.’does a country ranked sixth in the world in terms of GDP, struggle to this extent with mental health support? Each year, one in four people face a mental health problem in England. Over the course of someone’s lifetime, one in five people have suicidal thoughts. One in 15 people attempt suicide. These figures were part of the latest study on England by mental health charity Mind, and don’t even include those in hospitals, prisons, sheltered housing, or rough sleepers. The actual numbers are likely to be even higher. We’re a decade on from the government’s pledge of effective care for mental health, and yet your financial circumstance can still determine access to Whilstsupport.Kent and Medway’s planned spending per person on men tal health increased by 4.2% for 2021/22, this was still 9% lower than the national average (£189.88 per person compared to £208.69). As someone who has been through Kent’s mental health system myself, I know that even after diagnosis, the journey to treatment can be turbulent. Firstly, the wait for support can be a long one, months in some cases, and even when this arrives, it isn’t necessarily appropriate for your needs. Everyone responds to therapy and other mental health practices in different ways, and as such, the effective ness of each one will vary. I do fear, though, that to fulfil the quota for treatment waiting times, organisations on behalf of the NHS may not match people with the most effective care.
The
But why couldn’t this have been offered the first time around? I accept that group therapy can work for some, but I knew in the first instance, and expressed as much, that I wouldn’t feel comfortable in a group setting talking about my anxiety. If this had been taken on board, I might have received the appropriate support two years ear lier, and avoided having to go back onto the waiting list for a service that was already at full capacity.
As a result, two years later, my anxiety levels spiked again, and I needed further support. Because I had been given these group ther apy sessions, and then been discharged, the process of getting help for a second time proved even more difficult. I had to be re-referred to the children and adolescent mental health services, re-assessed, and eventually after waiting months, was finally offered one-to-one support, and given medication to help.
The cooking incident was just another example of microaggression. So, what could have happened instead? The simple answer would be to avoid microaggressions. This is obviously a lot easier said than done, but with my irritating experience, we can see that even the smallest changes such as minute alterations of words and actions can create a safer, and more comfortable living space for everyone. Trust me, you don’t want to be getting into feuds with people you’re living with for a year plus, especially over things regarding their own race, culture, or nationality.
boogie (probably to some ABBA) as well as a mingle with a super friendly, warm crowd of people. The easiest way to stay informed on upcoming nights is through K-Bar’s Instagram, @kbar_kent.
Canterbury doesn’t exactly give ‘gay capital’ vibes like bigger cities such as Brighton, Manchester or London might do, but queer culture is here, present, and incredibly inviting to those wishing to seek out a community. We have chiselled out places and spaces for ourselves in the city and embracing the strong connection felt towards them, we gift to you this exciting LGBTQIA+ guide to Canterbury (and a little beyond).
Dancing Queen: On campus K-Bar (in the Keynes building, unsurpris ingly) hosts a weekly LGBTQIA+ night: ‘Dancing Queen’, typically held on Thursdays from 8pm to 1am. The nights are often themed (think St Pat rick’s Day or The Queen’s Jubilee) and while a little more casual than Glit terbomb, are just as fun. Bring a couple friends and head down for a little
By Laurice Janielle Lifestyle Editor
Although it can seem challenging to emulate the ste reotypical expectations of ‘campus lifestyle’, Medway students continually prove that joy is found within the connections you build and the memories you create together.
Admittedly,
In March 2004, the approval of a £50 million expan sion project for Universities at Medway was proudly announced as a part of an elemental strategy to bring ‘higher education opportunities’ and ‘renewed eco nomic prosperity’ to the Kent region. As of 2019, the three universities; the University of Kent, University of Greenwich, and Canterbury Christ Church University have aided almost 1,600 local jobs, with research stat ing they’ve supplied around £144m to the South East economy in 2015/16, thus proving the agenda’s success.
30 miles from Central London and a for ty-minute bus ride from the hills of Canterbury, our second campus is home to more than 7,000 students. Here, students study courses such as business, journalism, music, and social sciences, using facilities like the Drill Hall Library- widely considered Europe’s longest. Still, it is often overlooked, overshadowed by buzzing events on our main campus, and students in the past have expressed concern about why this split was made in the first place.
Glitterbomb is a queer club night hosted weekly in changing venues across Canterbury- more often than not, though, in either Tokyo Tearooms or The Cuban. Every Tuesday, an exciting host of local and renowned drag queens take to the stage, before opening outwards and inviting you to dance along, under the pulse of neon lights, all night long. Follow their Instagram (@glitterbombclub) to keep up to date with all their upcoming events.
Evidently, economic benefits are flourishing, but what can the students say about their growth in this budding community?KentUnion
LGBTQIA+ Guide to
President, Zaid Mahmood credits his growth as a person to Medway. He describes it as a place with ‘a really tight-knit community of students who make the best of every situation with positivity and a bit of Kaylanfun.’Jose is an incoming second-year Business and Management student and a frequent goer to the Deep End for weekly themed ‘music nights.’ Live per formances ranging from punk rock to classical perfor mances are hosted by the Music Society, ‘where friends can hang out, have a few drinks, and enjoy live music by talented students,’ Kaylan was able to meet his group of
Located
UKC LGBTQ+ Society: The LGBTQ+ society (@ukclgbtq on Instagram) is a safe space for students of marginalised gender identities and sexualities to socialise. As a Kent Union officiated group, the collective hosts a diverse range of enriching and exciting events like queer proms, drag nights, picnics, open-mic nights, salsa workshops and queer film screenings. The group also tends to attend K-Bar’s weekly party, as well as hosting the majority of their events on campus, making the group itself as accessible as possible.
Thenentrance.justaround the corner is the Japanese-inspired obstacle course based on ITV’s Ninja Warrior UK show. Dionne Thomas, a Business student, went with her flatmates and to her surprise, it was bigger than she had expected. ‘If you do a group deal, that's better,’ she advised. She also jokes that ‘it’s better when you're drunk.’Astudent
“Medway taught us that no matter what, we have the power to carve out a place in this world for ourselves.”
UKC LGBTQ+ Network: Additionally, this network (@ukc.lgbtqnet work on Instagram) acts as a voice for LGBTQ+ students in both the Univer sity and the Union, ensuring informed decisions are made on a practical and strategic level that positively impact members of the LGBTQ+ community at Kent. In the previous year, they orchestrated the Lace Up, Speak up Cam paign, and published a whole range of information and ran several events as part of LGBTQ+ history month.
best mates here. He adds that there’s even a nice seating area outside, which has a ‘much quieter’ ambiance that supports meaningful conversations between friends. Social Science student, Chloe Jagger, shares intimate late-night trips with friends to the Strand - a local park in Gillingham just a short five-minute walk from the Pier Quays student accommodation. They tell us that it’s a ‘great place for a quick drink with friends,’ where they then enjoy sitting under the dark sky to stargaze. Chloe continues, ‘definitely one of the things I’m most excited for when I move back!’
- Zaid Mahmood, Kent Union President
Pockets of Joy found in
The Dockside Outlet, a discount shopping centre with over 40 brand-name stores and fast-food restau rants is only a ten-minute walk from campus. As an alternative, you can take the free University Shuttle Bus
UKC Queer POC: This very exciting, recently established society is a safe space for all people of colour who identify as LGBTQIA+. With definitive aims to make people feel heard and welcome, as well as providing space for the freedom of expression, the society plans to host many exciting social
‘There was barely anyone else so we basically had the whole place to ourselves,’ they stated. With a lighter heart, the student carries on by sharing another mem ory. After carefully using Bumble BFF, a friend-making mode on the app, they clicked with a local resident their age and shortly met up at Creams - also located in the Dockside Outlet
‘It got me out of my room, [...] I was barely able to get out of bed to feed myself. But I always wanted to try Creams, so I was excited to tick that off my bucket list with a new friend,’ they say with a smile on their face.
Images courtesy of Laurice Janielle
10 Lifestyle Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
from either the Pier Quays or Pembroke campus bus stops, and you’ll be dropped near the outlet’s parking lot
By Molly Field Culture Editor
Having lived in Medway for the past two years, Kieran Webb, InQuire’s very own Satire Editor said ‘nothing felt more rewarding to me than after a hard session working in the library and walking to the dockyard.’ Habitually, he’d take himself to the Odeon twice a week to watch any new releases. He considers it as his ‘second home.’
who wishes to stay anonymous confessed how they found experiences around the local area ‘healing’. They recall a day after a painful breakup, in the middle of an online lecture, a coursemate noticed a change in their ‘vibe’ and spontaneously dragged them to Flip Out, an indoor trampoline park at Dockside. ‘I thought we were just going for lunch, I didn’t even know this place existed.’
‘Film and cinema are something very close to my heart, so it feels great to know that there is a place I can go so close to the Medway campus.’
Learning self-defence can be an empowering and reassuring skill. If you’re looking for a way to stay fit, kill two birds with one stone and consider signing up for a society that teaches you a new sport while also allowing you to network with other students. Societies like the UKC Kickboxing and UKC Mixed Martial Arts host their training at the Sports Halls.
Getting consent doesn’t ‘ruin the mood’ and it doesn’t have to be awkward. Checking in and making sure your partner is enjoying themselves is hot. Be thoughtful to signs of hesitation and non-ver bal cues. Remember that factors like alcohol or other recreational drugs can hinder someone’s ability to fully give their consent and it's only fair to wait until all individuals
Consider learning some self-defence
Ifguides.youprefer
Depending on who you are, dating/ participating in hookup culture may be nerve-racking, thrilling, or both. By incorporating a majority of these pointers, you’re not only protecting yourself, but other par ties involved. And if enough of us prioritize our emotional well-being and sexual health, we can assure a safer university experience for all.
Maybe you met someone that's on campus using Bumble’s distance feature or you were intrigued by that ‘University of Kent’ tag under their Tinder bio, but online dates can be hit or miss. Before meet ing your person of interest, it's advised to ring them up for a vibe check. If your social anxiety allows it, a video call is even better. Also, Google is your best friend. A brief background check on their online presence doesn’t have to be creepy but a clever precaution.
E
11 Lifestyle InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
How to Safely Navigate Dating During Freshers
Avoid depending solely on your date to take you back. Knowing your means of getting home is your safety net. Take advantage of our uni versity’s tools. If you’re on campus, contact Campus security to avail the night-time walking taxi service - 01227 823300 (non-emergen cies).Additionally, recommended walking routes are outlined on the
Keep up to date with your own health. The University Medical Cen tre and Campus Nursing services provide STI screenings and con traceptives. If you prefer to test at home, check your eligibility for a testing kit at www.freetest.me/landing/kent.
ImagecourtesyofLauriceJanielle
If alcohol is involved, ensure you keep an eye on your drink and your consumption. If you think your drink could be spiked, alert bar staff and ask for Angela Just in case, you can also save these contacts for future reference: 999 or 01227 823333 - Campus Security emergency contact.
You can use your University log-in details to utilize the free SafeZone app for quick access to first aid, security, or safety assistance. Particularly useful, the ‘Check In’ feature allows you to share your location with Campus Security.
University’s website under ‘Canterbury Safety’ and ‘Medway Safety’
Trust your gut and act on your instincts
Let someone you trust know where and when your date is Remember to tell at least one person who you’re meeting, where, and when they should be worried. It’s usually safer to choose a spot on campus or any other place you’re already familiar with. Public spaces which are frequented by others are always a good call for the first time. Be open to group or double dates with friends too.
Verify someone you met online
DID YOU KNOW?
Canterbury (and a Little Beyond)
Have your own way of going home
Images courtesy of Lagoon Myers
Discussing STI statuses with your partner is more considerate than rude when judgments are left at the door. Remember to be respectful of each other’s stances. People are allowed to decline moving forward and deny disclosing details they’re not ready to share.
ntering your first year of university with glossy, rose-tinted glasses and the pursuit of seemingly endless experiences can be exciting. Freshers week is known to be the breeding ground for potential connections, new friendships, and budding romances. Relationships are catalysts to self-discovery and arguably so, dat ing can be a fun way to unlock parts of yourself. Whether you’re a monogamous hopeless romantic or want to explore your sexuality and how your body feels pleasure, it's important to be aware of how to dive in safely. Here are some reminders and essential resources to take note of.
Uphold safe sex practices
Everyone has different needs and wants when it comes to dating or hooking up. Remind yourself that what you want isn’t always the same for the other person. Recall that you’re allowed to change your mind as much as the other person can. It is crucial to ASK instead of assuming. Consent. Get it.
The University provides an online reporting tool, Inform Kent (InK) to empower students to record details of incidents such as sexual assault, harassment, relationship abuse, or hate crime
If you just want to test the waters, keep an eye out for the UKC #RespecttheNo student campaign group for upcoming self-defence workshops. On the Medway campus, the Hub used to arrange weekly Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sessions so look out for those too.
Your body is your right but with every right comes responsibility. Safe sex doesn’t have to be rigid and is actually a way of self-care. Before a date, it's wise to prepare for the use of contraception. You can register at www.getit.org.uk to get free condoms delivered to you, or they are also available at the Kent Union reception.
Communicate boundaries and be respectful of them
events throughout the year, which can be kept up to date through their Instagram @ukcqueerpoc. Canterbury Pride: Every Summer, Canterbury lights up with its annual Pride celebration (usu ally held on the second weekend of June). The music-filled, sun-soaked day involves a lively parade through the winding streets of our city, thousands of smiles in tow. This is then followed by a festival in Dane John Garden with live performances from drag and music artists (Baga Chipz graced us with her presence this year). As the warm evening rolls in, the crowds fall on Tokyo Tearooms for the official afterparty, as well as other queer nights glowing with promise around the city.Around 45 minutes on the train from Canterbury is Margate: a pastel-coloured, salty-aired seaside city with an incredibly creative and ever-growing queer com munity. Honourable mentions include the newly opened CAMP bar; or, try the Sundowners Bar for intimate shows with big drag artists. Margate Arts Club is an arty collective with a series of mind-tingling events like queer proms and life-drawing workshops; Queer Cuntry hosts regu lar cowboy-themed queer club nights, and Cockcles and Muscles does similarly (except, with less cowboys)! Finally, Margate boasts their own Queer Swimclub (for the aquatically-inclined and not, alike) as well as hosting their own Pride celebrations, includ ing the central parade and festival, but also a month’s worth of queer workshops and exhibitions.
are sober and conscious.
If at some point, your date overwhelms you, makes you feel uncom fortable or unsafe, lis ten to how your body’s responding to the situ ation and know when to pull your ‘something came up’ card. Recognize when you need to leave and seek help if needed.
By Laurice Janielle Lifestyle Editor
to have a ride home, Stagecoach Uni 2 bus services run until 5AM (except on Sundays) for the Canterbury campus colleges and local area. As for travelling to and from the Medway campus, the University Shuttle bus operates till midnight all week. And alter natively, Arriva public buses are available for Chatham and Gilling ham.
Located in Keynes College on the Canterbury cam pus, the Student Support and Wellbeing service is a great first stop for anyone who is neurodiverse, would like mental health support, has a disability of any kind, or is simply feeling anxious about starting university.
These schemes are great for students who find navigating social spaces difficult. For me, peer mentoring felt like a bridge between interacting with students in a class setting and interacting in a social setting. It really helped me feel more comfortable speaking with other people on campus and finding my way around.
AINY (she/her), Head of Media and Marketing
hether you’re starting your first year or are returning to Kent, the beginning of term can be exciting and equally nerve-wracking- even more so if you’re a student who is neurodivergent. For those living with Autism, ADHD, Tourette’s or other types of neurodiversity, the transi tion into student life can feel challenging.
Get in Fresher, We're Going Shopping
They offer support to all students at the university and have sev eral formal and informal services available. Formal services include counselling, autism assessment and disability support. Additionally, there are accessible and regular drop-in sessions, wellbeing events at our Community Garden to help you meet other students: the Walking Buddy and Just Coffee schemes. You can join either scheme by emailing wellbeingevents@kent.ac.uk
Many courses have a common room that will be accessible to those studying your subject only. These are great spaces to unwind, catch your breath or make yourself a hot drink in between classes.
‘Something (maybe a little unorthodox) that I think is a wardrobe essential, is a fun pair of earrings! I’ve found that they’re a really good way to start up a conversation anywhere, especially at parties and socials. They’re the perfect thing to brighten up even the dreariest or haphazard of 9am lec ture outfits (e.g., the ‘I snoozed my alarm too many times and I’m 10 minutes late’ outfit) and while going out I love breaking a bit of monochrome with a subtle glimmer or pop of colour! There’s plenty of local businesses to support in Canterbury, and even some of my favourite pairs of earrings (a pair of rainbow ice lollies and a set of planets and stars) are locally sourced’.
week is unequivocally one of the most exciting times of our lives: non-stop partying, making friends that will last a lifetime and getting to explore all your new campus has to offer. So why not do all of that while also looking like the coolest person in the room? Our team has come up with must-have ward robe pieces that are guaranteed to exude main-charac ter vibes! Enter at your own risk and with your bank account full.
The Templeman Library has silent study space on the top floor if you need somewhere quiet to focus on study ing. For the times you’d prefer your own separate space, the library also has individual study carrels that can be booked through the Templeman website. These are helpful if you find
Trench coats have some special importance to Hestia as their friend Danny gave them one after they shot their first fashion collection together.
Remember that you’re not alone
Good news though, you're not alone! Here are top tips for settling into university life as a neurodiver gent student, gathered by Writing Minds– a Kentbased webzine focused on Neurodivergence and Mental
Freshers’
By Kylie Dunleavy Lifestyle Writer
Similarly, Peer Mentoring allows first year students to be matched with second and/or third-year students to help them settle into uni versity life. This is a great way to receive support in a non-formal and relaxed setting. If you’re interested in taking part, you can contact slasapm@kent.ac.uk to find out more information.
The first week on campus is a great opportunity to scope out useful places to decompress before the term gets going.
You’ve probably heard this a lot- you’ve already heard it twice in this article! But with good reason. There are plenty of students who are neurodivergent at Kent and there are lots of different means of support available to address the needs we may have.
I was on a level playing field with other students. If you’re studying at the Medway Campus, you can register with Wellbeing online or use the free Campus shuttle to visit inForperson.more information on Welling and Autism support, please visit: www.kent.ac.uk/stu dent-support and www.kent.ac.uk/guides/ autism-support
Moreover, there are ongoing projects you can get involved with at various times during the year, like the project I’m working on, Writ ing Minds
Peer Mentoring and the Buddy Scheme are two ways you can receive support from other students at Kent. The Buddy Scheme allows you to be paired with another student who can show you around the campus or answer questions you may have. Prior to being matched, you fill out a questionnaire so that Kent Union can find a good fit for you. This can be found on their website.
SAM (he/him), Newspaper Editor
‘The one thing in my wardrobe that I cherish more than anything is a good belt. Wearing the right belt is like the icing on the cake for an outfit. I’ve found that they’re invaluable and an essential item to have, having ena bled me to wear great looking clothes that would normally have been too big to wear’. – KIERAN (he/him), Satire Editor
Image courtesy of Mike UnsplashVon/ Image courtesy of
Something that really helped me when coming to Kent was the realisation that most people were feeling worried or anxious in some way and that I wasn’t alone in whatever I was feeling at the time. Everyone is in a new space and is learning as they go.
Student groups and societies are a fun and interesting way to meet other likeminded students at Kent. We have over 200 soci eties for just about anything you can think of! Everything from hobbies to sports to accessibility. University of Kent Autistics is a student led support group for autistic students that meet weekly on the Canterbury campus. They run various events throughout the year and details can be found in the Events section of the Kent website. We also have several societies that offer mental health support and work to improve support at Kent such as UKC Wellbeing, UKC Mind and The Accessibility Network
HESTIA (they/them), Opinion Editor
Image courtesy of Maria Fernanda Pissioli/Unsplash
being in busy spaces difficult or need space with no distractions. We’re also able to use empty classrooms for self-study which is great when you need a calm and quiet place to work.
12 Lifestyle Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
Wellbeing is also the place to set up your Inclusive Learning Plan or ILP. This is a plan tailored specifically to you in order to make learning and assessments accessible. A member of the team will lis ten to all the ways in which you need support and create a plan to make sure you’re never at a disadvantage due to any of your addi tional needs. Your ILP can include things such as extra exam time, extensions on assessments and specialist software to aid study. Per sonally, meeting with student support and putting my ILP in place helped me feel at ease and made me realise that Kent always ensured
Peer Mentoring and the Buddy Scheme
Hestia says a leather trench coat is an absolute ward robe must have: to hide cute little outfits. Dearest fresher, you will realise that cute outfits and public transport, such as buses, will undoubtedly get you some stares, and therefore you must come prepared.
To Ainy, nothing compares to a pair of well fitted blue jeans and a pair of white trainers (specifically Air Force 1s or Converses) as these are the foundation to a cap sule wardrobe. Both items are guaranteed to look great with anything you throw at them from a cute crop top to a sweatshirt in the colder months. Basic pieces like these can be elevated by accessorising with some cute jewellery which has special sentimen tal value to Ainy as she inherited some necklaces and ear rings from her Nan– whenever she wears these, they remind her of home.
Quiet Spaces
Dr. Martens have been popular ever since their creation in 1947 and to Sam these iconic pair of boots are a closet must-have. Not only are they comfortable and keep your feet warm during the colder months, but they also look amazing with basically everything you might already have in your closet. You shouldn’t be afraid to beat them up as they can easily be restored to their for mer glory with some leather conditioner and can last a lifetime. They are just what the doctor ordered.
of Laurice Janielle
The Neurodivergent Tool Kit for Smooth Sailing
W
Student Groups and Societies
StudentHealthSupport and Wellbeing
Find more student groups at www.kentunion.co.uk/activities
Nordwood-themes/UnsplashImagecourtesy
Our Must-Have Pieces for Freshers' Week
By Rashida Hassan Editor-in-Chief
– ELMA (she/her), Science and Tech Editor
Whatever your personal circumstances, there are resources, services, and people to help you not only set tle in but help you throughout your time with us. Finally, I’d like to share a very warm welcome to Kent!
Image courtesy of W.carter/ Wikimedia Commons
The researchers hope that this ability to reac tivate cell activity could be utilised in organ donors long after death to reanimate organs for use, although bioethicist Stephen Latham assist
The study, conducted by several key research ers from all over the world, shows that five dan gerous tipping points may have already been passed due to our own extra 1.1 degree celsius contribution towards global heating to date. These five tipping points include the gradual melt and collapse of Greenland’s ice cap, eventually causing a significant sea level rise, an abrupt melt ing of carbon-rich permafrost, and the collapse of a key North Atlantic current on which billions of the Earth’s population depends on for agricul ture. The study involved the analysis of over 200
Although the study confirmed many tipping points and warned of needing greater climate change action, some formerly considered tipping points were also disproved for lack of evidence, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation.
The research has many potential uses other than organ transplants, such as preventing irreversible cell death in patients whose hearts have stopped from a lack of blood flow oxygenating tissues.
“The research has many potential uses other than organ transplants, such as preventing irreversible cell death in patients whose hearts have stopped”
Recent research has indicated destabilisation in the Amazon forest, the loss of which would be devastating to the biodiversity of the earth. The Amazon rainforest acts as a carbon sink and its disappearance would significantly impact the global climate. While this is a consequence that is further off, the study also found that Greenland and Antarctica are losing ice at rates 6 times faster than 30 years previously, with Greenland seeing a constant reduction in the size of its ice sheet over the course of 25 years.
A tipping point is what occurs when a tempera ture threshold for an event is passed, leading to an irreversible impact on a particular climate system, even if the temperatures that caused the global heating are reversed. Many tipping points are also linked together, with co-author, Ricarda Winkel mann, warning: “Many tipping elements ub the Earth System are interlinked, making cascading tipping points a serious additional concern.”
The entirety of human civilisation has evolved and developed in temperatures no more than 1 degree celsius beyond global warming and the researchers concluded that “The Earth may have left a ‘safe’ state, beyond 1C global warming”. Dr David Armstrong McKay from the University of Exeter, a lead author of the study, said: “There are grounds for grief but there are also still grounds for hope. The study really underpins why the Paris agreement goal of 1.5C is so important and
Researchers at Yale University have found a way to reactivate cell function in pigs up to six hours after death, giving promising results for research to be extended to humans for organ transplants, and challenging the concept of irreversible cell death.
In total, researchers ofrom the study identified 16 drastic life-impacting tipping points, with the remaining six requiring over 2 degrees celsisus of global heating to occur. These tipping points can occur on timescales anytime between the next few years and the next few centuries depending on cli mate change measures enacted by the population.
vast changes to forests in the northern hemisphere and the loss of almost all mountain glaciers.
previous papers, beginning in 2008, on climate observations and tipping points that have already occurred in the past, as well as modelling studies in order to come to their conclusions.
must be fought for.”
By Elma Maka Science and Tech Editor
ing the researchers insists the technology, called OrganEx is ‘far away from use in humans’.
Climate change is on the brink of ‘multiple tipping points’
By Elma Maka Science and Tech Editor
Scientists have calculated that the Earth’s absolute minimum temperature rise is expected to reach 1.5 degrees celsius. which increases the chances of this occurring from a possibility to a likely chance, with an additional five tipping points having the potential to occur. these include
13 Science and Technology InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
Science or Necr-oink-mancy?
The NHS reports that it currently has 7,000 people waiting on the UK transplant list, with 420 deaths in the past year from people waiting for a transplant, and an average wait time of 2-3 years.
test subjects of mice. While mice are easier to breed and have a vast population size, pigs provide more valuable feedback to scientists in their trials on whether to proceed with human trials. Gene-edited pigs have also been used much more recently to provide organs for transplants
This builds on the scientist’s earlier study in 2019 that involved considerably less of the body and was limited to circulating nutrient-rich fluid through pigs’ brains (four hours after having been decapitated for food production). The experi ments both consistently show activity in the cells of the brain even after death, and in turn have raised many ethical questions regarding the cur rent treatment of human patients with extensive brain damage and in defining the now blurred lines between life and death.
“Formerly dead cells beginning to function again were detected in a variety of organs, including the brain, heart, liver and kidney”
This process was formerly thought irreversible, but the findings of this experiment clearly show this is not the case.
By constructing a system of pumps, tubing, and sensors and connecting it to pig arteries, a nutrient-rich fluid was circulated through the bodies of pigs that had been deceased for approx imately an hour. Formerly dead cells beginning to function again were detected approximately six hours later in a variety of organs, including the pig’s brains, hearts, livers, and kidneys. This cell activity included heart cells contracting, and electrical activity. While cell activity in the brain was detected, it was not found in levels that would indicate consciousness being re-gained by the pigs. Despite this, of even greater note was the movement of the pig’s heads and necks when cells regained activity; researchers speculate that muscle function may also have been temporarily restored.Pigshave long been used as medical research subjects as they are closer to humans in physiol ogy, size, and genetic makeup than the previous
in patients who need them, although this comes with individual ethical and religious concerns.
Above: Pig farm in Vampula, Finland, courtesy of Kallerna/Wikimedia commons
The “Climate Crisis” has reached new levels and the Earth is currently on the brink of multiple irreversible “tipping points” a major study says.
By Elma Maka Science and Tech Editor
Researchers from the University of Kent have uncovered promising new treatments for coronavirus, with potentially better protection against new variants of the disease.
of plastic pollution along the coast”
intended“[Teampatients”DECSTAR]theirdesign to monitor the
Thepopulation.researchers hope that the results of this testing, and comparisons between the antiviral drugs that inter acted well with betaferon and the one that did not, will enable them to identify what increases the antiviral properties of a treatment
System) reflectometer.
This is a (remote) satellite sensing technique that assumes information about the changing surface of the Earth through signals that are sent out and then reflected from the surface of the Earth, and detected by the satellite. Ian Annett, Deputy CEO of the UK Space Agency, said that they ‘stood out in a competitive field and should be incredibly proud of making it to the next round of the competition. Whilst the shortlisted teams narrowly missed the opportunity to be involved in such a monumental project, the UK’s planned launch of multiple satellites in the next few years brings the promise of hundreds of new jobs in the space scientist and engineer sectors for such capable students and graduates as the bright scientists who competed.
vaccination programme and the immunity that vaccines have provided. This has meant that Covid cases have a significantly lower mortality rate and lower hos pitalisation rate than in previous years. However, unlike most of the population who can rely on being vaccinated or receiving booster jabs to keep the impact of coronavirus low, some people are too immunocompromised to be vaccinated and must rely on antiviral treatments to keep themselves and other immunocompromised individuals safe. Finding new antiviral treatments or com binations is especially important because antiviral resistance can occur at any moment with life-threatening impacts on the immuno compromised that may not be felt by the general
The winners of the Nanosat Design Competition, a competition that asked young people to design and manufacture a satellite to help the UK’s efforts in managing climate change have been announced as team OirthirSAT, a group of students from the University of Glasgow. The successful team beat over 40 other teams across the UK, receiving the £600,000 prize for their winning satellite design that analysed shorelines and coastal vegetation, in a manner that the judges found to be ‘a clear way to tackle climate change’.Theprize funding given to the team will be used to turn the satellite into a reality by helping the team further develop and manufacture their satellite design, and eventually, the satellite will be launched from the UK’s space port. Freya Muir, a PhD student from the winning team, said: ‘We’re so proud to have won the competition and have all our hard work recognised by the sector, […] it’s hugely exciting to be able to develop our winning design to protect our coastal communities against climate change’. The Nanosat Satellite design competition is only a small part of the UK’s plans to become the first European country to launch several small satellites to observe and track the impact of climate change. One of the participating teams was from the University of Kent. Team DECSTAR’, was shortlisted as one of the top 5 finalists and intended their design to be used to monitor the build-up of plastic pollution along the coast and to inform the optimal positioning of offshore wind turbines by using a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite
By Elma Maka Science and Tech Editor
UKC researchers help uncover new Covid treatments for the immunocompromised
Luke Cornwell of Decstar at the Award Ceremony, photo courtesy of DECSTAR team
Covid-19 testing in a lab, image cour tesy of the University of New York
Climate Competition
Change Satellite Design
Professors Mark Wass and Martin Michaelis were assisted by Professor Jindrich Cinatl of Goethe University in testing the sensitivity of different Covid-19 strands to antiviral treatment.
winners announced... as team from the University of Kent comes in the Top 5
While Covid cases and deaths have dropped drasti cally in recent months, this is largely due to the nationwide
Members of Team DECSTAR (left to right): Macy Jones, Luke Cornwell, Luke Oxlade and Alice Brown
Professors Martin Michaelis (left) and Mark Wass, images courtesy of the University of Kent
and how to better magnify the impact of associated treatments. These findings will also enable the immunocompromised to feel a greater security in antiviral treatments, which are always under threat of being ren dered useless by the development of virus immunity. It also paves the way for further research into the fast-developing variants of coronavirus to keep antiviral treatments as efficient as possible and reduce the rate of new resist ant variants developing. While the results have already been confirmed in a lab setting, they still need to be tested in clinical human trials, with Pro fessor Jindrich Cinatl adding: ‘If these findings are confirmed in patients, I hope that more effective therapies will help us to reduce the formation of novel dangerous COVID-19 variants’.
“These are exciting findings that will hopefully help to improve the treatment of vulnerable Covid-19 build-up
This was achieved by combining antiviral treatments currently used with a new class of antiviral drug called betaferon to test their impact against dif ferent variants of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and Delta coronaviruses. The results of this testing found that three of the four com bined treatments responded much more effectively against these coronavirus variants, namely combinations with the antiviral drugs Molnupiravir, Nir matrelvir, and Aprotinin. However, the fourth antiviral drug, Remdesivir, showed only limited improvement whenProfessorcombined.Martin Michaelis said: ‘These are exciting findings that will hopefully help to improve the treatment of vulnerable COVID-19 patients and to avoid the forma tion of resistant viruses as much as possible’.
14 Science and Technology Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
Craugastor cueyatl , image courtesy of J.Streicher, Natural History Museum
detection in a more military setting, its high imaging quality can also be utilised to non-intrusively inspect and identify parcels containing food or pro hibited items.
and computer vision algorithms to identify prohibited items in bags.
The frog species are so tiny that when fully grown, they only sit at approxi mately 15mm, or smaller than the size of a 1p coin (which is 19mm in diame ter). The newly discovered frog species are the mottled colour of their habi tat: leaf litter that covers the Mexico forest floors. Adding to its difficulty in being seen and identified. Tom Jameson, a researcher at the Uni versity of Cambridge’s department of Zoology, stated in the release: “Until now, these species have gone unnoticed because they’re small and brown and look really similar to other frogs.”
C. rubinus, image courtesy of J. Streicher/ Natural History Museum
Image courtesy of Pixabay
The six new species have been named as iensis,candelarCraugastorbitonium,follows:CraugastorCrau
The frogs are small both in size and habitat, with one species being endemic to only a single specific hill side in the Mexican forests, also known as being “micro-endemic”. The
The situation can be blamed on a vari ety of different variables, mostly staff shortages in all areas of the baggage handling process, from the carriers, to the airport security staff to the ground handling firms employed to collect all the suitcases. With many redundancies made at the beginning of the coronavi rus pandemic, several airport depart ments are struggling to fill the gaps as regular travel begins to go back to nor mal. Some airlines have seen such dis ruption that they have cancelled up to a third of their flights in the upcoming months.Anew potential solution to this issue has been proposed as part of a success ful integration of the SeeTrue software and IDSS’s Open Architecture 1000 Checkpoint Computed Tomography scanner. While the IDSS CT scanner was originally designed for explosives
gastor cueyatl, Craugastor polaclavus, Craugastor portilloensis and Craugas torInrubinus.orderto distinguish the six spe
2022, UK airports reported record numbers of luggage losses, up 30% from the previous year.
By Elma Maka Science and Tech Editor
While this may seem like an ideal solution, it does not take into account the risk of automated soft ware-scanner failure, as well as the fact that the UK airport security staff are advised to not let through any thing they consider a danger, even if ordinarily permitted in hand lug gage. This is something an AI system would not have the critical thinking ability to interact with or flag as an
most human eyes, always on, and never getting distracted. As a result, baggage is delivered to the planes and not left behind.”
The frogs’ true range of habitat has also been difficult to assess because the areas they have been found in are territories that are occupied by violent and crime-linked armed groups. These groups are frequently associated with large, developed drug cartels, which made visiting the areas incredibly dif ficult and dangerous for the research ers. This means many areas of rural Mexico have remained uninvesti gated for both this frog species and the discovery of new ones . It is highly likely the rest of these areas will remain mostly inaccessible for fur ther scientific investiga tion in the future.
Despite this already significant num ber of species having just been discov ered, it is anticipated that even more frog species are yet to be discovered in areas that were limited for sampling opportunities, especially Western Mex ico and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
“[the detectsexistingconnectssystem]totheX-RayandCTscanners,andinrealtime,fasterandmoreaccurate ly than human eyes”
Scientists discover six new species of miniature frog... in cartel-run forests of Mexico
The scientists have also taken many inspirations with the naming of the species, such as that of the newly discovered “Craugastor cueyatl” frog. This species gets part of its name from the Nahuatl language word for frog, which is ‘cueyatl’. Nahuatl is an indigenous lan
alleviate the stress of re-hiring qualified workers in a post-pandemic world. This equipment could also be adapted for use in a broader range of enviorn ments, such as detection of prohobited items or dangerous devices in areas such as schools, hospitals and even rec reationally in bag checks for concerts or nightclubs.
guage spoken in the valley of Mexico, where these frogs were discovered.
In
By Elma Maka Science and Tech Editor
15 Science and Technology InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
Miniature frog on Mexican coin, image courtesy of The Univer sity of Texas at Arlington
On the other hand, SeeTrue uses a combination of artificial intelligence
Six new species of miniature frog have been discovered in Mexico by researchers from the Univer sity of Cambridge, London’s Natural History Museum and the University of Texas at Arlington.
researchers involved in the discoveries are currently working with the Mexican government and local NGO’s on conser vation efforts to preserve key areas they have identified as their habitats and attempt to create connected protected zones betwen them.
Despite their limited spread, scien tists theorise that their existence in these habitats are crucial to the local ecosystem... as a source of food at the bottom of the food chain for every other ani mal in the area, ranging from lizards to pred atory birds.
cies from very similar existing ones of the Craugastor group, the researchers gathered almost 500 frog specimens from museums globally, and had to use DNA sequencing and compare 3D mod els of the frogs’ skeletons based on CT scans to identify the most miniscule of differences.
Holidaymakers have lost 1.3 million pieces of luggage this year… is tech the solution?
issue.However, investing in the SeeT rue-IDSS partnership to make the luggage screening process fully auto mated, would remove the need for shift workers and airports may in future decide to go down this path to help
In explaining how the system func tions. the CEO of SeeTrue dsid, “[the system] connects to the existing X-Ray and CT scanners, and detects in realtime, faster and more accurately than
It is expected to function much faster than human workers and to significantly hasten the check-in process, meaning the reduction or even elimination entirely of long queues and missed flights.
deadly “Chytrid fungus” fungal disease that has already wiped out over 90 spe cies of amphibians.
While their recent discovery is prom ising for the scientific community in the prospect of discovering even more amphibian species in rural Mexico, the group of researchers is concerned for the population numbers of the species’ and would like them to be listed as ‘endangered’. The main reason for this is the growing habitat loss in Mexican forests, as well as the impacts of recent climate change and the presence of the
in the line to Venue, Kent Uni did well in celebrat ing the Covid-free era that was to follow (I don’t even want to think about how many VK’s were drunk and thrown back up again). With the sum mer ball to round off our amazing year, we all got our best dresses and suits on. Campus turned into a popup funfair with food, drink and even rides... but what struck me the most were how nice the toilets outside Venue were! They were better than 90% of campus accommodation. Looking back now, everybody was so busy enjoying Sigala, there was no time to even think about how we really were just dancing in the car park behind Co-op.
Many of us were able to get out of our comfort zone (aka our beds) and managed to establish meaningful friendships outside of our flats and houses last year. Hopefully the now second years and above were able to explore the quaint little city of Canterbury and the surrounding areas like the forests and beaches. In the summer, if you go to Botany Bay, it almost feels like you’re on holi day. Picture this, your hair is salty, a cold beer in hand and you’re reading one of Colleen Hoover’s books or one of my personal favourites: the alchemist… something about the sand and Spain seems fitting for Botany Bay on a hot day. You’re loving life, forgetting about all the uni stress… but then a child is screaming and throwing sand every where, so you quickly get pulled back to earth and realise, you are just in the UK. Oh well, I suppose you can’t have everything.
All in all, I’d say last year was a success, at least as far as socialising goes… for the academic side however, its every man for themselves, no matter how long you spend in Templeman on floor 1. A big shout out to anyone who gets serious work done there, the smell of McDonalds and hearing people’s drunk stories from the night before distracts me too much. If you’re looking for a space to be
From legal house parties to freezing your butt off
Image courtesy of Fatsoma
By Priya Hawes Features Editor
Image courtesy of Kent Online
The saying it’s not about where you are, it’s who you’re with seems fitting in this case.
The
alone and study, your best bet is the silent room, the dauntingly quiet area of the library as the name suggests. If you sit in there long enough, you’ll soon forget about how people can probably hear your breathing quicken as you realise you only have 18 hours left to complete your 3000-word essay worth 60% of your grade. For the freshers joining us this September, it can be scary at first but trust me, if you sit there long enough, you’ll produce something legible, eventually. Navigating your way through Templeman and campus is actu ally a lot harder than writing an academic essay. It’s a maze and half the time I still don’t know where I’m going. There are so many places to sit in the library but be warned, if you go in after 1pm during assignment season, be prepared to sit on the floor because there’s no chance of you getting a decent seat.
That’s enough about academia though, let’s move on to the main reason people go to uni: the par tying. One thing the newbies need to be aware of is the dreaded fresher’s flu. You haven’t done it right if you don’t have a horrible cough and prob able nausea for a while. It sounds uninviting, but trust me, it just sets the tone for the rest of year. You’ll end up bonding so much with your flatmates as you sit in your messy kitchen from the night before with a 1.5 litre bottle of iced tea (my per sonal remedy for a nasty hangover). Now, although it sounds like I’m pushing towards everyone drink ing, the decision is completely up to you. You can have just as much fun without alcohol, my point is to go out with flatmates, give everyone a chance and as the year goes by, you’ll start to wonder how you even lived your life without the people you
long seminar, where 10 minutes feels like an hour sounds terrifying, but somehow we all got through it. Looking back over last year, despite the walking and the long seminars, it wasn’t a complete disas ter, and was a pretty enjoyable year if you put your self out there a bit. With societies up and running again, this meant you could now find the space to do the downward dog instead of being cramped in your tiny little uni room looking at other people on a screen, or be able to play your sport again and represent Kent at Varsity.
" Many of us were able to get out of our comfort zones (aka our beds)" " Fresher's week everyone to have
oh so anticipated freshers’ week is vast approaching and it’s safe to say, many of us are very excited for it. Whether you’re a first year who is new on campus, or a fourth year who can’t wait to get the hell out of here, everyone who is part of team Kent is more than welcome to participate in the mega number of activities the university has planned for us this year. Before I get into it however, I’d like to recap the previous academic year.
Now that life has gone back to normal, it seems as though Covid is but a distant dream (or a fever dream). After a year of sitting at our desks on Zoom or even just lying in bed putting the lec ture on as back ground noise to fall back asleep (there’s no shame, we were all guilty of it at some point), we finally had in person classes. Though this was met less enthusiasm than expected… probably because it meant we had to actually get dressed and look presentable to walk up to cam pus (shoutout to Eliot footpath and St Stephen’s Hill, you will not be missed). Either way, it was good practice to put our social skills to the test, and let me tell you, tested they were. Having to do a presentation about something you had never even heard of the night before, in front of a large group of people who are physically in the room with you… or spending the day in a three-hour
Post-Covid, there's no reason not
16 Feature Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
one last piece of advice though, it’s this: Leave. Your. Room. It can be really draining having to social ise all the time so I understand that you don’t always feel like leaving the comfort of your fresher’splestickit.me,space,personalisedbuttrustitwillbeworthYoumightnotwiththepeoyoumeetatweek,but
they can lead you to others that might end up at your wedding. But before we start thinking that far into the future, think about getting through the first term. Fresher’s week is there for everyone to have fun, and you’ll be surprised about how openminded people are. Try out new activities even if it is just to pass the time. Remember, everyone are in the same boat and the older years were also once in that boat. If you need any help with anything
This brings me to my final point; what I most enjoy about Kent. Kent has a vibrant community, there’s no feeling of superiority or inferiority, as everyone is welcome. You’ll meet people from all over the world which will broaden your world view, have you eating things you never even heard of, or trying out completely new music styles and ultimately end up loving it. Get ready for so many chances to try out new hobbies and you might dis cover something you never thought you would like but now love. I can’t express enough how liberat ing university can be, even when it is hard work. You’ll go through challenging times like when your laptop deciding to crash on a Wednesday, when you have an assignment to submit by the follow ing Friday (I pray that doesn’t happen to you), but you’ll also have amazing times, like having a bar becue with your closest friends on your roof. It’s all give and take. For now, just look forward to fresh er’s and take it from there.
17 Feature InQuire Monday 19 September
see every day. Uni friendships are special, it’s important to stay with people you feel comforta ble with and learn from. Many people will prob ably feel like uni isn’t for them and they’ll want to drop out but just remember, that’s normal. Hold on to all the good times, because you need the bad to appreciate them. Before I start becoming all philosophical however, I realised I’ve only talked about the activities you can do when drinking. I apologise, my personality isn’t entirely about getting drunk (although I do love a good night out) so let’s move on to the many different things planned for those who don’t drink or just want something different to do. There are tie dye sessions, vintage clothing sales even speed friend ing. I can’t imagine the latter being a chilled environment if I’m being honest. I can just imagine it being awkward at the start, but who am I to judge? I’ve never even tried it, maybe I will this year, who knows. All these events can be found on www.hellokent. co.uk and from there you can pick out what interests you the most... they even have a cocktails and comedy night! Pretty nice if you ask me. If I can give you
2022now
there’s support from Kent Union, which is the stu dent-led union, so anything you’re going through, someone else probably can relate. There is no need to suffer in silence.
not to make the most of University
" Kent has a vibrant community, there's no feeling of superiority or inferiority" is there for have a good time"
week
Image courtesy of kent.ac.uk
Image courtesy of Dominic Mecko/Unsplash
if they are just sitting at home being taken care of by a loved one? They aren’t being exposed to a degree of normalcy, nor are they gaining any valuable skills, so being in this safe and inspiring environment, it allows people like Poppy to show society that even though they have a disability like down syndrome, they can work and be a valuable part of society like someone who is neurotypical (even more so often at times). It doesn’t just show society they are capable; it is also an extreme con fidence boost. Often people will surprise you if you give them a chance.Iasked Poppy alongside other staff such as Hollie, Tracey and Vanessa, what they like most about working at Lily’s and the answers were all pretty unani mous. ‘We look after each other, we’re one big family’. In a world where big corporations take over, the little man is often overlooked. We all know that the bigger the corporation, the easier it is to get lost in the system and ultimately just become a number. What I personally love about Lily’s is that there is kindness that shines through with the service, and as a result, the customers display manners and friendliness which for those who have worked in the hospitality industry will know that is sadly rarely the case. I’m not sure about you but I do find that people either don’t like the actual work or they don’t like the people they work with. It’s a
Zoe Rodda, the owner and founder of Lily’s social kitchen decided to open this space six years ago as there was nothing like it in Canterbury at the time. An amaz ing example of if there is nothing close to your heart that is represented, represent it. with social bite"
looked in our busy corporate lives. Tracey, the supervisor at Lily’s, displays such patience and kindness alongside other staff as well, you can’t help it rubbing off on you. We all need a Lily’s in our community, it might just teach us all a thing or two about showing kindness to those around you.
" Food
By Priya Hawes Features Editor
representrepresented,it."
Six years ago, a wonderful little café on Palace Street opened. If you know anything about Canterbury, you’ll know it is scattered with quaint little coffee shops that are all simply decorated. Well, Lily’s is no exception, from the small coffee tables outside to a very relaxed atmosphere from the moment you walk through the door. You’re probably wondering what is so special about Lily’s, so much so that I’m writing about it.
Lily's social kitchen
"If there is nothing close to your heart that is
Image courtesy of Lily's Social Kitchen/Tripadvisor
Well, the answer isn’t the simple yet delicious food or the brilliant coffees they make (although that is a plus), the answer is this: Lily’s is a social kitchen that focuses on employing people with learning disabil ities. I hadn’t really come across anything like this before, so it intrigued me when I saw the sign outside. I spoke to Poppy; the longest employee at the social kitchen who’s been there for four years now, to find out more about the establishment. Poppy works there four hours a week and does a bit of everything at the café. The train ees at Lily’s are put through training such as ‘Aqua’, where they learn all rounded, important skills such as learning what to do in the front of house area, making teas and coffees, alongside prepping salad boards and being a host to customers. As I sat there listening to Poppy, I realised they were shy at first, not really knowing what to say, but after letting them guide the con versation, I was able to pick out so much information hidden between them just having a chat with me. What surprised me was their willingness to ask for help if they didn’t know the answer to a question that I had, or simply wanted to make sure they gave the best answer. One of the biggest things I got from meeting Poppy was that it is the social side of work that gains their interest, because what good will it do them
Image courtesy of Priya Hawes
18 Feature Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
breath of fresh air to be able to hear how an establishment can allow employees to enjoy both their company and the work. They love being around each other so much so that when I asked if they share all the tips out, they gave an unexpected answer. They wait until they’ve gathered enough money to go out and do something together in their free time. Spending qual ity time together outside of work hours is one of the reasons why Lily’s is such a hit. This community doesn’t stop here, they have expanded to a new site in Singleton at the community village hall. Lily’s social kitchen is such an impor tant part of the commu nity in Canterbury, as without it we would have chain restaurant and cof fee shops lined up every where, and there’s no real way of feeling part of something when you’re surrounded by large companies. They bring an ounce of humanity back into the community, something that is over
For more on connecting with likeminded Margate-based creatives, check out the Margate Creatives Face book Group.
Inspiring, validating, and endlessly honest, Brené Brown’s newest podcast explores feelings of shame, vulnerabil ity and what it truly means to be a person. With a string of incred ible guests, Brené talks openly and unapologetically about connection and conflict, sharing her own mistakes and misconceptions with
good-natured humour. We learn more about Brené’s own academic research, as well as ideas brought to the table by guest writers, presenters, artists and more (Brené’s chats with Alicia Keys and Reese Witherspoon are particularly enlightening!). The first episode, Brené on FFTs, explores the universal diffi culty of doing anything new for the first time, a must-listen for freshers navigat ing the first weeks of university life.
ImagecourtesyofJukkaAalho/Unsplash
For a sneak-peek at some of stunning bits and bobs that can be found in the store, as well as more about the artists themselves, check out the store’s Insta gram page: @littlebitmargate.
Elsewhere is an independent record store, bar and small-scale music venue in the centre of Margate. With a 150-per son capacity down in the basement that hosts their intimate gig nights, it truly feels like a tight-knit community of likeminded musical creatives and fanatics. The store itself sells everything from records to books to apparel, and tickets to EP/album release shows and other gigs are relatively cheap, ranging from free to no more than £20.
From one-to-one wellbeing sessions, to small group workshops focusing on a range of arts and crafts (think needle work, mosaics, beading, and lots more). The gallery also hosts writing work shops for fellow writers and word-lov ers. It’s a great way to get a group of your creative friends together and bond over a session together!
Ranging from comedy and true crime to education and selfhelp, podcasts are an incred ibly diverse resource for both personal enjoyment and academic development during your time at University. The ease and accessibility provided by an audioonly medium make fitting podcasts into your day unexacting – perfect for com mutes, idle time between lectures, or as background noise for mindless tasks. If you’re not sure where to begin, here are some of the best podcasts to help you through this academic year, from fresh ers week to final exams and beyond.
Podcasts to Get You Through the Academic Year
19 Culture InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
The topics covered range from Dark Matter and The Science of Glass to Early Christian Martyrdom and The Dec adent Movement.
2014 onwards available on Spotify, go spend 45 minutes becoming an expert in any niche subject you can think of.
Unlocking Us with Brené Brown
Stuff to Blow Your Mind and Stuff Mom Never Told You.
Images courtesy of Brett Jordan/Unsplash
TED Talks Daily
Margate:
The Turner Contemporary, situ ated on the scenic Margate beachfront, is one of the UK’s leading art muse ums. After opening just 11 years ago, it has since become a hub of celebration for some of the brightest and best local artistic energy. With a revolving door of exhibitions and workshops, the gallery is truly diverse– ranging from showcas ing the art of the young people of Thanet to graduate awards, film, photography, sculpture, and more. The gift shop sup ports local artists, too, selling everything from colourful prints to funky t-shirts. With free entry into the gallery, Turner
You Can Sit With Us
Upcoming events include Pickled At Elsewhere: ‘a night of good peo ple dancing to house
In this well-known and highly-re garded podcast, the hilarious Ed Gam ble and make-believe waiter/maître d'/ genie(?) James Acaster invite celebrity guests into their magic restaurant to discuss their favourite foods and the laugh-out-loud funny anecdotes behind them. Often featuring guest comedians (though sometimes joined by scientists like Professor Brian Cox or chefs such as Jamie Oliver), these hour-long episodes are perfect for easy listening, morning commutes to uni, breaks between lec tures, or walks around Canterbury. Protip: listen with a snack, this one always makes me hungry.
Little Bit is a quaint little polychro matic store in the heart of Margate’s Old Town, Little Bit sells products curated by some of the most talented local art ists and makers. From ceramics cour tesy of Joe Rogers’ ‘Colourbox’ and ‘Playday Ceramic Studio’, to Mish and her ‘Bum Things’, or Sara Brown’s bold clothing pieces and homeware from her outlet named ‘Dolly Rocket,’ the store is home to a wide range of creative, con temporary artwork. I personally loved the unique candle holders and pots handmade by ‘Ponky Wots’ when I went to check out the store! Little Bit was started– and is still run by the lovely local Polly Chromatic, whose mission when she first opened was to immerse Margate in exuberance and excitement.
Apart from being a great way to expand your understand ing of our world, the breadth of subject matter makes this a useful resource for just about any essay or assignment you’re working on. With episodes from
this just isn’t feasible for a university lifestyle – which is why I was elated to discover the TED Talks Daily podcast. Listening to TED Talks on the way to and from classes, having them on in the background while cooking, or however else you can fit them into your day is a great way to explore new and interest ing perspectives and gain insight into ideas that could change your life for the better.
Image courtesy of Paul Gilbey/ Evening Standard
music’, as well as various album/EP release shows for different upcom ing artists. Make sure to visit the bar to get a taste of their signature brew beer before heading down to the base ment!The Carl Freedman Gallery con temporary art gallery founded in 2003, Carl Freedman is located next door to renowned autobiographical and confes sional artist Tracey Emin’s studio and home. Publishing small poetry antholo gies and other creative texts, the gallery also hosts various kinds of insightful panel discussions such as Ruby Rare’s ‘How To Be A Slut’, as well as conver sations with upcoming singer-songwrit ers, immersive exhibitions and more.
By Sophia Di Maida Culture Writer
Image courtesy of Yoanne Siloine/Unsplash
Funky Margate: An Art Guide
Violating Community Guidelines Stay up to date with all the weird and wonderful trends the internet grows with Violating Community Guidelines, a deep dive into internet oddities like TweetDecking, catfishing, and furries for those who are intrigued to learn more (or, for anyone wondering what any of that actually means). Hyster ical hosts Brittany Broski and Sarah Schauer helpfully break down these trends, providing clear and accessible explanations and often side-splitting examples– see: cringe thirst traps on TikTok and questionably stained cloth ing for sale on Facebook Marketplace? Apart from being amazingly enter taining background noise, crazy inter net stories make great icebreakers for freshers' week. Make some new friends by explaining the phenomenon that is influencer-boxing, or swapping slight
In Our Time
The Eclec tic Art Gal lery is an art gallery outthere as its name would suggest, the Eclectic Art Gallery boasts a range of exhibitions and events; it’s a well-known space where Kent-based artists and makers can showcase and sell their artwork. With (mostly free) events from photographic portrayals to book launches, poetry readings and meet-the-artist sessions, the Eclectic Art Gallery is the epitome of a wide-rang ing, all-inclusive creative space. What’s more, they also host a wide range of workshops for locals to get involved in!
Your new favourite girl gang – listen ing to Maggie, Becky and Ariel sit down and chat every week is immensely enter taining and oddly comforting (especially for those who have just moved away from close-knit friendship groups back home). Fans of 2014 Buzzfeed YouTube might recognise the names of the ‘Try Wives’, the significant others of (some of) the Try Guys: Keith Habersberger, Ned Fulmer and Zach Kornfeld. The Try Wives engage in real, authentic conver sations about everything from female friendships to childhood regrets, astrol ogy and self-care to presidential elec tions and COVID-19.
Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby! Ancient mythology for the uninitiated: Liv Albert casually and accessibly talks through the best, freakiest and funniest stories from Greek and Roman litera ture. A mix of casual story explanations, epic readings, and mini-myths, there’s something here for everyone (no matter how much time you have to listen). That being said, there is something about taking half an hour out of your day to cosy up and listen to a story– plus, Albert debunks misconceptions about common ancient myths, so you might
Contemporary is accessible for every one, and a must-see within our guide.
A Margate-based creative hub, Olby’s is a contemporary social space which is just a short-walk away from Turner Contemporary. With two recording studios, a soul café bar and restaurant, the venue is full of opportunities. Olby’s hosts all sorts of fun, soul-soothing live events, such as ‘The Social’ evenings where you can chat, drink, listen to music and dance, ‘Kent Film Makers’ short film screenings, and the return of the well-loved ‘Queer Cuntry’ LGBTQ+ and female safe evening (make sure you bring your best cowboy hat for this one!). With good, locally sourced food on their menu and a delicious cultural programme, Olby’s is the place to be.
The Tom Thumb Theatre: a thea tre as small as the fairy-tale character it is named after– and in fact one of the smallest thea tres in the world– Tom Thumb is a family run venue for emerging the atre makers, workshop
practitioners, musicians and comedi ans. With just a 50-person capacity, an evening here truly is a quirky, intimate experience like no other. Upcoming events include ‘Illustration Station’, a night of drinking, zine-swapping, draw ing and art-making, as well as spoken word performances by Luke Wright and new comedy show ‘Hag’ by Task master contestant, comedian and writer Sophie Duker. The little theatre has also recently introduced their very own eccentric, even littler ‘Fin Bar’ upstairs, serving unique and punchy cocktails–perfect for before or after (or before and after) an event!
Stuff You Should Know
Off-Menu
I personally would love to be the kind of person who can afford to take an hour out of their day semi-regularly to watch a TED talk, expand their knowledge of the world and get familiar with new, cut ting-edge ideas. However between lectures, society meetings, course work and nights out with friends
By Natasha Mather Culture Writer
a sun-soaked, glit tering, candy-coloured sea side town, a town less than an hour on the train from Canterbury. Known today as the unofficial ‘queer capital’ of Kent, Margate is full of artsy people, up and coming artists, and quirky, underground scenes. Many pro lific art names make their homes here, giving back to the city from exhibitions at the Turner Contemporary, to hosting local events. So, without further ado, let’s dive into the many oddities that Margate manifests. Whether you pre fer going to handmade stores or inti mate gig venues (or both), this creative coastal town has it all.
For those looking for something a lit tle more high-brow, BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time host Melvyn Bragg has been exploring ‘the history of ideas’ with expert, academic guests since 1998(!).
You’ve probably heard of HowStuff Works, the website known for provid ing clear, simple answers to weird and wacky questions typed furiously into the internet. Stuff You Should Know is one of several podcasts hosted by the collec tive, providing reliable, well-researched and interesting explanations for niche corners and misunderstood edges of the world. Think episodes debating the binary divide between introverts and extroverts, very important discussions on the origins of breakfast foods, explo rations into how freak shows worked and, perhaps most interesting, ‘why bowling is awesome’. If you’re strug gling to understand a topic in class, see if they’ve covered it in one of their 45-minute-long episodes. Alternatively, have a scroll through for any subject that piques your interest. If you end up loving Stuff You Should Know, check out the other HowStuffWorks podcasts too: Stuff You Missed in History Class,
MF: Settings from around the world are vividly presented, glint ing with synesthesia, in Milk Teeth. I understand you wrote the novel while actually living in Barcelona, pictures taken during your stay dreamily reminiscent of the final cover of your novel. Did you choose to spend time in the sun-kissed city to aid your work, or was a novel organically born out of a stay there?
JA: My first novel, Saltwater, is set in cold, industrial places and I wanted Milk Teeth to be sticky and humid. I moved to Barcelona to
protagonist- both her pain and her pleasure.
MF: How did you find your lived experiences manifesting them selves within the novel?
By Molly Field Culture Editor
Jessica Andrews on Milk Teeth, Saltwater and Her Time in Kent
Image courtesy of Vlad Deep/Unsplash
'I was too full. I was brimming with the possibility everything.of Other people's lives were carefully curated whereas I was a tan gled knot of all of the people and places I had ever wanted to be.'
Image courtesy of Richard Saker/The Observer
JA: I’m interested in the relation ship between fiction, memory and truth and I think that my work will always explore these boundaries in different ways. Readers often assume that an author is writing from their own experience, par ticularly if the author is a woman, and I’m interested in playing with that perception. Writing fiction allows you to be in control of the narrative which can be a powerful act, particularly if you are a person who doesn’t always feel in control of their own life.
MF: I first read Saltwater on a trip home from University; I was feeling displaced, forgettable and resentful towards my hometown. Something that particularly struck me was the vivid detail in which you described a particular form of English child hood; chicken dippers doused in ketchup, streaks of pink hair and stealing cigarettes from parents. It is a vividness I have never seen gifted to a part of my life I viewed as mundane; I felt the need to sob, get drunk, start university all over again, give my mum a hug, and move to a big city just to get over
Coated in thick covers of burnt orange and deep red, of hazy skylines and sticky fruit, both of author Jessica Andrews’ novels are vivid, intimate works I have fallen, completely and instinctively, in love with. Andrews’ most recent release Milk Teeth, a follow-up to her 2019 debut Portico Prize-win ning novel Saltwater, details the life of a girl raised in the north-east of England amid a culture of scar city, precarity and bodily shame. Later, across tiny rooms in London, Barcelona and Paris, the girl fights to create her own life- a life of allow ing oneself good things, of pleasure, of new romance, and of finally tak ing up the space she desires.
20 Culture Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
Inquire exclusively sat down with Andrews to discuss the chromatic, lyrical stories she spins, the way in which she finds herself and her upbringing manifesting itself within her work, and her old haunts and habits from her time as a crea tive writing MA student in Canter bury.
MF: You have a tendency to write in present tense, utilising second-per son narration. I found this a unique, intimate style- one I have begun to utilise within my own work. Why do you find yourself gravitating towards these techniques?
Molly Field: Jessica, congratula tions on the release of your second novel Milk Teeth. I devoured it in under a day. How does it feel to get this labour of love- a vivid work on the body, sensuality, identity, and femininity- out into the world?
JA: I initially began writing Milk Teeth in third person, but it didn’t come to life until I found the second person voice. I wanted it to be a very intimate book, which is partly why the main characters are unnamed. I wanted the reader to be inside their relationship and to experience the visceral bodily sensations of my
Jessica Andrews: Milk Teeth was a difficult book to write, for a few different reasons. I was writing across various lockdowns during the pandemic, when it was easy to lose sight of the importance of making work. I also found writing a second novel much more difficult than the first in that I had to answer complex questions for myself about what kind of writer I want to be. I lived in the claustrophobic world of this novel for a long time and it is a relief to send it out into the world. I hope it makes my readers feel hun gry and alive.
find time and space to write but the feverish pace of the city and the sur rounding beaches and mountains became part of the story. I wanted to write a visceral novel about food and the body and the lush, sensory landscape of Cataluña allowed me to heighten those details in my work.
21 Culture InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
London
from Spitalfields Market) regularly hosts cheap, intimate gigs with both renowned and emerging artists. Excitingly, these artists often visit the store as part of promotional tours for their new work, so it should be your first stop for collecting those bragging rights: ‘I knew this band before they were big, you know’. With signings almost always hosted after the performance, visit Rough Trade to see artists such as Jockstrap, The Ama zons, Nick Cave, and Easy Life.
By Molly Field Culture Editor
Image courtesy of Adam Swaine/Flickr
Canterburians can also access conces sion rates (as a student in full-time education) at
Theatres,
Anothereach!local cinema, our only other local cin ema, is the Curzon located in Westgate and in the newly-opened Riverside location (complete with authentic pizzeria). The retro-modelled cinemas really feel like experiences, and are complete with plush couches instead of the typical ass-numbing cinema seats. The tickets are, instinctively, pricey (as are the snacks), but a quick and free sign-up online can open up the Curzon for Canterbury students. With an under-25 membership, cine ma-goers can access tickets for £5 off-peak, 20% off snacks, 20% off all Curzon Home Cinema rent als and a free ‘welcome’ film on the platform, too!
With a one-minute sign-up, something I have just completed during research for this article, The Royal Shakespeare Company gifts a ‘key card’ to those aged 16 to 25. The free card, sent to your home in physical form (exciting!), allows the holder to buy £5 tickets to all performances, with upcoming shows including Richard III, My Neighbour Totoro, and Wars of Roses. Discounts are also granted at the RSC shop and restaurant.
cinemas, live-shows and gigs are not always the most accessible cultural experiences but, annoyingly, are often the most enjoyable one can have with new friends, old friends, housemates, classmates, first dates and even just yourself (a cinema trip for one is a musttick bucket list addition, trust me). While London is often pinned as the 'culture capital' of the UK, our own city of Canterbury, with over 40,000 students exploring its winding streets, is burst ing with culture to tear through. So, to honour our place in this city, many cultural institutions provide accessible prices and offers for us, the Canterbury students. Similarly, while a cultural excursion into London may instinctively appear entirely inaccessible, as students, we are luckily able to access a plethora of discounted tickets to the best shows in the country and, sometimes, even free tickets. As well as this, the twinkling capital helps foster local culture by often offering very reasonably priced events all year round, for everyone. With just the forty-minute train ride into the city to deal with (or the unpredictability of the UNI1 bus), here are my top tips for cracking open both the cultural scenes of Canterbury and
The Top Secret Comedy Club, while not so secret anymore due to its overleaping success, is the comedy-goers dream for cheap ways into seeing big UK names, as well as emerging local talents. Set in an excitingly dim-lit basement, the venue hosts comedy afternoons and evenings multiple times a week, with tickets
Image courtesy of Hélène Binet/e-architect
If comedy is more your thing, the circuit in Canterbury is bustling - seamlessly blending emerging local talents with well-known, preva lent comedians. For the former, the University of Kent’s Stand-Up society hosts a hilarious monthly Stand-Up on the Stour performance at the Moor ing Cafe; a night of student comedians trying out fresh material complete with discounted drinks and free entry. If you’re in search of the latter, The Ballroom hosts semi-regular comedy nights under the twinkling glitz of its decor: Sun day Road Comedy Club. Past acts have included renowned names like Lou Sanders and Ed Gam ble so, for £10 a ticket, the gigs are cheaper ways into seeing your favourite TV comedians.
lively theatre available to us in Canterbury is The Gulbenkian, situated on the university campus itself. For only £5 a year, students can access 20% off film (ranging from timeless classics to newly-released blockbusters), 40% off selected theatre (including exciting new work like the upcoming Pussy Riot: Riot Days as well as old favourites like Legally Blonde), and 10% off everything in the on-site cafe and bar. As well as this, every Tuesday, the venue hosts ‘2For Tuesdays’, through which students can grab two cinema tickets for the price of one, making each ticket £3
The Marlowe is Canterbury’s biggest and most reputable theatre, sitting pretty on the riverside in the heart of the town centre. With a diverse range of programming, a visit to The Marlowe can range drastically from a visit from the Philharmo nia Orchestra expertly performing the music of Harry Potter, to a night with Jon Richardson as you clutch your stomach in one hand, with a beer in the other, or remaining in awe as Les Misera bles unfolds dramatically before you. The theatre offers ‘discovery tickets’, promising a selection of the best seats at each performance to 16-26 year olds for only £10. Only an online account is
Set amidst the impressive, brutalist architec ture that brought it to fame, the Barbican Theatre hosts a continual, exciting programme showcas ing local artists, playwrights, makers and crea tives. Their accessibility scheme for 14-25 year olds offers 50,000 tickets each year across art,
Declassifying Culture: Canterbury and London
As for our twinkling capital, one of my favourite institutions in the city, the Almeida, is incredibly kind to any under-25s hungry for new, exciting theatre. With a quick, easy, free online sign-up, we can access £5 tickets to every production at the theatre, with upcoming shows including Elton John’s new musical Tammy (starring Broadway veteran Andrew Rannels), A Streetcar Named Desire (starring Normal People star Paul Mes cal), and book-adaptation The Secret Life of Bees (the new musical from my favourite composer Duncan Sheik of Spring Awakening fame). Addi tionally, for each new performance, the site hosts a solely U-25 performance, with all tickets being free. Working on a first-come, first-serve basis, I recommend signing up to the newsletter ASAP to get in with a chance of a very cheap, high-quality night out in London.
Do you have a passion for culture and an interest in journalism? You should (most probably) join our friendly team of culture writers at Inquire! Develop your writing skills and gain a role that will look great on future CVs. No experience needed! Get in touch with our Culture Editor Molly Field at culture@inquiremedia.org
narrative.Bothproperties share a common flaw and challenge, how to make us care. How does an epic story about a world-ending threat or a fami ly-ending war establish stakes when we already know how both stories end? For diehard fans, simply being in those worlds again might be enough but to be truly successful, these shows need to be more than that. This common flaw plus the mountain of similarities between these shows on paper means that the true winner of this popularity contest will be decided by the little things. Which secondary characters that we’ve never heard of before are we going to care about, and whose relationships are we going to become invested in? Which show will have small moments between the spectacle that touches people, that they can’t stop talking about, little quirks that make their way into our hearts. What will keep us coming back every week? Given that all else is equal, if either show is
The film's plot is fairly straightfor ward; several assassins end up on a Japanese bullet train together and are forced to face each other in one way or another. No complaints here, as a film that is so action and humour centred doesn’t need an extensive and thorough plotline. Brad Pitt portrays 'Ladybug', the assassin on which the film's story line pivots. Not only does Pitt yet again prove himself to be one of the masters of cinematic action, but also of comedic timing. He's hilarious in this film, mix ing the goofiness of Chris Hemsworth's Thor with the quips of Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool. Aaron Taylor Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry and Joey King were
Image courtesy of Sony Pictures
200mph train journey? If I had to sum marise Bullet Train in one sentence, it could be described as what may result from Edgar Wright and Quentin Taran tino agreeing to make a film together, on the mandatory condition that it was full of Thomas the Tank Engine jokes.
society simply because it’s maintained the status quo of being focussed solely on white men. However, it seems that attempts to remedy the inequality only go so far, as the central character in both shows is a white woman. So while the cast looks more diverse, it seems neither show was willing to have a per son of colour at the centre of their
By Rhona Lonergan Entertainment Editor
Reanimating fan favourites: can the magic berecaptured or does dragon fire not spark twice?
By Gareth Griffiths Entertainment Writer
What do you get if you cross the slick action of John Wick, the comedic timing of Dead pool, and the fastest train in the world?
between the two properties cannot be ignored. Just as dragon riders Rhae nyra and Aegon II will war over the throne in HotD, so too will RoP and HotD be embroiled in a ‘Dance of the Dragons’ of their own.
Image courtesy of Sony Pictures
Bullet Train excels, mostly because it appeals to both the casual and seri ous moviegoer. Its unique and accessi ble premise topped with its quip-filled humour make it an easily enjoyable summer film, but its meticulously sleek filmmaking style makes it stand out as a thoroughly enjoyable action film worthy of the John Wick hall of fame. It is a film about both good and bad luck, and about fate. Is it fate that decides who lives and who dies? Is it fate or skill which allows characters to survive? As Brad Pitt's Ladybug says, 'fate is just bad luck'. The film addresses these types of conundrums in interesting ways, and makes you question whether there even are such things as fate
Image courtesy of Hit Entertainment
No, not a bad dad joke, but Deadpool director David Leitch's action-comedy film Bullet Train. This film is exactly what it sets out to be, a (literal) bul let train which takes you at breakneck speed through its humour, violence, and action. This style of filmmaking matches the engaging cinematic energy of the Deadpool films, but with a unique setting and premise. What else would you expect when you place nearly a dozen deadly assassins together on the world's first high-speed train line?
Watch Bullet Train in cinemas now.
Bullet Train: Move over Thomas, there's a new No.1 train in town
22 Entertainment Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
each treats that material as well as their preceding screen adaptations. Will they seek success by sticking closely to the feel and content of the original material and will this result in happy nostalgic feelings for people, or will it feel deriva tive? Will they stray and try something new, banking on the established street
cred of their source encouraging people to give it a chance.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available now on Ama zon Prime, whilst House of the Dragon is available on Sky Atlan tic and NOW TV.
The cast and premise of the film are at the forefront of what make it a summer must-watch, but it's the little things that make this film standout. The little plot details that eagle-eyed moviegoers will notice which are later paid off, the tight camerawork, and gorgeously colourful lighting on each of the different train carriages and stations all add to the vis ceral, exciting energy that Leitch pulls off. The film introduces each assas sin with colourful neon lettering also dubbed in Japanese, creating a sleek, almost comic book feel to the film's punctilious energy. The only times we aren't on the bullet train are when the film provides flashbacks to char acters’ past, which are brief enough to not take us out of the fun of the train, but just enough to weave the plot together. Thanks to the striking variety of coloured lighting and slick
Another similarity is that the events in both RoP and HotD are based on book source materials. This bodes well for both properties as they draw from the same well that brought initial popu larity. It will be interesting to see how
Development of RoP and HotD may have devolved into an arms race for who spent the most money, or the best CGI, or the biggest spectacle, but at the end of the day, my opinion is that the win ner will be made in the small moments. In the things that tug at our hearts and make us care. The winner will not be the most breathtaking spectacle, it will be the one with the most heart.
Both shows appear self-aware of the lack of diversity in the original source material, and appear to be seeking to rectify this issue. This thankfully means that one won’t be held in higher regard and backed by certain sectors of
Images courtesy of Amazon and HBO
camerawork, the film truly convinces its audience that we are on the bullet train with the assassins experiencing the mayhem first hand.
much more successful than the other then the next few weeks will neatly lay out the dos and don’ts of prequel suc cess, because I already know that the answer to that question is never how much money was spent. Who knows, this experience may just help Holly wood learn that lesson too.
also standouts, portraying assassins 'Tangerine', 'Lemon', and 'The Prince' respectively. Tangerine and Lemon were effectively a British gangster com edy duo, constantly arguing over Lem on's unusual obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine, which was hilariously ironic given the film's setting. Joey King's 'The Prince' was a no-nonsense assassin posing as an innocent school girl, who could seamlessly slip between the two. Being set in Japan, the film also boasted several Japanese actors, namely Andrew Koji as 'The Father' and the legendary Hiroyuki Sanada as 'The Elder' who polished the film's razorsharp slickness with their cut-throat Katana action. There are even a few surprise cameos along the way, which make you laugh purely at the fact that said actors agreed to take part in such a ridiculously entertaining film.
Absolutely no one can com plain about a lack of content in the post-Covid TV landscape, and that doesn’t look set to change as we ride into autumn on the backs of two huge franchise dragons, Rings of Power (RoP) and House of the Dragon (HotD). Both are prequels for argua bly the two biggest fantasy works that shape modern fiction, Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones respectively, and so the hype (and the trail of money) leading up to the release of both shows was massive before one frame had even been viewed. Essentially being released in parallel invites extra comparison and competition between the two shows and
This real world battle gives us a unique opportunity to look beyond the simple question of which is better and instead use them as a case study of how to successfully (or not) continue legacies that loom as large as Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. It’s been tried many times before. Peo ple in Hollywood think a sequel or prequel to a popular prop erty is a slam dunk, a home run. Only for those follow-on stories to flop when they com pletely ignore and neglect what made people love the original property. Although this gamble occasionally pays off (Top Gun: dominated at the cin ema this summer), more often the attempt to recapture past glory only results in disappoint ment and anger (Star Wars, Space Fuller House).
Image courtesy of Sony Pictures
You using Joan Jett's ‘Bad Repu tation’ to incite title character Kat's rebellious nature, to comedy horror Zombieland of zombie antics to Metallica's ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, ‘80s rock seems to boost a film's sense of chaotic fun. It ensures an audience knows a film doesn't take itself too seriously in all the right ways.
Beabadoobee: from Trending on Tik Tokto Top Four in the Charts
The following song, which I love, 'tinkerbell is overrated' features another iconic female London artist and friend, PinkPantheress. Their voices blend effort lessly, and Bea has said that it was fitting that she chose someone close to her for this song: ‘I can’t pretend when I’m with my closest friends’.
while she was taking shrooms, the first song seems self-explanatory and starts Beatopia on a (literal) high. After the cozy and intimate '10:36', comes one of the best songs on the album: 'Sunny day'. The music video for this track alone is enough to give strong nostal
The final track, 'You're Here That's the Thing', ends the album on a soft and simple love song, reminiscent of her ear
Beatopia is a euphoric and innerchild-healing journey through both herself, and her experiences of love. It’s a perfect escape from the stress of 2022.
By Gareth Griffiths Entertainment Writer
Image courtesy of Jordan Curtis Hughes/ Popspoken Image courtesy of Pitchfork
From 1999's 1
Image courtesy of Amazon
Beatopia started as a fantasy utopia created by seven-yearold Beatrice Laus. The album art features parts of this fantasy world which she made as an escape for herself in early school life. She speaks in inter views of often feeling like an outsider in her childhood, being one of the few Filipina girls in her Catholic school, and her music touches on the self-esteem issues and feelings of isolation that this caused.Herrise to fame started with the 2020 Tik Tok sensation ‘Coffee’, featuring sweet and romantic lyrics about her ex-boyfriend. A few years later, Beaba doobee (Laus’ stage name) has created this incredible album on self-accept ance and love using a wide variety of genres and collaborations. Listening to this album was a nostalgic experience as someone also born in the early 00s, and the whole album oozes vibes from 2006.The album starts with 'Beatopia Cult song', a meditative and dreamy track which repeats the lyrics 'is it me or recently time is moving slowly?'. After admitting a lot of the album was written
The heavy drum track layered over this adds elements from PinkPan theress’ hypnotic pop/ jungle style.
whole parade dancing to the sound of Paul, John, George and Ringo. The energetic, yet edgy rock of the ‘70s however tends to be used to make gra tuitous scenes more enjoyable. Take Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1973 rock song ‘Free Bird’ in 2014's Kingsman: The Secret Service, which perfectly captures the slick yet
There's something delightfully nostalgic about watching a gratu itous fight scene to Bonnie Tyler's 1984 hit 'Holding out for a Hero', or a tense dance off between two groups of super humans to Kenny Loggins's
If you like this, you might like: PinkPantheress, Men I Trust, Clairo, Alice Phoebe Lou.
By Isobel Logie Entertainment Writer
Image courtesy of Marvel Entertainment
violent energy of Colin Firth murdering a group of brainwashed churchgoers. The increasing use of synthesisers and electrical experimentation combined with classic rock instruments in the ‘80s provided film soundtracks with the foot-tapping, cathartic energy of the ‘60s, but also the enjoyable edginess of the ‘70s. It therefore seems that ‘80s music effectively merges these two energies together. Even the vast diversity of ‘90s music means it tends to be used to capture different vibes in film. Known best for its cheesy Britney Spears, edgy Nirvana rock, or hard-hitting gangster rap, all of which have their own unique effect in film, but don't
excursion through the history of pop music in film.
song is the more vanilla (but still enjoyable), 'Pictures of Us'. The lyr ics seem slightly uncharacteristic of Beabadoobee, which may be due to it being co-written with the talented Matt Healy, the frontman of The 1975 who sings alongside her on the track. The next, ‘Fairy Song’, is a change of pace from her affectionate and airy vocals to a more pop-punk sound.
Why are modern day films and TV obsessed withpopular '80s music?
Why do films use ‘80s music specif ically? Pop music from the ‘60s and ‘70s is also often used in film, but they don't quite capture the same vibe. ‘60s music in film tends to be used for more pure, cathartic energy with that raw guitar-bassdrum sound. Ironically one of the best examples is The Beatles' ‘Twist and Shout’ in
songs in those films are of the ‘80s, but it seems overlaying a tense fight scene with some retro beats was the perfect way to capture the comical, vivacious energy of happy-go-lucky superhero characters. Even more mature superhero content, such as and The Umbrella Acad emy series has used ‘80s pop music in some scenes to capture it's hyper violent and sexual energy. What better way to capture this energy than with music from a time where the world
The pop musical energy of the 1980s is most often captured in fun, fast-paced flicks which don't take themselves too seriously. A prime example that has excelled at using a retro soundtrack to capture this energy is the Guardians of the Galaxy series. Granted, not all of the
courtesyImage FoxCentury20thof
gic effect as Kenny Loggins, TOTO or BonThanksJovi. to mod ern day film and TV, the 1980s have come to be appre ciated by a younger audience who aren't quite old
23 Entertainment InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
foot-tapping 'Footloose' (both coinci dentally recorded for the soundtrack to the film Footloose). The 1980s blessed pop culture with a colourful variety of both music and film and, aside from the fashion and various Pepsi and Coke ads, this vibrant synergy of music and film has become synonymous with the decade. Ever since films such as Foot loose, cinema has continued to pepper soundtracks with the most popular 80s hits. But why has this tradition contin ued for so long? And why have films always gone back to ‘80s music rather than use the most popular contempo rary music? The answers to these ques tions can be gained from a delightful
enough to have experienced the dec ade first hand. Given the huge revival recently in the popularity of songs such as Kate Bush's ‘Running Up That Hill’ thanks to Stranger Things (which saw a staggering 9,900% streaming boost on Spotify) and Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine thanks to Thor: Love and Thunder, love of the ‘80s shows no signs of stopping. Who would have thought a decade could invoke such a unique sense of nostalgia for those that hadn't even experienced it first time around? The ‘80s were a wonderfully simpler time with the coolest gadgets, cheesiest special effects, no internet spoilers, and enough funky synth tunes to keep Kevin Bacon dancing for dec ades to come.
of love. Budgen has been a big part of Beabadoobee’s musical development, and the two are closely bonded. His gui tar playing is well-suited for the warm and personal music that they create. Next comes bossa-nova inspired ‘the perfect pair’. Like ‘Sunny day’, this track
lier songs like 'Coffee'. It features lots of rhyming and sweet-sounding lyrics, ending the album on a fuzzy note.
Image courtesy of Netflix
was more carefree and fun loving? ‘80s rock has trickled its way into Romcoms, coming-of-age films, and even horror.
Tick, tick.....Boom! is now availa ble to stream on Netflix.
MTV/Paramount Global
an eerily accurate prediction of where the world was heading through the media crazed world created in Lar son’s first musical Superbia. TTB is also an interesting look at the lives art ists must live, the sacrifices they have to make and the constant uncer tainty they face in order to even have a chance of doing what they love. All these grand, large-scale ideas are tempered and balanced by the deeply individual yet relatable fear of not matter ing, not making a difference in the
Tick, tick… Boom! explodes to life as anemotional tribute to a Broadway legend
Tick, tick… Boom! is an adaptation of the roughly autobiographical musical originally written by Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield) about his strug gles as an artist and the creation of his first musical Superbia (which was unsuccessful) before he then went on to write Rent, the musical which won him innumerable posthumous awards even though he died the day before it opened. Confused? Don’t worry, this adaptation manages to navigate this potentially overwhelming meta context with an elegance and grace that right fully places the focus on Jon, best friend Michael (Robin de Jesús) and girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp) in 1990’s NYC.
MTV’s Artist of the Year went to Bad Bunny who is the first non-English lan guage and only the second latinx artist to receive this award, while Billie Eil ish’s primarily downbeat, genre-span ning ‘Happier Than Ever’ won Song of theTheYear.historical Video Vanguard Award, named after the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, was awarded to Nicki Minaj this year. She follows in the footsteps of the award’s first recipient David Bowie and its first female recipient Madonna, back in
Garfield is on a whole other level. He is electric, filled to the brim with energy, empathy, selfishness, passion, despair, self-doubt and love. Side by side videos showing Garfield and Larson perform ing the same songs show the uncanny level to which Garfield is able to embody Larson. You can feel his commitment to the character and the role, plus his singing is incredible, especially for someone who previously had no sing ing credits to his name.
Be
If you missed TTB the first time around, make sure you make time for it as soon as possible. No one’s life should be without the toe tapping, heartfelt soundtrack of Tick, tick.....Boom. A tragically beautiful love letter to Jona than Larson, the legacy he left behind him, and the industry that he changed forever.
On
The frenetic pace of the movie at times can leave you dazed. I wept through the credits and wasn’t even completely sure why.Vanessa Hudgens (Karessa) is unrecognisable and an outstanding talent, it’s clear that High ingpromisofningbeginthewasMusicalSchoolonlyveryhercareer.
Former Disney Channel star Dove Cameron deserv edly won Best New Artist after both successes in new singles; ‘Boyfriend’, which topped the Billboard 100 for 24 weeks, and ‘Breakfast’. In genre category awards, Best Rock went to 80s band Red Hot Chilli Peppers for ‘Black Summer’ and Italian glam-rock band Måne skin won Best Alter native for ‘I Wanna
after astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s monu mental Apollo 11 Moonwalk and the symbol of the VMAs for 40 years- after a long and public trial with ex-wife AmberHostedHeard.inNew Jersey's Pru dential Center, K-pop girl group Black pink secured their first ever US awards show performance with latest single, ‘Pink Venom’. Fans online were excited to have spotted Taylor Swift and Dylan O’Brien vibing to the performance in the crowd. Later, the group’s rapper, Lisa, made history by winning Best
Your Slave’. They also performed this year but were briefly censored by MTV’s Live Broadcast when bassist Victoria De Angelis’ glitter top fell off her shoulder and exposed a silver tape-covered nip ple. This then sparked further debate online about gender norms and ‘free the nipple’ campaigns. Despite that, the band didn’t fail to prove the phrase, ‘the show must go on!’.
August 28th, this year’s MTV Video Music Awards started off with an opening perfor mance from America’s rising rapper Jack Harlow, who was quickly joined by Fergie, former singer of the 2000s pop-rap group, The Black Eyed Peas. This marked her first live performance in the last four years. No one should be surprised that controversy followed Johnny Depp’s appearance as a holo gram on MTV’s Moon Man- modelled
Andrew Garfield’s best actor Oscar nomination was no surprise fol
There was no shortage of movie musicals in 2021, with much anticipated films such as Dear Evan Hansen, In the Heights and West Side Story all coming out to mixed reviews and success. Until suddenly, out of the suitably dramatic dry ice mist appeared Tick, tick... Boom!, the dark horse of this category. Blessed with both positive critical and popular opin ion, Tick, tick... Boom! entered 2022 with strong award season buzz.
Taylor Swift won Video of the Year for her rerecorded 10-min ute-long version of ‘All Too Well’ (originally from her album)– which featured Netflix’s star Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien of . During her speech, the songwriter took the oppor tunity to surprise fans with the announcement of her 10th studio album titled Midnights will be released on October 21st.Though Harry Styles’ absence was felt, his 13-track long album, Har ry’s House won Album of the Year, beating out art ists such as Adele, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny, and Drake. On top of that, his TikTok viral single, ‘As It Was’ bagged Best Pop and Best Cinematography for its music video.
lowing on from his win at the Golden Globes. TTB may have also stood a chance in the adapted screenplay and director categories any other year, but unfortunately was overlooked on this occasion
maybe he was responsible for this, but the movie makes it clear that Larson himself deserves sole credit, with the soundtrack only featuring songs com posed byDon'thim. be concerned if you, like me, have not seen Rent or don't have an encyclopae dic knowledge of the Broadway scene. At most a few cameos may pass unnoticed but it is definitely not necessary for full enjoyment of theTTBmovie.is full thesuchthesocialheart-breakingofcommentaryonworldasitwasthen,asthehumancostofAIDSepidemic,butalso
Lin-Manuel Miranda makes a very success ful directorial debut, proving once again that there is almost nothing that he cannot do.
manages to be dev astating, joyful, heart wrench ing and hope ful theandthroughoutoftenatsametime.
Images courtesy of Netflix courtesy of
24 Entertainment Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
By Laurice Janielle Lifestyle Editor
world before you leave it, a philosophi cal terror that drove Larson. This fear is beautifully underpinned in the opening number ‘30/90’, as Larson despairs at his perceived lack of achievement as the clock ticks towards his 30th birthday. However, TTB allows time for light and laughter amongst these poten tially overwhelmingly depressive sub jects. The movie hums along thanks to Garfield’s manic energy, rushing onwards and building in a frenzied cre scendo towards its beautifully woven, tear-jerking climax and its final song which leaves us with love and hope for the future.
Images
By Rhona Lonergan Entertainment Editor
Walking You Through The 2022 VMAs
due to strong com petition this year, especially in adapted screenplay. What would have been considered a complete underdog movie before its release held its own throughout the award season, and while Garfield didn’t bring home the Best Actor trophy (despite being thor oughly deserved) this time around, I have no doubt that it is only a matter ofUnsurprisingly,time. the music in TTB is top tier with catchy melodies that will stick in your brain and clever, emo tional refrains that remain fresh even after multiple revisits. Every song in this soundtrack is expressive and dynamic, sweeping you along in its undeniable wake. Considering Miran da’s involvement with the project, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that
K-Pop, which was awarded to a solo artist for the first time
Riot use performance art to rebel against the Russian regime, and often stage unauthorized, provoca tive guerrilla gigs in public places, which are filmed and posted on the internet as music videos.
Riot Days show is produced by Alexander Cheparukhin and directed by Yury Muravitsky – one of the leading Russian theatre directors, now the artistic director of legend ary Taganka Theatre in Moscow. The show is an innovative combination of live music, theatre and video.
Riot Days has toured all over the world, it gave more than 200 per formances in most of Europe, USA, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. The project has received prestigious international awards, including Her ald Angel Award and Total Theatre Award of Edinburgh Festivals.
Image Courtesy of Claude Vanheye
Pussy Riot will perform Riot Days nightly at 7.30pm from Weds 21 to Sat 24 Sept.
Never more relevant than now, the world’s best-known activ ists bring their worldwide smash hit Riot Days to Gulbenkian Arts Centre, Canterbury.
25
Pussy Riot Bring International Protest Performance Riot Days to Canterbury
It’s a personal story of Alyokhina as a member of Pussy Riot: actions in Red Square and the Cathedral, arrest, court, prison. The content of
The group kick off the new Arts Centre 2022/23 season with a 10-day-long residency, including live gigs, workshops and broadcasts.
Gulbenkian
the show changes frequently. It adds new episodes and new songs. The prosecution of political prisoners, Russian aggression against Ukraine, all this is reflected in the project.
Since forming in 2011, this iconic Russian feminist punk rock perfor mance art collective are a powerful force for protest, on themes includ ing feminism, LGBT rights and oppo sition to Vladimir Putin. In the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine, they find themselves more relevant and vital than ever.
Pussy Riot gained global notoriety when three members of the group were imprisoned for ‘hooliganism motivated by religious hatred’ for their performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Known for their staunch opposition to Putin and authoritarianism, Pussy
InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
Tickets cost £18, or £10 for stu dents.
We
Down: 2 Leeds, 3 Interns, 4 Grass, 5 Seminar, 6 Amuse, 7 Trebled, 12 Fresher, 13 Festive, 14 Angered, 16 Essay, 17 Dream, 18 Extra.
26 InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
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27InQuire Monday 19 September 2022 Inquire Join Us! We hold meetings every Monday at 6:15 in the SMC, above The Venue Alternatively, email editor@inquiremedia.org, or DM our Instagram @InquireKent for more information No experience is needed, just get in contact, and we'll guide you on your InQuire journey! Do you have a passion for writing and good, fair journalism? We currently have applications for correspondent positions open in the following categories: Develop your writing skills and gain a role that will look great on future CVs Local affairs FilmClimatePoliticsandTVMusicGamingTheatreLiterature Business & Women'sTechnologyFashionFinanceFoodArtScienceCultureIssues Or just start as a writer and take it from there! We are also looking for Photographers, Designers, Illustrators, Event Planners, and Content Creators to join our Media and Marketing team We are also looking for a Director of Photography and a Director of Design If you are interested in any of these roles, please send a manifesto to editor@inquiremedia.org
Top Signs you're addicted to lunch
‘We found that a staggering majority of gamblers that chose not to continue wagering money in a game of chance would have, in fact, hit the big one on their next
By Brie Rosemary Recovering Lunch Addict
When I think of Lunch I become strong.
By Yuan Bet Casino Owner
Image courtesy PIRO4D/Pixabayof
The first thing I do when I wake up is scream ‘it’s 11:59 somewhere!’ and immediately begin consuming my Lunch- the Between Meal.
song is ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’ by Stealers Wheel because it is the human equivalent of OneLunch.time
The study that analysed data from many casinos, including London’s Hippodrome Casino, showed that the moment most gamblers become exasperated and desper ate is exactly when they should rinse their savings accounts, pawn off family heir looms, or take out a substantial loan.
Honoré de Balzac, The Magic Skin
I believe that Eoin the Distorted, the inventor of the Darkmeal that is dinner, is faster on all fours than most can sprint.
Lead researcher, Cash Winkle man of Lewis & Clark College, con firmed that 87% of gamblers opted out of further games of poker, black jack, roulette, slot machines and other games of chance when they were just one bet away from striking rich and winning an enormous fortune.
‘The payoff is absolutely tremen dous. These guys are all walking away right when they stand to make millions - don’t they want to be rich?’
"
try’ said Winkelman, following his analysis of 800 casual to heavy gamblers in varying casinos.
I woke up to find the love of my life had brought me Breakfast in bed, therefore I had no choice but to banish them to the Realm of Bad News for eternity.
I refuse to consume Breakfast because of the Harbinger of Break fast known as the Breakfast Ban dit, a villainous fiend and secret offspring of Margaret Thatcher, who robs the innocent people that fall for his tempting and albeit scrumptious looking breakfast pas tries of their souls.
new study in the Financial Journal claims a majority of gam blers leave the table right before hitting the jackpot.
Monday 20 September 2021 InQuire Satire 28
I hate that when the Lunch lovers want to eat Lunch, the Breakfast Bandit and his Breakfast Brigade of Morning Cakes make them chow down on Breakfast instead.
ing,tisticallytoblerssaid:win,jack‘Gamneedrealise,staspeakthattheodds
Michael Obermayer, a gambler that retired at 29 following a $10 million black
My thoughts are consumed by
A
I frequently eat Lunch.
Every day the ghost of Abraham Lincoln appears to me in all his wise radiance and says to me, ‘My friend, an evil vampire from a cen tury ago has returned to conquer the world and is threatening your mother’s life. You must journey to Egypt and destroy him immedi ately!’ I say to him, ‘Please be quiet. Can you not see that I am prepar ing to devour Lunch, the greatest of all meals?’
Whenever I read a piece of paper that says ‘Eoin the Distorted, serv ant of the Darkmeal, wears only turquoise shorts’ I nod at the piece of paper and say ‘Of course he does’.
I feel safe knowing I exist in the same universe as Lunch.
When I think of Lunch I say ‘Ah ha! Yes! Very good! Nice!’
Image courtesy of Sander Dalhuisen/Unsplash
Why87%ofgamblers quit beforetheywinbig
are overwhelmingly in their favour - the fear of going bust is ‘Gamblersabsurd’.can make up to 2000% in profits, but only stand to lose 100% of their savings’.
The University of Kent does not con done gambling of any kind.
I
Lunch was invented by the Lunch Lord during the Dark Ages- and I deeply love him.
n the beginning, there were only two meals. The first was Breakfast, a miserable meal that made everyone hate their mornings. As the night crept forward, so did Dinner- the Darkmeal. The Darkmeal is a foul and impure abomination that corrupted evenings for centuries. But then, one day, nestled between Breakfast and the Dark meal was a small glimmer of hope- a momentous and fantastic event. It was Lunch! The Middle Meal and Food From Between was brought to us in our time of need, separating us from the misery of Breakfast and Darkmeal for a few sweet hours. If any of the following applies to you, then you too may be addicted to Lunch!
I sometimes stand in between two people just because it makes me feel like Lunch- the Between Meal.
MyLunch.favourite
‘Most shockingly, we found this was equally true for beginners that quit imme diately at the slot machines after their very first time in a casino and the big spenders giving up on high stakes games to avoid financialWinklemanruin’.stressed that there is signifi cant evidence that players win 100% of the time when ignoring concerns about accru ing insurmountable debt and instead con tinuing to bet.
Then you can admire thereal gambler, who has neither eaten, slept, thoughtnor lived, he has so smarted under the scourge of hismartingale, so suffered onthe rack of his desire for a coup at trente-et-quarante
4
A MANIFESTO ON THE STRUGGLES OF BEING A SIGMA IN A BETA-DOMINATED WORLD
You bump into Elon Musk on the street and he offers you £1 billion to swing across some nearby monkey bars.
M
7
29 Satire InQuire Monday 20 September 2021
You try to twist open a doorknob but your hands are too greasy to get a good enough grip.
dash to a public bathroom to rinse your hands. When you return, the record is gone. You ask the owner of the store if it’s still here and he says, ‘I’m afraid a gentleman with incredibly smooth, yet greaseless, hands just purchased that record.’ He added, ‘I’m sure it was the last of its kind!’
5
You are offered a tray of delicious finger foods from a world-renowned chef. They will be deeply offended if you even consider try ing them with any kind of utensil.
9
OF THE HIERARCHY. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT OTHERS (ALL OF WHOM ARE, OF COURSE, INFERIOR IN EVERY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM).
You must juggle several knives at once - not only are your hands slippery, but you don’t know how to juggle at all.
Your long-lost love returns after many years. Caress my face tenderly, run your hands through my hair, gently touch your greaseless finger to my lipsand if you do not do these things immediately then I will have no choice but to assume you do not want me anymore. You try to explain that you had just applied moisturiser, but they refuse to listen. ‘Always making excuses! I was a fool to think you could ever have changed.’ As they leave, slamming the door, you try to go after them. However, once again, your hands are too slippery to turn the doorknob. A single tear rolls down your cheek before begin to start crying uncontrol lably. You try to wipe away the tears, but in doing so you get moisturiser in your eye, making the crying even worse. It really stings.
A celebrity whom you have the utmost respect for appears in a puff of smoke and says, ‘I’m here because I want to shake your hand.’ As they extend their palm towards you with a warm smile, they add, ‘I sure hope those hands aren’t unusually slimy in any way, because if that were the case I would assume you were a sweaty weirdo, and without giving you a chance to explain yourself I would leave and tell my equally famous friends about how shamefully greasy and weird you are’.
ANKIND IS NATURALLY DIVIDED INTO HIERARCHY; IT GOES AS FOLLOWS. AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE SOCIOSEXUAL PYRAMID LIE THE OMEGAS. THERE IS NO WAY TO DESCRIBE THEM OTHER THAN UNTOUCHABLE; YOU KNOW WHEN YOU SEE THEM. THANKFULLY I HAVE NEVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE OF KNOWING ANY OF THESE MOVINGLOW-LIVES.UPTHE PYRAMID, WE GET TO THE GAMMAS AND SUBBETAS. THESE MAKE UP THE BULK OF THE POPULATION. THEIR LIVES ARE MENIAL, BUT THEY CAN GET ALONG IN SOCIETY. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GAMMAS AND SUB-BETAS IS THAT SUB-BETAS ARE SLIGHTLY MORE PLEASURABLE TO CONVERSE WITH. ÜBER-BETAS MANAGE TO GET ALONG WELL IN THIS HIERARCHICAL SOCIETY,
A SIGMA MALE AS ‘A POPULAR, SUCCESSFUL, BUT HIGHLY INDEPENDENT AND SELF-RELIANT MAN.’ REMOVING THE GENDERED TERMS, THIS IS A PERFECT SUMMARY OF WHAT A SIGMA IS; A SIGMA IS A LONE WOLF. SIGMAS EXIST OUTSIDE
6
BUT LACK A CERTAIN CHARM OR SWAGGER THAT THE UPPER TIERS HAVE.LIKE
Image courtesy of AdoreBeautyNZ/Pixabay
You’re going for the Guin ness World Record for fast est baseball ever thrown. By some miracle, you throw a fastball at a speed no one has ever reached before. However, the judge imme diately disqualifies you because of the presence of a foreign substance on your hands. You are branded as a cheater; therefore your friends and family shun you forever, and from that day will always be booed every time you appear in public for the rest of your life.
You’re walking along a trail near your home and spot someone dangling off the side of a cliff face. You urgently run to help, then sigh in resignation, because you just know that, even if you’re somehow able to safely pull them up, they’ll probably still make some remark about how greasy your hands are.
CREATURES. THE SIGMA, A TRUE MANIFESTATION OF NIETZSCHE'S ÜBERMENSCH, SHOULD BY ITS VERY NATURE BE ABLE TO OVERPOWER ALL OTHER GROUPS. BUT THE ALPHAS AND ÜBER-BETAS, WITH THEIR MINDLESS MEAT PUPPET ARMIES OF SUB-BETAS AND GAMMAS, ARE TOO UNIFIED. SIGMAS, BEING LONE WOLVES, KEEP SEPARATE THUS PREVENTING US FROM USURPING OUR RIGHTFUL THRONE IN THE UNIVERSE.
You rub your eyes and get your moisturiser in them. Ouch!
Annoying situations that happen immediately after moisturising your hands (assuming these situations take place in a world without gloves)
1
3
Whilst in a record store you find a rare, signed copy of your favourite record- in mint condition! You wouldn’t want to ruin it with greasy fingers or face the embarrassment of hav ing done so in front of the cashier, so you quickly
BY CHAD MADDEN CERTIFIED SIGMA
ALEA LACTA EST, THE DIE IS CAST.
By Hans Argreezy Handyman
8
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OMEGAS, THERE IS NO GOOD WAY TO DESCRIBE AN ALPHA, BUT AGAIN, YOU KNOW WHEN YOU SEE ONE. THEY ARE A CHISELLED EXAMPLE OF WHAT A HUMAN SHOULD BE, HOWEVER ALPHAS RELY TOO MUCH ON THE HIERARCHY. DEFINED BY THEIR SUCCESS SOCIALLY, SEXUALLY, AND FINANCIALLY, ALPHAS' BENEFITS ARE DRAWBACKS IN DISGUISE. ALPHAS CARE ABOUT THEIR PLACE IN THE HIERARCHY AND ARE SENSITIVE TO CRITICISM, WHEREAS SIGMAS ARE DICTIONARY.COMINDIFFERENT. DEFINES
WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY WHERE THE AUTHORITARIAN CONTROL OF THE INFERIOR BETA MASSES INFRINGES UPON THE VERY BASIC RIGHTS OF THE SIGMA. GALATIANS 4:16 STATES ‘AM I THEREFORE BECOME YOUR ENEMY BECAUSE I TELL YOU THE TRUTH?’ I TOO HAVE BECOME AN ENEMY OF THE LOWER CASTES, SIMPLY FOR EXISTING IN MY TRUE NATURE.THESIGMA IS OPPRESSED. NOT OPPRESSED IN ANY REAL SENSE OF THE WORD, WE OF COURSE KNOW BETTER THAN TO ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE SUBJECTED TO THE TYRANNICAL RULE OF WHAT OUGHT TO BE POWERLESS BEINGS ON AN INFERIOR PLANE OF EXISTENCE. WE ARE OPPRESSED SIMPLY BY THE NOTION THAT WE MUST LIVE AMONGST THESE
THE TIME HAS COME FOR THAT TO CHANGE. AS THE OLD ADAGE GOES, APES TOGETHER STRONG. WE MUST BAND TOGETHER AND WATCH DESTINY BE FULFILLED. COME WITH ME, MY SIGMA BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AS WE JOIN HAND IN HAND IN THE CLIMAX OF TIME. I AM TYLER DURDEN. I AM ARTHUR FLECK. I AM TRAVIS BICKLE. I AM PATRICK BATEMAN, I AM CHAD MADDEN.
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Vettel was brought up in the rankings in the 2009 season, join ing Red Bull’s senior team. It was during these years that Sebas tian would reel in 4 consecutive World Championship titles from 2010 to 2013. Vettel’s first Championship led him to become the youngest ever champion at the age of 23 years and 143 days, beat ing Lewis Hamilton by just 167 days from the Brit’s 2008 trophy lifting season. Within these four years, Vettel would dominate the
it. In fact, it was only Mercedes who held the Constructors Title in the entirety of the eight years of the hybrid-era. For most of his Fer rari career, Vettel was teamed with Kimi Raikkonen, an extremely experienced Finnish driver with one Championship under his belt. In Vettel’s last couple of years in the Ferrari seat, a future star in the form of the Monégasque Charles Leclerc joined the team. Vet tel started to fall behind his young teammate. Too many disagree ments, miscommunications, and poor strategy decisions led Vettel to announce his departure from Ferrari in 2020. He needed a new venture. He needed a fresh start. This came to him in the shape of a brand-new team to Formula 1 with an old name, Aston Martin. Entering Formula 1 as a new team is incredibly hard. You can get miracle stories such as Brawn GP in 2009, but none were repeated for Aston Martin, or Sebastian Vettel. His last two years within the sport have been spent with this team gaining good points positions such as in Monaco, where he gained his first points for the team and in Azerbaijan, where he managed to claim the team’s first podium spot, finishing in second place. Taking the award for most over takes of the season proved that Vettel wasn’t lost, but it seems the fans knew his legacy was coming to an end. In the viral retirement video shared on Vettel’s personal Instagram account, he would share how ‘the marks I left on track will stay until time and rain will wash them away’.
By Joe Crossley Sports Editor
Vettel hoped to follow in his icon's footsteps and become a world champion in the famous red Ferrari. However, a new monster was afoot. A team who had been waiting to show their force in this new era of cars. Mercedes, with an already two-time World Champion (2008,2014) in Lewis Hamilton was a truly scary sight for any champion contender. From 2015-2020, Vettel gathered 14 wins for the ‘Prancing Horses’ and achieved multitude of pole positions. But aside from these accomplishments, Vettel spent a lot of time chas ing Mercedes. Always entering as a title contender, he was never left out, but when it came to taking that trophy, only Mercedes could do
However, the women’s singles followed a different narrative, with Elena Rybakina winning her first championship against first time finalist Ons Jabeur. In fact, this final was game of firsts in another way, as both competitors were the first players from their respective countries to take part in a Grand Slam final, rep resenting Kazakhstan and Tunisia. Whilst it was her first singles final, Jabeur came into the contests as the favourite and took the first set by storm, losing just four of the opening points. How ever, Rybakina began to read Jabeur’s unusual game and was able to gain a rhythm later in the match, showing real athleti cism which when paired with her power was a deadly combi nation. As Rybakina started taking away one of Jabeur’s most lethal weapon, that beautiful drop shot, Jabeur’s unforced errors started to become more common. This saw the Tunisian become more and more frustrated, while Rybakina simply grew into the game and seemed unphased by the occasion.
Wimbledon
By William Jenkins Sport Writer
AFP via Getty Images
In fact, Kyrgios’ ill-tempered nature had a been a recurring theme during the tournament, particularly evident in the quar ter-final bout against Stefanos Tsitsipas, which saw tempers reach boiling point for both players. As the crowd got behind Kyr gios, his opponent lost his head, smashing a ball into the crowd, and almost hitting a spectator, leading to a number of complaints from the Australian. Eventually Kyrgios overcame Tsitsipas who did not hold back any punches in his post-match interview com menting that the Australian was ‘probably a bully at school him self. I don’t like bullies. I don’t like people that put other people down’. Yet despite the controversy surrounding Kyrgios there was no doubting his tennis ability after just falling short of Wim bledon glory.
The class that Wimbledon is so associated with, was on full dis play with 1,500 tickets being offered to refugees from Afghani stan, Syria, and Ukraine: the latter having dominating headlines after the Russian invasion back in February. Cliff Richard ser enaded the crowd with his classic Summer Holiday, which was certainly a favourite for those in attendance.
unveiling of the legends. The Wimbledon’s Men’s Singles record holder, with eight Wimbledon victories, noted that Centre Court had ‘given me my biggest wins and my biggest losses’. Federer further endeared himself to the sun-soaked Wimbledon crowd as he offered fond words ‘I hope I can come one more time- I’ve missed it here’.
Jumping off an exciting 2007 introduction, Vettel was thrown into a Toro Rosso in 2008, known as Red Bull’s ‘second team’. However, Vettel would prove this assumption wrong. The young German driver earnt some significant point finishes during this season, but what would happen at Monza later that year was unprecedented.
sport, setting and breaking countless records. In 2013, Sebastian Vettel managed to run a nine-race winning streak, the most in his tory. Within the same season, he amounted to the most Grand Prix wins in a single year, a total of 13 out of the 19 races held. In 2011, Vettel would become known as the ‘King of Qualifying’ starting 11 out of the 19 races on pole position: another record broken. Within this period, Sebastian Vettel was on a different level, and had found a connection with his car that no one else could quite achieve. It was as if man and machine were not separate, they were a joint unit going at 200mph, turning every corner together, perfecting every lap.Though not all his championships were plain sailing. In 2012, on the final race in Brazil, it was a titanic battle between Sebas tian Vettel and the already two-time World Champion of Fernando Alonso. Within the first lap Vettel had spun, leaving him in 22nd position. When the car stopped spinning, the spirit leaked out of the driver like air from a burst tire, hearing months of hard-fought racing fade away in the form of roaring engines. But this wasn’t just any old driver. This was Sebastian Vettel, the man who in 2010 had already beaten Alonso to the title in Abu Dhabi with an exceptional drive. As young as Vettel may have been, he had a wise head. He charged through the field to finish under the safety car in 6th posi tion, enough to hand him the Championship trophy, showing his true ability as a driver. Alonso would go onto comment on Vettel’s retirement naming him a ‘great champion and also a great man’. After an unstoppable four years, Red Bull lagged behind in 2014 as the new hybrid-era arrived. Just as Vettel had said in America in his dominating 2013 season, ‘we have to remember these days. There’s no guarantee that they will last forever’. Indeed, reliability issues and a new young teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, led Vettel to leave Red Bull and follow where his German racing role-model Michael Schumacher had left to. Ferrari.
Novak Djokovic aND ElENa RybakiNa claim WimblEDoN 2022 SiNglES gloRy
Despite a disappointing loss in a hard-fought final, Jabeur remained relatively positive. ‘I love this tournament so much. I feel really sad. But it’s tennis. There is only one winner’ Jabeur said. ‘I'm really happy that I'm trying to inspire many generations from my country. I hope they’re listening’.
In
It was only right that one of the greatest male tennis stars of all time, Novak Djokovic, won the Men’s Singles for the fourth consecutive year; the first player to achieve such a momentous feet. The Serbian met the unseeded Nick Kyrgios in the final who had booked his place there after Rafael Nadal pulled out of the tournament due an abdominal tear. In what was an entertaining final, the experience of the now four-time Wimbledon champion showed as the hot-headed Kyrgios began shouting at his team in the stands and complaining to the umpire about a woman in the crowd who was apparently distracting the Australian. ‘Why is she still here?’ Kyrgios argued to the umpire during the third set of the final. ‘She’s drunk out of her mind in the first row, speak ing to me in the middle of a game. What’s acceptable? Nothing is acceptable? So kick her out!’
There was some controversy surrounding the involvement of Rybakina due to her links to Russia, as she was born and raised in Moscow. With a ban placed on all Russian and Bela rusian athletes in professional and amateur sports, it was a little strange to see Rybakina claim Wimbledon glory despite being all but Russian except from on her passport. Of course, this is not Rybakina’s fault and as a Kazakhstan national since 2018 should have been able to revel in her triumph. ‘I'm actually speechless’ Rybakina explained to the crowd in attendance. ‘To be a winner is just amazing, I don't have the words to say how happy I am’.
FoRmula oNE lEgEND SEbaStiaN vEttEl REtiRES
2007, when Robert Kubica was injured during his massive crash in the Canadian Grand Prix which left him with fractures in his leg and shoulder, a young Sebastian Vettel stood in for him at Indianapolis. Known only as the test driver for BMW, no one was quite sure of what this young German was capable of. Finishing eighth in his first outing in Formula 1, becoming then the youngest driver to score a point, onlookers knew that this 20-year-old was not one to miss. Little did Vettel know, over his F1 career spanning 15 years, he would become one of the greatest drivers of all time. He would go on to amass a total of four World Championships along side some unbelievable records, such as holding the most Grand Prix wins in a season; 13 out of a possible 19. This was accompanied by the record breaking nine consecutive wins. After announcing his impending retirement at the end of the current Formula 1 season, the motorsport community is now remembering what an astonish ing course Vettel drove.
On the 28th of July 2022, Vettel announced his retirement from the sport sending a wave of sadness through not only his fans, but the entire motorsport community. A German Giant, following in the footsteps of the greats, including his hero Michael Schumacher, was stepping down from his throne. Vettel's voice will not be lost however, he is a strong advocate for equality within the motorsport, often seen kneeling alongside Lewis Hamilton in the fight against racism. Sergio Perez, current Red Bull driver spoke in the press say ing ‘he’s (Vettel) always been very fair, very vocal’. He also plays a big role in voicing the importance of saving our environment. He is seen creating bee hotels around the UK, and has even featured on an episode of Question Time, where he put himself in the limelight of the public and political figures to give feedback on how Formula 1 can progress in its sustainability quotas.
And so, Wimbledon 2022 was a tournament of celebration. The centenary of tennis at Church Road delivered yet another enter taining tournament with old and new names taking their place in the history books of the illustrious tennis event. It was a great tournament with controversy, and entertainment, and simply excellent tennis. Indeed, a great advert for tennis.
A character loved on and off the racetrack, a name spread in the history books; a voice heard forever. Sebastian Vettel will be remembered simply as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers of all time.
On a soaking wet day in the beautiful countryside of Italy, Vettel made history. Not only becoming the youngest pole-sitter by win ning the Italian Grand Prix at the age of 21 years and 74 days, but he also became, at the time the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix. Not only did he win, but he also dominated the race, finishing 12.5 seconds ahead of second place, McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. Being named 2008’s ‘Rookie of the Year’, Vettel had his first of what would become many Grand Prix victories. ‘Baby Schumi’ as the German media would refer to him as, a reference back to the great 7x World Champion and German Legend Michael Schu macher, had etched his name into the history books.
2022 was special in several ways. For one, it was a great tournament with high quality tennis on show, with amazing comebacks, entertaining rallies and simply brilliant characters which lit up the famous green grass.The 2022 tournament marked the centenary of Wimbledon, which has become not only the most famous tennis tournament in the world, but also of the most recognisable sports events every year, and was marked by equally fabulous celebrations. Church Road witnessed a gathering of former Wimbledon leg ends who have graced the hallowed grass of centre court. Among these included Andy Murray, Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Bjorn Borg, and Rod Laver. Unfortunately, all-time greatest champion Martina Navratilova, who has won the tournament a record nine times, was unable to attend the celebrations due to a positive Covid-19 test. Instead of competing in the tournament itself due to a knee injury for the first time in twenty-three years, Roger Federer took part in the
30 Sport Monday 19 September 2022 InQuire
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Welcome
The game itself was very physical. Germany went in with the intention to be tough in the tackle and enforce an intense press that they had implemented all tournament, and from what it seems, try and get several of England’s best players flustered and into the book quite quickly. It was no doubt the toughest challenge the English players faced in the tournament so far despite their already tough road to the final. Spain were one of the favourites to win, Sweden is the top rated national team at the moment, and Germany have a perfect record in Euros finals, winning every sin gle one they've been in.
The players were elated in the post-match interviews. Williamson called it the ‘proudest moment of my life…before I have kids.’ Kelly spoke about ‘dreaming of this moment’ since she ‘was a young girl’ before stealing the reporter’s microphone and joining in on a rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’ with her fellow teammates and staff.
Quite obvious, I know, but it really is important to keep yourselves fit and healthy, and taking part in a sport will help you achieve that. Your sport captains or society presidents are no doubt experienced in their sport, and will lead you through warm-ups, effective drills and practice games that will properly put you through your paces. Plus, if you have a Kent Sport membership you can book out the sports halls, or the AstroTurf pitches, giving you access to the Uni versity’s amazing facilities while offering you a chance to get some extra practice in.
When you spend your whole week in lectures, seminars, in the library and studying, a sports society can be a great escape to do something a bit different. Personally, I joined the volleyball society last year and had development sessions every Sunday afternoon. I really looked forward to the end of the week, where I could unwind a bit, have some fun, and take a break from work for at least a few hours.
Make sure to check the society's social media pages to keep up to date with freshers’ events or try outs - don’t be afraid to send them a message as they’ll be happy to help you with any queries or concerns you might have.
The list of different Kent societies is endless. Events like the Freshers Fair and the Kent Union Website are great ways to look through all of the different sports societies. It’s very likely you’ll have the opportunity to try out a sport you haven’t before, and many societies will offer free sessions where you can come along and try them out. Who knows, you might end up really enjoying a particular sport, and that could give you opportunities to take it beyond university.
stages with 3 wins out of 3, before a 4-0 thrashing of Sweden which included the goal of the tourna ment, a cheeky back-heeled goal by Ella Toone which sent the country into frenzy. The final was no doubt the toughest challenge of them all, but in the end, it was apparent that the Lionesses wanted the win far more than their opponents.
Sport 31InQuire Monday 19 September 2022
In the post-match reactions, BBC pundit Alex Scott mentioned that back in 2018, many were crying out for these EUROs games to be hosted in the large UK stadiums, and there was a lot of back lash with many refusing the request. Scott was certainly pleased to prove the doubters wrong, and quite rightly declaring ‘I hope you are all looking at yourselves right now because you weren't brave enough to see at what it could have been’.
The celebrations that came at the full-time whistle, commen tators, players, staff lost for words, commentating through teary eyes and stuttered breath. You can just tell how much this means to everyone involved in the tournament and everyone watching the
Trying something new
The key thing is to just relax and enjoy yourself, and don’t worry too much - you’ll no doubt be surrounded by a group of people that will support and encourage you no matter what.
By Samuel Leah Sports Writer
As someone who has been involved with sports societies, I can wholeheartedly recommend them if you’re deliberating over get ting involved. Here’s a few reasons why they’re worth your time: Exercise
By Samuel Leah Sports Writer
It was a spectacular tournament to watch and follow, resulting in the best possible end for England, beating Germany by 2 to 1 in a tense but well fought final. In all honesty, the result was hard to predict. We’ve seen the strength of this England side, but Germany had an equally impressive run, eliminating a strong the French team in the Nevertheless,semi-finals.thiswas the first trophy won by the women's team which brings positive advertisement that will do so much for the development of women's football. This win highlighted how tal ented this team and manager have proven themselves to be.
Inclusive and room for every skill level
You don't need me to tell you that this is a massive result, even long after the tournament itself.
WHy you SHoulD joiN a SpoRtS SociEty
Ian Wright, former Arsenal and England striker was equally sup portive of the Lionesses throughout the whole tournament and spoke of the equality and inclusion that needed to be shown as a result of the tournament and the inspiration it has created. Wright added, ‘if girls are not allowed to play football just like the boys can in their P.E. (lessons) after this tournament then what are we doing?’.Thiswill have done so much for development of the women's game. It will inspire a whole generation of young girls to watch, play and support football, and that's really special. This group will go down in history and will continue to inspire generations of new female footballers. It shouldn't just stop there, either. The women's game needs to receive further funding and support. More support for youth development, stadium capacities, advertising and invest ing in the grassroots to really give more attention to women's foot ball.Personally,
That didn’t seem to matter to England’s new heroes, as they made the whole tournament look easy, qualifying first out of the group
An alternative to work
The first goal in the game came via a perfect ball over the top from midfielder Kiera Walsh to super-sub Ella Toone, chipping the goal keeper to open the scoring. Even the German equaliser only saw a change of tempo in the game, motivating both the England players and fans for the remainder of the match.
The match winner came by substitute attacker Chloe Kelly in extra-time, her first ever international goal, which will be replayed time and time again as well as that celebration, all of it.
Something I noted was the fact that the players in their postmatch interview thanked the travelling fans first and foremost. A new capacity record was set, 87,000 travelling fans packed into Wembley, and 17.4 million watching the live broadcast on TV. They seemed overwhelmed at this as there's usually limited capacity for stadiums of this size in the WSL. To contrast, an average men’s Premier League match will see almost 40,000 in the stadium and a hefty television audience as well, so it’s nice to see the final getting a large viewership.
Meeting new people
The defence was rock-solid, with only 2 goals conceded across the entire tournament. Manchester United keeper Mary Earps made some quality saves, playing solidly against a German team who had moments of real dominance and several big chances. Millie Bright and captain Leah Williamson was the nailed-on cornerback pair ing; Williamson shifting to that role very well after usually playing in the midfield, and Bright demonstrating impressive reading of the game and confidence to keep England out of dangerous situ ations.Thefront 4 were also strong each grabbing a handful of goals between them.
case anyone’s been living over a rock for the whole summer, the England Lionesses pulled off something truly spectacular over this summer - bringing home the first trophy for England in almost 60 years.
I'm pleased that this group of players are able to expe rience something like this, it is something that is very well deserved given the talented squad we've got at the moment and I'm sure that the Lionesses will be an equally threatening side at the World Cup next year.
back to returning students and new students alike! I’m sure everyone reading this is settling in, or settling back in to life at Kent. With Fresher’s week and other events going on leading up to the start of term, I thought I’d send out a call to anyone deliberating on which societies to join. While there are a whole range of societies to be a part of, covering every conceivable topic you can think of, sport is a great option, especially since there are so much to learn more about and choose from than you might think.
Getting to this point in the tournament will no doubt have already done heaps for the development of the women's game, and getting England etched on the trophy itself will do so much more.
team throughout the last month.
As someone going into their final year here, I really recommend joining at least one society every year during your time at Kent. You could join a different one every year, or you could stick with a soci ety during your whole time here. With sports societies there’s also the opportunity to take part in Varsity - the university’s sporting event of the year and its always fun going to cheer on and support team Kent - if you’re interested in trying out for a sports society’s pro team.
Most of all, try and find out as much as you can about each society you’re interested in, whether that's chatting to them at the Fresh ers Fair or following them on social media.
I would say that societies are the best way to meet new people during your time at university. You’re talking and playing with like-minded people who have a shared interest. Plus, it’s always valuable to build your friend group outside of your housemates or course mates. Societies are the best way to do this, especially with sports societies where you’re most likely playing as part of a team. Being a part of a sports society will also mean socials – a nice alter native to the high-energy and exercise you’ll have week in week out. Socials come in all shapes and societies, and the society com mittee will speak with you to try and figure out what kind of thing everyone will enjoy. Try to go to as many as you can, as I know first-hand how much effort they can take to plan out and organise, and they’re a really great way to get to know your society group a lot better. The wackier the social, the easier it is to break the ice, so get involved!
Image Courtesy of Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Image Courtesy of Joshua Allwood
You may find that trying out a new sport, or a sport you haven’t played in a while, can be daunting, but as you learn the ins and outs during the first few sessions, you’ll quickly get the hang of things.
Throughout the tournament, the classy and tac tically-minded Manager, Sarina Wiegman, safely cemented herself as one of the best coaches in foot ball right now. The former Netherlands head coach has absolutely got the best out of this squad, opting to stick with a nailed on XI for each match as well as bringing on mostly the same set of substitutes around the 60-minute mark in the form of Russo, Toone and Greenwood. This is quite unorthodox in football, especially in a major tournament where teams might want to make switches based on the opposition. A good chunk of the England squad didn't see any minutes of game time, but I don’t think they gave that much thought especially when the whole group lifted the tro phy in celebration.
Sport societies will know that there will be an influx of new peo ple every year, and take time to teach you the basics of each sport. Make sure to listen and take note, they’re the experts and will know what you can improve on or change every week.
ENglaND’S EuRo HERoES
SmallER SpoRtS SociEtiES: DEvaluED aND uNDERRatED?
In short, larger societies are at an advantage. These tend to be the groups that the majority of people will know at least something about, such as tennis, football, or rugby. The achievements of these larger groups are often spoken about highly at a student level, much more so than groups where most people have heard little about beforehand.TakeKorfball for example, a Dutch, mixedgender sport with similar rules to Basketball and Netball. In the 2021/22 BUCS season, against the odds, the UKC Korfball club made it all the way to the final of nationals, finishing second in the UK. This was despite beginning with the season with five committee members and zero sign-ups, following a year of inactivity due to the pandemic.
Image Courtesy of UKC Korfball
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respective sports does seem to be a trait that is common among most smaller societies. It is not expected for newer members to know any rules when first starting out, and this allows training to be more inclusive and enjoyable, taking a slightly less competitive stance in order to get to grips with the sport, as well as familiarise individuals with their Therefore,teammates.whilesmaller groups may value enjoyment as more important than playing winning against other teams, this is not to say that smaller groups do not want to achieve as well as possible. Many of these groups decide to enter in external competitions to further the development of members, and ensure that everyone involved can maximise playing time, and therefore enjoyment. The dodgeball society has done this on several occasions, entering in competitions such as the Basingstoke University Open competition and Canterbury Crocodiles Open, alongside the British Dodgeball University Championships in Burton on Trent.
At the University of Kent, there is a great range of sports societies that students can easily get involved in, including several smaller societies that can be overlooked. Despite charging lower prices and being prepared to educate new members on all aspects and rules of their respective sports, most students tend to play it safe and only seek to join teams that they already have experience within the past. This is without
By Sam Webb Newspaper Editor
Fresher’s
Smaller clubs such as these often rely on word-ofmouth to recruit new members, and with no clear blueprint on how to run the society, it would be justified to presume that the UKC Korfball club would soon fizzle out. However, due to the hard work of both the committee and their coaches, Korfball was not to accept this assumption lying down.Defying the odds against them, the Kent Korfball team won the South-East regionals at home on campus, before making it to the final at nationals and losing by two points in a well-fought, even match against the seven-time BUCS champions at the University of East Anglia (UEA). While a few members of the Kent team did have extensive experience in the sport, including a current player for the senior England team, the vast majority were new, and had only played since being at university. However, unless you personally know someone involved in Korfball, you are unlikely to be aware of this great Kent sporting achievement. The UKC Baseball and Softball team were awarded Club of the Year at the Team Kent Ball last year, after remaining top of the BUCS table after a number of superb performances. While a large number of the group were complete novices, the running of the society has ensured that the club has created an inclusive and positive environment, with new members being welcomed with opened arms. This trait of being more inclusive and open to newer members with little, or no experience in
week is an exciting time for many, with new students moving down to university for the very first time, while others return, looking forward to a new academic year of fresh opportunities. One of the main events of the week is the welcome fair, where societies can apply for students, both new and old, to join their groups. For many, this may mean joining a sports club that they have been involved in since they were younger which see’s countless people decide to stay in their comfort zone, and refuse to try something new.
acknowledging that many students decide to stay in their comfort zone and decide to not join any groups at all! As university is a great opportunity for new experiences, I would implore every person reading this to go to a trial session of a group that they have little experience in, be it either a sport, or other society. You never know- it could be the best decision you make this year, finding a new group of mates, or discovering a new talent.