Le Nurb October 2015 by lenurb

Submissions

WELCOME TO THE HALLOWEEN ISSUE

Simply put, if you’re a current Brunel student, you can write for Le Nurb. There are a few things to bear in mind:

This Month... 1-12

14-23

YOUR ARTICLE

NEWS

- Your article should be saved as a Word document (.doc or .docx). - Its filename should contain your name, student number, and a suggested headline. - We don’t accept PDF, Works (.wps), OpenOffice (.odt), Pages (.pages) or other formats. - Publisher files (.pub) are particularly horrific, beastly things. Please don’t send any, ever. - It may sound obvious, but please run a spellcheck before you submit your article!

SCIENCE & TECH FEATURES

The Team Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Mahase

Deputy Editor Sana Sarwar

Chief Designers Eloise Guibourg George Hudson

NEWS Section Editor Sana Sarwar

Chief Sub-Editor Hadiyah Khan

24-36

37-40

CULTURE

YOUR IMAGES

SPORT

Contributors Le Nurb would like to thank the following people for contributing an article to this month’s issue.

News Katherine Kneebone Becky Collins Elisabeth Mahase Charlotte Davis Stephanie Beaumont Yousef Mohamed Ali Milani Michael Darlow Joanne Wright Amika Ghandi Toni Doncaster Ashley Moyo Yasmin Simsek Katerina Tiliakou Kate Buck

Science & Tech

Jack Frayne-Reid Grace Murray Ali Milani Cameron Wall Katie Buck Sophie Perry Maria Georgaki

- If you like, you can suggest specific images for your article, or take your own photograph and include it with your submission. They’ll need to be separate .jpg or .png files. - Don’t embed your images into the article document - this compresses them too much for use on the page. - Any image filenames and image credits (who the photographer is) should be listed at the end of your article. - Images you submit must not be copyrighted by another individual or organisation. - Please don’t just nick pictures off Google Image Search (we can’t use them 99% of the time!) please use Flickr Creative Commons instead.

YOUR CONTACTS Enquiries, advertising & complaints:

Culture

Vivienne Burgess Eloise Guibourg Alexander Short Adam White

SCIENCE Section Editor Elisabeth Mahase

FEATURES Section Editor Vivienne Burgess

Chief Sub-Editor Julie Valeur

Sub Editors Nick Drewe Nambassa Nakatudde

CULTURE Section Editor

Deadlines The deadline for the next issue is

Tuesday 17th November 2015

Charlotte Davis

Chief Sub-Editor Matthias Asiedu-Yeboa

please email submissions to lenurb.brunel@gmail.com

Sub-Editors

Advertising

SPORT

Elisabeth Mahase

Features

Riya Makwana Stephanie Beaumont

Elisabeth - lenurb.brunel@gmail.com Becky - media.chair@brunel.ac.uk

Charlotte Davis Sophie Perry Riya Makwana Katerina Tiliakou Elisabeth Mahase Edward Sweet Matthias Asiedu-Yeboa Sophie Bredbere Patrick Harmon Anton Davies

Sub-Editors

Sport

Le Nurb is distributed eight times a year, across campus, to a network of 15,000 students.

Bradley Hayden Adam White Jessica Watson Katie Papps Lauren Rorton

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All articles and pictures © their respective authors unless otherwise indicated. Views expressed are those of the writers and do not reflect the official position of UBS or Brunel University. All comments and complaints about content in Le Nurb should be addressed to the Editor in the first instance: editor@lenurb.com. Complaints will only be entertained where it can be proven that an article or graphic is: factually inaccurate; breaches the Press Complaints Commission’s Editors’ Code of Practice; breaches the National Union of Journalists’ Code of Conduct; breaks the law; or encourages readers to break the law. No complaint that fails to satisfy at least one of these criteria will be upheld.

Aliya Siddique Sophie Perry

Section Editor Bradley Hayden

Sub-Editors Jack Cox Mehdi Mustan

ONLINE Sophie Bredbere, Damyana Bojinova Ceren Cetin Pauline Kingston

PHOTOGRAPHY Alexander Short Akhilesh Manandhar

Published by: Union of Brunel Students, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH. Printed by: Harmsworth Printing Derby, Northcliffe House, Meadow Road, Derby, DE1 2BH.

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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Editor’s Letter Elisabeth Mahase

Dear Reader, Thank you for picking up the Halloween special of Le Nurb! It’s been an extremely busy month for everyone, with dissertation and assignment deadlines, student demonstrations, new bursaries announced, the 50th Anniversary celebrations and much more. Here at Le Nurb we’ve also been working hard to bring you our halloween special issue, as well as keeping you up-to-date on breaking news via our website. This month saw the edition of two new sections to our website: Fashion and Science & Tech – which you will also find in the print copy. These are two areas I’m very excited to bring to the paper. We have recruited our very own fashion blogger – Kate –

who will be posting tips and ideas throughout the seasons. In terms of the Science & Tech section, I will be heading this up and collaborating with the Brunel Tech Society to bring you the latest and most interesting news. As a Biomedical Science student I’m often asked why I’m involved in student media – this is the answer. Science communication is a key passion of mine that I’m very excited to share with the student body. Humans of Brunel has made a comeback this issue! When I started this feature last year I was aiming to bring the students together celebrating the culture and diversity that we have on campus. This is an area close to my heart so I’m hoping you enjoy it as much as I do.

In other news we have been recruiting new members for our team. We now have a great full team that are ready and keen to produce a great paper every month! Please remember that we are a student newspaper and as such we are here to create a paper that showcases what’s important to you. If there is anything you would like to see in the paper, online or an area you would like to contribute to – please do email me at lenurb.brunel@gmail.com You can also join the contributors group by searching: Le Nurb contributors 2015-16 in Facebook. I hope you enjoy the issue! Elisabeth x

FIRST PAGE CONTINUED... national university in the world by Times Higher Education (THE) last year, many students are struggling to understand why a speaker, who has written a column in a national paper calling for gunships to stop migrants, would be invited for a celebration of such an institution. One student took to social media to highlight this point: ‘It’s irrelevant her status as some kind of publicity grabber. 50 years of Brunel should not be associated with Katie Hopkins...’ Others simply asked ‘Why????’

“I got into trouble with the organisers of a social work awards ceremony (at which I had won an award!) when I heckled their guest Jimmy Carr and asked him why he didn’t leave disablist and discriminatory jokes to Bernard Manning. “I learned a lesson that day. People whose stock in trade is to attack groups who are disadvantaged and discriminated against must be challenged. Trying to ignore them doesn’t work; it means they just keep going creating damage and division.

With the other panellists being “That is why I think it is important Harriet that people Sergeant – like Katie journalist, Trying to ignore them Hopkins are author and doesn’t work; it means they included as Research part of the just keep going creating Fellow of the discussion damage and division Centre at an so that they independhave to jusent Think Tank - alongside Brunel’s tify what they say and can no longer own Peter Beresford, a professor of argue that they are being censored.” social policy and the chair of Shaping Our Lives (national disabled people’s Although talks were ongoing, it and service users’ organisation and appears that the union and universinetwork) – it’s difficult to see what ty could not reach a compromise on Ms Hopkins will bring to this debate. the event.

“

When contacted by Le Nurb regarding this issue, Professor Beresford said:

”

On Thursday 22nd October Student Assembly reacted by putting forward an emergency motion (6a):

Motion to oppose the invitation to Katie Hopkins for the 50th Anniversary celebrations, which was passed indicatively and is now awaiting further action. The motion has resolved ‘to campaign against the decision by the 50th anniversary team to conflate our anniversary celebration with divisive speakers.’ When Le Nurb reached out to Leanne Moseley – the project manager of the 50th Anniversary – an email was received deferring the comment to another staff member, who did not respond. Requests from Brunel University’s press office also went unmet. It is unclear whether the students were considered in the planning of this event, or what the university are aiming to achieve by inviting Katie Hopkins to partake in an event that should, at its core, be celebrating the international status of Brunel. Nonetheless, it is clear that this has divided the students – not on whether they agree with Ms Hopkins, but simply how they should most effectively respond.

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Photo credit: Alexander Short

04 NEWS

NEWS

Photo credit: Chris Rathore

STUDENTS’ UNION JOINS NATIONAL DEMO Becky Collins

ast November 10,000 students took part in the national student demonstration for free education. The march was the biggest of its kind since tuition fees trebled in 2010. Now that Maintenance Grants have been scrapped, Adult & Further Education funding has been decreased, and plans are in the making to raise tuition fees, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) are planning an even bigger event for November 4th 2015 – and this year the Union of Brunel Students will be joining them. In previous years the student march against austerity has aimed to be a peaceful protest. However last November tensions rose in the space of an hour as demonstrators moved from Buckingham Palace to Parliament. In that hour police pinned a protester to a riot van before arresting them and escorting them away from the demonstration. Two hours later it was confirmed that four protesters were arrested, two charged with assaulting police and the other two with affray, a public order offense. Following this, police brutality

then occurred at Warwick University in December 2014 after student activists took part in the National Day of Action by staging a peaceful sit. At the protest they were attacked by police with tear gas, beaten, and threatened with tasers. NCAFC supported the emergency protest which followed: #CopsOffCampus. This protest saw 1,000 students take a stand. “The Conservative Government is attacking us from all sides,” NCAFC campaigns: “it’s time to fight back.” The Free Education & Living Grants For All demonstration’s goals are simple. NCAFC says, “We don’t just want a return to small grants that are barely enough to pay rent; we want living grants for all, so that no student has to live in poverty. “We don’t just want a graduate tax, or a return to £3,000 fees; we want an education system which is free, in all senses of the word. “We want liberated, democratic universities where knowledge is exchanged with each other and not for profit. “We don’t just want international

students to be allowed to stay here for a few months after they have finished studying; we want a world which welcomes immigration and freedom of movement.” NCAFC has evidence that these goals aren’t ‘pipe dreams’. “They can be funded by taxing the rich and clamping down on tax avoidance,” they insist. “We won’t get the world we want by asking nicely, though.” In the last year The Union of Brunel Students has achieved a main NCAFC “win”. As his first act as chair of the trustee board over the summer, SU president Ali Milani committed to pay student staff at Brunel University the living wage. When contacted, Milani said the news “[served] as a benchmark for this upcoming year.” Between the 18th September and 1st October, this benchmark was supported by two ground-breaking anti-austerity movements on campus. On the Friday of Freshers’ Week, Milani fronted the student protest that would directly challenge Boris Johnson’s lack of support for students.

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As Brunel’s local MP, Milani and Vice President Student Activities, Michael Darlow, met with Johnson over the summer to discuss the Government’s new loan system, which scraps maintenance grants in favour of further loans. At Johnson’s apparent lack of support for the Free Education campaign, Milani and Darlow instigated the Save Our Grants protest. Two hundred students marched through Uxbridge for the demonstration and protested outside of the Civic Centre, and demanded Johnson to meet with his constituents. Although Johnson didn’t make an appearance, the demonstration gained the support of numerous locals and students. Thirteen days later, Milani announced his “biggest win yet”. The Union confirmed that, in direct response to the maintenance grants cuts and increasing rent cost on campus, they would be providing bursaries for the students “in most need.” Funded by the University, £150,000 will be shared between 300 students (100 of which will be reserved for international students), with each student receiving £500.

Now nearly over two months into the academic year, the Union is proud to support students nationwide, and not just those at Brunel University. The elected officer team, changemakers and campaigning students are continuing their fight for free education by planning Brunel’s contribution to one of biggest student demonstrations. On November 4th, the Union representatives and change-makers will be meeting with all those who wish to join in the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts demonstration at Academy at 10:00am. All involved will then travel into central for the National student protest. “It’s ambitious,” Milani said in answer to a question regarding his battle for free education. “But we’re an incredibly ambitious officer team.” Join your Union and the rest of the Nation in the demonstration against Austerity. Search ‘Brunel marches for Free Education’ on Facebook.

NEWS

PREVENTING ‘PREVENT’: ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES OR RACIAL PROFILING?

Photo Credit: Ammaar Okra

Katherine Kneebone

ollowing the motion passed at Student Assembly placing UBS in opposition of Prevent, several Brunel students attended the inaugural ‘Students not Suspects’ event at KCL on the 14th October, run by the NUS as part of the strategy ‘Preventing Prevent’. The aim of this talk was to both discuss Prevent, (what it is, what it aims to achieve and why it exists), as well as answering the key question: how can we oppose it effectively and safely? ‘Prevent’ is part of the Government’s new anti-terrorism bill which claims to attempt to prevent radicalism and terrorism, with particular focus on Universities. The Government is implementing this through training staff members, including lecturers, on how to spot ‘radical ideologies’ (including Islamic extremism and anti-capitalist agendas) and legally binds them to report these to the authorities. These authorities can then question friends and family, seize any and all academic work by the suspected student, as well as monitor and investigate other aspects of their public and private lives. Individuals will then be

judged as to whether or not they are involved with terrorism, or are vulnerable to terrorist attitudes, and if they are found to be vulnerable, the authorities may take steps to reeducate them, and reinforce ‘British values’. The event began with speakers including Moazzam Begg, an ex-Guantanamo bay detainee, Mohammed Umar Faruq, a postgraduate student of Terrorism Studies targeted by the act, Rachel Hager from the Defend the Right to Protest campaign, Marcia Rigg, an anti-police brutality campaigner, and Jim Wolfreys, head of the local KCL UCU branch. Then followed a Q and A session in which people were able to share their own views on Prevent and ask the panellists how to effectively campaign against the act. To end, these questions were put to groups in workshops in which the audience and panellists were able to share their views and ideas to generate integrated campaign plans to move forward with. A key question addressed during this conference by all speakers and many audience members was why we oppose Prevent. This included the key arguments of limitation on free speech and academic discussion, and the fact

that this act has been proven to disproportionately target minority ethnic students, in particular, Muslims. Universities are designed to encourage critical thought, debate and the exercising of free speech. Due to the introduction of this act, students have become suspects of various forms of ‘radicalisation’, including anti-capitalist agendas. On most campuses, mixed political communities often form the basis for social action; this intellectual environment is under threat from Prevent due to left wing students especially, feeling unable to express dissent in this way for fear of being vulnerable to suspicion. This stifles our democratic right to dissent on government actions in particular, as well as international issues. I can attest personally to this, as a student of the Arab-Israeli conflict, myself and other students felt the need to discuss safe space policy with our lecturer before feeling comfortable expressing our pro-Palestinian views. This issue was something addressed by Jim Wolfreys followed by a statement calling for noncompliance. Mohammed

Faruq

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shared

his experience being targeted by Prevent, ‘suspicion’ was raised when he was seen reading a book on Terrorism Studies for his postgraduate course. He was then intrusively questioned about his stance on terrorism, about his personal beliefs, including his faith, and was compelled to ‘prove’ his innocence. He ended on the question: “Is it because my name is Mohammed?” Islamophobia has been on the rise since the ‘war on terror’ began and this act has been commented on as one of the more extreme cases of institutionalised Islamophobia in our country. What Prevent does is allow those who hold Islamophobic views to express them in a manner encouraged and approved of by the government, without risk of consequence to themselves. This means day-to-day Islamophobia will increase exponentially, carrying the label of ‘patriotism’. What this act does, by placing it under the heading ‘anti-terrorism’, is cause a large proportion of society to feel unable to question people’s motivations in reporting certain individuals, for fear of accusations against their own characters and agendas.

This, therefore, has been seen as a call to the people of Britain to act on unsubstantiated prejudices, institutionalised by the government, to protect ‘British values’, of which there is no particular definition. What we as a country (and global community) need to do is actively tackle Islamophobia in our communities by educating our children and young people not to be suspicious based on prejudice. We need to teach that Muslim does not equal ‘radical’, ‘non-British’, or ‘terrorist’. Part of this process is standing against blatantly Islamophobic actions by our own Government, including the Prevent legislation. If Prevent is something you would like to know more about, or take action on, VP CBASS Yousef Mohamed is working alongside our BME officer Wangu Mureithi, to host a month of events to raise awareness for Islamophobia during this term. This will be part of a yearlong campaign to tackle Prevent and Islamophobia as part of an ongoing project at UBS. For more information please contact Union President Ali Milani at su.president@brunel.ac.uk.

06 NEWS

NEW SOCIAL SPACE OPENS ON CAMPUS

BRUNEL STUDENTS STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH CALAIS REFUGEES Elisabeth Mahase

n Saturday 3rd October Brunel students showed their support for the Calais refugees by helping to pack boxes of clothes, shoes, kitchen utensils, food, blankets and more.

Photo Credit: Yousef Mohamed

Yousef Mohamed

ousef Mohamed the Vice President of the College of Business, Art and Social Sciences, opened a new social space on campus on Tuesday 22nd September. Located at the back of Social Kitchen, near the windows that overlook the quad, this new area is for students who wish to relax and socialise without feeling the need to buy anything. Mr Mohamed, who posted the news of his VP Facebook account, said: “For years the Students’ Union has been asked by our members to open a new social space on campus. Today we deliver. “During the last 3 months I have worked hard with the University

to build a brand new Free, nonalcoholic social space with a live BT sport and a milkshake and smoothie bar.

Although it was an early Saturday morning start, a huge number of students turned up to help.

From there everything was organised into categories and then packed into boxes to be taken directly to the refugees.

President Ali Milani were there to lend a hand loading the van playing a stretching game of Tetris with all the boxes. Overall it was a great day for Brunel Volunteers (BV) who organised the event. However it was only the start for Priya Pallan the project lead who then set off to Calais to help sort and distribute the donations.

VPSA Michael Darlow and Student

“Every student can enjoy the facilities free of charge as a social or revision space. “I hope this achievement proves our commitment to keeping our promises.” When Le Nurb contacted the Union, President Ali Milani had this to say: “The Students’ Union has in the last few years been consistently asked about a new social space on campus. That is why I am so pleased Yousef has been able to get this win.

Photo Credit: Priya Pallan

BE BRUNEL: “BETTER THAN SCHOOL”

This is a really exciting new development and another promise kept.”

Michael Darlow

clothes, we reflect and think that perhaps it did go well after all.

0 local primary school children visited Brunel for day of extra curricular activities,13 volunteers, three Student Union officers and a Community Development Coordinator braced themselves as 90 excitable children arrived on our campus ready to see what we had put together for them.

The children took part in six activities: making their own fibre plant pots as part of our environmental initiative; learning how to play squash; receiving media training from our student media team; sampling Calisthenics; trying out some First Aid, and undertaking a debating master-class from our very own Union President, Ali Milani.

PHOTO CREDIT: UBS

The morning started with a chain of people coming out of the Bannerman centre, moving the donations from their storage on the top floor of the library down to the concourse.

It was the first ‘Be Brunel’ session of the year, and as we wave goodbye and try to get the compost out of our

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Although this is the first ‘Be Brunel’ of the year, it definitely

isn’t the last. The Union of Brunel Students has seven of these planned over the course of the year. If you can spare any time to lend a hand, we would really appreciate it. A huge thank you goes out to our volunteers, the staff that enable this day to happen, and who put so much time and effort into creating a fun experience of University for the children. Feel free to contact us at www. brunelstudents.com or call us at 01895267457.

NEWS

INTERVIEW WITH THE NEWLY ELECTED VICE PRESIDENT - POST GRADUATE Elisabeth Mahase

auldy Otermans is a PhD research student studying Psychology. She originally studied her undergraduate degree in her home country – the Netherlands. Since then, she has lived and studied in America, France, and Switzerland. She has a Masters in neuroscience and a Masters in Business Management specialising in Marketing.

Why did you decide to run for this position? I had a similar role in my previous university in Holland. We had something similar to a union where you have a president and vice presidents. I really like to be active and involved: helping students out and try to make a difference.

Last year when I started I thought maybe I could be involved in something similar. So I became one of the two PGR student representatives. However I still wanted something more and luckily they then announced this new postgraduate VP position. So I started reading up on what the position involved and asking my postgraduate friends what they would like to see change or anything they would like me to tackle.

On the day the results were announced, what did you do? I was running against four other people – including those who have studied their undergraduate here so I couldn’t predict the result.

When the voting closed at 4pm I just went around campus taking down my posters. Then I went to Loco’s, grabbed a beer, and waited for the winner to be announced. When I found out I was so relieved, but it didn’t really hit me until people starting talking to me on the Monday, and I thought wow this is actually my role now!

What are the main goals you want to accomplish this year? I have 5 key points from my manifesto that I really want to address. 1.Funding for conferences so students can showcase their work and network 2.Create more teaching opportunities within the colleges –

for example PhD students teaching/ leading undergraduate students

to feel like they are involved and they have a voice.

3.Creating new job opportunities on campus that relate to student courses e.g. computer science – IT jobs

Due to course length, accommodation is a problem for Masters students. What do you plan to do about this?

4.A clear protocol for students who struggle to meet tuition fee deadlines due to emergencies or student loan delays 5.Giving the PG students a voice. Create events targeted to PG students and encouraging them to join in with student activities. I also want to encourage direct feedback. I want to post about meetings and events I will be attending so that students can send me their questions and topics that they would like me to cover. Then I can post the outcome. I want students

As a PhD student this has not been an issue for me, however one of my friends found herself in this situation and ended up staying with me for the last few weeks. It’s okay if you have someone you can stay with like that, but if not, this is a real issue. Two to three weeks is a long time and staying in temporary accommodation is too expensive. It’s not my highest priority at this time in the year but it is definitely something I will tackle.

1000 PEOPLE. SLEEPING IN BOXES. BEATING HOMELESSNESS. L

Photo Credit: WeAreTrinity

ast year over 50 students from Brunel took part in The Big SleepOut to raise money for Trinity to beat homelessness in West London.

At Trinity we believe everyone has the right to a home - we work to help people who are suffering the effects of homelessness to live independent lives. We offer more than just a roof over the heads of the people we work with: we coach them to ensure they never need to be homeless again and help them get jobs to secure an independent future.

Joanne Wright

It’s a fantastic night of good food, entertainment and sleeping outside in the middle of winter! You will be changing lives by taking part … and not just your own. Sign up today - www.wearetrinity. org.uk - if you sign up as a team of 5 or Homelessness more you will receive can happen to a free limited edition We believe it anyone. #ItCouldBeMe takes the whole t-shirt; sign up as a community to beat team of 30 or more homelessness and we’d like to give you the chance and receive a fantastic goody bag. to be involved - join us at The Big Get your friends, sports teams SleepOut 2015: 1000 people, sleeping in boxes - raising money to and societies to sign up today - don’t miss out on this fantastic chance to beat homelessness. change lives. Homelessness can happen to anyone - 26% of homelessness happens because relationships with family and friends break down and a further 18% is because romantic relationships end. It really could happen to me, or you.

“ ”

NUS DELEGATES ELECTED TO REPRESENT BRUNEL STUDENTS Elisabeth Mahase

he autumn elections saw the four NUS delegates elected to represent Brunel Students at the NUS national conference. Vice President of the College

of Health and Life Sciences, Aaron Lowman was one of the newly elected delegates along with Katherine Kneebone, Angus BuggMillar and Abigail Waller. When contacted by Le Nurb, VPCHLS Aaron Lowman outlined his commitment to the position:

“Over my last 4 years our delegates have chosen to spend more time in Nandos than on conference floor. When NUS are voting on these important decisions about the future, we need to have a seat at that table. I plan to represent the views of the Brunel Students and drive positive change at the national scale.”

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What is the NUS National Conference? This is an annual conference that decides the policies and issues that are going to be the main focus for the year. NUS delegates have the opportunity to vote and influence the way that NUS works.

These delegates will be attending the 2016 conference from the 19th to the 21st April in Brighton. Over the next few months they will be preparing and outlining their plans – look out for a more in-depth article in the next issue.

08 NEWS

SKY NEWS EDITOR VISITS BRUNEL STUDENTS Kate Buck

utput Editor for Sky News, Nick Phipps spearheaded the over night coverage of the General Election in May. He came into Brunel to talk at an event organised for students as part of Tuesday Talks at Brunel. The general election this year marked a huge difference in how news itself is consumed. Smart phones and added Wi-Fi coverage across the country have revolutionised how election night news is covered. Sky News and news corporations have had to update their way of distributing news since the last general election, and Sky News wanted to be at the front of this change. Mr Phipps showed the students clips from Sky Arts, which held a live camera showing what was going on in

the news room. As Editor, Mr Phipps sat in the middle of the action as results were pouring in from around the country. This communication hub was provided not only by professionals, but also by student anchors for the night, with Sky150, a student program which Sky aims to roll out across every constituency by 2020. This gave students from around the country the chance to be involved with election night. The difference with Sky, however, seems to be how popular and well liked the channel was, with members of the public calling their coverage “clearer” than that of the BBC and Channel 4. Mr Phipps told students of their desire to keep things simple, and keep simple graphics and colours to make information easier for the public to consume, especially since some of the constituencies don’t declare

their results until well into the next morning. The Scottish referendum in September 2014 provided a night for Sky News to practise their new model of delivering information, only on a much smaller scale. They used this as a “test bed” for their reporting, making sure their newly developed model worked. This referendum gave them a chance to develop their database on each of the 650 constituencies, making each declaration easy to put into their central database, keeping viewers updated live during the whole night. Opinion and exit polls became one of the highlights of this years election coverage, and the massive swing in the exit poll took everyone in the news room by surprise. Mr Phipps spoke of the moment he wrote the results he had been given for the exit poll, and

the gasps of shock from members of his team. The exit poll results had been told to him over the phone by the psephologists, or election analysers, and then had to be given to the graphic designers before the general public knew about them. It would seem that the round the clock, overnight coverage paid off for Sky News; Nick Phipps certainly seemed pleased with his team, and what they accomplished during the night. Tuesday Talks at Brunel are held every Tuesday in the Eastern Gateway Auditorium, and are open for anyone, free of charge. Upcoming talks are: - 27th October All you need to know about media law in one hour by Mike Dodd.

- 10th November

Hilton.

- 17th November George Orwell: Greatest ever English Journalist by Professor Richard Keeble.

- 24th November PR: Fact or Fiction? By Colin Byrne.

- 1st December I Invented BBC News Online, now where is it? By Mike Smart.

- 8th December Formats and the business of Television by Liam Keelan.

- 19th January Professor Stewart Purvis, exEditor in Chief ITN, by Guy Burgess.

Reporting China Today by Isobel

GREENPEACE: EVERYTHING IS NOT AWESOME Katerina Tiliakou

d Fuller, an activist for the environment and international development department gave a lecture on 8th October at Brunel University about the progress of Greenpeace through the years. In this lecture, he focused on the fights by Greenpeace for a cleaner natural environment for the next generation, through organized action and protest against the companies who try to harm the environment.

Stop the catastrophe Fuller mentioned, regarding clothes and shoes, that a large number of consumers do not know what they are buying. People are naive because they ignore important facts, such as the fact that climate change is responsible for 300 deaths annually.

Greenpeace discovery In 1971, a small team of activists set sail from Vancouver, Canada, in an old fishing boat. Their mission was to “bear witness” to US nuclear testing at Amchitka, a tiny island off the West Coast of Alaska. After three months of protesting, they made the US program leave Canada (greenpeace.org.uk). These activists founded Greenpeace, and they believed that a few individuals could make a difference.

What Greenpeace does This

non-governmental

organisation defends the natural world. The aim is to promote peace by investigating, exposing and confronting environmental abuse. Greenpeace also supports environmentally responsible solutions. More specifically, Greenpeace are taking action to: 1) Stop climate change. Climatechangeisn’tinevitable.People are working to reduce the use of fossil fuels, stop rainforest destruction and get power from clean energy. 2) Defend oceans. Oceans are the home of 80% of life on earth. Species are under the threat of extinction because of overfishing and habitat destruction. Greenpeace fights for marine reserves, and against unsustainable fishing. 3) Protectforests.Greenpeace is working to stop illegal deforestation of the world’s ancient forests and to protect the rights of the indigenous peoples and species that depend on them. 4) Work for peace and disarmament. Greenpeace believes that it is time for the nine nuclear countries - including Britain - to decline and eventually phase out their nuclear arsenals, and focus on making a safer and greener environment. 5) Eliminating toxic chemicals. Toxic chemicals put human health at risk. So, Greenpeace is taking action with protesting against companies

who neglect the environment. 6) Save the Arctic. Damning reports were released in 2010 and 2012. For example, one report showed that an oil spill in Africa was approved by the government. Greenpeace is working to STOP climate change and this new oil rush. Greenpeace has 43 countries as members. Greenpeace’s volunteers are very reactive. Its employees are very dedicated as they work tirelessly, long hours. Some of them are getting paid and they are well trained. It receives funds from local groups and uses famous figures in order to make people more aware about its work.

Famous Campaigns

successful

Greenpeace does have extremely creative and winning campaigns. Some of them are: 1) McDonalds (Stop Genetic Modification): The famous food chain was accused of using soya from deforested areas of the Amazon after two years of investigation. Finally, as of 2006, McDonalds and Greenpeace are working together now (greenpeace.org.uk). 2) Volkswagen (Dark Side): VW was using increased CO2 fuel in its cars. After nearly two years of campaigning by more than 526,000 people across the planet, VW has moved away from the Dark Side and made a deal to make cleaner

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and more efficient cars in 2013 (greenpeace.org.uk).

Photo Credit: Katerina Tiliakou

3) Nestle: The leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company addressed problems with the palm oil and paper products it buys. Greenpeace made Nestle drop dodgy palm oil. The nongovernmental organizations campaign to protect the rainforests of Indonesia continues as it fights all aspects of the palm oil and paper industries in 2012 (greenpeace.org. uk). 4) Shell: The oil company, after three years of Greenpeace campaigning against Arctic drilling, is leaving the Alaskan Arctic in 2015 (greenpeace.org.uk). 5) Lego (Everything is not awesome): The famous toy company did not renew its marketing contract with Shell in 2014 after coming under sustained pressure from Greenpeace to end a partnership that dates to the 1960s (theguradian. com).

Greenpeace and YouTube Firstly, Greenpeace was allowed to show its videos only online on its website. Fuller declared that this is illustrated by the fact that YouTube refused to show Greenpeace’s videos because of Shell, as the oil company blackmailed YouTube to send it to court.

A few words about Ed He got involved with Greenpeace at the age of 19. Ed also works for other charities, such as WWF, Amazon International and Cancer Research UK. He thinks that people are responsible for the planet, so they need to take action in order to protect it. Contact details: edmundfuller

Twitter:

It is all in our hands! ‘Inspiring Action’! A video made by Greenpeace: https://youtu.be/ zVu9eawb1QY

NEWS

GET INVOLVED WITH CHILDREACH C

hildreach is a London based international development charity. Working together since 2003, they have done their best to help communities across the globe at a grassroots level, and by 2014 have been recorded helping over 700,000 individuals. Many of Childreach’s programs are designed to help people access education and healthcare, and learn more about children’s rights. They carry out their work across the world by sending international volunteers to where they are needed most, and working to empower local communities. Their mission is to give children the opportunity to unlock their potential in life. They aim to do this by providing and improving children’s access to healthcare, education and child protection. Below are some of the upcoming opportunities Childreach may provide.

Great Wall of China Are you looking to check off one of the Wonders of the World from your bucket list? Then it sounds like trekking The Great Wall of China is challenge for you. This trip is not only a personal challenge, but a cultural experience that takes you from popular and picturesque tourist spots through to the remote and less restored sections that wind through jungles and mountains. It is a 16-day trip which includes

flying there and back, a 7-day trek on The Great Wall and time to do some independent travel. Places are filling up in all of the trips that are running at Brunel. Why not sign up and embark on the trip of a lifetime, where you will experience new things, meet new people, and come home with memories that will stay with you forever. For more information on the Great Wall of China trip, contact Zara Canfield on Facebook or email her on zaracanfield@hotmail.co.uk

Kilimanjaro Nowadays it seems everyone has climbed Kilimanjaro, and summiting seems rather cliché. However while anyone can do the climb, you shouldn’t underestimate it. At 5,895m above sea level it truly is a challenge and climbing to an altitude in which aircrafts cruise at it is a feat like no other. The climb itself requires a lot of stamina and will power to keep putting one foot in front of the other, but giggling and constant chatter with friends you haven’t known for long really makes it a worthwhile experience. This isn’t just a for charity or a personal challenge; it looks incredible on your CV. The sad thing is that everyone has a degree nowadays, so make yourself stand out from the

crowd and do something incredible! There are limited spaces this year so don’t hesitate, Adventure is out there!

Yasmin Simsek

For more information on the Kilimanjaro trip, contact Nor Hoey on Facebook or email her on 1102825@ my.brunel.ac.uk

Rebuild Nepal The last trip we offer with Childreach International is a bit different than the two others. This is pure volunteering in a country that needs our help now more than ever. After the two earthquakes in the spring, many of the schools in Nepal have been destroyed, and we offer you an opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of others by helping rebuild them. With a team from Brunel, we go to Nepal for 17 days and work alongside local builders to build classrooms that will ensure the children get back to education as soon as possible. We are going in June 2016 and the spaces are filling up quickly – we have approximately 11 left. If you are interested, you better act fast and get started on fundraising for an experience of a lifetime! For more information on the project to Rebuild Nepal contact Yasmin Simsek on Facebook or email her on 1318153@my.brunel.ac.uk.

Photo Credit: www.childreach.org.uk

CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENT WINS ‘MORE MINI-BUSES THAN EVER BEFORE’ LONDON PRIZE AT ENGINEERING Stephanie Beaumont AWARDS J O Elisabeth Mahase

onathan Knight, a Civil Engineering with Sustainability masters student, has received the London Region Emerging Engineers Award for his 3rd year dissertation.

The project and presentation were shown at the Emerging Engineers Regional Final 2015 and focussed on the link between the levels of fluoride in drinking water and brittle bones – more specifically skeletal fluorosis. Areas such as India and Kenya have scarce access to clean running water and the common option for drinkable water is through borehole extraction, which tends to be naturally fluoridated. To combat this, Mr Knight designed a rig that can deflouridate drinking water in such a way that it matches the World Health Organisation guidelines - perfect for less economically developed countries.

PHOTO CREDIT: JONATHON KNIGHT

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When contacted, Knight said: “The project began when I received a phone call, whilst doing my weekly shop, from one of my lecturers asking me whether I would be interested in researching a solution that would defluoridate water. At the time I was quick to say yes, not because my Ben and Jerry’s was melting, but because I was excited by how unique the project was and that I would be finding a solution to a problem that is affecting thousands of people.

n the 16th September Michael Darlow announced that the Union of Brunel students had been able to provide Brunel with more mini buses than ever before.

This followed feedback from clubs and societies expressing an interest in using the mini-buses on a more regular basis. The current hire company used by Student Activities; Meashams is costly at £100 per use and by providing more mini-buses than the previous one mini-bus

available the SU has given students more opportunities for trips at a more affordable rate. Now available for hire are three 14-seater mini buses and one 9-seater costing £100 and £50 for a Wednesday respectively and at an even lower price of £30 on any other weekday. Michael Darlow thanked ‘the Unions Student Activities Manager and Director of Finance’ for making it possible to provide more resources to the students of Brunel.

It was not an easy project to complete and there is still a lot of work to be done for it to be an implementable solution, but by entering competitions and doing STEM talks I hope to raise awareness of the issue so that we can begin to improve sanitation in less economically developed countries.”

Photo Credit: Michael Darlow

NEWS 11

CHILI CHALLENGE Y

ou could not have missed the biggest event of this year’s RAG Week: the first ever Chili Challenge on the Quad! Only the bravest students and staff took to the table to conquer

the spicy delicacies. The event was sponsored by the Wiltshire Chili Farm, who grew and provided all of the chilies and Brunel alumni Stars Key and Hutch, who provided chocolate champagne, a

trophy and a hoody for the person that would take the title of Brunel’s First Chili Challenge Champion! Participants donated £5 to take part in the challenge and students could donate to take part in a raffle

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for the chance to win two tickets to Disneyland Paris. More than 100 people came down to cheer the contestants on and the Chili Challenge raised more than £250 for RAG.

PHOTO CREDIT: YASMIN SIMSEK

Ashley Moyo Yasmin Simsek We are also happy to announce that the partnership with Stars Key and Hutch and the Wiltshire Chili Farm will continue and we are expecting them back for the next RAG week in February to keep you warm for the cold winter month.

THE BIG SLEEPOUT 2015

1,000 PEOPLE. SLEEPING IN BOXES. 4TH DECEMBER. BEATING HOMELESSNESS. Homeless can happen to anyone.

19% of homelessness is because relationships with partners or spouses end. Join us at Hillingdon Athletics Stadium, sign up at www.wearetrinity.org.uk

Homelessness can happen to anyone. Let's beat it together. PLEASE RECYCLE

FEATURES

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT TITLE: Biennale 3, Russia. Irina Nakhova’s installation straddles the divide between nature and technology and can be read as a wry comment on Russia’s obsession with cosmonauts, delivered from a post-soviet perspective. TITLE: Biennale 2, Japan. Chiharu Shiota’s ‘The Key in the Hand’, speaks of memory and nostalgia inan enthralling installation of keys hanging on a labyrinth of red thread. TITLE: Biennale 4, Turkey. Kutlug Ataman’s ‘The portrait of Sakip Sabanci’, is a tribute to a Turkish industrialist and philanthropist. The 10,000 LCD panels form a mesh of passport-sized photographic portraits, and bring together the people who received Sabanci’s generosity.

PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA

PHOTO CREDIT: Maria Georgaki PLEASE RECYCLE

16 FEATURES

Hillingdon Literary Festival: An Interview with Will Self Sophie Perry

n Friday the 16th October, residents of Hillingdon and its surrounding areas gathered in Brunel’s Antonin Artaud building to enjoy the premier event of the Hillingdon Literary Festival, ‘An Evening with Will Self’. The talk, lead by the man himself, focused on psychogeography, his area of research, which can be defined as ‘the psychological and political relationship between the built and the natural environment.’

of that? In part yes, I did get some breaks because of going to Oxford. Take my first book. I mean, obviously it was published because it was a stone cold work of genius, but it was also published because my then girlfriend worked for a publisher and was able to give it directly to the right people who recommended that it be published.

PHOTO CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA

Tell me about the modules you teach at Brunel, what is your favourite?

WS: My module is the pyschogeAs an author, Will Self has pro- ography one and that’s taught alduced numerous novels, Cock and most completely on foot and out of Bull (1992), doors, goThe Butt Why do you see so many ing around ( 2 0 0 8 ) actually and Shark looking at people in headphones, why are (2014), the built as well as environn o v e l l a s , so many people driving in cars ment and short stotrying to ry collec- with the music turned up? get in touch tions and with how non-fiction works. He has also writ- it affects us, what it’s like to move ten political commentary and act- though them, discussing transportaed as a journalist for a number of tion, looking at how walking affects national newspapers. In 2012 he the way we feel and think. Why do was appointed as Professor of Con- you see so many people in headtemporary Thought at Brunel Uni- phones, why are so many people versity and is a lecturer for Arts and driving in cars with the music turned Humanities students at all levels of up? It’s because there’s a basic level their degree. Le Nurb had the chance of anxiety about the wider environto speak with Will Self about his re- ment and an underlying apprehensearch, teaching, career and educa- sion which I would argue is true tion. that in certain key and important

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You have an Oxford education, so why choose to teach at Brunel? Will Self: The things I find interesting about Brunel are its location on the outskirts of London. That feeds into what I’m interested in so if you were at the event the other night you could see why I would wish to teach at Brunel rather than Oxford. Oxford hasn’t got the same psychogeographical credentials. I also like the student body, I like the fact we’ve got a very large number of students from ethnic minorities in the student population. That’s really interesting, that’s how we’re changing as a country. Here at Brunel, this is the future. Oxford is emphatically the past.

ways we are not free. The rest of the teaching I do, if you can call it teaching, is pretty standard stuff. I’ve just been teaching Ulysses to my third years and I teach on the Reading Resilience module for first year English students. One of your research areas is the changing state of the novel, do you believe English degrees, or Literary Festivals, are as relevant as they once were?

WS: Well literary festivals are entirely a function of my own career. I mean, I don’t cause them, what I mean is they are co-extensive with my own literary career so it’s funny to hear you talking about them dying out. They didn’t exist twenty If you had attended Brunel in- five years ago. When I started in the stead of Oxford, do you think you nineties almost all public events for would still be where you are today? writers were held in bookshops and you’d have WS: Its a bookPeople have started to detach s t o r e networking, isn’t reading. it? Elite the oral and performative compo- The reaeducation son that’s is a very nent of literature from the written e v o l v e d useful into litfor netfests is component working. because It’s true people because have started to detach the oral and you meet all the people who wind up performative component of literain the elite, there’s no denying that. ture from the written component. Do I think I got my breaks because

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Where is your favourite place to walk?

How do you feel about the changing state of University?

WS: I just like walking, well, wherever I am. I always walk from home in South London. The whole point of my kind of practice is to be where you are but I do have an affection for the Isle of Grain, also known as the Hoo Peninsula in the Thames estuary. That is where I first went when I began being a psychogeographer, though, at the time, I didn’t know that’s what it was called.

WS: Negative. I don’t think we should have moved to a fee model at all and we should have What makes an interested kept a grant system. I What did didn’t have and engaged young reader is five year to have a job old Will Self when I was want to be? somebody who goes into at University it was libraries and rummages for paid for and WS: I I didn’t have quite liked themselves any debt running when I left. away when I was five, so probably just somewhere else. You have had a varied career, what is the worst interview you Any tips for aspiring writers? have ever done? WS: If you’re talking about serious WS: One that immediately comes writing, ask yourself: am I prepared to mind was when a guy came all the for a working life that will consist way from Scotland to interview me of long periods of solitary confinein London and he hadn’t read the ment? In a thirty or forty year workbook. If it was just for a radio thing ing life, as much as twenty years will you could accept that, especially if probably be spent in a room, on your you write 400 page modernist nov- own, typing. els. You don’t necessarily expect someone doing a two or three min-

What book would you recommend for every student should read, that is not your own? WS: Well I wouldn’t recommend my own anyway. It’s difficult because you’re recommending books to a lot of people who don’t want to read books, then if you’re recommending a book to people who do like read books they’ve probably read it already. We live in a recommendation culture don’t we? I think what makes an interested and engaged young reader is somebody who goes into libraries and rummages for themselves.

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ute interview to have read them. But if you are coming to do a pre-publication interview that’s going to be a big press piece, maybe a four thousand word interview, you better bloody read the book.

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FEATURES 17

WHAT IT’S LIKE @ #HLF15 (FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T BE BOTHERED TO LEAVE THEIR BEDS) LE NURB REQUESTED A POEM FROM THE POETRY TAKEAWAY ABOUT THE HILLINGDON LITERARY FESTIVAL - HERE’S THE RESULT

It’s like the sky is a locked door refusing

to budge. And you are waiting for a metaphor

(INSERT METAPHOR) An assortment of marquees and camper-vans nudge against the door.

Anguished* poets (*read hungover)

PHOTO CREDIT: ELISABET H MAHASE

Prescribe anything but villanelles.

Two dozen trestle tables languish under the weight of books. Jollof rice is promised

with a smile. And inside, in the warm, we discuss the changing weather of censorship Friendships form between student body

and community

and through the blur

between repartee and poem an editor for LE NURB walks a steady camera through a reclaimed car park.

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18 FEATURES

CORBYN: SOCIALIST SAGE OR LOONY LEFTY? Grace Murray

irst thing’s first, let me get one thing clear: I consider myself to be left wing. I can’t claim I always have been (my 13 year old self was very taken with Nick Clegg back in 2010), but given that I carry my Labour Party membership card with my everywhere I go, it’s safe to say I’ve chosen my allegiance. So, the Labour Party has lurched to the left again (yes, my inner socialist cries out in glee) with a resounding cry of support from the wider membership. Those MPs who nominated Jeremy Corbyn as Party leader to ‘widen the debate’ must be feeling pretty silly right now. Labour Party membership is showing its desire to bring an end to modern politics: the politics of soundbites and a slick media image; the centrist politics of ‘New Labour’ – which is now, rather unfortunately, irreversibly associated with war crimes. They forget that a slick media operation is a good thing when your success depends on a good media image, and that New Labour won us 3 consecutive General Elections, one of which was after the war described as their death toll. Yes, obviously Blair is not the messiah, but he is also not the antichrist, and the Party needs to remember that his years in government brought about much

good change, not only war. Most of the Party is instinctively jerking away, though one day I hope we’ll be able to learn from this period.

likely to have promised this. Something that might make your poor, impoverished student hearts beat a little faster is his support of free university tuition for all. I certainly A very important change that never thought I’d hear those words Corbyn again. Imis trySupport of free university agine that! ing to Education tuition for all employ being a is the right rather ‘straight talking, honest politics’ of than a privilege.Privilege! which we are in desperate need. To be honest, Prime Minster’s QuesAn important factor linking Cortions (a.k.a. PMQ’s, held in the byn’s economic ideas is compassion, House of Commons every Wednes- which is so lacking from the ideoloday) were a total joke with cheap gies of the current establishment. point-scoring, shouting, and terrible At the risk of sounding naive, what puns. Since being elected, Corbyn is their great hurry with cutting the has made the refreshing decision to deficit? There is literally zero point separate himself from the circus (ex- of a healthy economy if part of the cept in the case of #PigGate, which population has to suffer for it. Monwould have brought tears of joy to ey doesn’t have feelings, hungry chilEd Miliband’s eyes and now won’t be dren do! mentioned outside of the occasional backbench “oink!”). Crowdsourcing However, as much as I enjoy a questions was another genius move good amount of nationalisation, exon Corbyn’s part. Now, when Camer- cellent socialism does not exist in a on attempts his usual point-scoring, vacuum, no matter how excellent it he sounds dismissive and belittling is. The unfortunate fact of the matof the nation’s everyday issues. ter is that Jeremy Corbyn is probably quite unelectable. It’s a sad truth, but However, the masses don’t watch one that we’re going to have to face. PMQs, so judged on policy and rela- I mean, I think he’s great, and the tive scruffiness Corbyn continues to Labour Party think he’s great, but it be. Restoring Tax Credits and student doesn’t matter how great the Labour grants is a standard opposition tactic Party think he is; we’re pitching to a and any of the four candidates were general public that voted the Tories

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into power in May (somehow I doubt they’re all closet socialists), and at the moment Jeremy Corbyn looks like an unkempt republican, which isn’t coming over well.

utter indifference.

If this sounds worryingly familiar to you, it’s because it is. The Party have so far managed to avoid having the big debate about renewing ‘Corbynites’ say that it’s a good Trident and taking a united stance, thing we lost in May because it gives which is good. I am not looking forus a chance to rebuild the Party in a ward to the attempt. Unfortunately, true leftist fashion. These people are nice as it would be to take the moral missing the point in a big way. This is high ground and get rid of the nasnot some kind of intellectual exer- ty atom bombs, the public majority cise; many people are relying on the want to keep them and, honestly, it’s Labour Party to get into power to im- really not an issue worth losing an prove their lives and their prospects. election over. To quote my own mothWe’d still have tax credits under La- er directly, “yes, I like a lot of his idebour, or even the so-called ‘Red To- as, but I don’t like what he says about ries’ that used to run the show. The Trident”. I suspect there’s a lot of Labour that going Party is Jeremy Corbyn looks like around. m e a n t an unkempt republican to help S o m e people, to might say support them, to be a voice for the that we must stay ideologically pure, downtrodden. It cannot do this with- but I don’t think they get it. The Laout being elected. bour Party is first and foremost a Party of government. To get into To be elected, you need policies government you need to win an electhat appeal to the widest range of tion, and to win an election the pubpeople. New Labour understood lic need to like you. So, what should this; they appealed to Middle Eng- the Labour Party choose? Demandland. Not poor, not rich; the aspira- ing we scrap the nukes for the next tional types. These are the people ten years, or swooping in to win the that Old Labour lost during the ‘Wil- 2020 General Election and saving derness Years’ of the 1980s, where the NHS? I know which I’d pick, but they spent the entire time going on let’s get one thing absolutely clear: about things like Unilateral Nuclear ideological purity is worth nothing in Disarmament, much to the public’s opposition.

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STANDING AGAINST PREVENT

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PHOTO CREDIT: KUSH WESTWOOD

Ali Milani

here is a clear and prevalent unwillingness in the political community to accept any views deemed to be outside the centre ground. Recent examples include newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and far right leader Nigel Farage. This fixation has caused our lawmakers to attack minorities through a new strategy: Prevent. What is Prevent? Prevent is the latest addition to the United Kingdom’s counter-terrorism framework and comes in the form of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act2015(CTSA).TheCTSAplacedPrevent as a statutory requirement for all public bodies to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism by tackling what is perceived to be ‘extremist ideology.’ Rhetoric and political spin aside, the reality is this will mean that academics and staff working within the institution must report students suspected of being ‘potential terrorists’ to external bodies for a ‘de-radicalisation’ process. Why does it need preventing? Prevent as a concept has been around for a long time; the new law

now makes it compulsory. It endorses the monitoring of students who appear ‘withdrawn’ or seeking ‘political change.’ This is particularly problematic as the strategy will almost certainly see us targeting minorities and vulnerable students. While the Prevent policy is clearly aimed at those suspected of ‘Islamic extremism’ and far right activity, there is a growing concern that other groups will also be affected, including but not limited to: anti-austerity and environmental campaigners – largely those engaged in political dissent. The prospect of racial profiling and state-sponsored Islamophobia is all the worse: Black and Muslim students are bearing the brunt of a reactionary, racist agenda while freedom of speech across the board is curtailed. To provide us with some background, we have seen in the past months Prevent officers’ involvement on campuses resulting in a living wage campaigner monitored by police for his activism, a schoolboy questioned by police for circulating political literature and 3 female students at New Vic College suspended

for raising concerns. The way Prevent conceptualises ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ is based on an intellectually unsubstantiated assessment that religious ideology is the primary driving factor behind terrorism. Academic research is in fact suggesting otherwise. Research has instead proposed that social, exonomical and political factors, as well as social exclusion, play a far more central role in driving political violence than simply ideol-

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ogy. Indeed, ideology only becomes appealing when social, economic and political grievances give it legitimacy. Prevent nevertheless remains fixated on ideology as the primary driver of terrorism. Inevitably, this has meant a focus on a religious interaction and Islamic symbolism as an assessment criteria for radicalisation. For example, the assumed indicators of potential “terrorism” are growing a beard, wearing a hijab or mixing with those who believe Islam

has a comprehensive political philosophy. This only serves to reinforce a prejudicial worldview that perceives Islam has to be a retrograde and oppressive religion that threatens the West. Prevent undoubtedly reinforces an ‘us’ and ‘them’ view of the world, divides communities, and sows mistrust in Muslims; and we must stand in its way.

FEATURES

SANCTUARY IN EUROPE: GULWALI PASSARLAY

“LET BRITAIN BE A BEACON OF HOPE” N

o one leaves home unless/ home is the mouth of a shark. You only run for the border/ when you see the whole city/ running as well.’ – Home, Warsan Shire These emotive lines from Nairobi-born, London-raised poet laureate, Warsan Shire, articulate the dire situation currently faced by millions of Syrians. The threats posed to the people of Syria sprout from the horrific civil war between rebel fighters, Hezbollah and other Jihadi Militias, including those with links to Al Qaeda, against Bashar al Assad’s tyrannical regime. Home Secretary, Theresa May, deplores that the “ethnic cleansing, mass murder of enemy soldiers, systematic rape and sexual violence, kidnappings and murder” committed by ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a.k.a. ISIS) add to the present and atrocious danger in Syria. Of course, by definition, an international crisis affects countries the world over and thus Theresa May’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference 2015 was focused on the subject of immigration. May insists that our asylum system is failing the people who need it most. The current system encourages people to risk their lives by making treacherousjourneysintothecountry; it is a survival of the fittest, whereby the young, strong and lucky are the most likely to succeed; and the system permits those whose visas have expired to claim asylum to remain in the country. The World media has criticized Britain for not doing enough. May points to the contributions the British government has made to Syrians in their home country; £1 billion in British Aid has reached Syria in the last four years - more than Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Hungary, Austria and Poland combined - making it Britain’s largest response to a humanitarian crisis. May believes, “we should be immensely proud of the difference we are making.” Despite this, Parliament’s pledge to accept 20,000 refugees is dwarfed by the numbers taken in by Germany. May insists that by taking those seeking refuge directly from camps, we discourage refugees from making the dangerous journeys in the first place. Furthermore, May argues that accepting small numbers of refugees into Britain will be far less effective than working with the vast numbers who remain unsafe in the region and providing help to the governments of surrounding nations such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. May insists that we should be careful of coalescing the desperate refugees escaping war-torn homes with “economic migrants who simply want

Cameron Wall to live in a more prosperous society”. Whilst their desires are understood, their circumstances fall short of the agonizing struggle faced by millions of Syrians. Our moral duty is to come to the assistance of those who need it most, but we also have a domestic duty to ensure that our immigration system maintains control over who enter the country, because, “when immigration is too high, when the pace of change is too fast, it’s impossible to build a cohesive society.” May argues, “Britain does not need net migration in the hundreds of thousands every year”, because “at best, the net economic and fiscal effect of high immigration is close to zero.” Some might argue that the case for immigration should not be judged solely on its economic merits, or weaknesses, but instead on its positive contributions to culture, opportunity, language and arts. While this is true - and of course Britain would not be the country it is today without the positive influences of migrant groups - May make the argument that a population changed too rapidly by immigration could lead to a disjointed and fragile society. An important section of May’s speech explored the ‘new plan for asylum’. Britons must come first, she insists, “for the sake of the people whose wages are cut, and whose job security is reduced, when immigration is too high”. There is a very simple logic to May’s plan, leading straight back to an argument made earlier the asylum-seeking refugee whose desperation is marked by their decision to embark on a treacherous, dangerous and, to most, incomprehensible journey clearly must come before the family who seeks a more prosperous economy in which to live. “Without controlled immigration, there will be less public support for taking refugees”, this is to say that, the more economic migrants who take advantage of the asylum system operating in Britain, the less willing the public are to support the families fleeing from war-ravaged Syria.

Kate Buck

magine this. You get on a bus, nessed countless floggings. This was not knowing which country you the norm for him and he questioned are in, disorientated from weeks of little. Everything changed when the travelling without family, friends or United States declared its “War on help of any kind. You began this jour- Terror” in 2001 and Afghanistan ney with your brother, though lose was occupied by US forces. Gulwali’s him soon after leaving your native Uncle was a high ranking member homeland. You are fleeing the place of the Taliban and as a result twelve where your year old GulBest thing to do is father and wali and his his father were treat those seeking asylum brother were killed pressured by by occupying both the US as normal people American and the Talibforces. Your an to become mother sent you away suddenly, no informants. This is something they opportunity to say goodbye, saying never did. only these words, “However bad it gets, don’t come back.” In 2006, after his father and grandfather were killed by soldiers Now imagine, on top of all of that, in a gun fight, Gulwali’s mother made you are only twelve years old. the brave decision to send her two eldest sons away knowing they had For Gulwali Passarlay, 22, study- a better chance of survival outside ing Social Science at the University of Afghanistan. This began a twelve of Manchester, this was reality. Re- month long odyssey for the two cently, Gulwali came to Brunel Uni- boys. versity to share his story with the Politics Society. Not long after being smuggled into Iran, Gulwali and his brother His life began in the hills of Af- were separated, and would not see ghanistan – an environment vastly each other again for over a year. different from the UK - where he Gulwali travelled through Iran and spent his childhood as a shepherd Turkey alone, eventually making it to with his Grandfather, sleeping under Bulgaria where he was sent to pristhe stars and looking after the flock. on, still only twelve years old. After At this time, Afghanistan was occu- serving his sentence Gulwali was impied by the Taliban, and Gulwali wit- prisoned yet again, this time for at-

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tempting to travel into Greece, and he returned to Iran. Travelling didn’t come without its hardships. When travelling on an overcrowded boat to Turkey the engine failed and Gulwali nearly drowned. In his book, The Lightless Sky, he wrote: “I have heard somewhere that drowning is a peaceful death. Whoever said that hasn’t watched grown men soil themselves with fear aboard an overcrowded, broken-down boat in the middle of a raging Mediterranean storm.” After this experience Guwali, now thirteen, was imprisoned for three months in Greece, and from there he was able to make his way to a refugee camp. Gulwali made his way to Italy which, in his words, was the only place he was treated as the child he was. There he was taken to a children’s home. From Italy he made his way to France, and then into Britain in a refrigerated lorry. At this point he had travelled more than 12,500 miles, alone. The fight didn’t stop there. Once in Britain Gulwali fought continuously for five years before finally being granted his status as a refugee. When he arrived in Britain Gulwali was fostered by a family in Manchester, and began attending school. He gained 8 GCSE’s which allowed him to progress on to further education. Gulwali was reunited with his brother after a year apart and is currently pursuing a career in politics. He has sat in the Youth Parliament, advised Her Majesty’s Government Ministers on Refugee policy, and in 2012 was given the honor of carrying the Olympic torch. So what are Gulwali’s thoughts on current UK policy? He believes the best thing to do is treat those seeking asylum as normal people. It is through the accident of their birth that they find themselves in this situation, and help needs to be given to them. When asked how we should best tackle ISIS, he said the best way to resolve the problem would be to sit down at a table and talk with them.

May’s argument is that a limit should exist on the number of immigrants granted asylum in the United Kingdom - though the figure is relatively arbitrary according to some. Without this limit, “Britain can’t maintain its tradition of gradual, moderate, sensible change.” As a result, those who abuse our system and “goodwill” must “live with the knowledge that they are depriving people in genuine need of the sanctuary our country can offer.”

For now Gulwali is concentrating on his final year of University, but there is no doubt that his journey has been a degree in itself. His journey and survival are a testament to human nature, and there is seemingly no stopping this remarkable man. staying true to his mother’s advice, he has yet to return to Afghanistan.

Britain will remain a destination for those “who need our help in their darkest moments.” For those who need relief, May deplores, “let Britain be a beacon of hope.”

Gulwali’s book ‘The Lightless Sky’, is available from Amazon now.

PHOTO CREDIT: THE TIMES PLEASE RECYCLE

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* PART 2: DREAM OF CALIFORN-VACATION Adam White

ne thing I forgot to mention in Part 1 was that on our final day in San Francisco we went to see one of America’s “traditional” sports; Baseball. After a day exploring the city, we went back to the hotel to recoup and have some grub, and then we headed out to catch the bus. The buses in SF are pretty cool, as lame as that sounds, as they are all “green,” running on bio-fuels or using hybrid diesel-electric engines. They also have fold down bike racks on both the front and back for any cyclists trying to get home quicker. We made our way to the AT&T Park, which is situated by the SF bay area. We were going to see the San Francisco Giants v the Seattle Mariners. I’d never really paid much attention to the rules of baseball but after I while even I could see that the Giants were playing pretty poorly. The game had all the things you would expect; from drinks/hotdog/ popcorn sellers walking round the crowds to the standard tunes playing over the tannoy, and of course some choreographed “surprise” proposals broadcast on the big screens. After the game, we headed back to our hotel to pack. We were moving on the next day. Our hire car for the rest of the trip was a massive Dodge people carrier, an automat-

*sing to the tune of Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers

ic, with storage space galore, and buttons for pretty much everything. There were even buttons to open the two sliding doors and the boot - the “trunk” - which seemed like overkill. Now my parents are pretty bad when it comes to reading maps, directions or using a SAT NAV, so automatically I was burdened with the responsibility. I didn’t mind though, it meant I got to ride shotgun. We set off through the streets of SF, heading for the highway. Soon we were on it, Highway 1, famous for the West Coast Coastal drive. Heading down this highway, we began to see the big trucks roaring with their heavy loads, and I felt that we were heading into big, classic America. Our destination was Monterey, a small but very picturesque fisherman’s town roughly 120 miles south of SF. It consists of an old town and a new town, both with their own fisherman’s wharf. We were staying in The Colton Inn, a small B&B motel just a short walk from the bay. Monterey has its own sheriff, its own fire department, and probably a local neighbourhood watch. Walking down the streets, we passed independently run businesses, restaurants, and a nice town library. We headed down to the fisherman’s wharf to explore and grabbed an ice cream each. Walking along,

I also had the chance to try one of America’s staples; Taco Bell, which was rather disappointing to be honest. That evening we went for dinner in a small British pub, not really adventurous I know, but with a veggie

sibling it’s hard to please everyone at dinner time, plus it was nice to have a proper pint for once! That evening was the final of the NBA with the local team, the Golden State Warriors, needing this win to take the championship. Watching the game with a bar full of Americans was certainly a highlight of the trip. The next day we explored Monterey’s new town. We had a look around all of the local shops, including local craft and fisherman shops, as well as a small local comic book store. We took a visit to the Monterey Aquarium. It’s one of the biggest in California. I did not expect a day out at an aquarium to be so enjoy-

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able. There were educational talks at some of the exhibitions, as well as an outside area where you could watch seals and sea lions out in the bay. They run PADI scuba diving courses in the aquarium’s bay zone. Of course the best bit of this whole visit was seeing the penguins! After some more exploring of this small town, and dinner in yet another British pub, we headed back to the motel for our final night in Monterey. The following day we would hit the road again and wouldn’t be stopping until Cambria. To be continued...

PHOTO CREDIT: ADAM WHITE

FEATURES

NOT TREASURE ISLAND Jack Frayne-Reid

obert Louis Stevenson’s swashbuckling opus Treasure Island was first published in 1883 and has been adapted countless times in the years since, with its primary antagonist, the sinister pirate Long John Silver, being played by everybody from Orson Welles to National Rifle Association icon Charlton Heston.

method, which they have also applied to Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree, involves plucking a beloved story from their childhood and, without actually re-reading it, attempting to reconstruct the plot from memory, filling the considerable gaps with their own bizarre inventions.

Given the lack of embellishments, On the 21st September, however, each of the group were tasked with Brunel University played host to a playing characters as disparate as a particularly iconoclastic rendition land-logged squid, javelin throwing of the time-honoured tale, as the savages, and, in fact, the sea, as well comedy troupe Sleeping Trees (not as all the piratey-human characters to be confused with the ‘90s indie you’d expect in a tale such as this. rock group ConstantScreamly moving ing Trees) the Surreal bastardisation around regaled stage, they the lucky displayed of Stevenson’s story attendees a vigorous with their commitex t r e m e l y ment to funny Edinburgh fringe show Not physical theatre, with slapstick comTreasure Island, a surreal bastardisa- edy forming a strong counterpoint tion of Stevenson’s story. There were to the constant verbal humour, much only twenty or so people in the audi- of which – as they told the crowd in ence, but large crowds are seldom a Q&A afterwards – was improvised. an appropriate barometer of quali- Sleeping Trees’ aptitude for improvity; the worst bands (yes, I’m talking sation is one of their most endearing about your favourite one) regularly facets; in the brief moments it somesell out stadiums, whilst everybody what fell apart, it was not for lack of probably slept through the Sermon effort and certainly not for lack of on the Mount and said, retrospec- risk-taking that they pulled themtively, “oh yeah, I was there, honest.” selves together. They also showed a Not to hyperbolise or anything. keen appreciation for running a joke into the ground until it becomes funSleeping Trees, who proudly (and ny all over again. quite justly) flaunt comparisons to Monty Python on their website The performance, which was orand Facebook page, consist of writ- ganised and hosted by Brunel Drama er-performers Joshua George Smith, Society, cost nothing to attend. I hesJohn Woodburn and James Dun- itate to speak on behalf of all those nell-Smith. The trio eschew such lux- in the audience, but I thought it was uries as additional performers, props £0 well spent. I can’t testify as to how or musical accompaniment (on this closely it resembled Robert Louis occasion, anyway; they frequently Stevenson’s Treasure Island, but it tour with a band). I cannot claim to certainly resembled a good night at be any authority on the twists and the theatre. turns of Treasure Island, but I gather that nor would the members of Drama Soc meets at 7:30 in the Sleeping Trees claim to be. Their Antonin Artaud building.

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HOME MADE: GIN & TONIC CUPCAKES

PHOTO CREDIT: ELISABETH MAHASE

Adam White

30 minutes prep 20 minutes bake Makes 12-16 cupcakes 46p a cupcake Ingredients For the cakey bit: 175g unsalted butter 175g caster sugar 175g self-raising flour 3 medium eggs 4 tbsp tonic water 2 tbsp gin For the Icing: 250g unsalted butter 500g icing sugar Juice of 1 lime 4 tbsp gin To decorate: Zest of 1 lime 2-3 limes cut into wedges

PHOTO CREDIT: LAURAPEATMEN

Method 1. Preheat the oven to 175OC and fill a cupcake tin, if you have one, otherwise just a normal baking tray, with 12-16 cupcake cases. 2. Add the butter and sugar for the cakey bit, to a bowl and mix until you have a light and creamy consistency. 3. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to stir. 4. Stir in the tonic water. 5. Split mixture between the cupcake cases, filling each case to about 2/3 full. 6. Bake the cupcakes for 20 minutes. 7. Once done, the cakes should spring back up nicely when a slight bit of pressure has been applied with your finger to the top.

You’ll also need cupcake sleeves, (which can be bought in most supermarkets.)

8. Place the cakes on a cooling rack, otherwise just a kitchen side is fine.

Baking tray or cupcake tray., mixing bowl, whisk/spoon, kitchen brush, kitchen scales or a good eye for measurements.

9. Pierce each cake 2 to 3 times using a skewer, sharp knife, or chopstick.

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10. The gin (2 tbsp), can then be applied preferably using a kitchen brush, which will be absorbed into the cakey goodness. 11. For the icing, soften the butter in a mixing bowl and add the icing sugar and stir well. 12. Add the juice of one lime as well as the gin (4 tbsp). 13. Pipe the icing onto your cupcakes, and decorate each one with a wedge of lime and some lime zest. If you don’t have self-raising flour then you can use plain flour and yeast instead. Yeast usually comes in sachets of roughly 7g, which should be enough. You can obviously add more gin if you wish to make them stronger or use lemon instead of lime. Or you could be even more adventurous and try other combinations like whiskey and orange or vodka and cranberry.

22 FEATURES “My hair has been about every colour you can imagine: it’s been green, it’s been yellow, it’s been purple, ginger, brunette… I haven’t seen my natural hair since I was about 12. I was just a bit bored, and I was going to a school that was quite conformist, where we had to be a certain way. Then I realised they didn’t actually have a rule saying you couldn’t die your hair. It was just a bit of an early teenage rebellion, but it stuck for over a decade now.”

“Goldsmith was just down the road, but with Brunel, it’s an hour and a half drive, which I quite like, it’s like meditation. If you get any frustration you can just have it out on the highway. Shout and swear, ‘f-ing blind!’, and stuff… I quite enjoy that.”

“I’m VP for Act of Kindness. This is a new society and we’re finding it a bit hard, because it’s like jumping off a cliff. But once we get ourselves set up hopefully we’ll do a lot of stuff for people. Especially for Kindness day next month, we want to do something big on Kindness day.”

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HUMANS OF BRUNEL Words by Eloise Guibourg Photography by Alexander Short “I’d like to be able to feel that I can make change in the world, whether that is through activism, diplomacy… I’m only studying so I can make a difference.”

“What are you dressing as for Halloween?” “See, because I am quite short I’ve got to go for something in that range. So it’s either: a smurf, a minion, an umpa lumpa, or some other small creature… A dwarf perhaps, but that’s a lot of make up, so I’m not quite sure.”

“I’ve joined the Tech Society, it’s just an extra thing.”

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Photo credit: Evening Standard

RHODES INTERVIEW LIVE AT CAMDEN KOKO Charlotte Davis

hilst sitting backstage at the notorious Camden Koko I had the pleasure of interviewing the incredibly talented RHODES before he headlined his sold out London show on the 9th of October. A few years ago David Rhodes, from Hitchen, had little confidence when it came to his own singing voice, and admitted to me that he still struggles when hearing his singing back. In 2013 Rhodes decided to venture out into the singing world, and following some encouragement from his father he decided to record a couple of songs and upload them online. It’s now two years later and Rhodes is signed to independent record label, Ministry of Sound, and opening shows for some of the biggest names in the business.

Seeing as his debut album, Wishes, had only just dropped at the time of the interview it was only necessary to talk about it. Rhodes admitted that since mixing the album he hasn’t yet managed to listen back to it, nor properly look at its feedback (which I’m sure is great). He told me that the main reason for this is because he has been so busy promoting the album and enjoying performing that he hasn’t had the time. All tracks on the album seem to maintain this beautiful and raw sound. For Rhodes, his favourite songs on the album are ‘Breathe’ and ‘You and I’, he said; “they both embody the sentiment behind them”. He later goes on to say that the songs discuss the important things in life and that it is too easy to take these things for granted. The singer admitted that he is his

biggest critic, but the “excitement is there when you finish a song”. Rhodes described his fear of singing as going to the microphone and it being “like someone cut my vocal chords. It was really weird”. I managed to watch his set after the interview and his voice has the power to silence the audience, it is quite incredible. David Rhodes may be a massive critic of his own voice but from that, it has bought a seriously good album and a perfect live performance. For a musician, it is known that your debut album is your chance to display your official ‘sound’. The RHODES sound tends to be very organic and natural, and for Rhodes, a lot of his music comes from a filmic and cinematic influence. So if you haven’t heard this guy before just imagine cinematic music and raw vocals, all

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with a slight folk hold to it. David’s father also has a big interest in music and he said that they are “jamming all the time”. Maybe there’s a possibility that there could be a father-son duo coming up soon? It is something that Rhodes said he would love to do! So after the album usually comes the tour, and one notable moment from the UK Wishes tour in David’s eyes was when someone in the crowd fainted during his performance. He said; “I didn’ t know how to handle [it] cause I was playing a song on the piano and then I was like someone just fainted. I didn’ t know whether to stop or carry on”. He also mentioned that an amusing moment of the tour was when a pair of underwear landed on his shy female cellist’s pedal board, ‘which was the funniest thing’.

Speaking of touring, supporting George Ezra at The Olympia – one of the most famous and iconic music venues in the world – was top of the list for Rhodes and one of his favourite shows ever played. Rhodes said; “It was just something about being there... It’ s just so memorable.” Next on the agenda for this guy is taking his Wishes tour to Europe. He said; “I love going to Europe. I can’ t wait to go back to Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin, but I’ ve recently been around Scandanavia a bit so I can’ t wait to go there. But I’ m hopefully gonna go to Spain and Italy. I’ ve never even been to Italy, that’ s gonna be fun.” RHODES’ debut album ‘Wishes’ is out now.

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LATEST MUSIC RELEASES: FETTY WAP - 679

PANIC! AT THE DISCO - VICTORIOUS

he synthpop/rock stars at back with their single Victorious, this catchy tune is representative of the guys’ immense sound with frontman Brendan Urie killing it yet again. This song, along with the release of ‘Death of a Bachelor’, another epic song with an even more epic beat, are turning heads and rumors of a fifth studio album in the works is arising. In the meantime, both songs are available to download now!

ust when you think he couldn’t top his debut single ‘Trap Queen’, Fetty Wap surprises us with his amazing new single 679. This single dropped at the start of October and already is taking over the music world by storm with its infectious beat. Fetty Wap is well on his way to stardom.

ELLIE GOULDING - ‘LOST AND FOUND’

JAMIE LAWSON - ‘JAMIE LAWSON’

he Debut album from, you guessed it, Jamie Lawson, features a variety of soulfuland mysterious tracks that highlight Lawson’s talent so perfectly.

llie does it again, Lost and Found from her new album Delirium is nothing short of pop genius. With Ellie’s signature gorgeous vocals and the uplifting beat, this track is definitely one to look out for in the not so distant future. Delirium is due for release on November 6th 2015 and the single October 23rd 2015.

After signining to Ed Sheeran’s very own record label, Gingerbread Man Records, great things are expected from this guy and his very first album is only the start!

PEACE - LIVE AT BRIXTON I

t is safe to say on Friday the 9th of October, at Brixton’s famous O2 Academy, it felt like a night at a British summer festival. Throughout the evening people were being swallowed by the endless amounts of mosh pits, or being lifted onto others shoulders. The venue was packed with indie-loving teens all eager for Peace to come on. However, Splashh (the second supporting act of the night) managed to grab the audience’s attention with a two of their singles ‘Pure Blue’ and ‘All I Wanna Do’. Once the wait for Splashh’s set to finish was over and the technical crew had set up, everyone knew Peace were about to come on. There was a massive roar from the back of the venue to the front, then silence as Douglas Castle (the bands guitarist) came on and played a solo. Then on came Dom

Boyce and Samuel Koisser (drummer and bassist). Lastly, the frontman himself, Harry Koisser, graced the stage wearing an eye-catching white trench coat. They opened the set with ‘O You’, the first song of their latest album Happy People. After the band had finished their fifth song ‘Money’, Harry Koisser was then handed an acoustic guitar and started to play ‘Someday’. The crowd halting and a relaxed feeling swept amongst the venue and people were either waving their arms or shining lighters or torches on their mobile phones. The song was followed by two more acoustic tracks from previous albums. The upbeat feeling then returned once the band started to play some of their bigger tracks such as ‘Lost on Me’ and ‘Bloodshake’, which was followed by an incredible instrumental, instigating the mosh

Anton Davies pits once again. Harry then thanked the audience for coming down and one by one the band left the stage, which caused the audience to chant ‘encore!” over and over again, as if they were at a football match. After a few minutes of the endless chanting, the band returned playing an insanely creative instrumental, leading into one of their most popular songs ‘Lovesick’. The gig came to a close with ‘Higher Than the Sun’ and ‘World Pleasure’ before thanking the crowd once more and exiting the stage, leaving the audience in such of awe of their ability to entertain. Without a doubt, this is a band I would highly recommend you listen to, whilst dancing in your room.

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EXPLORING #HLF15 Sophie Perry & Charlotte Davis

illingdon’s first ever ‘Literary Festival’ hit Brunel in midOctober gathering students, staff and residents from the local area to celebrate the power of words. Alongside the events, the Festival featured a variety of stalls selling books and food, The Poetry Takeaway and the mysterious KARVAN.

Playing With Your Food, The Poetry Takeaway: An endearing feature of the Festival was The Poetry Takeaway, a free service offering festivalgoers the opportunity to have a personalised poem ‘cooked’ for them then and there. By providing the ingredients, our Poetry Chef cooked our very own culture themed poem for Le Nurb.

Around the World in 80 Ways, The KARVAN ‘littrip experience’: Speaking to E Dawson Varughese, she informed us that the aim of the KARVAN is to ‘travel around the world through fiction and poetry’. Stepping into the KARVAN was inspiring, decorated throughout with tokens from around the world; it was a microcosm of Global Culture. On Saturday, Sophie was lucky enough to ‘travel’ in the KARVAN. Taking a seat, she was directed to spin a compass which destinations included the mountains, the sea, the city or the jungle; a passage from literature was then read out that typifies that place. Sophie was pointed to ‘the mountains’, her passage being from Shadow Men (2010) by Bijoya Sawian, a small inspiring description of the picturesque mountains in the novel.

Lets Taco’Bout it, The Food Stalls: No festival is complete without street food from all over the world. Over the weekend the literary festival atBrunelfeaturedavarietyofdifferent food stalls, including London based company Crème Glacée, who served gelato on the Saturday and grilled up a mouth watering barbeque on the Sunday. We both tried the Chicken Tikka with Pitta Bread and Salad, which was delicious, although it might have been a little too hot for Charlotte!

Photo credit: Charlotte Davis and Sophie Perry

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30 CULTURE PHOTO CREDIT: DEADLINE.COM Photo Credit: zap2it.com

TV - THE ERASURE OF BISEXUALITY IN FAKING IT Sophie Perry

will openly admit how sceptical I was of MTV’s Faking It when I first heard the premise of the show, premiering last April I was ready for it to be terrible. I expected lazy writing, out of date tropes, stereotypes and just a generally offensive show. I watched the first episode out spite, ready to slate it the first chance I got but I found myself pleasantly surprised. The writing was good, the show was funny and the characters not entirely unlikable, two seasons down the line and the show has a huge fan base. I do enjoy Faking It, however, it cannot be ignored that the show has its issues, some of which are extremely problematic. One particular bone of contention is the blatant biphobic attitude the show has, even with the recent introduction of Wade; the shows first openly bisexual character. If you have never heard of Faking It, the romantic comedy series is set at Hester High in Austin, Texas. The show flips the typical school social structure upside down, where the ‘outcasts’ are the in-crowd and being different makes you popular; a ‘kumbaya, socialist freak show’ as Lauren (Bailey De Young) calls it. Faking It follows best friends

Amy (Rita Volk) and Karma (Katie Stevens) who are mistaken as a couple and outed to the school. The duo decide to continue the ruse to keep their new found popularity and celebrity status. One of the main plots that recurs throughout the show is Amy questioning her sexuality. The way Faking It presents Amy’s sexuality is what makes the show more than the trope ridden, fetishizing train wreck it appears to be on the surface. Such a topic is often presented in the media in a divided manner, where a character changesfromexclusivelyheterosexual to exclusively homosexual with nothing in-between apparently existing. For Amy to be shown actively engaging in relationships, sexual and romantic, with both genders is refreshing when representations of bisexual and questioning people is thin on the ground. GLAAD’s2014‘WhereWeAreOnTV’ report documented that of the 105 LGBT+ characters appearing on cable television in the 2014/15 broadcast year only 31 of those characters were bisexual. Amy’s exploration of her sexuality is an important recurring plot in the series, it also having been present from the very first episode. Where, at the end of the pilot Amy and Karma

kiss to prove their legitimacy as a couple after being accused by Amy’s stepsister Lauren of, for use of a better phrase, ‘faking it’. They pull away and Amy’s face is a picture worth a thousand words, realising her feelings for her best friends might have just become a little more complex. For a show that seems to have an endeavour to represent the LGBT+ community, Lauren actually making history in the second season as the first intersex character to appear on television, I find it perplexing and offensive how biphobic the show can be. For a majority of the show the writers were quite happy showing Amy engaging in relationships with both genders, but to actually present visible, self-identifying bisexual characters? That was a different story. Often referred to as the ‘silenced sexuality’becauseoftheerasureexists in the media, where the attraction to two genders is passed off as a phrase rather than recognised as a legitimatesexuality.EvenintheLGBT+ community a small minority believe that bisexual people should not attend LGBT+ events, because if they are in an opposite gender relationship thentheyare‘effectively’heterosexual. Which is ridiculous because they are not. That is erasure.

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When bisexuality is presented in the show it is often done so with negative stereotypes and tropes. In the third episode of the first season the following exchange takes place between Amy and her confidant Shane (Michael Willett): Shane: ‘Wait, wait so you knew she’s also into guys?’ Amy: ‘I had a clue.’ Shane: ‘Ah, the elusive bisexual. They are a tricky beast. […] I’ve been down this yellow brick road before. Dating someone bi is a lesson in insecurity.’ The language Shane uses paints an all too common misrepresenting picture of bisexuality, where bisexual people are promiscuous and apparently more likely to cheat because they happen to be attracted to more than one gender. This ideology is only made further problematic in the second season where Reagan (Yvette Monreal), Amy’s first girlfriend and a firm fan favourite, breaks up with Amy because she finds out she still has an attraction to men. Earlier in the season Reagan confessed to Amy that her ex-girlfriend left her for a man, this being the reason for her anxiety that their relationship was a

‘phase’ to Amy. Following this the character of Wade is introduced, an open and selfidentifying bisexual and shouldn’t that solve the problem? Not quite. Wade is introduced as a crush of both Shane and Karma, neither of them realising the other likes him too. When they confront him to ask if he is ‘gay or straight’ he tells them he likes them both and cannot decide between the two of them who he likes more. While Shane and Karma fight for his attention, they all decide to go to prom as a three-people couple or ‘thruple’, this outing then ending the night in a threesome. This only further perpetuating the stereotype of promiscuity mentioned earlier. It’s lazy, tiring and completely offensive. Faking It is a show where a number of the characters fall into the LGBT+ spectrum; from professional MMA Fighter Duke to Lauren and her dance partner Pablo. Laverne Cox of Orange Is The New Black even appears as Drama teacher Margot. For a show with so much potential, and with such a large fan base, it does worry me that it is so much a part of the problem. In terms of problematic writing Faking It might just end up like post-second season Glee; something any writer with a shred of dignity would like to avoid.

FILM - MAD MAX: FURY ROAD I

t’s been 30 years since Mad Max Rockatansky blasted onto screens, and since then, Hollywood action blockbusters have changed so much in such a relatively short space of time. What was once a diverse and interesting genre has now become somewhat marred by remakes, lazy CGI, generic characters, predictable plot-lines and low-stakes action that is now geared towards bored teenagers rather than thrillseeking adults. It’s a welcome relief, therefore, that Mad Max: Fury Road came along and reminded us of how an action movie for grown-ups can and should be done. Fury Road is the latest in the Mad Max franchise, with Tom Hardy replacing Mel Gibson as the Road Warrior bringing law to the lawless in a world gone to hell. The plot revolves around Max helping Furiosa (Charlize Theron) reach her childhood homeland along with a band of young beauties known as ‘The Wives’, all the while on the run from an army of crazed psychopaths known as the War Boys, led by the tyrannical cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne). It’s a simple

One issue that I think many people had with this movie, although I’m not sure whether it can be described as such, is that it becomes somewhat apparent that this is Theron’s movie, as she carries most of the weight and Hardy is arguably a secondary character in his own movie. While this may be a problem for some, I personally felt that it added more to Max’s nature as a guide and a legend rather than an actual person, almost like a post-apocalyptic Robin Hood. One surprising performance was Nicholas Hoult’s Nux, a character

Photo Credit: hdwallpapers.in

who wants more than anything to be a part of Joe’s War Boys, but comes to form an alliance with Max, Furiosa and the Wives. While the marketing may have made him out to be a onenote psychopath, he turns out to be a very interesting character, who seems to show genuine sensitivity, and is in fact one of my favourite characters in the entire film. Another aspect I enjoyed seeing was its portrayal of female characters. In a day and age where women in action movies are relegated to sex objects or ‘prizes’ to be ‘won’ at the end of the film, Fury Road takes this trope and turns it on its head, with the Wives breaking free from their role as sex slaves for Immortan Joe, and Furiosa herself being arguably the most badass female protagonist we’ve seen for a while. What makes it really work, though, is that it never feels like tokenism, as the presentation of women in this fashion in a world ruled by a literal patriarchy helps to further flesh out Miller’s world and add so much more thematically. It’s a welcome change of pace from the male-dominated action landscape, and one that I hope we see more often in the foreseeable future. As you can expect from a modernday Mad Max movie, the special effects are phenomenal, particularly when you realise that, according to director George Miller, about 90% of the action relied entirely on practical effects, meaning that every chase, every car, every stunt and every crash actually happened, which makes for a refreshing change of pace from most other Hollywood action CGI-fests, boosted by Oscar-calibre visuals and sound design. The film is also amazing from an artistic standpoint, and every frame could practically

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Edward Sweet

premise, and this simplicity allows for enough time to balance the film’s awe-inspiring action set-pieces with some surprisingly deep character development, all the while further fleshing out the incredible world that series mastermind George Miller has created over the course of three prior movies. The movie is essentially a two-hour chase sequence, which proves to be both a curse and a blessing. While it allows for some outstanding action scenes, the nature of the plot structure means that the movie felt a lot longer than it actually was, although I greatly appreciated the quieter moments of character development that brought the many interesting characters to life.

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CULTURE

Photo Credit: falorwire.com

be its own work of art, with breathtaking attention to detail. From the gloomy caves where the War Boys live, to the bleak yet beautiful desert to the hideously mutated people to the crazy vehicles, every aspect of the film oozes style from every pore, and certainly merits a HD purchase just so you can pause and admire the amount of love that Miller has crafted into this film. It manages to achieve the perfect paradox of being hideously grotesque yet aweinspiringly beautiful at the same time. Another staple in the Mad Max franchise is the cars, and the ones here are truly a sight to behold. Max’s iconic Interceptor makes an appearance, but it’s the new cars that steal the show, which are as wild and whacky as the drivers, as one car essentially resembles a vehicular porcupine. Immortan Joe’s car is made of two cars stacked on top of each other and fitted with monster truck tyres, a mutant lovechild between a truck and a hotrod. The Doof Wagon, a repurposed missile carrier decked out with a wall of speakers and a set of drums strapped to the back, which scores the action, not only looks incredible, but sounds it too, and every time you hear the guitar play (which, by the way, has a freakin’ FLAMETHROWER attached to it), you feel as if you’re right there in the action. The action, too, is outstanding, the fact that the fights were achieved

mainly through practical effects makes them all the more exhilarating. The film is uncompromising with its violence – people are shot, run over, have their faces ripped off and are even sliced with chainsaws, which makes a change from the watereddown violence we’ve come to expect from most modern action movies. The scenes of vehicular combat are also a blast to watch, including the only CGI-heavy scene that takes place during a sandstorm. What works, though, is that the movie manages to balance the action with its quieter moments. To conclude, Mad Max: Fury Road is a stunning testament to how modern action movies should be done, all the while presenting a wholly unique and entertaining take on the genre, boasting stunning visuals, editing and sound design as well as intriguing characters and a fascinating world that is simultaneously hideous yet mesmerising. What a lovely day indeed.

BOOK - EMMA ‘A MODERN RETELLING’ BY ALEXANDER MCCALLSMITH A

s someone who found Emma utterly frustrating during English lessons at school, I was sceptical to pick up this book during my monthly book buying binge – it’s a serious problem I have every payday. In fact, the only reason I even decided to give it a chance was the writer. Alexander McCall Smith has remained a favourite writer of mine for many years, due to his incredible series of novels. For example, The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

which was also turned into a very successfully TV programme. As soon as I started the first page, I knew I had nothing to worry about. This modern retelling is both witty and light-hearted. It revolves around a Bristol University graduate named Emma –I know, shocking – and she encompasses all the clichés that go along with being a ‘Bristol girl’. Emma comes home from university after graduation, intent on doing some

Elisabeth Mahase

match making before embarking on her career –by starting her own interior design business. Along the way, in her dark green mini, she causes heartbreak and much more trouble than she realises. McCall Smith manages to capture so much of this generations’ social context and portrays it in a way that can only make you laugh, as you see either a little of yourself or someone you know.

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Photo Credit: youtube.com Photo credit: thebetsypowell

CULTURE

PHOTO CREDIT: EMPIRE ONLINE

FILM TEASER - SPECTRE L

ooking for action and adventure?

Well, Spectre, the latest movie of James Bond series of films, is the right place for you. The film is set to be released on the 26th October 2015 and has already won positive reviews from film critics prior to release. Sam Mendes, who is known for other box office successes such as American Beauty and Road to Perdition, directed the film; this is his second James Bond film following Skyfall’s release in 2012. The second highest grossing film of 2012, behind The Avengers, and joining the ‘billiondollar club’, Skyfall was both a box office and critical success. A tough act that Specture, and Mendes, must follow.

Daniel Craig reprises his role as 007 for the film, staring alongside Christoph Waltz, Monica Bellucci, Léa Seydoux and ralph Fiennes amongst others. If you know nothing of Spectre, Bond receives a cryptic message from his past which sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE. Interesting facts about the latest Bond film; •

Monica Bellucci is the oldest Bond girl to date, the Italian

Katerina Tiliakou •

•

actress and model is 51 years old, but still remains flawless. This Bond film’s theme song is sung by Sam Smith titled ‘Writing’s On The Wall’. It became the first Bond theme song to reach No1 in the UK music charts. ‘Spectre’stands for Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. It is rumored that this film is going to be the final for Daniel Craig. The Aston Martin in the film was created especially for Spectre. For this movie, Bond travels in Mexico, Austria and Morocco.

POSITIVE VIBEZ

Alex Awofisan (DJ Renz)

PHOTO CREDIT: Alex Awofisan

PV is a performing arts platform at Brunel for students to showcase their talent, talents such as dance, singing, spoken word, MCing, film and media production. It is not a society, group or club. It is an open entity for students: anyone can get involved.

wanted to use some of the Brunel facilities to DJ and have some sets with a few friends. However, I was rejected countless times. So one morning I woke up and thought I should start my own platform for people to showcase their talent, as I believe I was stopped from doing this.

As it’s based at Brunel we focus on Brunel students, however external artists do perform at showcases and events we have.

The aim for PV is to be a continuous platform for students to showcase their talent regardless of what they’re studying.

I started PV in my room (no joke, I actually did. I started it because I

Get involved by contacting me at; 142242@my.brunel.ac.uk.

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CULTURE

UPCOMING - ‘SHE CALLED ME MOTHER’ LIVE AT BRUNEL Charlotte Davis

runel staff and students are invited to the theatre production of She Called Me Mother, starring BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated actress, Cathy Tyson. She Called Me Mother invites the audience into the life of Evangeline Gardner – a homeless, 70-yearold Afro-Caribbean woman and is playing at Brunel University’s Artaud Theatre on the 4th November 2015. Written by Michelle Inniss, the play brings together the relationship between Evangeline (Cathy Tyson) and her daughter Shirley (Chereen Buckley) who left home at 16-yearsold after suffering from abuse. She Called Me Mother is uniquely written in poetic Trinidadian dialect, which is rarely heard on British stages. Evangeline recounts the story her life in Trinidad and her life when she

came to England as a newlywed. The main emotional area for her is based around the character of the Black Swan – a character that it talked about but never appears in the play. Michelle Inniss said; “I am really excited by the prospect of Evangeline and Shirley’s stories being brought to life on stage and that the audience will be able to share in the telling of their stories.” For Cathy Tyson, the role Evangeline was attractive in many ways. One reason was because the character of Evangeline speaks Cathy’s father’s tongue, which is an accent that she loves. Another reason was that the role of Evangeline involved a lot of dialect, Cathy said; “Whenever I see a woman character talking a lot in a play that’s a huge attraction to me… Very many women of Evangeline’s

age are not on the stage anyway.” With lots of research speaking to homeless women and talking to charities targeted at homeless women, it helped Cathy to target the mental and emotional side of her character. Cathy mentioned one thing that helped her understand her character was when a homeless woman said to her that being homeless ‘wasn’t too bad… It hardly rains at night’. Cathy, who is Brunel alumni, mentioned that she is extremely excited to be bringing She Called Me Mother to her previous university, and the encouragement she has received from staff and students has made her eager to bring the show to Uxbridge and influence the arts at Brunel. Cathy mentioned; “The language

Photo credit: SHE CALLED ME MOTHER

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in She Called Me Mother is in the Trinidadian vernacular and there are two BAME female leads. We hope that these features of the play help to fire the imagination of audiences. We are a BAME led theatre company but our themes are universal.” She Called Me Mother is the second production from Black Theatre Live, a company that contains a group of 8 regional theatres all committed to increasing the amount of Black and Ethnic Minority theatre on the touring circuit. The aim of Black Theatre Live is to bring good quality performances from all kinds of culturally diverse backgrounds to various venues nationwide. Black Theatre Live is a partnership of Tara Arts (London), Derby Theatre, Queen’s Hall Arts (Hexham), the Lighthouse (Poole), Theatre Royal Bury St. Edmunds, Theatre Royal Margate, Stratford Circus Arts

Centre (London) & Key Theatre (Peterborough). Sarah Brigham, Artistic Director Derby Theatre said; “The poetry of the script blew me away and I’m looking forward to bringing our audiences an unheard voice and story told through powerful and engaging drama.” She Called Me Mother will play on the 4th November at the Artaud Theatre, Brunel University. Prices are set at £10 and then £5 for Brunel students, staff and Friends of Brunel Arts. Tickets can be purchased online on Eventbrite: http://www. eventbrite.co.uk With fantastic reviews ranging from The Guardian to britishtheatre. com there is no doubt that this show is a must-see.

38 SPORT

BRUNEL SNOW CLUB UPDATE

Photo credit: Adam White

Adam White

o far the first 5 weeks of term have been quite a joyful ride for Brunel Snow Club. Freshers’ week was a great success for the club - we were able to talk to so many of you and the amount of interest shown in all that the club does, as well as our annual winter tour was really exciting to see. So far we have run a taster session and regular lessons in Hemel. Here members of the club, old and new, have been taking part in lessons and recreational sessions. We have quite a few people a week participating in lessons at Hemel, whether as one off lessons or as a lessons package, we are providing through the centre. There has also been a steady flow of people attending for recreational sessions too. For an idea of what

goes on at these sessions there is a short video on YouTube that was put together by our previous Media Sec Rich Varney - http://youtu.be/8DGnnGLwOqw Returner’s week saw close to 100 freshers and returners join us on our Annual Pub Ski. Beginning in Locos, with a boat race and everyone kitted out in Brunel Snow Club t-shirts, we then headed to the Load of Hay, Slug and Lettuce, Three Tuns, Fig Tree, and The Met. Many beverages were had and people got to know each other better. We then headed back to Brunel for Mega Global! A great night for all! We have since had a pizza get-together followed by the Locos Pub Quiz. Of course it doesn’t end there! This term we’ve still got some good socials lined up as well as ideas for what is to come in the New Year! Later on this term we have a Pre-Win-

ter Tour Beach Party social and our Annual Christmas Meal, on the 4th and 7th December respectively. In the New Year, we will have a repeat of last year’s American night, a tube stations social, and of course the annual end of year boat party.

success already with less than 20 places still left available. We will be leaving on the last day of term; Friday 11th, which yes…means we will be missing the end of year mega global, but hey…we’re off to go hit the slopes!

Snow club will also be participating in the Annual Brunel Bonfire and Fireworks Night this term! On the night Snow Club will be repeating what we did last year, having a stall in the union tent where we will be selling hot chocolate for RAG.

If you are interested in joining us at all, hit us up on our social media feeds and get involved! The trip has a base price of only £344, which covers your accommodation; return coach travel from Brunel (or Dover), a drinks discount wristband in resort and your 6-day lift pass.

Our main highlight of the year will be taking place at the end of this term; the annual winter tour! This year we are off to Alpe D’Huez; in the French Alpes for what looks to be an awesome week on the slopes as well as partying at all of the major nightlife hotspots in resort. The trip has proved to be a great

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In terms of competitions, we have a team entered into the British University Dry slope Championships, in Edinburgh, which should be a great occasion. In the New Year we intend to take part in BUISC, which is the British University Indoor Snow Sport Cham-

pionships. This should be an awesome event and we look forward to seeing some of our members lighting up the slopes at this event! Overall it has been an awesome term for Brunel Snow Club so far – with plenty more to come! There’ll be many more socials, involvement in competitions and of course (and we’ll keep saying this) the one and only Annual Brunel End of Year Boat Party hosted by Brunel Snow Club! Don’t forget you can keep up with the club and all that we do via our social media feeds: Facebook: facebook.com/ BrunelSnowClubOfficial and groups/ brunelsnowclubofficial Twitter: @BrunelSnowClub Instagram: @BrunelSnowClubOfficial Snowy Love