Issue 71 - October 2018

THE THE MAGDALEN MAGDALEN ISSUE 71 OCTOBER

DUNDEE’S FREE MAGAZINE

Cross-Continental Campaigns Discussing the experience of young political campaigners here and in the US.

Darren McGarvey: More than a Rapper An interview with the author of Poverty Safari, discussing wealth, inequality and social disorder.

Maggie’s Penguin Parade But did you know about a Penguin’s link to modern journalism?

FIND YOUR VOICE

THE MAGDALEN

A NOTE FROM YOUR EDITOR IN CHIEF The tents have been taken down, the headaches linger, the track list of mono is teetering on the wrong side of familiar, and your essay deadlines are now on MyDundee. It can only mean that Freshers’ is over.

However, this is where proper university life begins.

This month’s theme is ‘Find your voice’ and primarily, this is because October is Black History Month in the UK. We wanted to share the essence of what the month represents, the struggle of people coming from institutional and cultural isolation and hardship to find the strength to change the status quo. In doing so, we have stories of activism from both sides of the Atlantic, some powerful creative writing and if you’re a fan of the literal interpretations of our themes, tips for success in Karaoke.

It is important to keep an open mind, not just this month but as you go through your education here in Dundee. It may seem tempting to view Black History month and other occasions like it as something purely for others. However, when we do not cross societal boundaries and empathise with those remembering their past, we are only one step away from the

othering process which leads to problems in the first place.

In short, the “voice” which one is often encouraged to find does not necessarily have to be one of feverish activism to be useful. Sometimes, an empathetic one makes just as much of a difference.

Regardless of background, everyone in Dundee has the opportunity to absorb the strength and resilience of the city and allow it to influence them. Consider how we manage to publish a full magazine with such a talented group of writers, for free, every month.

It’s because we allow students with something to say a platform from which to say it.

This issue, there was certainly much to share. With September cementing Dundee on the national stage with its Pride and the ubiquitous V&A opening, there is hardly a better place to experiment and find your voice.

DUSA have plenty of informative events and resources available if you would like to find out more about Black History Month, but for now, have a flick through this month’s Magdalen and get in touch to let us know what you thought. Have a great October!

Murray Glen

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OCTOBER

ISSUE

71

A NOTE FROM YOUR CREATIVE DIRECTORS Every time it comes to my turn in writing our letter, I sit cluelessly for hours wondering how to inspire you all. I am yet to find a way. Our roles carry a responsibility not only for producing a visually attractive magazine, but also for sparking ideas in our readers and contributors (as well as occasionally having to remind ourselves) how to make the most of the time we spend at uni.

It’s October now, the rain-filled afternoons serve a painful reminder that the fun of the summer is truly over, and you’re likely to have settled back into your library spot, procrastinating on your stress inducing deadlines.

It’s ok though, because despite the serious tone of this issue to ‘Find Your Voice’, you’re sure to find inspiration in between the lines of what our writers have to say, and our designers portray. There’s plenty to enjoy that Autumn has to offer; from Halloween, to reading week, to festivals and many events across campus that are here to help you find your voice and immerse yourself in the academic year ahead.

That time flies by when you’re a student has been made blatantly obvious to us with the realisation that it is already our 5th issue of the Magdalen as Creative Directors. We love all the great feedback we have received from you on our redesign, and we cannot believe the speed at which we’ve had to keep restocking the stalls around campus with the first issue with its brand new looks. But as inspiration has to go both ways, we always appreciate any points you have to give us and are always keen to discuss your ideas on the direction Magdalen should be taking next. The hope stays, to be providing you with the best design and content that we possibly can.

So while this year’s Magdalen has found its voice through a bright and bold theme, emphasising the energetic tone of the content, we can only hope you’ll find this issue as motivational and thought-provoking as the process of putting it together for you was!

Iona Sorbie Olivia Sharkey Molly Porteous

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

EDITOR IN CHIEF Murray Glen SENIOR DEPUTY EDITOR IN CHIEF Barbara Mertlovรก DEPUTY EDITORS Kris Aare Alastair Edward Letch

CREATIVE DIRECTORS Iona Sorbie Molly Porteous Olivia Sharkey PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGERS Victoria Sanches Domas Radzevicius ILLUSTRATION MANAGER Fraser Robertson

ART & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Alexander Ferrier

INTERNATIONAL EDITOR TBC

COMMUNITY EDITOR Sarah Jayne Duncan

LIFESTYLE EDITOR James Houston

CREATIVE WRITING EDITOR Kiera Marshall

OPINION EDITOR Rose Kendall

CURRENT AFFAIRS EDITOR Mary Erin Kinch FASHION EDITOR Emily Fletcher

SCIENCE EDITORS James Dale John Ferrier COPY EDITOR Taylor Petrie

WITH THANKS TO Claire Hartley VPCC

COVER DESIGNER Molly Porteous

CREATED IN ASSOCIATION WITH DUSA

PRINTERS The Magazine Printing Co. www.magprint.co.uk mpc@magprint.co.uk

06 FEATURE 10 CREATIVE WRITING 14 QUIZZES & COMICS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

24 COMMUNITY 30 INTERVIEW 34 CURRENT AFFAIRS 40 FASHION 46 INTERNATIONAL 50 LIFESTYLE 58 OPINIONS 64 SCIENCE 68 WHAT’S ON

CONTENTS

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Feature - The Magdalen - October

Cross-Continental Campaigns For our “Think Global� theme this month at The Magdalen, we chose to take a look at the different ways our fellow students have gotten involved in political campaigning, both here in Scotland and in the USA. Camilla Duke is a student of International Relations and Modern History at University of St Andrews and is currently the Vice President of their Democrats Overseas Society.

Rory Bannerman a History student at University of Dundee and the President of the SNP society here.

For both of them, their political allegiances have left them in the minority of their governments (the SNP at Westminster and the Democrats in the House and Senate).

This has become increasingly relevant in the past few months with the effects of Brexit and having Donald Trump for President rearing their heads.

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Design by Olivia Sharkey, illustration by Detta Carfrae, photography by Campaign Volunteer

October - The Magdalen - Feature

Why did you choose to become politically active and at what age?

opportunity, and for me there was really no other choice.

CD: I was always interested in politics, having been born and raised in the Washington, DC area.

I first volunteered for a campaign at age 17, in my last year of high school.

RB: Having drifted between supporting various left-leaning parties, finally settling on the SNP came about partly because of supporting the Independence movement but also, as I was living in the south of England before Uni, their foreign policy positions.

The opposition to airstrikes in Syria and arms exports to Saudi Arabia for example.

Most importantly though, the unwavering opposition to Brexit solidified my support for them, not to mention the discipline and competence that they show in their undertakings.

RB: I first became aware and interested in politics whilst following the 2010 General Election. Mainly because how the country was being run, it seemed to me like an important thing to know about and the horse-race of an election is something anyone can become excited about, given the hysterical media attention.

Although it wasn’t until I started Uni that I got involved properly in campaigning as I found there was too much time, space and opportunity not to.

Why did you choose the party that you did?

CD: I grew up surrounded by lots of different political views, in my family, my neighbourhood, my church, and my community.

As I grew up and became more attuned to current affairs and political issues, I became firm in my own views and political alignment. The Democratic Party stands for progress, equality, and

What specific issue have you campaigned hardest for?

CD: One of my greatest passions is youth engagement. The project I’ve worked on the longest is a fellowship program called Democracy Summer, which helps train high school and college students in the arts of Democratic organizing and campaigning.

We do voter registration, organizing workshops, and issue advocacy training.

RB: Although we are always keen to stress SNP success in day-today governance, you can’t ignore

that the central tenet of the party is the campaign for Scottish Independence. Whilst it may seem like a hundred specific issues under one umbrella, it reflects one of the reasons why the party has been so successful in recent years. Most opposition parties fall into the trap of simply attacking and opposing the governing party without providing an alternative vision, leaving voters with everything to vote against and nothing to vote for. Independence is our genuine alternative vision, and one we can campaign positively around.

What is it like being in a minority party at the moment?

CD: Quite frankly, it’s really tough.

Republicans control the House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the White House. Partisanship had divided our country so deeply that it’s essentially impossible for Democrats to make any progress on our policies. Most of the time, all our energy goes towards stopping the Republicans from enacting harmful legislation, rather than fighting for our own causes.

RB: It’s really frustrating because you can see a clear difference between Scottish political debate and what happens in Westminster.

Words by Mary Erin Kinch

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Feature - The Magdalen - October

There, they behave in a much more obstructionist way and appear inefficient with their lacklustre response to issues raised by SNP MPs. However, being present in Westminster, and vocal, has given the party an opportunity to present its positions on a UK stage which has garnered respect from many others.

to understand how different demographics are responding to grand-scale political decisions.

Many find it difficult to properly articulate what they think beyond soundbites and conveying gut feelings, and others see themselves fitting into a wider narrative and strongly identify with political movements.

How has campaigning influenced your studies?

Do you plan to work in the political sphere after you graduate?

CD: Getting involved in politics in high school allowed me to pursue my studies to fit my interests and my goals. My degree is definitely a combination that complements my political interests. Sometimes I wish I could be home in the States campaigning, but I’m glad I’ve found like-minded, politically engaged students to work with in the UK.

CD: Yes, definitely. Hopefully for a presidential campaign in 2020, and after that, who knows!

RB: Mostly by giving perspective.

As a history student concerned primarily with big picture politics and constitutional issues, going door-to-door makes it easier

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RB: It’s difficult to imagine not ending up involved in public policy in some way given how long I’ve had an interest in it.

However, I think it’s important to gain experience in other sectors to provide a more well-rounded outlook on society before becoming entirely devoted to the political world.

What issue are you currently working on and why?

CD: The biggest thing right now is focusing on taking back the House of Representatives in November. The Democrats need to win 23 seats to gain a majority, which would drastically change the picture in Washington right now. I’m organizing phone banks, voter registration drives, and other events with my Democrats Overseas society in St Andrews to ensure everyone knows how important voting is.

RB: At the moment we’re just focusing on getting new members involved in the society, but by the time this is published we will have had policy discussions and will decide collectively what issues to focus on.

What do you feel the opposition is lacking?

CD: The way I see it, Republicans lack the same values of equality, justice, and opportunity that the Democratic Party stands for. Long before the Trump Administration, Republicans were passing

October - The Magdalen - Feature

legislation that targeted and hurt women, people of colour, working class Americans, immigrants, and LGBTQ Americans.

RB: Consistency and coordination.

One of the greatest draws to the SNP is that they tend to stick to a line and just absolutely go for it, such as their total opposition to Nuclear weapons or support for Single Market membership.

However, due to factionalism in the largest opposition party on these issues, most people don’t know where they stand. This combined with the fact that they frequently refuse opportunities to coordinate with the opposition, means it’s more difficult to criticise, challenge and obstruct them in Parliament.

Do you see opportunities for cross-party work?

CD: Yes, actually. I think reforming our criminal justice and prison system is one area in which we could reach bipartisan consensus.

Often, Libertarian-leaning Republicans side with Democrats on this pressing issue.

RB: Recent referendum campaigns have made parties wary of

collaborating too much for fear of being unable to distinguish themselves and being perceived as “all the same” by voters. Despite this, issues such as protecting the devolution settlement during Brexit have been backed across the benches. Though ultimately, the more specific and localised an issue is, the more likely it is to receive cross-party support.

What specific differences have you noticed between youth involvement in the UK vs. the USA? CD: In the wake of the March For Our Lives movement, young people in America have been more politically engaged than ever before. Some of the most hotbutton issues in the USA centre on policies that are no longer debated in mainstream politics in the UK, such as gun control, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Young people are heavily impacted by these issues, and increasingly share progressive views on the topics.

RB: As far as I’m aware, activists and party members have a much greater involvement in political parties in the UK than in the States. I believe lax campaign

finance regulations make it difficult for activists to have their views be reflected in the national party platform. There’s greater reliance on non-party organisations, whereas in the UK (particularly in the SNP) it’s very straightforward for youth and student organisations to propose policies at party conference and have them become part of the overall policy platform.

Finally, what would you say to encourage others to join?

CD: Now more than ever, our country needs it. This midterm election cycle is one of the most crucial moments in our history, and volunteering your time, money, and energy can be a truly rewarding experience.

RB: The current political crisis are opportunities for us to reshape society for the better.

In this era of referenda, the ability for public opinion to shape government decisions has never been stronger, so those that get involved in campaigning will make a much greater effect on political outcomes.

It would be hard to be ignorant about the constantly changing, sometimes scary, world we’re living in. Through youth political involvement, these people and many more are doing what they can to help make positive change.

They’ve found their voice, could you?

With thanks to Camilla Duke and Rory Bannerman for their participation.

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Section - Writing Creative The Magdalen - The Magdalen - September - October

A Fleeting Smile F

or a moment I laid on a naked hill while the starry sky reflected my dreams.

Slowly, cradled by my thoughts, I found myself in a dream, in one of those stars. Each of them is a potential and one by one they strand on my shore when I close my eyes.

I looked at her, without realizing where I was: at this dark-haired girl I had known for a long time but forgotten for how long. She talked to me as if I was an old friend who had shared with her several teacups during a rainy evening, while the water drops reminded us that gradually everything is cleansed.

She always smiled, even with her eyes, and I can only remember that heart-melting grin. I recall thinking when we ran into each other in the hallway, how beautiful she was. I knew that we couldn’t be together, though I had forgotten the reason why completely.

She went right and I went left and she smiled as if she was saying goodbye to me. When I turned my head again, I saw her sitting in a wheelchair, just like myself. I can still picture it

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in my mind how red her lips were and how her hair fell down her back like a wild horse’s tail.

The nurse pushed her behind a folding screen, where a man and a woman were waiting. I looked back while being pushed in the opposite direction, and suddenly the screen was pulled away. Now there was a mother holding her fair-haired baby while the father was admiring on the side. This little child looked at me as I gradually went further away and wept.

I knew this had to happen, that this was natural.

The raindrops would eventually cleanse the past, and as the child would grow older, it would forget me. Even though it was sad, I knew this had to happen. And if the world were merciful, it would also let me forget.

Words by Daniel Pukkila, design byVeronica Hamilton

INHA EXHA INHAL EXHA

October - The Magdalen - Creative Writing

Listen Voice to my

I’m staring out into the horizon, unfocused as everything is in a blur.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

I’m fighting away the tears as I know it will only make things worse. This is not my sorrow, not my history, nor my skin that has been through this pain.

But I know my voice can make a difference.

ALE ALE LE ALE

I’m holding you close against my body, to give just a bit of warmth to your shaking body, and the tears that are falling down your cheeks are wetting my shirt. I’m tilting us back and forth in effort to calm you down as I know my mother did when I was a child.

I’m humming a lullaby, slowly, with my rusty voice, not allowing my voice to break. Dear God, let me tell her this right.

As your sobbing is stopping, I put my hand under your chin, forcing your eyes to look into mine. So big and brown, beautiful. I still cannot believe anyone would do anything to put such an agony into them.

“You are beautiful.” I tell you.

“You are special. And don’t you ever think it is okay for someone else not to treat you right, just because of the colour of your skin, the shape of your body, your sex or the God you believe in. Do you hear me? No one!”

The tone is rising in my voice, so I take a deep breath. The traffic noise seems distant though just a few meters away.

“You are a tree standing by the side of a road.” I’m hugging you tight as I’m speaking.

“You have been there for centuries, letting your roots grow deep into the earth. The wind has cradled you back and

INHA EXHA INHAL EXHA forth, letting the leaves fall off in autumn, to regrow as new sprouts each spring. You breathe life, you are unique, and you have been here long before any man could see you. It is your birthright to be cherished, to be adored and you should never believe anyone telling you anything else.”

I put my hands on each side of your face and make your soft eyes look into mine. I could see you’d not only hear, but also understand my words. It made me think that finding your voice is sometimes just having the courage to speak and letting that be enough. You can only hope the people listening are going to hear you.

Words by Lizzie Husum, design by Eilidh Shedden

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Creative Writing - The Magdalen - October

PUPA

The sun is setting in the West.

She feels her skin decomposing.

Wrapped in warmth And held hostage.

Children are screaming.

The children are always screaming.

Why won’t they stop screaming?

Time.

The land around her Is suspended.

Time: molasses.

She struggles And her skin is melting.

But she does not interfere.

It is not her job To save the sun.

It is not her place.

The sun is drowning Over the horizon And the sky won’t turn off.

She is drowning in herself.

The soil is drowning in molasses.

The children are drowning.

Everything is drowning.

Her lungs are burning And she fights.

Scraping against a cocoon She was unfairly Imprisoned in.

The monster is sharpening his teeth.

She does not have much

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A woman watches the sun Smother itself In salt water And she knows This is the last time she will see it.

The woman glances To the grey sky, Loud in its mediocrity.

To the children, drowning and screaming.

They have not noticed They are dying For they don’t know What living is.

And she closes her blinds.

It is not Her place.

Screaming.

Sweat stinging her eyes, She will not cry.

Not anymore.

His claws dig into her back, But she does not care.

She crawls out, Skin intact, Ears ringing from the noise.

Eyes stinging from the light.

Limb by limb She escapes her cell With a tumour on her Back.

Erupting from her chrysalis She emerges Chained to her fate Alone with him, Suffocating.

A caterpillar once more

The girl with melting skin Rips the cocoon.

She can hear the ungodly

Words by Amber Sutherland, design by Niamh Shaw, photography by Heather McKay

October Section - The Magdalen - The Magdalen - Creative - September Writing

First they came...

First they came for only a few trees, and I did nothing because it was only a few.

Next they needed acres, and it was okay because there was plenty more to use.

Then they came for more, and I did nothing because it didn’t affect me.

Next they came with fire, but I was not there, I did not see.

The restrictions became better, they have to label it now.

It’s in shampoo and soap. It must be good, therefore it’s allowed.

I heard about the tigers first, do you know they’re going extinct?

Chop chop, burn burn, take all, even the kitchen sink.

Elephants were already being killed for their ivory.

So then we took their food supplies, oh so wisely.

Wondering why their numbers are now so lousy.

Then they came for the orang-utans, and many people noticed.

It didn’t matter though, not with money as a motive.

On and on and on and on.

Then they came for me.

I cannot breathe.

The air is not clean.

There was no one left to speak for me.

Words by Ellie Biggs, design by Eilidh Ferguson

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Comics - The Magdalen - October

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Design by ZoÍ Swann (above) and Kieran O’Connor (below)

You are: Betty Williams

You are: Malcolm X

a.

b.

Which describes you better? a. Effective Organiser b. Passionate and Energetic

Would you use.... a. peaceful resistance b. open confrontation

b.

a.

No Are your beliefs inspired by your religion?

You are: Malala Yousafzai

Yes Yes Are your beliefs inspired by your religion?

No

a.

Start

Which Famous Activist Are You?

October - The Magdalen - Quiz

Which description fits you best? a. Optimistic Visionary b. Critical Intellectual c. Relentless Fighter

b.

As a leader, would you.... a. Mobilise as many people as possible b. Lead a campaign of civil disobedience

c.

Is Violence Justifiable?

You Are Mahatma Ghandi

a.

b.

No

Yes Are your beliefs inspired by your religion?

b.

Would you say you are... a. An inspiring speaker b. A connector of people

Yes a.

No

As a leader, would you.... a. Mobilise as many people as possible b. Do the grass-roots work yourself

You are: Martin Luther King Jr.

b. a.

You are: Nelson Mandela

You are: Ahmed Tamimi

You are: Emmeline Pankhurst

Words by Dundee Quiz Society, design by Olivia Sharkey

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Arts & Entertainment - The Magdalen - October

F

or three months in summer 2018 the streets of Dundee and surrounding areas became home to a raft of hundreds of giant penguin sculptures, individually designed and skilfully decorated by local artists. It didn’t take long before this open-air exhibition became virally popular among city visitors and won the hearts of locals.

Penguin parade is a charity project initiated by Maggie’s Centre Dundee in partnership with Wild in Art. Culminating in auction this September, the event will help raise funds to support Maggie’s vital work of providing care and advice for local cancer patients, their family and friends.

Truly penguin is a totem of Dundee with many replicas of this clumsy but adorable animal scattered across the streets of our city, the most famous of them located in front of Steeple church and Overgate shopping centre. Dundee’s RRS Discovery was the last wooded three-masted ship to be built in Britain. It was commissioned to explore the British National Antarctic, the habitat of the penguin.

Ever since, this animal has been a symbol of the great Dundonian explorers and their discoveries.

The year 2018 is hands down the most exciting time to live in Dundee, with the magnificent V&A Dundee opening its doors to visitors in September, revitalised and regenerated waterfront and the new proud title of UNESCO City of Design.

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Words by Kris Aare, design by Shannon Graham

Maggie’s penguins added their own harmonious vibe to the thriving city. Along with their indigenous counterparts, they are marching the streets raising awareness and funds for a good cause.

‘Maggie’s penguins added their own harmonious vibe to the thriving city.’

While each of these sculptures has its own unique character and a message to share, the one that caught our eye is the telephone penguin

by Gail Stirling Robertson. Located on the first floor of the Overgate centre, it has a built-in phone and camera and embodies the tight link between media and public, celebrated by modern journalism. The phone will ring once a day and whoever answers it will have a chance to be interviewed by a local paper or radio station!

Public engagement, respecting different often contrasting opinions on today’s global issues and embracing a diverse pool of talent are the pillars of contemporary journalism. The Magdalen epitomises it. Stay tuned and find out yourself!

October - The Section Magdalen - The-Magdalen Arts & Entertainment - September

Review:

BlacKkKlansman President Woodrow Wilson infamously described D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation as “like writing history with lightning”, with BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee aims to do the same.

An African American cop is admitted as a member of the Ku Klux Klan in Spike Lee’s latest, based on the memoirs of Ron Stallworth, the BlacKkKlansman himself. Stallworth, played with skill by John David Washington (who, from this year onwards, will globally be known as a lot more than simply ‘Denzel’s son’), is accompanied by the talented Adam Driver, an effectively bigoted Topher Grace, and a lesser Buscemi.

Lee is well aware of the power of cinema to either disparage or embolden. In his film, characters are moved to fervour, whooping and cheering as images flash before them. Harry Belafonte, (playing a friend of Jesse Washington) recounts to a crowd of black students the violent racial hatred which swelled after The Birth of a Nation was released. With the knowledge of the potential of the seventh art to move audiences, it’s a shame that Lee’s film isn’t as sharp as it could be.

The Klansmen are so ridiculously incompetent that it’s hard to take them seriously. Of course, this serves to mock their belief in white supremacy, as with one character in particular, whose Kronk/ Le Fou/Smee level of idiocy leaves him looking like someone constantly on the verge of yawning.

Before you reach the climax of the film, which shall be returned to later, you may find the not so subtle references to Trump era slogans a little tiring. The racists chant ‘America first’ and reference the notion that America should ‘achieve its greatness again’.

At one particularly arduous moment, Stallworth, in disbelief, comments ‘Sarge, come on, America would never elect somebody like David Duke, President of the United States of America’. A line with such immense ‘wink wink nudge nudge’ qualities really ought to be reserved for Wade Wilson.

you may find the not so subtle references to Trump era slogans a little tiring.

The film’s ending will doubtless be the first topic of conversation after leaving the auditorium. When the narrative is concluded, we are forced to watch several minutes of disturbing Charlottesville footage, President Trump’s controversial reaction, and the resulting death of Heather Heyers, to whom the film is dedicated. These images are powerful, but feel like a last minute addition, as if they were taken from another movie. This exists as a direct attack on the Trump presidency, for Lee, subtlety was never an option. BlacKkKlansman is worthwhile, important, and entertaining, but lacks a certain edge that would really call audiences to arms.

Words by Alexander Ferrier, design by Conor McBay

02 17

Arts & Entertainment - The Magdalen - October

DUNDEE REP THEATRE: THEATRE:

YELLOW

ON THE

BROOM A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF SCOTLAND’S TRAVELLING COMMUNITY

There is something about a visit to the theatre that you cannot get from binge-watching shows on Netflix or a popcorn fuelled trip to the cinema. Every show feels like Christmas morning, the atmosphere is electrifying, standing patiently at the auditorium door, you don’t know what lies in store. There is an intimate connection between the actors and the audience.

Whether the show is touring or a one-off, no show will be exactly the same. So as an audience member, you can only begin to imagine the hard work and perseverance it takes to deliver a flawless performance.

eagerly awaited behind-thescenes access and they were provided with an exhilarating taster of the theatre’s extensive programme of forthcoming shows by the ensemble in the form of live trailers - a unique and thrilling experience to witness as a member of the audience. Yellow on the Broom is the ensemble’s opening show of the season, showing across a four-week period from 28th August to 22nd September. The play is based on a renowned autobiographical book of the same name by Betsy Whyte. It captures the narrative of the 1930s travelling community in North-Eastern Scotland.

BESSIE IS A BRIGHT, FEISTY & FUNNY TEENAGER

Yellow on the Broom is a heartwarming and humorous tale of a young girl named Bessie Townsley (played by Chiara Sparkes) and her family, set in rural Perthshire, just before the dawn of World War II.

Dundee Rep Theatre, located on Tay Square at the heart of the city’s Cultural Quarter, kicked off the new season with an exciting, fresh performance by the Rep Ensemble, the theatre’s resident performing arts company and its graduate actors.

The new season is Andrew Panton’s second as artistic director. June’s season launch provided theatre-goers with

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Design by Zara Elmi, photography by Olivia Graham

The story is narrated by Bessie as a grown woman (played

by Ann Louise Ross) as she recollects her childhood.

Bessie is a bright, feisty and funny teenager who very much loves her family including mother, Maggie, and father, Sandy (played by Beth Marshall and Gary McKay), and her adventurous way of life. She is also fiercely proud of the travelling community and will defend it and immediately correct any misconceptions of it.

October - The Magdalen - Arts & Entertainment

Bessie, by law, is required to attend one hundred hours of school a year, and while there, experiences prejudice and finds it difficult to make friends.

Despite this, she is clever, excelling above other students in her school work.

Noting her troubles at school, she finds solace in the school’s headmaster (played by Barrie Hunter), who offers her a bursary at a local high school on the condition that Bessie’s family settle in Brechin, where they reside at the time to provide Bessie with a stable education.

The story takes an unfortunate turn of events, Bessie is accused by classmate, Jenny Valentine (played by Irene MacDougall) of stealing and runs away from school, her father, Sandy decides to move the family to Alyth

“

until it all blows over and due to circumstances, they settle in Glenisla. He shortly falls ill. On the advice of the headmaster and due to the sudden pregnancy of Bessie’s mother they move into a council house in the hope of gaining some residential stability. Life doesn’t get any easier for the family and the string of unfortunate events continues as Bessie’s mother suffers a miscarriage and her father begins to grow increasingly ill, nonetheless, the family remain supportive until her father’s untimely death later that winter.

As the scene draws to a close we see the yellow appearing on the broom, a sign that spring has finally arrived. Bessie, as her older self, is reunited with her father as he sings with her one last time.

She informs us that her loss is much deeper than that of the death of her father, but of the loss of freedom.

The play touchingly and comedically highlights the community’s almost care-free and unrestricted way of life but also the hardships and prejudices faced by the travelling community, an ancient Celtic heritage that spans centuries. It also considers our freedom of movement in land and water, to be able to go where we want, fish where we want, go against the social norms - issues so current today. The play is a real eye-opener to understanding the community and encouraging the audience to further educate themselves on this crucial part of Scottish heritage that is seemingly so overlooked.

YELLOW ON THE BROOM IS A HEARTWARMING AND HUMOROUS TALE...

” Words by Kiera Marshall

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Arts & Entertainment - The Magdalen - October

DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN

Quantic Dream’s neo-noir adventure is an extraordinary exhibition of technical craftsmanship, demonstrating a unique and innovative approach to videogame storytelling.

Unfortunately, the ingenuity of Detroit: Become Human is undermined by painfully self-righteous messaging, once again proving that writer, David Cage, is Quantic Dream’s least valuable asset.

Taking place 20 years in the future within a fictionalised version of America’s ‘Motor City,’ Detroit’s story is told through the perspective of three protagonists: Connor, an android detective delegated with the task of hunting ‘deviants’ (androids that have violated their programming), Kara, a robot housewife who assumes the role of foster mother for a vulnerable girl, and Markus; leader of a revolutionary group of deviants fighting for freedom and civil rights.

Despite its familial connections to the sci-fi genre, Detroit’s futuristic setting doesn’t challenge comprehension or defy imagination. The genre has a close bond with absurdity,

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but Detroit’s world is remarkably tangible and a direct relative of our own. In spite of self-imposed limitations, the city is painted in astonishing fidelity and possesses

The game’s ambitious approach to aesthetics is topped only by its bold story structure. uncanny photorealism, pushing the PS4’s mechanical capabilities to the absolute limit. Those familiar with Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain will remember the awkward controls, which were a constant source of agony and amusement.

Unlike its predecessor, Detroit feels far more intuitive and fluid; making it easier to manipulate characters and observe surroundings.

The game’s ambitious approach to aesthetics is topped only by its bold story structure.

Words by Luther Codrington, design by Melissa Cocker

This vast, multi-stranded tale forces the player into making crucial decisions at every narrative crossroad, dramatically influencing the outcome of each mission and Detroit’s resolution.

Some may argue that this is a cheap way of extending the game’s lifespan beyond the first playthrough, but as well as feeling incredibly polished, this narrative mechanism has a rather powerful yet disturbing effect on moral conviction.

It’s a shame that Cage’s risible attempt at allegory only succeeds in dampening Detroit’s elaborate story design.

The peculiar and enigmatic lead writer painstakingly lectures the player about the human condition and our propensity to enslave those we deem inferior, and while undoubtedly a noble and virtuous endeavour, it’s torpedoed by Cage’s unsubtle, adolescent writing.

Cage tactlessly compares the potential plight of androids with the African American struggle for civil rights during the 1950s and 60s –and it doesn’t work.

Detroit is a game brimming with potential, but all of this promise is squandered due to a hackneyed story and a laughable display of self-importance.

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Arts & Entertainment - The Magdalen - October

What a Universal

Shudder ‘Think Global, Act Local’ – a phrase disputedly attributed to the pioneering Scots town planner and social activist Patrick Geddes – is perhaps what LA-based artist Eve Fowler had always focused on doing.

Having been acknowledged as one of the most influential artists of her generation, she has been challenging power structures, oppressive systems, and emphasising the timeless need for feminism throughout both the political and the personal spectra, through the wide presence of her art in the States. That was, until this year, when Fowler arrived with her first major European exhibition, which we hope you got the chance to catch at DCA over the summer months.

The main body of her work encompasses visualisation of language centred around, if not embodying solely, writings of the 20th century Americanborn, Parisian novelist Gertrude Stein. Using a wide range of materials including posters and prints, installations, vinyl, and film, Fowler aims to highlight the universality of issues present in contemporary politics. Further translating global concerns via art, quotes such as “Patriarchal poetry deny why” could be found across the walls of Gallery 2 at the DCA. Fowler proposes timelessness, giving a 21st century twist to the feminist message of Stein’s early work.

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Inviting a question about the artist’s intention, her work makes its way to the audience’s everyday life, as 14 billboards and posters are distributed around public spaces in Dundee, suggesting the no-escape situation and the invisible ties between ourselves and issues persisting in the world around us; locally and globally. Transcending the personal and blending with the political -a feminist manifesto much dominating the second half of the 20th century -the exhibition successfully creates a disruption to the structural influence on a citizen’s impression of disengagement with the sphere of politics.

Further emphasising the ever-presence of any such matters, the 16mm film welcoming visitors into the interior of Fowler’s exhibition, switches tenses from past, to present, to future. “With it which it as it if it is to be”, as premiered at Participant Inc in New York in late 2016, shows multiple female artists working in their studios, accompanied by a soothing voice-over of females reciting Stein’s ‘Many Many Women’.

Altogether, the exhibition is underlined by a somewhat disturbing, albeit tranquil vibe, contrasted with strength and depth of both colour and text, leaving the visitor certainly affected, and expectedly provoked.

October - The Magdalen - Arts & Entertainment

I want to tell about fire.

Words by Barbara Mertlovรก, design by Megan Wilkinson

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Community - The Magdalen - October

165 feet F

or everyone who has a best friend, you know that you would do anything to support them and to see them succeed in every aspect of their lives. I met my best friend, Becca Carey, in the first year of University at Belmont Halls and we have since become like sisters. For the summer, she has been interning with Barnardo’s Scotland as an Events assistant and working tirelessly, organising and preparing the big charity “do’s”.

To those who have never heard of Barnardo’s Scotland, it is a charity that has been running for over 100 years which supports children who are the most vulnerable, neglected, forgotten and abused, and aims to give them hope for a brighter future.

They believe that no child should have to live in fear or be turned away from help. It truly is an admirable charity and I am so proud of Becca for dedicating herself to this cause.

I hoped that I could contribute in some way too.

Hearing stories about some of the 26,500 children in the most dire situations that Barnardo’s care for drove me to thinking that raising money and trying to help in any way I could was something that I needed to.

However, the other day I hear a “bing” come from my phone and it was an email from Becca. In it was a website, I click on it and it takes me to the Barnardo’s website. Reading the email, I see that it was an event registration form for an abseil taking place on the Forth Rail Bridge. Initially I think, “what a great fundraising idea, this would be hilarious to see”.

I sat and pondered this request for quite some time.

Pro’s: it is a momentous and exhilarating way to raise money for the charity, it will definitely draw some attention to it and it could help me challenge and overcome my fears. Con’s: I might not raise any money, I would be confronting my fear and there is the slightest possibility I may fall 165 feet to my end.

So, as what any other sane and stable person would do, I signed up.

Then I realise the form was for me to fill out.

As a person, I’m quite outgoing, I enjoy exercise and road trips and doing new adventurous things.

I am just not the biggest fan of heights… or, more specifically, not the biggest fan of free-falling from them.

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If you would like to help me raise money for Barnardo’s Scotland and donate, please visit my JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ Billi-Allen. If you would like to learn more about the charity head to their website at www.barnardos.org.

Words by Billi Allen-Mandeville, design by Cara Rooney

FEELING ANXIOUS? NEED A RECHARGE? COME TO OUR SAFE SPACE FOR A QUIET PLACE TO RECOVER LOCATED ON LEVEL 4 TUESDAY NIGHTS - VOLUNTEER DEPENDENT

Community - The Magdalen - October

Gadzooks!

Is Greek Mythology adaptable to the 21st Century?

For a society that existed 2000 years ago and further, the verses of the Hellenic scripture are vexing as they are magical. Stories of lightning bolts, nymphs and cyclopes are far flung from say, a night out in Dundee or a conversation with your lecturer… most of the time. The Earth’s problems however can sadly no longer be remedied by an epic quest to the underworld to retrieve a relic that will make the issue just disappear. It’s no longer that simple.

‘Stories of lightning bolts, nymphs and cyclopes are far flung from say, a night out in Dundee’ What’s more apparent, is our willingness to be critical of the past narrative of classical faith: especially as there is so much that is apparently wrong. In the past Zeus was beloved for being the order that paved society forward to the next dawn. The Father of the Skies is now condemned for choosing to mate with every possible female of every species. Think of the world’s most ignorant spice boy, and you’ll get a modern take on Zeus. Yet despite this clear problem we have with the actions Gods and past societies, we love the life lessons weaved throughout them. With such clear themes shown throughout mythology, such as the silliness of war or the plight of mortal man, surely there is much one can reflect on?

This was a chance to see how our modern adaptations of myths can be relevant to our times. As performed by St. Andrew’s “Mermaids Performing Arts Fund”, The Bacchae accomplishes this. As a group

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who are focused on translating physical theatre into a social conversation, I was genuinely keen to try fitting all the pieces together and figure out the importance of Dionysus in a post-modern setting.

The play itself features a cast of actors who are about to perform an adaptation of “The Bacchae”, however the play itself has been adapted…by a somewhat cheeky Dionysus (or as the Roman’s depict them as Bacchus: god of madness). As part of the premise, they decided to change the gender of Dionysus to a woman: to represent a strong sense of femininity in a world that was previously dominated by men.

This change to the narrative was essential

October - The Magdalen - Community

to capturing that sense of modern vs. old-school, for it allowed the chorus and cast to present an empowering dance routine, focused on the strength of the all-female Bacchae (worshipers of Dionysus or Bacchus). As a tragedy (with elements of dark comedy), the piece really hammered home the consequence of not embracing madness… whether this was apparent to me through the use of a fierce dance set piece or a very clever script, who can say.

Back in the day, this would be like tuning into a soap opera. To challenge the past script and adapt the story to incorporate modern themes of feminism however, alongside the overarching plotlines of madness and political chaos, the play managed to inspire me as a community worker. Changing how we think is core to our view on changing education, thus encouraging a standpoint that approves of modern femininity (rather than say, rejecting it or punishing those who seek to be liberal). To see a message of empowerment that came from the dance choreography (emphasised as worshiping Dionysus) and outright challenging the reality that we know, was an evident reflection on how challenging it is to embrace a sense of control I was fortunate to catch a moment to talk to the cast after the show, to fully understand the show’s narrative and its importance to communities. Since November, this adaptation has been worked on by The Mermaids and was adapted to comprehend the modern hectic nature of recent politics (Brexit, Trump, etc.). As a thought provoking piece which blossomed from the groups’ love of theatre, it became apparent to incorporate a meta-theatrical lens. Namely, each performer had an input that related to their view of theatre and personal interactions with politics. Seeing the sheer fun that the group had with this, I can’t imagine what the last months were like and nor can I wait to see

what happens later down the line when it comes to sharing this message. Whether it was coincidental that the show was in a youth community centre or not, I consider myself lucky to see the effect of this collaboration and see that the process of changing a narrative to one more insightful of modern paradigms is one to be celebrated. If the Gods were to watch this, I think that they would really get something from it… perhaps even inspiring a degree of change in themselves.

Special Thanks to:

Cast

Dionysus Phoebe Soulon Pentheus Toby Poole Messenger Donovan Kelly Tiresias/Chorus Karin Sofia Johansson Chorus Bella Zeff Chorus Lara Williams Chorus Kate Green Chorus Katherine Montana Director Gabriele Uboldi Producer Libby Cavaye Assistant Producer Oonagh Wall Stage Manager Madison Hauser Choreography/Publicity Charmaine Hiller Tech Paul Lancaster Costumes Anna Tumblety

Words by Alastair Letch, design by Fraser Robertson, Illustration by Aimee Adam

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Community - The Magdalen - October

LET’S KEEP TALKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH Towards the end of the last academic year, I was contacted by Phil Welsh and Lesley Nicoll: two members of staff here at the university, who wanted to share a personal story with the Magdalen in the hopes it would help others and promote more conversation about issues young people are facing. Around a year ago, Phil and his family suffered the loss of their son, Lee, who tragically took his life following a series of misdiagnosis and the inability to receive proper treatment

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for his deteriorating mental health. Lee was 27 and had his whole adult life ahead of him; shared a passion for music with his friends and bandmates, was a loving father to a little girl, and a caring brother to his little sister, Kirsty.

His family did not want his struggle to go unheard: Not In Vain For Lee is a website which was created as a tribute to their son, but also to help other families who are going through similar heartache by allowing

Design by Leah Cameron, photography by Ana Ranceva

them to share stories and well-wishes for those who are suffering from mental health problems, and to help other families through the coping stages. The website also features many services available in the local area in an effort to signpost individuals more quickly on their road to recovery.

Around the same time I got introduced to Phil and Lesley, I was contacted by Ruairidh Barlow from the app, MyTherapy, which is designed to ease the work of doctors

October - The Magdalen - Community

and GPs by highlighting the causes and effects of potential mental health issues an individual is facing, thus using the idea of a personal journal for each patient as a way to track data over a longer period of time and reduce the number of visits to a health clinic: making the fewer appointments more effective for both the patient and the doctor by diagnosing more accurately and giving treatment quicker.

Whilst researching this article, I discovered the app was a popular choice for many students at Dundee and rated highly amongst the student body. This was encouraging to hear as the company estimates 87% of students across the UK suffer from anxiety or mental health problems, and finding a way to manage this on an individual basis is crucial. “It

is difficult to estimate how widespread the problems are,” Ruairidh tells me, “Universities don’t have the resources at the moment, and this is especially true for the NHS”. Being a student at Glasgow University himself, he shared the procedure for mental health provision at Glasgow, and it was surprisingly similar to Dundee - most services are run by the student executive, but many students are unaware of what is available for them, which in turn can mean the executive cannot know what types of services would be most beneficial to the students; leaving both parties at a loss as to what to do.

In an effort to support our students, the university’s student portal (accessible through https://www.dundee. ac.uk/students) will now include a “need support?”

button which will take you directly to the student services page - an initiative supported fully by the EXEC of 2017/18, and headed by the outgoing Vice President of Student Welfare, Caroline Goodliffe. This is a small step, and one of many taken over the last year to aid students during their time at Dundee, and will no doubt be continued by the in-coming DUSA Exec.

So if you’re reading this as a new student, a returning student, a member of staff, or simply a fellow reader - please look after your mental health. If you find yourself thinking something isn’t right, seek help: below are a number of resources available for free, and most are accessible 24/7.

Together, we can help each other through anything which comes our way.

notinvainforlee.co.uk MyTherapy (Available on both Android and Apple) Crisis helpline (Breathing Space): 0800 838587 Campus security: dial 4141 from a campus phone Urgent healthcare: dial 111 on any phone Nightline: 01382 381 183 Samaritans -call 116 123, or email jo@samaritans. org Vice-President of Student Welfare: vpsw@dusa. co.uk

Words by Mila Georgieva

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Interview -The InterviewTheMagdalen Magdalen--October October

Design by Molly Porteous

October - The Magdalen - Interview

Darren McGarvey:

More than a Rapper For this month’s theme, we wanted to try and find an interview we conducted in the past that has foreshadowed success or notoriety of its subject. What we came across was this, a previously unpublished interview with rapper and author Darren “Loki” McGarvey. What follows is the chat we had in the immediate aftermath of his first book publication, all the way back in January.

On an absolutely freezing evening, I was feverishly patrolling around the Steeple Kirk in Dundee’s city centre trying to find a way in. This, far from being a deep metaphor for trying to gain access to someone’s innermost self during an interview, is merely testament to how much of a flap I was in prior to this interview.

I was scheduled to meet Darren McGarvey, author of the recently released “Poverty Safari”, a book which had set the cultural and journalistic depths of Scottish twitter alight with support.

Having first been introduced to McGarvey in my Higher Modern studies class, I was aware of how intimidatingly intelligent he was. More so, I was aware of how passionate he was about the

issues he cared about, namely wealth inequalities and the lack of attention given to disadvantaged communities.

After getting into the kirk, I was genuinely blown away by its interior. New rooms and dividing walls had turned the presumably once cavernous Nave into a comforting and warm community space. There was, and still is, a kitchen, chill-out space and various communal areas for activities. I couldn’t help but feel that this was the perfect place to meet Darren. Thinking back to the themes of his book, it was almost as if the Kirk stood as testament to how his theories and suggestions could work. Here were people from disadvantaged backgrounds, mingling with one another and with people and developing skills through community learning.

Darren then arrived and greeted the kids who were using the space at the time. I was struck by how down to earth and accessible he was, especially after seeing his pointedly verbose but eloquent rants on Question Time.

We were then escorted through to an art room, where the interview was to take place.

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Interview - The Magdalen - October

Politics isn’t this weird monster living on a hill somewhere, it’s us discussing things, being active and informing each other.

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Design by Molly Porteous

Murray Glen (MG): So, Darren, is this a political book?

Darren McGarvey (DG): Yes, it is, it’s very much a political book. Although it doesn’t spend a great deal of time talking about professional politics and professional politicians. I think that, for example, a lot of people will ask me “are you going to get into politics?” and I always think it’s quite a weird question, because I feel like I’m in politics.

Politics isn’t this weird monster living on a hill somewhere, it’s us discussing things, being active and informing each other.

Obviously professional politics is a different thing, and I think people conflate the two, to the detriment of the democracy because it creates the idea that politics is something that people exist outside of until they become a politician.

MG: In the introduction to your book, you write about how hard it was to find a book which you enjoyed enough to actually get you reading. Now that you’ve written one of your own, do you think you knew who you were writing it for?

DG: Yeah, definitely. I was very conscious, despite the mayhem of creating a book and how it sort of emerges out of itself, I probably wrote two books when I think about all of the content that didn’t go in. What I was very conscious of, from the beginning, was to have the book work on two different levels. On one, I do write the way that I think. I use the language that I naturally use. I can’t dumb that down or modulate that too much, it’s not authentic to me. It also assumes that other people can’t go and look the words up if they don’t get them. At the same time though, the issue for me with reading was concentration and stamina. So, while a lot of the book is maybe written

in language which you would normally see in a broadsheet newspaper, the structure of the book itself accounts for those who may be inclined to give up on a book because they feel that they aren’t making progress with it. You can pick up the book at any chapter and glean something from it without necessarily needing the context.

MG: Did you ever have trouble convincing yourself, and others, that your views and the views of others who aren’t necessarily a name in the public sphere, are valid?

DG: That’s a constant struggle, I think anyone whose upbringing or their identity creates a barrier for them whether that be hey come from a poor background, be they a person of colour, LGBT, everyone has their own advantages and disadvantages.

So, they are always trying to articulate their experiences as admissible, when solutions are being considered. It’s not to say that your identity trumps academic research or evidence, it’s to say that it would inform it and place it in a new context.

Grenfell is a very appropriate example, because what you see is a convergence of the main tenets of what you would consider social deprivation. Political exclusion i.e. the Grenfell Action Blog had been going on and on for years about the dangers of the fire safety regulations. You have the social mobility aspect, the housing aspect, there are still people waiting to be rehoused.

(NOTE: Although this interview was conducted in January, there are still residents waiting for accommodation according to their needs.) As well as that, when you throw a community into that sort of disarray, you have chronic stress, you have mental health problems, people developing unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with what’s

October - The Magdalen - Interview

going on. When the cameras went into Grenfell, you seen a community which was raging. All of a sudden, journalists weren’t being treated with reverence, they were asking dumb questions and people were snatching microphones and asking “why do you think I’m here?”. That’s a microcosm of what this country has in store if we don’t start addressing some of these problems head on.

You can pick up the book at any chapter and glean something from it without necessarily needing the context.

MG: After reading the book and talking to you now, I feel as if community and working together is the moral of the story, however there is a part in the books when you go up to the West End of Glasgow, and you describe how a group of boys fell silent as they walked passed you. You write that “you lived in a real world, of which they knew very little”. Was that adolescence talking or do you still feel like you know the world better than some?

DG: Eh, well I suppose it’s an objectively false thing to say.

I was trying to channel how I think I would have felt at the time and obviously there are echoes of that experience that still call to me now, even at the age of 33. However, through maturation, sobriety, I have been able to look at certain points of my life and come to an understanding that you can’t make big judgements about what other people experience as being real. That’s true of people who regard themselves as unprivileged, as it is of people with privilege. The debate around privilege is doubly complicated by the fact that I’m privileged by virtue of my maleness, my whiteness, my heterosexuality.

The whole concept has become, not inverted, but depending on who you’re talking to, you sit at a different part of the social scale. For that reason, I’ve tried to be more aware of assuming

that people from certain social classes have it easy. Because I’ve had that level that me as a white man and a white, male, heterosexual that I don’t understand pain, grief or the trauma that I’ve survived and the abuse that I’ve survived doesn’t matter because no one has been racist to me. It’s like when you get into those discussions, you realise that the best thing you can do is not to make assumption about people’s experiences and try not to react to your first emotional impulse when someone calls your privilege out.

By doing that, you remain at an intellectual level where you don’t get bogged down by accusations and counterpoints all based on subjective pish on social media.

MG: A lot of fuss has been made about the V&A, however it has also been said that it will not do a lot for the vast majority of people. Is that a view you share?

DG: Well I mean I don’t know enough about the views which have been expressed up here, but there are obviously parallels in Glasgow with any sort of new development. When a new thing is built or created, there is a sort of aesthetic aspect to it which boosts morale, you see something new, you get this sense that that’s some sort of progress. But at the same time, when you look at the Clyde in Glasgow, from a distance it looks so modern. The most notable thing about that river though is the fact that it’s where a lot of people chose to end their life. The river is lined with gated luxury flats, American diners and Casinos that most people in the city can’t afford to access.

There is an assumption that it’s these things which are going to raise the quality of life and replace what industry used to do. However, they just become symbols of exclusion.

Words by Murray Glen

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Section -Affairs Current The Magdalen - The Magdalen - September - October

BRI:

ALL ROADS

LEAD TO

BEIJING COULD CHINA’S INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC EXPANSION BECOME A NEW INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CONCERN?

C

hina’s image as a trade and production giant is by no means exclusive to the 21st century, having cultivated a reputation as a global centre for trade for a millennium. The Silk Road was the most prolific overseas trade route, perhaps of all time, and the heart of China’s trading tradition. Acting as a physical and metaphorical expressway for both goods and ideas going east-to-west and vice-versa, it was a powerful tool in the distribution of Chinese influence in neighbouring regions (and further afield) and a key asset in China’s early economic development.

The current leadership administration in China, headed

by General Secretary Xi Jinping of the Communist Party, looks to recreate this tool in what is perhaps the most ambitious infrastructure project of all time.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to connect China with spheres of influence and markets in the west through a series of sprawling highways, ports and rail networks. The ‘belt’ is the overland trading route travelling from the Belgium to Beijing, while the ‘road’ signifies a maritime trading highway, punctuated by ports in Europe, Africa, across Asia and Oceania.

The BRI has been welcomed by states that lie across its pathway who recognise the economic benefits of the project. Poorer states, who may not have been able to provide such leaps ahead in infrastructure improvement if it were not for Chinese investment, have been particularly supportive of the initiative.

Infrastructure developments are varied in character. From ports

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Design by Veronica Hamilton

October - The Magdalen - Current Affairs

in Pakistan, to railways in Russia and transnational communication cables in Kazakhstan, as well as pipelines and industrial facilities the pathway of the BRI is varied. What also varies dramatically is the political environments the project ventures into. The economic and political consequences of the BRI have been thoroughly examined and discussed but the current conversation regarding the project rarely touches on the issue of the influence the BRI will have in regards to terrorism and organised crime.

At a glance we can identify the route of the project encounters several pockets of geopolitical security challenges. The Pakistani segment of the BRI, the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), presents a particularly immediate security concern. The infrastructure corridor running through the country, culminating in a huge deep-water port in the city of Gwadar, is under attack already. The Baluchistan region experiences the most duress. It suffers from weak law enforcement, with little to no police presence outside some urban centres, a violent antigovernment separatist movement and its regional capital, Quetta, is a known urban sanctuary for the Afghan Taliban thanks to its proximity to the AfghanistanPakistan Border. It should come as no surprise, then, that the infrastructure projects have had to resist local threats. Between January 2014 and May 2015 almost 50 labourers involved in BRI construction were killed by local military entities.

CPEC may present the most urgent security concern but

plenty of potential fault lines in the Eurasian Land Corridor can be found in Turkey. Turkey hosts a large share of the proposed BRI developments but the ongoing Kurdish problem in the South East of the country, an attempted coup in 2017 and proximity to the war in Syria have forced the country down in the Fragile States Index (FSI) and falls into the ‘High Warning’ category on the FSI scale. The BRI could be utilised to advance means of insurgent groups or, as it has in the case of Pakistan, become a target for violent militant organisations.

The horizons for drug traffickers are only expanded with the introduction of the BangladeshChina-Indochina-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC).

Recent years have brought around a renaissance in opium production in the ‘Golden Triangle’, the area surrounding the apex of the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.

Improved infrastructure coming to Myanmar in the form of the BCIM-EC will only increase the efficiency of which Opium traffickers can distribute their product locally and regionally, whilst also introducing them to international drug markets.

Profits from which may be funnelled into local Ethnic Armed Groups that continue to destabilise the country, creating a catalyst for crises like the 2015 Rohingya Refugee Exodus. Fibre optic cables installed throughout Asia will contribute to the growing internet drug economy, with drug e-commerce presenting new and dangerous opportunities.

The same can be said for arms, wildlife and human trafficking.

When the BRI Is discussed in a security context, it is usually regarding the BRI’s ability to distribute Chinese influence and regional power, with Chinese ports in Pakistan and Sri Lanka signalling China’s ambition to become the supreme regional power in Asia. There will indeed be security consequences of the BRI in terms of the larger geopolitical theatre as there will be economic success stories along the path of the project. But where economies will benefit from infrastructure projects so will arms traffickers, drug smugglers, and violent extremist groups. The BRI may not create any original problems regarding terrorism and organised crime, but it will certainly inflate existing weaknesses in the system.

THE ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE BRI HAVE BEEN THOROUGHLY EXAMINED AND DISCUSSED BUT THE CURRENT CONVERSATION REGARDING THE PROJECT RARELY TOUCHES ON THE ISSUES OF THE INFLUENCE THE BRI WILL HAVE IN REGARDS TO TERRORISM AND ORGANISED CRIME.

Words by Ben McCann

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Current Affairs - The Magdalen - October

Violent responses to student protests in Bangladesh attract international attention.

Every person has a unique voice formed by their personalities, life experiences and outlook on the world.

We, in Scotland, are allowed to form opinions and express them without fear of being silenced. It is our freedoms of speech and expression that allow us to use this voice to stand up for what we believe in and to try and change the world for the better.

As students we are at a time in our lives where we are establishing our opinions, testing our ideas and expressing ourselves to people of various backgrounds.

University life gives us a great opportunity to find our voice and use it.

It is our freedoms of speech and expression that allow us to use this voice to stand up for what we believe in and to try and change the world for the better.

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Words by Josh Smith, design by Mairi Ferns

We are lucky enough to live in a society where we are able to use that voice without consequence, within reason. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world is this fortunate. In August 2018 Bangladeshi police arrested over 100 student protestors. They were protesting poor road safety regulations after a speeding bus in Dhaka killed 2 people and injured 12 others. Human rights organisation, Amnesty International, have condemned the arrests with their Deputy South Asia Director stating; “The Bangladeshi authorities must end this crackdown and release all protestors who were peacefully exercising their human rights.’ These students had a genuine concern and just wanted better road safety regulations.

One student who was shot at with rubber bullets by the police said in an interview with Amnesty International; “Many students who suffered injuries after the police fired rubber bullets are not even going to the hospital to receive treatment out of fear of arrest.” Why do we still live in a world where people are treated like this? Where they are effectively told that their voices don’t matter, and they are intimidated into silence. Despite this, these students continue to stand up for their beliefs against all the backlash and challenges that they face and that is something that we should all admire and be inspired by. The Education Ministry has subsequently promised students that their demands for road safety reforms will be considered.

Section - The Magdalen - September

DUSA BELIEVES THE FOLLOWING BEHAVIOURS ARE UNACCEPTABLE...

UNWANTED SEXUAL COMMENTS, INCLUDING COMMENTS ON AN INDIVIDUAL’S BODY OR PRIVATE LIFE COMMENTS DEEMED AS RACIST, RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC, XENOPHOBIC, TRANSPHOBIC AND DISABLIST UNWELCOME SEXUAL INVITATIONS, INNUENDOS (SEXUAL SUGGESTIONS), AND OFFENSIVE GESTURES WOLF WHISTLING, CATCALLING, OR OFFENSIVE SEXUAL NOISES GROPING, PINCHING OR SMACKING SOMEONE’S BODY MOVING OR GRABBING SOMEONE’S CLOTHES WITHOUT CONSENT EXPOSURE OF SEXUAL ORGANS ANY CONDUCT WHICH INTIMIDATES, DEGRADES, HUMILIATES OR VIOLATES AN INDIVIDUAL’S DIGNITY OBJECTIFICATION, FETISHISATION AND STEREOTYPING OF INDIVIDUALS BASED ON THEIR GENDER OR SEXUAL ORIENTATION LEADS TO A CULTURE OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT, SEXUAL DISCRIMINATION AND ITS NORMALISATION.

Dundee University Students Association (DUSA) Registered Scottish Charity No. SCO16047

October - The Magdalen - Current Affairs

Truth, Justice and Holyrood #MeToo in Holyrood In August 2018 it was made public that former First Minister, Alex Salmond, is facing accusations of sexual harassment related to events that occurred during his time in office (2007-14). In the wake of the #MeToo movement, current FM Nicola Sturgeon had called for an internal review of the handling procedure for workplace complaints at Holyrood in November 2017. Part of the review involved the introduction of new procedures to handle complaints against current or former ministers.

Just months later, in January of this year, two complaints were brought forward against Salmond.

The investigation had been kept out of the public’s knowledge until the Daily Record broke the story on August 23rd. The investigation, of which Salmond was informed of in March, has been declared to be completely confidential. Following the break of the news, Salmond denied the allegations and launched a counter-action in court intended to challenge the complaints process at Holyrood. His reasoning for this is that he believes there to be a leak in the government, that the procedure is unjust and that he does not have the ability to properly defend himself because he has not seen the evidence against him. In the week since the announcement, a crowdfunding campaign has raised over £50,000 for his legal fees.

It is completely understandable that those bringing forward the complaints wish to remain out of public knowledge and it is also understandable to have details of an active investigation withheld. Tying in with our “Find Your Voice” theme this month, this writer found it admittedly hard to write this article, on an issue where finding your voice can sometimes be one of the most difficult things you have to do. It is hard to believe in a just and safe society when we see well-known and successful politicians raising huge amounts of money for such legal fees at the same time as Rape Crisis Scotland and various crisis centres across the country are having to reduce services due to lack of funding.

This situation is complicated and understandably difficult for all involved. Salmond is within his rights to challenge complaints against him and if he is innocent or guilty then we have to believe our legal system will act fairly and accordingly. We also have to continue to work to make our society one in which people feel like they can speak out. That they will be listened to and that they matter.

Finding your voice can sometimes be one of the most difficult things you have to do.

Words by Mary Erin Kinch, Mairi Ferns Credits todesign writersby and Designers

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Fashion - The Magdalen - October

Sustainable Fashion:

How We Can All Be Conscious Consumers When the words ‘sustainable fashion’ appear, you may think of hemp-wearing, tree-hugging, peace-and-love people. The reality is that sustainable or ethical fashion is now becoming part of the public consciousness.

It is no secret that fashion is a large contributor to waste, with every season’s new trends pushing items out of our wardrobes and into landfills.

Brands are increasingly becoming aware of the ethics of fast fashion, with more and more choosing to bypass sweatshops and keep their companies closer to home. Sustainability is becoming a central part of clothing companies now, with brands like Reformation designing and manufacturing in local factories, while also using up their ‘dead stock’, vintage fabrics, and sustainable materials.

It is easier said than done, being an ethical or sustainable fashion consumer. Your wardrobe is already full of clothes that you already love and wear, even if they come from companies that employ sweatshops or that add to the ever-growing fast fashion industry. It is human nature to

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want something new, to want to try out new trends and buy a new outfit for a party you have that week. Buying clothes is not a crime, but constantly buying clothes that only get worn once, or not worn at all, is not sustainable. It’s not sustainable for the planet, but also for yourself. Think about that item you have hanging in your wardrobe that you are saving ‘for a special occasion’ that hasn’t come yet. It’s a waste of money!

We can all strive to be more conscious consumers. So how can we do that?

‘Constantly buying clothes that only get worn once, or not worn at all, is not sustainable’ You can investigate brands which provide an ethical experience.

Look at their websites and read about their company. Do they treat all their employees

Design by Karen McLean, photography by Maike Herrmann

equally? Do they use animal products? Do they use recycled materials? What do they do with their waste? Answering these questions can give you peace of mind and inform you of your own ethical implications in the fashion industry.

The one big negative for many people about sustainable fashion, especially students, is that a lot of it is expensive. Independent brands often charge more because there is no overhead company providing them with all the money, fabric and other resources needed to create lots of product. It is also a conscious choice made by brands. The more products cost, the more we are incentivised to spend our money on one good quality item, rather than a handful of lesser quality clothes that will not last. There is less waste overall.

Therefore, a great option if you are on a budget is to shop in charity or vintage shops. There are countless places to do so (Hint: St. Andrews offers a better selection than Dundee, and you’re more likely to find designer or upper high street

October - The Magdalen - Fashion

brands for bargain prices) and of course with charity shops you have the added benefit of donating to a good cause.

Rather than these clothes being thrown out, they can be passed onto a better home and re-worn.

This is of course a great option to pass on your own clothes that you want to get rid of, as well as clothes banks that will donate your unwanted items to places like refuge centres.

‘a great option if you are on a budget is to shop in charity or vintage shops’ You can also learn to shop smartly. Although an ethical brand is more, well, ethical, it is naĂŻve to say that you will not stray from the ease of high street stores. The thing is, you can buy from a store like Zara (who have been embroiled in many sweatshop controversies) where the clothes are of a great enough quality that they will last you years. Picking a classic design

and keeping good care of your clothes by washing and storing them properly means that you are less likely to fall into the trap of purchasing something new every time you have disposable money. Yes, you could find a brand that is more sustainable in its manufacturing. However, you can also bestow sustainability on yourself, and limit your spending to long-lasting items that can be integrated into your wardrobe easily. Some brands now even offer repairs on items, rather than expecting you to buy a replacement, and you can go to any cobbler to have the soles on your shoes repaired or replaced, giving them an extra lease of life.

The reality is that until every brand utilises a sustainable or ethical mythos, there will always be sweatshops, or landfills full of clothes, or an uncontrollable need for more, more, more. Not every item of clothing needs to hold the weight of the world upon it, but we, the consumer, can take more steps towards shopping consciously. Sustainable fashion can be helped by even the smallest of changes.

Words by Emily Fletcher

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Fashion - The Magdalen - October

Steampunk Emporium

Welcome to the Steampunk Emporium – immerse yourself in the Victorian era, with a little modern twist.

The summer bank holiday is a very special time of year, when the mid-summer’s swelter is replaced by the warm velvety August breeze, the university campuses are buzzing with crowds of freshers, airports and public transport are busier than ever, and motorways are jammed brim to brim. In all this hustle and bustle going around us, some of the major art and cultural events may remain unnoticed, rather undeservedly.

Every year during the last week of August, along with the final countdown to the start of new academic year, the world’s largest Asylum Steampunk Festival is hosted by the city of Lincoln.

Organised by the Victorian Steampunk Society, the event is stretched across different venues with its epicentre lying in Lincoln Castle yard and the historic cathedral quarter. It combines four days of talks, exhibitions, jetpack races, the iconic Asylum

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Design by Fraser Robertson

Ball and the International Tea and Biscuit Duelling final along with live music, dance and comedy performances. Countless outdoor markets are scattered throughout the venue with the largest of them referred to as Bazaar Electrica, where one can find a staggering variety of steampunk garments, accessories and other paraphernalia.

To embrace their Steampunk alter egos and immerse themselves into this phantasmagoric parallel world where technology and art become one, the Asylum participants first headed to Bishop Grosseteste University campus, where they changed into their festival outfits. They received their steamsona (steampunk persona) passports and got handcuffed with their wristbands.

Growing up in a bohemian artistic family, I admired from afar this unique combination of steam-powered machinery with inner freedom and a retro-futuristic spirit. Although ironically sci-fi literature never appealed to me, I always found the eclectic style of Steampunk enchanting and inspiring. In the best tradition of undercover reporting, I too changed into a lavish Victorian corset dress and crowned myself with a fascinator

October - The Magdalen - Fashion

looking much like an aftermath of explosion in a cuckoo clock, with an erratic pile of gilded clockwork wheels and a miniature dirigible attached on side. I secretly kept my pair of Converse though, not to lose the sense of reality in this eerie alternate world that magically seems to be congruent with our modern age.

The Steampunk passport and costume served as a ticket to board the emerald green vintage double-decker RT1702 that assisted individuals of the steampunk community through public transportation. Brushing its way through the brunch thicket of the quiet Newport driveway, it took us to the heart of Steampunk Sabbath – the cathedral square, where we were welcomed by the cheering crowd of like-minded lunatics, inventors, visionaries, makers and creative thinkers who live to dream up the impossible.

Headgear Goggles

Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, I was carried away by the surreal whirlpool of elaborate dresses, waistcoats, hacking jackets and high-button shoes generously accessorized with elements of clockwork and antiqued machinery, unusual cufflinks, cravat pins, and watch fobs, all radiating chic elegance and attitude. To get my head around this magical otherworldly mascarade, I decided to lock my gaze on the repeating patterns in costumes scurrying around. Without further ado, here’s my humble attempt to identify the hot trends in contemporary steam-fashion.

What is a steamsona with no goggles?

It is akin to a cuppa with no milk. In this fictional fantasy world no ensemble costume is complete without a pair of spectacles.

Dainty pince-nez, monocles or vintage aviator goggles are a must. Adored by the young and young-at-heart, they come in a plethora of styles and shapes, making it easier to find a perfect bold-looking match for your unique pair of optical nerves.

Every Steampunk devotee knows that a bare scalp may indicate a bare brain beneath. Therefore, headgear - a broad term encompassing fascinators, formal hats, and work hats - should be chosen wisely. However, most steamsonas opt for an exquisite self-made hat, compact and wearable while comprising both DIY ingenuity and the idea of fashion as a true form of art. Surely, Carroll’s Mad Hatter would be a modern steampunk fashion icon.

Words and photography by Kris Aare

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Pocket Watch

Coming in all sizes and shapes imaginable a pocket watch will, no doubt, raise your steampunk fashion game, making your look appear more elegant and sophisticated.

However, regardless of the style of your watch and the way you choose to wear it, make sure to stay poised and maintain your gentlemanly grace. From the Victorian era to this day, high manners can make up for any costume mistakes and save your character from appearing fake.

Stockings

Mostly preferred by the steampunk street fashionistas, this accessory will add an alluring, steamy if you will, edge to your costume. Torn, bleached or elegantly tacked up with tender lace garters and vintage embellished pins – the rules are yours to mould. A pair of elegant stockings paired with a steaming jetpack perfectly exemplify the amalgam of technology and romance.

Sadly, most men do not look good in stockings and therefore had to learn to be humbly content with wearing socks.

Shoes

Fashion - The Magdalen - October

Will your footwear be as fashionably elegant as your clothing? That is not the question of compromise. Very much like headgear, your footwear is missioned to narrate the parallel world of faerie, making it solid and tangible.

Stay uninhibited. Unlike conservative steampunk followers, modernists are allowed the autonomy to choose their garments as they please. Unrestrained by stringent rules, channel your inner steamsona and find your personal style.

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Quaint to some eyes and eccentric to others, truly steampunk fashion is the window into the eponymous subculture embracing multiculturalism.

Celebrating the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, it embraces all forms of art and draws inspiration from the innovative and transformative epoch of dirigibles and steam locomotives. It challenges the societal restrictions of the Victorian era and embodies the symbiotic relationship of craftsmanship, skill and creative impulse. As to what the future holds for the imaginary world of clockwork gears and tea duels, steampunks would say: ‘the answer lies in the past, just put your goggles on and board your time machine.’

dusamedia.com/fibre/

dusamedia.com/tayproductions/

dusamedia.com/jam/

International - The Magdalen - October

Simmered Across The World

SPRINKLED WITH TRADITION My editor said to Think Global. Turns out that is not as easy to do for someone whose travels have never reached beyond the borders of Europe. Luckily, as you would have found out by now, Dundee uni has a large, active international community, who are always happy to help. That is, ‘always’ as long as the topic of the request is food, because we tend to be very proud of our cuisines.

So this month, with a little help from Magdalen’s international friends, we bring you three unique recipes from three different cultures, including one that calls home for our Scottish readers.

The president of the Dundee University Bulgarian Society Denisa Hristova shares with us a regional version of an authentic Gyuvech. The beef, mushroom, peppers and onions stew is special in being traditionally cooked in hand-drawn pots, which are “passed down through families over generations.”

Next on the menu, Shahi Tukda, an ultimately comforting dessert that could please the sweetest of a tooth, takes us to the land of milk and honey - India.

Mughals are known to have enriched India with architecture, literature, but also culinary miracles.

From Kebabs, through to Korna, the often Europeanised versions of which we devour on the basis of our weekly take-aways, Mughal kitchen deserves to be celebrated. Much so, with this bread pudding, the legend about which speculates that it blew away the Egyptian king who stopped in a village by the Nile during hunts with his troupe, to the extent that it then travelled with him across Middle-east Asia

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Design by Loukia Kattis

and became a popular relish. What’s even better, it couldn’t get much simpler to whip up!

So now you have your Eastern-European main course, Asia-inspired dessert is cooling down so as not to burn your other half’s mouth off, and surely anywhere in the world you are, a drink would be what is missing! So we reached out to a Glaswegian-in-heart booze specialist Euan, who provided a story worthy of perhaps an article by itself.

Quaich, derived from the Gaelic cuach, meaning a cup, is a shallow two-handled drinking cup in Scotland. Its origin is traced to the Highlands, way before it became popular in metropolitan centres such as Glasgow or Edinburgh. Used at weddings to countersign as well as to celebrate the new-found bond, they are usually made of oak, but some quaichs’ bottoms are made of glass, allegedly so that the drinker could keep watch on his companion.

Interpret that as you like, I’ll keep my opinions for the other section in this Magazine.

Often referred to as the love cup, the groom and bride traditionally fill it with a combination of two drinks, to symbolise the two becoming one. Usually being whisky and water for accentuated pureness, they then each take a handle and drink together, as a confirmation of their wedding.

And that’s a good ol’ Scottish cheers from us!

October Section - The - The Magdalen Magdalen - International - September

Gyuvech 1. Cut up 500g of lamb or pork into big chunks and fry quickly in heated oil 2. Add one finely chopped onion, allow to soften and add 100g of tomatoes cut into small pieces 3. Season with salt and pepper, cover with water and let simmer 4. Once meat is half tender, add 100g dried mush rooms and 150g paprikas 5. Let soften and add 100g of olives and 100g of half-cooked rice 6. Pour in 1dcl wine and water as needed, and transfer into your heatproof family pot 7. Bake in oven preheated to 180 degrees °C for 15 minutes 8. Add another 100g of slices of tomatoes cut into rounds and bake until brown 9. To finish off, sprinkle with parsley and pepper, top with an egg if you’re feeling fancy, and dobur apetit!

Shahi Tukda 1. Preheat oven to 180°C and butter a heatproof dish with ghee or your usual butter 2. In a shallow pan, fry a slice of bread in1tbs of oil 3. Bring 100ml of milk to a boil in a heavy bottom sauce pan, and simmer on low heat with saffron, stirring constantly 4. Add sugar, allow milk to reduce to half and wait until cooled slightly 5. Plate up the bread with your saffron creamy sauce poured over the top 6. Sprinkle with pistachio or cashew nuts, raisins, and if hosting someone special, we highly recommend adding the traditional touch of a rose petal

Words by Barbara Mertlova

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International - The Magdalen - October

to all international students

Dear international students, Have you ever felt like a chameleon? Well, if the answer is NO, it is about time you face situations which will make you leave your comfort zone.

The first time I experienced a serious change in my life was last autumn. This is the season of transformations, when the nature purifies itself. Not by accident, last September I had to build my life from scratch. In other words, I became a university student in Dundee.

As an international student, I underwent a great cultural shock in the beginning. I almost immediately made friends and got used to the lifestyle here.

However, I was faced with great adversity. Fear of using the language and communicating with other students. The language barriers were so strong that I refused to talk even with my flatmates.

In my first lectures I was listening cautiously and I could process maybe half of the information.

I thought that by paying more attention, I would begin to understand what Mrs. Johansen was talking about, but I did not. The horror continued when I had to express my opinion in tutorials. I was afraid of making language mistakes because the other students will laugh

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Design by Duncan Adams

at me. And… I chose to sit and keep silent.

Throughout the year I experienced many embarrassing moments when I misunderstood people or when the words just disappeared from my head while talking to someone. At times I felt really ashamed because I could not understand the English jokes. These jokes… To this day, they always make me awkwardly silent.

Also, I still find it hard to comprehend the UK accents. Once, I asked my mother crying ‘Why do Scottish people speak another language?’ She laughed, of course. For some, these situations may be hilarious. For me, they were tragic.

I vividly remember my first night out. It was a birthday party. The music was loud, the room crowded. A lot of alcohol and cheerful people.

Funny, yeah? Well, it was not so funny for me. The time for the cake came and everyone was singing the song ‘Happy birthday’. The birthday girl asked us who wants a piece. She looked at me and I shook my head from side-to-side. And then, I waited. Well, to be fair I waited the whole night while everyone was eating their piece. I completely forgot that in most of the countries this gesture means ‘NO’ while in Bulgaria (where I am from) means ‘YES’. In the end, I was watching instead of eating. It hurt a lot, if you know what a chocoholic I am. I realized that

using gestures and mimics instead of talking can be hilarious not helpful. So, do not be afraid of talking, Maria. ‘Remember! – watching instead of eating’.

However, I was brave enough to overcome my fear and I was finally feeling good in my skin. With every lecture I attended and with every person I spoke, I became more confident and fluent in English. I gained courage to join conversations and to express my opinion (even to argue with people). Does it mean my English has reached a native speaker level? No, of course! But, I did not give up. Now, I talk for hours, go out, attend tutorial discussions and of course I make mistakes. A lot of mistakes. It has been a year since I realized the language barrier was just an obstacle in my head.

If I am afraid of doing mistakes, I will never learn.

What helped me a lot was the multicultural environment in Dundee. People here are really patient and down-to-earth. This is a great advantage. I lived with five flatmates (3 of whom Scottish girls). They tried really hard to make me more self-assured. All of them always helped me when I asked them to slow down or explain what they meant. And this is just a drop in the ocean of examples of the support which I received.

So, Dear international students, Do not be afraid of making mistakes.

Try harder!

Dear native speakers, Do not judge! Be supportive!

I carry these pieces of advice in my back pocket most of the time. If someone tries to laugh at my language skills, I know that they have not thought about speaking a second language and cannot imagine how hard it can be. From now on, I will worry about my English, but I am embracing my mistakes. No more panic for me. It was up to me to become courageous enough to overcome my fears. Now, it is up to you to become confident.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Best wishes, Maria

Words by Maria Radeva

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Eating an Elephant One Bite at a Time M ind f ul ness fo r a c a d e m ic s u c c e s s

October - The Magdalen - Lifestyle

A

s the new academic year rolls on, the merciless cacophony of coursework, daily chores and increasingly infrequent social activities tends to engulf even the most resilient of us. You may be taking pride in having the work ethic of Hermione Granger and list-making skills of Rory Gilmore (brief nod to the 90s kids) but as the stress and anxiety pile up, acknowledged and mismanaged, they often climax with you feeling overwhelmed and eventually burnt out. How to strike the balance between academic success and emotional wellbeing? The answer to this is individual for each of us and can even vary from day to day but some key rules are universal.

CLEAR YOUR VISION Rule number one is to stay self-aware. Keep track of your physical health, notice and acknowledge any mood swings. When things start building up, take a step back and have some ‘Me Time’. Take a moment to embrace your fears and remind yourself of your ambitions and aspirations. A dream board is a powerful tool for anxiety relief for those of us agonising over the toil and trouble of current coursework or the uncertainty of post-uni life.

Regardless of whether or not you believe in the law of attraction, a collage with personally meaningful magazine cut outs will help you visualise your future, especially if you are not content with your current reality. A big part of reinventing yourself is having a clear vision of your goals and setting the right direction for your life.

FIND YOUR ZEN The reality of modern day gives us countless reasons for feeling overwhelmed: work overload (often arising from underpolished time management skills), an emotional reaction to something or getting trapped in the spider web of unfortunate circumstances, the list can go on. Inevitably, this is something we all face, and have to learn to cope with. While denial and hoarding of negative emotions pose a serious health hazard and at the end of the day are counterproductive, unfortunately we haven’t evolutionised to metabolise our bleak sentiments just yet. Until it’s possible, it is important to adopt the habit of regularly abstracting from our feelings and acknowledging them before they can get recycled. Rule number two – meditate.

Slow down, take a deep breath and find your moment of zen whether by joining a local yoga club or practicing in your own time with Headspace or Breathe app on your Apple watch, go for a park run or absorb the rich colours of autumnal sunset by the river Tay, whatever soothes your soul will do the trick.

STAY FOCUSED At uni, we find ourselves immersed in the environment inspiring and motivating us to follow our dreams - ethereal, perishable entities that need to be handled with caution. In a sense, you have to become a warrior of your ambitions. Remember that unrealistic goals are false-friends often leading to anxiety. A warrior always keeps his goals at the forefront of his mind. He is determined, he is focused on his purpose and deliberate in his actions. Every step he takes is towards the fulfilment of his goal. The warrior should never find himself off course. There is no obstacle that can keep him from getting back on track, no distraction that can cause him lose sight of his aims, dreams and visions. The third rule is to adopt the mentality of a warrior not a worrier.

HAVE THE COURAGE TO ASK FOR HELP Asking for help is a very powerful practice many of us struggle with. Truth be told, we all need help. Life is not a one-man show, and EVERY so-called ‘self-made’ person has had somebody helped them. Behind EVERY success story there is teamwork. If you ever feel stuck or not as far along as you wish you were, don’t be afraid to reach out, there will be no shortage of support. It may make you feel a little vulnerable, uneasy or exposed for a moment, but then will come the relief. Think about it, all the wonderful people willing to help may not be showing up in your life because you are not creating any space for them to do so. In the words of Nike, when in trouble or in doubt ‘Just do it!’ You’ll be surprised who can turn up in your life, and one day you might be able to reciprocate.

TAKE CONTROL Finally, try to have some time during the week, ideally an entire day clear of any commitments, a day you’ll spend on your terms. I personally prefer a weekly routine, where every morning starts with an hour of mindfulness and exercise – a handful of rituals that set the tone for a positive day and make me feel as if I have at least some control over my life, and because I’m the one in charge, I know there is not going to be even a hint of feeling overwhelmed to get in my way.

Sometimes the most beautiful and fulfilling time in life is when we are not striving, not crossing things off our to-do lists, it occurs when we are just living in the moment, without a care or worry.

Words by Kris Aare, design by Lily Wilson

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Dundee’s got talent ...kind of Karaoke night in Air Bar -until recently I was a sceptic. I didn’t fancy subjecting myself to second rate renditions of classic tunes, and I had no desire to let the people of Dundee scrutinise my own (not completely terrible) vocal abilities. When one of my pals decided she wanted to go along as a fun way to celebrate her birthday I only reluctantly obliged. I went with the intention of sitting quietly as far away from the stage as possible and hoping the birthday girl would quickly decide we were moving on. We arrived in a lull between songs and I did my best to avoid the eye of the compere as we headed towards the bar. At my friend’s insistence we ordered a giant Pornstar Martini (not really my style but it tasted surprisingly good: maybe this was the night for trying new things.)

The music starts and I cringe in anticipation as the intro to “Piano Man” draws everyone’s attention to the stage. Surely there’s no way the petite girl before us can pull this off. She opens her mouth and as it happens... she is... not terrible. Four and a half minutes later she leaves the stage to rapturous applause. Next up, a slightly emo-ish looking guy has a crack at “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”. What he lacks in talent he makes up for with enthusiasm.

In any case, swathes of the crowd join in by the time the chorus comes around and four minutes later he too leaves the stage to rapturous applause.

And so the night continues as singer after singer gets the crowd clapping, cheering, and singing along. I’m hooked by the atmosphere and decide I have to get involved. I’ve rehearsed my repertoire countless times in the security of the shower and I’m confident that my rendition of “Ring of Fire” will bring the house down. I knock back another drink for some Dutch courage and take the stage. I’m nervous as all eyes turn to me. The music begins, the adrenaline starts pumping, and the next three minutes is one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. I leave the stage to rapturous applause: well and truly convinced that, as a singer or an observer, there is no better way to get a night going in Dundee than with a bit of Karaoke.

Air Bar is open Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 8pm till late.

Words by Rory Mellis, design by Robbie Kieran

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Lifestyle - The Magdalen - October

Healthy Lunches at University First time cooking for yourself? First time doing food shopping for yourself? The lure of JustEat and Deliveroo proving too real? No idea where to start?

Tesco ready meals and pizza seeming the best option?

Don’t know where to start with food shopping? We’ve all been there, all had to cope without our parents cooking and a little advice never hurts anyone.

The first place to start for a healthy diet at university is with the food shopping. The key to food shopping is to have a clear plan going into it, write a list, plan meals, know exactly what you want to stop yourself from buying unnecessary items and snacks. Pay attention to dates on perishable food to prevent food going out of date and therefore to waste. Secondly try not to food shop on an empty stomach or when hungry, not the easiest thing to do, this prevents from impulse buying of overly sugary, salty or convenience food.

When trying to be healthier and make healthier meals there are small sustainable changes that can be made to achieve your target. A simple change such as changing the type of bread and rice from white to wholemeal or brown, brown or wholemeal are better for you

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Design by Iona French

due to them being less processed than their white counterparts and therefore contain a larger amount of wholegrain and therefore are more nutrient dense, and the more nutrients the better. This rule of thumb can be applied to any food stuffs, wholefoods are better than processed foods.

When planning a meal, a lean source of protein should be included wherever possible, the lean source of protein, be it fish, chicken or eggs helps to keep you fuller for longer and therefore will help to stave off the need or urge to snack. To accompany the lean protein source of choice you should ideally pair with a good variety of vegetables and varied carbohydrates.

Convenience food, for the most part, isn’t as good for you as self-prepared home-made food. That sandwich from Tesco which you don’t what ingredients have been used and the quality of these ingredients, so why not make your own at home and be accountable for what you eat. When cooking you can always prepared meals in bulk and freeze or refrigerate them for a later date to save time and to also ensure that a healthy meal is being eaten at all times.

October - The Magdalen - Lifestyle

Tuna rice salad (serves 8)

Ingredients: 900g of cold cooked rice (400g uncooked rice) 400g of tuna 200g frozen peas defrosted 2 red/yellow peppers diced 3 tomatoes chopped into small chunks 5 spring onions sliced finely Bunch of parsley chopped 4 tbsp mayonnaise Juice of one lemon 2 tbsp of olive oil Method: Mix the rice together with the tuna, peas, peppers, tomatoes, spring onions and parsley.

Stir through the mayonnaise, lemon juice and olive oil and add seasoning to taste.

Steak, roasted pepper and pearl barley salad (serves 1)

Ingredients: 45g pearl barley red pepper (sliced) yellow pepper (sliced) red onion (wedged) 1 tbsp olive oil 150g of lean steak 25g watercress (chopped) Juice of a lemon Method: Cook the pearl barley, boil for 25-30 mins until tender, drain and transfer to a bowl/plate Heat the oven to 180C put peppers and onion wedges onto train cover in 1tbsp of olive oil and roast for approx.

20mins until tender While peppers are roasting cook the steak, season before cooking with a little salt and pepper, fry the steak for 3-4mins each side. Set aside for a few minutes to rest.

Mix the cooked peppers and onion through the pearl barley and add the watercress and lemon juice.

Thinly slice the steak and place on top of the salad and serve.

Words by Tim Mckavanagh

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October - The Magdalen - Lifestyle

DUNDEE’S ECLECTIC LIVE MUSIC VENUES With a population of just under 150,000, it can be said that Dundee has always punched above its weight musically due to its homegrown artists and thriving live music scene.

as The University of Dundee’s alumina and multiplatinum indie rock band Snow Patrol. As a result of Dundee’s musical success, it’s not unusual to see some big names taking part in weekend jams.

Scotland’s fourth largest city is the home of The View, Model Aeroplanes, Ricky Ross, Danny Wilson, the Average White Band, The Associates as well

With a compact city centre on the University’s doorstep, it’s possible to catch several talented live bands on weekend nights, and all for free.

Church

Fat Sam’s Live

Church, previously known as ‘Buskers’, is situated in a 19th century church and is very reminiscent of the Gothic era; much celebrated for its live music and support of local talent. The intimate venue hosts regular gigs by both local and national acts, attracting a strong crowd who bring the lively atmosphere it is famed for. Sub Zero Thursday’s bring your classic house, dance and chart to the floor along with a loyal following, encouraged by the ridiculously cheap entrance and drinks prices.

In the 1980s Fat Sam’s hosted Dance Factory on a Sunday night, a place that hosted Simply Red to Sigue Sputnik. Now Sam has got even fatter, and the purpose-built Fat Sam’s Live alongside the existing club is a thoroughly modern music venue that has seen everyone from Biffy Clyro to the Average White Band through its doors.

This is where the scene gets a bit down and dirty.

Along with Beat Generator on North Lindsay Street, this is where the music fans who want fewer chords and louder amps congregate. For example, when The View are back in town if they want to do a small gig for the diehards, it will be Church – the first album was called ‘Hats Off to the Buskers’.

Clarks on Lindsay Street Clarks is perhaps the most eclectic selection of music in the city. Pre-Production on Thursday evenings is the only ticketed event of the week and presents some of the best singer-songwriters from the UK and beyond.

On Friday & Saturday nights, Clarks buzzes with a vibrant party atmosphere and live music from the area’s best pop and rock cover bands followed by their resident DJ until 2:15 am. Away from Friday and Saturday, Clarks plays host to a wide range of gigs from established and emerging artists both touring and local. The renowned Sunday Song Club is an intimate and lively acoustic night with a blend of invited guests and open mic - a great way to wind down the weekend.

Duke’s Corner Duke’s Corner has largely moved away from the covers bands scene to offer fewer bands, so music is now mainly all original material. There are open mics for those looking to try out new songs, and then DJs late into the night. Tip – if you want to hear the band move forward near the stage, the venue shape means the acoustics near the bar aren’t too loud.

The West House Located in Dundee’s affluent Cultural Quarter, The West House isn’t a restaurant; it just serves excellent food, complemented by stunning cocktails and of course live music. The West House hosts live speciality DJs in an effortlessly intimate atmosphere which is popular amongst the city’s students.

Words by James Houston, design by Olivia Sharkey, photography by Emma Richardson

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Opinions - The Magdalen - October

Think Global.

Respectfully.

W

e live now in a global world. Seems obvious when you think about the grapefruit you ate this morning that was grown in Australia, or the flights you were looking at to the Caribbean as your last form of procrastination or simply that not a single item of clothing that you are wearing has travelled less than 4,000 miles to get to you. But in a world where we strive for multiculturalism and praise words like cosmopolitan and universal, this newfound globalism enables, on a more sinister tone, consumerism, cultural appropriation and exploitation amongst other things.

We want to travel. We want to make a difference on the other side of the world. We want to dress up to go to festivals. And we can, but we should go about it respectfully and with an idea of the consequences.

Let’s start with food, with exotic imports and more specifically: quinoa. Chances are you’ll have noticed this endlessly mispronounced word popping up with increased frequency

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Design by Iona Sorbie

on menus. (By the way, it’s pronounced keen-wah.) Do you know where it comes from? Are you even 100 per cent sure you know what it is?! Well, it is in fact largely grown on the west coast of South America. In the past it was a staple part of the diet of local peoples. So, now that quinoa is a hipster addition to salads and snack boxes, it is being grown and exported on much larger scales. You might be thinking that this sounds great, that the booming quinoa industry is injecting extra cash into struggling communities by paying more farmers and packagers and anyone else in the production line. But the dark truth is that the price of quinoa, a basic staple to so many on the other side of the world, is skyrocketing because of the trendy label and locals can no longer afford to buy it. They can no longer afford to eat.

Now there’s a thought to haunt your conscience…

Ever had a spidery, swirling traditional henna tattoo inked on the back of your hand? Or maybe you just used the semi-

permanent pigment to draw genitalia on to your friend’s face as they slept in a festival tent. Well, henna’s significance in other cultures is primarily that of Hindus and Muslims who ritually adorn hands and arms for special occasions, often brides before their weddings.

So if you find yourself sporting the terracotta designs, and you personally don’t have links to such cultures or religions, you might want to question whether you’ve crossed the line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. (And if this needs clarification, to quote the highly reliable Wikipedia; “Cultural appropriation is the adoption of elements of a minority culture by members of the dominating culture. It is distinguished from an equal cultural exchange due to an imbalance of power, often as a byproduct of colonialism.”)

But then there are issues with even our most patriotic embrace of traditional Scottish dress. Take a walk down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and a large proportion of souvenir shops selling tartan kilts have signs that read ‘Scottish design’ taped to their

October - The Magdalen - Opinions

‘we should go about it respectfully and with an idea of the consequences.’

windows. Easy to misunderstand but this is the convenient flipside to a global economy. A piece of Scottish pride, soured by the fact that when the rest of the world opened up to us, we decided to exploit it, here in the form of heavily discounted labour on the other side of the world.

And whilst we’re on the subject of those tricky truths behind the ways we are ‘embracing’ other cultures and travelling the globe, we might as well mention voluntourism. This world-mash refers to the £2-3 billion industry where good intentioned individuals from first world countries spend a holiday volunteering in deprived far flung corners of the planet.

This usually takes the form of something along the lines of building a school in Haiti or volunteering at an orphanage in central Africa. Sounds very honourable, doesn’t it. But what happens after the unskilled tourists, who have laboured for a fortnight in the baking heat, go home? Who is training the teachers to work there? Who will pay these teachers? Not

everywhere is lucky enough to have government funded education. As for spending 10 days working in an orphanage, these volunteers describe their experience as ‘life changing’ and ‘rewarding’ and ‘eye-opening’.

They post photos on Facebook, smiling amongst wide-eyed children and maybe even vow to return next year. But frequently changing volunteer staff has been linked to attachment disorder amongst the children who do not have a reliable adult figure in their lives and there have been cases of orphans living in imposed terrible conditions in the hopes of garnering more donations and help from the wider world.

Obviously, volunteering for people in need can do a great deal of good, just try to see the bigger picture and to make sure your impact is meaningfully.

Lastly, consider this: the motto Think Global = Think Local can be applied to almost any worldly situations.

Words by Rose Kendall

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Opinions - The Magdalen - October

Yer m aw was a immig n rant you absol ut roast e er

Let’s Talk About Trump (Yes really, we have to)

We ll sha rove b com

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Design by Rachael Hastie

It’s a phrase that everyone is getting sick of at this point.

However, now not only do we all have to listen to the constant verbal bile he spews out in America but we also have to deal with him visiting our home like everyone’s least favourite relative.

Trump took a break from his presidency to visit his own resort in Scotland to play some golf, thus delaying the inevitable apocalypse we all secretly expect him to cause. We, of course, did what Scottish people do best – viciously mock him and everything that he stands for. Holding up home-painted signs declaring how “We shall over-comb,” “Yer maw was an immigrant you absolute roaster,” and “orange is the new tw*t,” all while a giant inflatable baby Trump balloon majestically bobbed above the sea of protestors. With all this it’s hard to imagine how a banner reading “Trump:

Well below par” made such an impact. That is until you realise that it was dangling from a paraglider flying directly over the non-inflated President below.

Now as fun as it is to mock President Trump it does raise the question of whether it is really a good idea to insult the leader of one of Britain’s closest allies at a time when we are being, as the Europeans say, just the worst? Without the EU, the USA is our only ally that makes an impact on the global stage. When it comes to Trump, you can get angry at him as he spouts an ignorant, wildly offensive rant about immigration but then you have to deal with the fact that if you ask for money from him, he’ll probably say no. Is it better to then just simply nod along in silence and soak in the President’s venomous words?

October - The Magdalen - Opinions

Even if we speak up, will Trump care? His presidency is the personification of the entirety of the comments section on the internet.

Trump isn’t a politician, he’s a businessman. He’s not had to placate people before and it shows. Not only is he willing to provoke people, it is his go-to political tactic.

Remember when he called Kim Jong Un “short and fat” in response to threats of nuclear annihilation and somehow it worked? Trump even tweeted about how being called “the most superior troll on the whole of twitter” was “a great compliment.” It leaves a bitter taste that these protests aimed at humiliating Trump will inflate his ego to sizes rivalling his baby balloon.

Additionally, no matter how you look at it, immigration is a global issue. Whilst Trump’s policy is clearly terrible, does anyone have a solution that isn’t ‘be a place people don’t want to come to?’ While Trump’s answer is clearly a wrong answer, if we don’t have the right answer are we hypocrites to complain?

So where does that leave us? These protests will either damage relations between our closest ally or make the political orangutan we are protesting against feel even smugger over an issue that we don’t know how to solve?

Is there even a point to it all?

Would it be better to bury our views for the sake of our financial security? Is it ok to make people think we tolerate sexism, racism and trans- and homophobia to avoid satisfying Trump?

No. Seriously, of course it isn’t.

Just because the protests won’t have a practical result, that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t protest anyway.

We live in a democracy, in a country where protests are one of the main ways that the public have to express their views, we have that right. However, with that right comes a responsibility, the responsibility to stand up for what we believe in. If we sit in silence when these views are orated, then we are saying that we agree with them.

Things that people agree with don’t receive protests, to protest is literally defined as to object.

surprised when others pop up sprouting own-brand bigotry.

Sure, Glasgow’s protest placards made us laugh but they meant so much more. They represent people coming together to tell the world that we do not accept prejudice, we do not accept needless provocation and we do not accept Trump.

This point, that it has taken an entire article to make, is best summed up by Edmund Burke; “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

oran g is th e e new tw*t

We need to show that what Trump says is not acceptable.

Not just for him but for all of politics. Trump sits in the highest chair in the political world with other politicians looking to him as an example of how it’s appropriate to act. If we live in a world that fails to refuse and condemn prejudice, then we cannot be

Words by Matthew Ogden

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Opinions - The Magdalen - October

When Will the Chase End? T

he pace is just getting faster. The body screams of pain and the burning hot sun above scorches the skin on our heads.

Despite all of this we are still constantly moving towards our goals, and we’re not doing it gracefully, but always with someone chasing after us. I’ve been chased for a long time and I wonder when will it end?

As a society, we are very goal-oriented and we also encouraged to be that way. Even at school, first-graders are asked what they want to be when they grow up. As if children should already know what to thrive for. We are taught to believe that we always have to have a clear direction and thus when we grow up, pressures increase and we start setting ourselves conditions and time restrictions so that achieving our goals is more probable.

As sad as it is, I tend to plan everything as accurately as possible. Even before highschool, I knew exactly what I needed to do to achieve a good job, wealth and success. I had built paths in my mind, which would lead me to my distorted dream of accomplishment which always loomed ahead. Gradually the thing that made me excited - my

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Design by Rachael Hastie

dreams - turned into a burden. The compulsion to achieve made me speed up my pace and above all caused me an endless amount of stress.

One of the best things that has ever happened to me was when everything went sour.

I wasn’t accepted to the places I had originally applied and all my plans fell through my fingers. At that moment I didn’t know what would happen and I’m glad I didn’t. For the first time in a long time, I came to a halt. I was free to do anything. I noticed that the reason for the never-ending chase was my fear of failure, which I had manifested. No one else was chasing me other than myself.

In the end, aspirations are quite limited. When we decide on something, we close our eyes to everything else. We only see what’s in front of us and it is not always the best option. I strongly believe that we must do the thing

October - The Magdalen - Opinions

that makes us smile. Yes - definitely we can work and perhaps we should work for our dreams, but they shouldn’t dominate our lives.

If you live only for the sake of achieving your goals, you’ll never be fulfilled.

Sometimes it’s good when our targets are not met. One can never know what another path may hold if one always takes the same route. This is how, by chance, I found a school that offers the education I always dreamed of, and in Scotland! I had let go of everything I thought I had to achieve, of the idea of being successful and suddenly new options popped up.

When letting go of the old beliefs of success and achieving, everything finally quiets down.

The loud sirens are switched off and you realize that there isn’t any reason to hurry at all. One can never know what lies ahead, no matter how good one can plan. When we forecast ourselves to the future, we look at it with the viewpoint that we currently have.

We don’t take into account that when time passes, we get wiser and acquire many new experiences that redirect us, which provide new options. So, of course, our plans and

goals that we have now might be completely irrelevant by tomorrow.

Nowadays I am quite lost on what the future holds for me and to most people that is the most frightening thing possible. For me, it is the most exciting part of life. I never know what waits around the corner. Today I might be writing an article and tomorrow I might find myself amidst a dream I could have never imagined. I have thrown out my to-do list for life, but sometimes I still can’t help but fall back to the endless chase. When that happens, I remind myself that it truly is an endless quest, for when one task is checked off a new one emerges. And when one is constantly running, everyday life becomes more unbearable.

We have to stop tormenting ourselves and bestow ourselves the right to enjoy the journey. We must find the joy - and not the fear - that made us run in the first place. Then we will finally realise that no one is actually chasing us but we are running from the sheer excitement of seeing our dreams come to life.

Words by Daniel Pukkila

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Science - The Magdalen - October

Invisibility in STEM Science • Technology • Engineering • Mathematics

In spite of the growing acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community, discrimination and alienation remain amongst STEM industries. LGBTQ+ people often confront stigma and prejudice based on their sexual orientation or gender identity while also dealing with the societal bias against mental health conditions; common issues experienced as a scientist that are not experienced by their heterosexual, cis-gendered counterparts. Some report having to hide their sexual orientation from those in the industry for fear of being ridiculed or rejected.

STEM Industries (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) have long traditionally been thought of as heterosexual, masculine fields; an intimidating notion for those starting out in the field who don’t fit this mould. Much like women, who make up just 24% of the STEM workforce, LGBTQ+ scientists continue to be subjected to hiring and promotion discrimination. The future of science relies heavily on innovation, and the way to get it is ensuring people from all walks of life enter the profession. LGBTQ+ identifying are a crucial part of this diversity.

Several interventions have been implemented over the last few years in the spirit of making changes within STEM disciplines to showcase

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Design by Fraser Robertson

LGBTQ+ people and the increasing diversity of scientists. The first “International Day of LGBTQ+ People in STEM” was held in July this year in the hope of providing role models for those in the junior stages of STEM careers or considering pursuing a STEM-related career.

The day aims to bring visibility to LGBTQ+ scientists, more than 40% of whom are said to remain closeted at work, and facilitate greater intellectual fulfilment among those scientists.

According to the 2015 American Physical Society survey, almost half of transgender or gender-nonconforming physicists experienced workplace harassment. LGBTQ+ students are also less likely to pursue a degree in STEM fields in comparison to their cis-gendered, heterosexual counterparts.

Despite the current issues, there are many inspirational people across STEM disciplines continuing to improve the position of LGBTQ+ people in the industries.

Despite the rigid constraints of her time, Florence Nightingale, an icon of the Victorian era, is now hailed as the founder of modern nursing after revolutionising the conditions of military hospitals during the Crimean War. Her private memoirs detail several passionate same-sex liaisons leading

October - The Magdalen - Science

many modern-day historians to consider her a lesbian, albeit repressed by Victorian values.

Sir Francis Bacon, a scientist and philosopher, is considered the father of modern science after developing the scientific method of investigating a hypothesis. Historians believe he and close friend King James 1 were both relatively open gay men in one another’s company, the latter nicknamed “Queen James”. Leonardo da Vinci, an architect, engineer, and openly gay man, made significant contributions to various fields in both science and the arts as a painter. Sir Isaac Newton made hugely significant breakthroughs in the understanding of gravity. He lived a strained and closeted life as a repressed gay man.

Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine winner Svante Pääbo, became a prominent figure in STEM as a Biologist specialising in evolutionary genetics and known as one of the founders of paleogenetics.

Openly bisexual, Pääbo discusses his relationships with men and women in his writings. Engineer and physicist Sally Ride became the first US American woman to travel to space and remains the youngest US citizen to travel to space. Ride is the first known LGBTQ+ astronaut following longterm relationships with both men and women.

Physicist Angela Clayton, known internationally for her work in the fields of Nuclear Criticality Safety and Health Physics, is a long-time trans rights advocate. Clayton transitioned without medical support and went onto promote trans rights in the workplace through her work with the UK Trades Union Congress and directly influenced the development of the 2004 Gender Recognition Act. She was awarded the MBE title in 2006 for her services to gender issues.

Stanford University neurobiologist Ben Barres was responsible for pioneering research in

neuroscience helping uncover how the human brain functions. After transitioning in his late 40s, he became the first openly trans man to be offered membership of the prestigious National Academy of Science. He remains a strong advocate for marginalised minorities in academia.

Heteronormativity is deeply entrenched in the STEM disciplines. The discontent and invisibility can contribute to the field’s reputation for being unwelcoming. As a result, young LGBTQ+ people might sell themselves short, aiming for occupations with little use for their talents, but in which they see more people like themselves.

If you’re one of the many LGBTQ+ people in academia, take a moment to congratulate yourself Although there has been a concerted effort to make STEM fields more diverse in terms of gender and race, LGBTQ+ participation has received comparatively scant attention and resources until this year. Critically, STEM culture must curb the pressure to separate professional and personal identities, welcoming interests and differences as sources of enhanced resourcefulness. The overriding goal should be to establish a place where STEM fields recognise LGBTQ+ people as an asset worth nurturing.

Scientists from diverse backgrounds, including women, those of black and minority ethnicity and LGBTQ+ scientists, all uniquely contribute to scientific disciplines; a fact worth celebrating.

If you’re one of the many LGBTQ+ people in academia, take a moment to congratulate yourself on everything you have survived to get here. I’ll be celebrating with you.

Words by James Dale

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Science - The Magdalen - October

‘Political’

Science Forget what you’ve been told, science is both a political and social activity. Even the decision to allocate funding is an intrinsically political one. It is decided by a government, with a set budget and certain priorities, who are in turn voted in by a public with a diverse range of values and expectations. As a result, science is at the mercy of public attitudes on certain issues, which are often less than rational.

There is no clearer example of this than the actions of a certain loudmouthed president across the pond who, in an inconceivable series of events, overhauled the entire US environmental policy and withdrew from the landmark Paris Agreement. It was perhaps the most damaging example of institutional ignorance we will see in our lifetime. But it did prompt an admirably robust response from the international scientific community.

Last year across 600 cities around the world, over one million people took part in a

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‘March for Science’. It was a huge show of solidarity with scientists in the US, who had been silenced by an administration showing utter contempt for objective fact. And yet, did it really achieve anything? It was a great morale boost, but you need more to bring about meaningful change.

You need activism on a much larger scale.

Imagine what could be achieved if, as Chief Science Advisor to President Obama, John Holdren suggested every scientist devoted even 10% of their time to public policy and activism.

The idea is not so unusual, the scientific community has a long history of taking a stand on social and moral issues.

Perhaps the archetypical example is the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, issued by Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in 1955. It was a statement highlighting the unprecedented threat posed by nuclear weapons, calling upon world governments to reconsider their sabre-rattling approach

Words by John Ferrier, design by Iona Sorbie

to international disputes in the aftermath of World War II. It is widely considered the start of a chain reaction that led to our contemporary anti-nuclear movements.

A more obvious example from recent years - our current efforts to combat climate change. The very fact it is a mainstream issue today is a result of the titanic effort made by climate scientists from the 1980s onwards, to engage policy makers and win such political allies as Al Gore.

While these examples show that scientific activism can bring positive change in society, they are both still intensely politicised and remain existential threats.

Despite their firm rooting in science, our response to these issues is ultimately controlled by politicians and by extension, public opinion.

Now, that’s not to say that the public don’t care! In this country especially, we have a strong scientific tradition. Studies have

October - The Magdalen - Science

shown that over 80% of British people think science improves their lives. But there is an urgency to much of the work scientists currently engage in, and the impact of political choices made by the public on their ability to carry out that research is often poorly communicated. This is typified by the decision to leave the EU which, between lack of access to EU funding and talent from the continent, will be apocalyptic to UK science. If John Holdren’s advice was standard practice and it was long accepted scientific culture to engage in activism, perhaps the public would have considered scientific interests a higher priority. Perhaps it would have made all the difference to such a narrow outcome. Votes have been swung on less.

This does however speak to another obstacle that needs to be overcome. Science has an image problem. Why should the wider public consider it a champion of their cause and not just another special interest group? Science needs to be relatable to everyone, but unfortunately public perception is still very much rooted in the male, pale and stale.

While considerable effort has gone into making

UK science more accessible to people from all walks of life, it has by no means achieved a true reflection of society. Women and LGBTQ+ people are still woefully underrepresented, especially in the most senior positions. People from white ethnic backgrounds are 1.5 times more likely to work in science than their black and minority ethnic counterparts. Perhaps the most alarming issue is the influence of socio-economic background, with people from low-income households five times less likely to enter a science than those from high-income households. For messages from the scientific community to be effective, it is essential that these inequalities are addressed.

If you are studying for a degree in a scientific subject, you are the future of the community.

You have an opportunity to help redefine what a scientist is. Not just passive purveyor of knowledge, but part of an active, politically engaged community. A voice speaking up for not just rational decision making, but for a fair and progressive society.

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