On Friday 5 February 2021, The Uni versity of St Andrews launched Round 2 of the Community Fund. The goal is to support organisations and groups from across Fife that have an impact on St An drews and the neighbouring communities.
by the Department of Philosophy, and launching a new Gender Studies MLitt.
The University of St Andrews also stated that, “In this particular case, an appeals process is still underway, and it would not be appropriate to comment further on specific detail.”
LEA KVADSHEIM Deputy News Editor
IZZY LOUBSER News Editor
Furthermore, the StAndWithAlison campaign claims that due to the success of the Gender Studies MLitt, next year’s cohort is expected to double in size. The campaign highlights Kerr’s contribution further, noting her establishment of a 10year plan of activities for StAIGS; her or ganisation of over 20 talks, 8 workshops or roundtables, monthly reading group sessions, an external speaker series, and a film series; and her vision to establish
StAIGS, which Dr Kerr is currently Di rector of, is the largest interdisciplinary research institute at The University of St Andrews with more than 130 academics and more than 50 graduate students from 19 different Schools. Moreover, StAIGS has frequently been praised by the Prin cipal’s Office for its interdisciplinarity and contributions to University strate gy, especially regarding gender equality.
ContractPhoto:LauraBeveridge Continues on pg. 6 Chess PageNewsMakesSocietyMoves4Continues on pg. 3
individual concerned to discuss the po tential ending of the contract, and alter natives that might be considered where the substantive role is not continuing.”
The independent voice of St Andrews students since 1997
The University of St Andrews has in formed Dr Alison Duncan Kerr that, when her fixed-term contract ends on the 31 June 2021, they “do not intend to transfer [her] to a standard contract.” This decision has sparked backlash from both students and staff at the University, as well as from academics across the world. Furthermore, it resulted in the launch of the StAndWith Alison campaign which seeks to reverse the decision made by the University.
They also highlight Dr Kerr’s school and department work with both under graduate and postgraduate courses; her service on the board of editors for the Philosophy Department’s journal, The Philosophical Quarterly, and as the cur rent faculty advisor for Minorities and Philosophy; as well as the fact that she introduced popular and well-evaluated Honours modules on the topics of gen der and the philosophy of love and sex.
Dr Kerr was first employed by The University of St Andrews on 1 Septem ber 2016, and has been continuously employed since 1 September 2017. In 2018, she secured a 3-year Research Fellowship for the purpose of estab lishing the St Andrews Institute of Gen der Studies (StAIGS), to be overseen
Campaign Launched Following Unversity to End Dr Alison Kerr’s
Lesley Caldwell, community engage ment and social responsibility officer at The University of St Andrews, stat ed that “The most important aspect of the Fund is the creation and ex pansion of sustainable relationships
Decision
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2021 ISSUE 247
CommunityUniversityLaunchesPhase2ofFund
They added, “This includes encour aging individuals, where appropriate, to apply for other permanent positions that may be available in related areas. The ending of any fixed-term contract is deemed as a redundancy, with staff given the opportunity to bring forward considerations, and the right to appeal. The University does not undertake this exercise in a perfunctory manner.”
The University of St Andrews told The Saint, “All individuals employed on fixed-term contracts at St Andrews are aware from the outset that the con tract may end. The University follows a strict protocol for the ending of fixedterm contracts...We ensure that the line manager holds a discussion with the
a Scottish Gender Studies Network - for which she has began to establish links with the Gender Studies programmes at Aber deen, Glasgow, Stirling, and Strathclyde.
Whilst the news of in-person teaching may have been expected by a number of us, the student party held in David Rus sell Apartments a fortnight ago (covered in our last edition) shocked both town and gown alike. It is incomprehensible that a minority of students would undertake such reckless, dangerous, and inconsider ate actions during this pandemic. Needless to say, it re-emphasised the importance of continuing to adhere to coronavirus re strictions. To echo the words of Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Sally Mapstone: for those who do not consider the safety
Laura and Natalie
of others and the impact of their actions, “there is no place for you in St Andrews.” Looking forward: entering Week 4 of the academic semester for many, ourselves included, has always presented somewhat of a hurdle. Nay, scratch that, somewhat of a brick wall is probably more akin to reality. As deadlines loom ever closer, yet not quite close enough to induce a pan ic-stricken all-nighter, a sense of malaise seems to descend across campus. Usual ly, such feelings are off-set by a night of student revelry fuelled by whatever was on offer at Tesco or, as your dear editors were always partial to, a night of cooking with friends as we watch our favourite guilty-pleasure reality TV shows. There were always plenty of opportunities to escape a reading list - for a few hours, at least. But, as you won’t need us to remind you, these are not usual times, making the brick wall that is Week 4 feel taller than its predecessors as you embark upon scal ing it. As “home” space becomes “home”, “study”, “leisure”, and “everything-in-be tween” space, it can become increasingly difficult to maintain the infamous “worklife balance”. Unable to partake in the typical “life” activities, it is possible to find oneself slowly slipping into a lethar gic daily cycle - one in which we have to remind ourselves that switching the news on for an hour is not, in fact, self care. However, last week, in what would feel like divine intervention if Jack Frost were a God, an icy hand descended upon the UK and pulled many students out of their studious stupor. As Scotland reached temperatures lower than that of a freezer and the Kinness Burn reached national fame for flowing what was deemed to be “Irn Bru orange”, pictures of St Andrews showed rosy-cheeked flatmates walking
in the Quad or building snowmen outside of their halls. Waking up to a sparkling blanket of snow and clothing hands in cot ton gloves that provided little resistance to the frosty-weather’s bite, before heading out to hear the crisp icy crunch under boots, made it finally possible to shake off thoughts of the “to-do list” that awaited upon the return home. We were reminded of how important, and what a relief, it was to make time once again for such activities - even if they look different today from how they have in previous years. They are important, now more than ever (to use another cliche of the COVID era), as it is these activities that will allow you to reach the brick behemoth of Week 4 with all the vigour of a cowboy-turned-pres ident ending the Cold War: “St An drews students, tear down this wall!” Reaching out to friends, family, or Uni versity services is, of course, one impor tant component of the work-life balance. Our Peer Support article in Features highlights this very aspect. Facebook and social media sites have also provided a prominent platform through which the St Andrews community has been kept alive. For instance, many of you may have seen on your timeline the #stand withalison campaign - this edition pro vides in-depth coverage of the events that have transpired over the past fortnight. It is clear that despite the confirmed lack of return to in-person teaching, the sense of community is still strong. Con tinue to enjoy favoured activities that you can still participate in during lock down or, perhaps, discover something new - we have heard that chess provides a great source of socially-distanced fun!
It will come as a disappointment to many of us - although not all that much of a surprise - that in-person teaching will not resume this semester. We understand your dismay and we are disheartened that we cannot be the bearers of alternative news. But we must not let these circumstances stop us from gaining the most that we can from St Andrews. After all, the town – though far away for many of us – can still provide us with the tools necessary to excel in our studies and our lives. In this issue, you will read in News how the University’s chess team soared to a victo ry worthy of the Queen’s Gambits’ Beth Harmon. (If you do not understand this reference we have to question what ex actly have you been doing in lockdown?).
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot2 NEWS THE SAINT EDITORIALTEAMWhat’s Inside? 3 8 14 18 20 22 29 31 NEWS ViEWpoiNt FEaturES photoS EVENtS artS&CulturE MoNEy SportS Laura Beveridge Editor-in-Chief Olivia Bybel Deputy Editor Izzy Loubser News Editor Ally Addison Features Editor Erin Boyle Events Editor Sanjana Ramaswamy Money Editor Luke Simboli & Dylan Springer Saint TV Editor Illustration Chief Edward Emery Natalie Pereira Editor-in-Chief Linden Grigg Deputy Editor Sophia Brousset Viewpoint Editor Emily Silk Photography editor Milo FH Arts & Culture Editor Sam Mitchinson Sports Editor Hilary Chan Senior Copy Editor Henry Gamble Business Team Printed by Discovery Print 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL Advertise with The Saint saint.businessmanager@gmail.com Visit us online Facebook:thesaint.scotThe Saint Instagram: thesaintsta The Saint is an entirely independent newspaper, run by students of the University of St Andrews. It is published fortnightly during term time and is free of charge. The Saint is not affiliated with the University or the Students’ Association. The text, graphics, and photographs are under copyright of The Saint and its individual contributors. No parts of this newspaper may be reproduced without prior permission of the editor. The Saint Student Newspaper Ltd c/o St Andrews Students’ Association St Mary’s Place St Andrews, Fife KY16 9UX
Week 4: Walls and Wellness
We firmly believe that it is moments like this that we must hold onto in these times as they remind us of the strength of the community which binds us togeth er. Similarly, in Photography, we have compiled a selection of images which represent memories from students of the University, and it is our hope that these memories can serve as something to hold onto or as something to look forward to when our town is able to welcome us back.
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Furthermore, responding to criticisms within StAndWithAlison’s open letter,
They continued, “Current responsibility for the Gender Studies Programme lies with Dr Morven Shearer, Director of our Graduate School, who is currently in dis cussions with a range of academic col leagues in St Andrews about appoint ing a programme director for the remainder of the academic year.”
Furthermore, in a statement re leased by the University in “response to inquiries about Dr Alison Kerr”, they stated, “We have excellent HR Poli cies and apply them consistently, in the interests of fairness to everybody and in the spirit of our unswerving com mitment to equality and diversity”.
This seems like a institutionacisiontionablequesdefromprestigious
Deputy Editors: Emma Gatrell, Lea Kvadshein , Iona Mitchell, Alex Mooney, Kirsten Taylor
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Dr Isaac Castellano, Professor of Politi cal Science at Boise State University, con curred ,”Dr Ducan Kerr by all standards is a well deserving and qualified scholar and professor. It is with complete disbelief that an esteemed and enlightened institu tion such as St. Andrews cannot see that” Leonor Capelier, co-President of the Feminist Society at The University of St Andrews and signatory of the cam paign’s open letter, told The Saint, “ I
Professor Sally McConnel-Genet, Pro fessor of Linguistics at Cornell Univer sity, USA, wrote, “Alison has done an extraordinary job and more than merits a permanent position at St Andrews”. While, Dr Bethany Laurse, Assistant Dean at Michigan State University, USA, added, “I heartily agree that St Andrews should honor its promises from the Ath ena SWAN Action Plan and do the right thing to move Dr. Kerr to a permanent contract. The University and its stu dents can only benefit by doing so.”
@thesaintsta news@thesaint.scot News Editor: Izzy Loubser
Public testimonies from signatories of StAndWithAlison’s Open Letter, how ever, question the University’s com mitment to expanding StAIGS in light of the recent decision, while also high lighting the value of Dr Kerr and her work. Amongst these signatories are both students and esteemed academics from the top institutions around the world.
contribute to the Global Social and Po litical Thought masters programme. Her expertise and involvement in the new Gender studies programme represents exactly the direction St Andrews should be going. This is a huge step backwards.”
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Another student stated that they felt it showed a “lack of care towards the Gender Studies course through Dr Kerr’s treatment” and continues that the situation “ is worrying for a female looking to pursue a ca reer in academia like Dr Kerr.”
Furthermore, the StAndWithAlison campaign claims that only 4 out of 19 permanent members of faculty within the Philosophy Department are women. In addition, they state that there are only two members of Academic and Research Staff within the Department - including Dr Kerr - who work explicitly on gender and fem inist philosophy. They allege that both of these members of staff will, due to their planned redundancy or the short length of their contract, not remain at the Universi ty for the academic year 2021-2022 or be yond. Therefore, they allege that there is uncertainty as to whether there will be any member of Academic and Research Staff within the Philosophy Department who explicitly works on gender or feminist philosophy after September 2021. The campaign thus concludes that the decision to make Dr Kerr redundant challenges a commitment to improving gender diver sity within The University of St Andrews. The University, however, claims that within the “various communications circulating about this case, including an ‘open letter’”, “there are several funda mental misrepresentations...The impres sion given is both misleading and unfairly damaging to the University, and to other respected academic members of staff.”
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Losing istodedicatedprofessorsingularthethisfieldatragedy
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am truly disappointed at the decision. In my degree, I have been able to expand my passion for gender studies and hope to pursue it after my undergraduate.”
Worried about the progression of the St Andrews Institute for Gender Studies, Ms Capelier continued, “This decision to subsidise the department and offload the work onto professors who are not experienced within the field of gender studies makes a precedent that the uni versity does not value this field of ac ademia as highly as others and that it is not worthwhile. I have had the pleasure of hearing Dr Duncan Kerr speak at this university and she is a brilliant professor. Losing the singular professor dedicat ed to this field is a tragedy in my eyes.”
We have ex cellent consistentlyapplyPoliciesHRandthem
The Saint contacted Dr Kerr for com ment about the developing situation but were informed by her that she was not in the position to an swer questions for reasons that she was unable to disclose. The conflict remains unresolved whilst the decision to end Dr Kerr’s contract is undergoing an appeals process. Meanwhile, the number of signatories of the open letter continues to rise as StAndWithAli son actively campaigns across social media, sharing the open letter contain ing their demands.
NEWS
and calls upon the University to hon our the commitments it has made to to this agenda and to the Anetha SWAN charter, a framework which aims to support and transform gender equality within higher education and research.
thesaint.scot/news
A spokesperson for The University of St Andrews also wished to clari fy that recent media reports claim ing that Dr Kerr is being “replaced by men” are “inaccurate and incorrect”.
They continued, “Institutes, Centres and programmes within the University do not generally have permanent, ringfenced roles or Executive Directors; rath er, Director roles are usually rotational, and held by experienced academic lead ers who are members of the Institute.”
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They stated, “Dr Kerr is in post and under contract until June 2021. She has, howev er, withdrawn from continuing to teach the programme. Her duties are being covered by several colleagues, women and men, from disciplines across the University.”
Professor Kirstein Rummery, Pro fessor of Social Policy and Codirector of the Centre on Gender and Feminist Studies at The University of Stirling also expressed her dissapointment. She stated, “At a time when Gender Stud ies and interdisciplinary feminist scholar ship are badly needed, growing in popular ity and under epistemic attack, this seems a questionable decision from a prestigious institution that should be leading the way.”
One student commented, “Her [Dr Kerr’s] removal has led to more than just the loss of a talented program leader and researcher, it has creat ed a distrust of the university itself.”
One signatory, Dr Konrad Lawson, a lecturer in Mod ern History at The Univer sity of St Andrews wrote, “This is deeply disap pointing. I was delighted
viduals would teach and direct the pro gramme. It is now running successful ly under the auspices of the Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Studies.”
However, the StAndWithAl ison campaign has criticised the University’s decision. The campaign, which includes an open letter to the University signed by 1692 supporters at time of writing, alleg es that the University’s decision has not “fair ly acknowledged” the “impact [Dr Kerr] has had on the Universi ty’s agenda”equalities
The popular Netflix Original Series The Queen’s Gambit that came out in October 2020 has also helped increase the popularity and appeal of chess with in The University of St Andrew’s com munity. In fact, Mr Kings stated, “Lots of people started messaging me after watching the series … I’ve definite ly received a lot of messages of people saying ‘I’ve watched Queen’s Gam bit, do you have a beginner’s lesson?’”
However, with the ‘rapid play’ format which is used in current competitions, it is more difficult to anticipate an opponent’s moves. Yet, learning tactics and tricks through research can prove invaluable to a player’s experience and progress.
Mr Wheatly also described how
Throughout the UK versitiesUni
ising the moves on a screen, Mr Her ring spoke about the difference between the current situation and the in-person tournaments he took part in as a junior.
Mr Herring also suggested that the Chess Society and playing chess appeals now more than before as the elements of socialising before and after matches have been removed. He joked, “you don’t ac tually have to meet other chess people.”
Mr Stables explained, “Chess is such a random thing, someone who’s a really good chess player at school is not going to choose their University based on chess.”
As a result of this increase in mem bership and Chess matches being played, the team described how it has become a lot easier to encourage peo ple to become involved competitively.
ly said that people are less daunted by sitting in front of their laptops to play a match, rather than travel to an event.
On a more optimistic note, Mr Wheatly spoke about some thing the Chess Society can fix: the number of competi tions that they take part in. Whilst the society have never taken a team far away from St Andrews to play, given the newfound online dimension of the sport, there are rising opportunities for greater in volvement on a national level.
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Before the move to online play, soci ety members were required to travel to tournaments. The society is not affiliated with the Athletics Union and does not receive funding for travel to matches, thus previously limiting their ability to compete in events of significance dis tance from St Andrews. This significant change in the very nature of gameplay has opened up the sport to those typi cally put off by the travel distance and length of matches in normal times.
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Chess Competition, each player played two matches against each team - one with white and one with black. The team with the most points won whilst the other was knocked out. Each game is “rapid play”, meaning that they only last roughly 30 minutes. The St Andrews Chess Team, therefore, won all their matches in order to secure their victory.
IZZY LOUBSER & IONA MITCHELL News Editor & Deputy News Editor
The Saint sat down with St Andrews Chess Society to discuss their recent team success in the UK University Chess League
When asked about the future of St Andrews Chess, the team members had conflicting opinions. They noted that the current society had only been established three years ago. Given this, it was a feat that they are able to compete at the current level. However, Mr Wheatly noted that, given this, “we still have a long way to go”
The tournament took place online. Whilst Mr Kings felt this was beneficial for him since he is more used to visual
Speaking of this, Mr Kings said, “It’s more difficult playing on a team because I know that I’m not only playing for myself but playing to support the whole team.”
psychologimoreit’sIn-personabitcal “ “
“In-person it’s a bit more psycholog ical” he said “you can see your opponents reactions and you have a clock there and you’re facing each other, it just feels a bit more real... for me that’s quite a big difference.”
Mr Wheatly said, “What I would love is for us to play at a high enough level that some of the top players at the University want to play for us ... The Scottish Cham pion is at the University but currently we don’t play at a high enough level for him to want to play for us, and I respect that.”
The team described how interest in playing with the Chess Society has ris en over the past year, with multiple students mes saging the Society on
Team member Mr Stables described how he got back into competitively playing chess during the first lockdown in 2020 and watching the Netflix series. He said, “I’m part of the Netflix craze.” Despite having played in Junior Chess competitions regularly as a child, it was not until the end of last year that his chess career really took off again.
easier to tell people that’s there a rap id match this evening rather than we’re going to Kirkcaldy on Friday.” In this sense, the COVID-19 pandemic has been great for the club, helping to encour age and facilitate regular matches. Mr
Speaking about the preparation that goes into each match, Mr Herring laughed, “fitness is a key part of the regime.”
Whilst chess can be considered an individual sport, the players de scribed the psychological differ ence created by playing as a team.
how to get involved. The COVID-19 pandemic has witnessed the increase in online games, which has made compet itive chess more accessible. Mr Kings described how last year more Society teams than ever before took part in chess events, tournaments and competitions.
Whilst Mr Stables, Mr Herring and Mr Wheatly had been perfecting their chess skills from a young age, Mr Kings only became involved in competitive chess a short time before he arrived at St An drews. Mr Kings used YouTube to begin learning chess tactics and embraced the online version of the game, hence why he feels so comfortable in the new for mat of competitive chess. In contrast, Mr Herring played Chess for England “back in [his] prime” having taken up chess “quite late” at age 11. For him, he found chess to be the vehicle for which he could channel his competitive energy.
The increase in accessiblechesscompetitivehasgamesonline...mademore
Mr Wheatly described how the society has tried to increase the number of events they host for beginners, outlining that the proportion of beginner players is a lot larg er than outsiders often imagine. He said, “we might be the four best players who often play for the Chess Club and we’re not that good, we’re really not that good.”
Chess Society Makes Moves
“I think it’s going to be the same for maybe all of us. I’m definitely go ing to continue playing chess, may be not at a professional level – again we’re not playing at such a high level”
Mr Stables added that “there are two types of chess players: you have people who chess and you have peo ple who play a bit competitively.”
The Saint asked what they thought of The Queen’s Gambit and how accurate a representation they felt it was of pro fessional chess. Mr Wheatly answered that most chess players would agree that Netflix’s representation of the sport was accurate. He does admit that “there are certain things that are a bit outdat ed and don’t happen now, like a Ger man isn’t a thing now, but it certainly used to be”. Mr Wheatly also went on to say that “even though people don’t literally visualise a chess board on the ceiling, people have the same kind of idea, playing chess in your head”.
lockdown and the increase of online chess has helped people to overcome their preconceptions of the club: “its people getting over the fear of chess clubs and chess clubs being a bit nerdy and full of people who talk about chess the whole time, which isn’t entirely true.”
When asked whether chess was a big part of their lives and if they will continue to play after they graduate from St Andrews, Mr Kings spoke on behalf of the whole team when he said that chess was “going to stay”.
On a more serious note, the players explained that, depending on the for mat, learning an opponent’s opening moves can be key to pursuing a victory.
He continued “Universities like Oxford and Cambridge are big - they have ten guys who are better than the best guy at St Andrews … and you can’t real ly train someone in two years, while they’re at St Andrews to become internationally com petitive. It takes a really long time to gradually improve.”
Mr Wheatly explained that “it’s much
Competing in Tier 3 of the competition, they took part in a number of knockout rounds to claim first place. With numer ous players competing in the preliminary competition, Mr Kings, the captain of the team, described how they needed to change tactics for the knockout rounds by forming a team of the Society’s strongest players. In the first phase, anyone who wanted to play was permitted to, but when it came to phase 2, the competition was taken more seriously. Mr Kings laughed, “I was trying to put our best team possi ble for the knockout stage so we weren’t knocked out… I mean, pretty logical”
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot4 NEWS
Opportunities to study abroad will be open to students on both the four-year and five-year degree pathways, who will be able to study in either China or Tai wan. A summer school for both destina tions is also in the process of being or ganised for incoming first year students.
He continued, “Another one of the reasons I was very happy to accept this post was that it’s actually anchored in Modern Languages. It’s the most wide ly spoken language in the world, even before English. Around 1.4 billion people speak some form of Chinese.”
Professor Lee’s long-term vision for Chinese Studies at the Universi ty includes expanding it into a single subject degree for honours students.
Professor Lee has approximately a few thousand photos in his archive. He spends his Saturday mornings identify ing the date, place, and people (if there
518 February 2021 · thesaint.scotNEWS
years down the road. I would like to see Chinese in St Andrews become not just an integral part of the Modern Languages faculty but renowned for the specific kind of Chinese studies course that we offer.”
Speaking of his work, Professor Lee said, “I made a radio documentary called “The Urgent Knocking” which was an hour-long documentary. It was the first anniversary of Tiananmen and it was told through the prism of Chi
Speaking about the focus of the depart ment, Professor Lee said, “It’s part of the University’s strategic plan to have Chi nese Studies. The way we are doing it is not a classical approach like Oxford, Cam bridge, or Edinburgh. I have to congratu late the University that that’s what they wanted; they wanted to do it differently, and I think that they were absolutely right.
He continued, “I always stress we’re not just doing China studies. We’re do ing Chinese studies; there’s a subtle dif ference. When we are doing Chinese cultural studies, we do the language and the culture of the Chinese speak ing world, which is vast. So, it’s Chi na, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
He continued, “Part of the project is my own photographic archive which I started working on over 40 years ago. There was a 15-year period where I was on and off in China and Hong Kong, so it occurred to me that I had a treasure trove of col our photographs, black and white photo graphs, slides transparencies, and colour and negative films. There’s also a sound archive which I worked on as a PhD stu dent when I interviewed writers. They have all ended up as grist to the mill for this bigger project. I’m also considering doing an annotated photographic album.”
“This is part of a bigger project which is a cultural history of China since 1975, basically since the death of Mao and Maoism. The period I am looking at is post-Mao China after the cultural rev olution. There’s been a lot of change in everyday life and cultural life. The Communist Party is still there and dom inating society. The idea is to do as wide and as deep a study as possible.”
InFocus:Professor Gregory Lee, Founding Professor of Chinese Studies
He said, “I accepted the job because it’s a real challenge and it’s a great op portunity to mould something from the beginning. In normal times, it would have been a challenge, but with Covid, it’s been doubly so. I’ve been here since August and almost immediately we were in lockdown. All my contact with col leagues and students is online. I’m very much looking forward to that ending.”
The process of tagging an image is a significant step in the formation of an archive as Professor Lee noted.
He continued, “In the future, people will be looking at different things and the questions they will ask won’t neces sarily be the same. It’s difficult to know
“People don’t realise how extensive their migration was, especially in the late 19th century and the 20th century. You’ve got Chinese population scattered across the world, which is why we call it the diaspora. My mission was to ensure that we were covering all of that. In the syllabus, we try to do justice to that.”
“That’s what I get from staring at these pictures and comparing it to the way things are now. It’s about these photographs changing their meaning over time. Without knowing all of this, the reason for me tak ing these photographs was that, somehow, I knew that this was not there forever. I think that almost behind every photograph there is that idea that this is transitory.” wanted to do
Planning the modules from scratch was a motivation for Professor Lee when he took up the official post of Founding Professor a year ago.
He said, “The main ambition is to see Chinese taught in the same way that French is. My ambition is to see through the first cohort of students four or five
done before. There are a lot of books about China but very few studies that take that kind of sweep and look at things in such depth. I got the idea when I was writing a previous book about the 1980’s. I had written 400 pages and thought that I could have easily written 4000 pages.”
nese poets, writers, and singers in exile. It was an interesting time to be there.”
Professor Lee sat down with The Saint to discuss the arrival of Chinese Studies at the University and his own research interests.
Part of Professor Lee’s family were Chinese but his interest for contempo rary China and Chinese literature first occurred when he was 18 years old and travelling on the top of a bus. He looked inside a university UCAS cata logue and discovered Chinese Studies.
He said, “You’re basically trying to sec ond-guess what people would be interested in twenty or thirty years from now. If you do an archive, it’s not for tomorrow or for today, it’s for a few years down the road.”
when you are tagging pictures with key words what will be the key words down the road that people will be looking for.
“It’s obvious when you’re saying it. I of ten say to my students who are working on the contemporary that the contemporary will not be the contemporary twenty years from now. When you do your reference notes, think about people twenty years down the road reading what you have written and trying to make sense of it.”
Professor Lee noted that the imag es he has accumulated from his time in China and Hong Kong serve as a reminder for a changing culture. He said, “The value of those images is something that dawned on me in the last couple of years. I realised that they are representing something that’s gone. Everything that I show in my archive is not there anymore, whether it’s people practicing crafts in the street, market stalls, the way they dress, the martial arts, the buildings and temples, vernacular ar chitecture - it’s all gone. If you Google Shanghai, you see thousands of skyscrap ers and high-rise buildings, so everything I was showing is a world that’s gone. He continued, “Without wanting to get into a nostalgia, I’ve been trying to work out a theory for what it represents. The photos at the beginning of my collection are just after the cultural revolution and people were enthusiastic about getting back to some sort of normality. Then, you realised that they weren’t getting back to anything. They are in a process which leads up to today. That process is the disappearance of a historical way of life which is then replaced by the everyday of modernity and consumerist society, where every day is basically the same. Everyday is horribly monotonous. That’s when I re alised it was about the remnants of another way of life and people didn’t realise that that’s what they were participating in.”
Altogether, Professor Lee has spent approximately 7 years in Hong Kong (during which he witnessed the Hong Kong handover) and six years in China.
Professor Lee discussed his most re cent ongoing research project “A Cul tural History of China 1975-2020” and the use of an image archive. Professor Lee gave The Saint an indepth insight into his research project.
He continued, “The good thing about doing that today with digital humanities is that you can have these other aspects. You can have the monograph but you also have the possibility of having an archive behind it so people can go and look at the images and listen to the sound archive. It becomes this sort of arbores cence and not just a linear book project.”
Before teaching, Professor Lee was a news analyst for the BBC in Chi na, where his stay coincided with the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests.
Professor Lee expanded on this, stating that, “Knowledge shifts and changes and people have different kinds of knowl edge. The way that people want to use that knowledge changes. Twenty years ago, progressive politics was all about economics and social injustice and now it’s more about ecology and climate change – things that people didn’t fore see twenty years ago. When you scratch the surface, there were people telling us that, but we didn’t listen to them.
They
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NATALIE PEREIRA Editor-in-Chief
“Our emphasis is not on Classical Chi nese; it’s on modern and contemporary China and Chinese language. It’s the 20th and 21st centuries. The focus is on cultural studies, from literature to film, and from popular culture to the socio-economy of China. When we look at the pre-modern era, we’ll do so through the prism of the present, how the past is perceived and used today.”
Professor Lee said, “I started out re searching and teaching on modern Chi nese poetry and modern Chinese liter ature. Later on, I started expanding out to what I call “Chinese Culture Studies” and the Chinese diaspora. I’m just as interested in Chinese communities out side of China as I am in China itself.”
are any) of each image, as well as what is going on in the frame and the polit ical context. Though digitising can be time-consuming, the process of tagging, identifying and logging one single im age can take up to an hour to complete.
The department will offer a joint Chinese Studies Undergraduate degree and are cur rently looking into having a second level for students who have already completed beginner’s levels at school. Furthermore, the MLitt in Chinese Cultural Studies will also be available to prospective students for the 2021/2022 academic year. Three members of staff will be joining Profes sor Lee to teach the available courses.
“China’s contribution to climate change was predictable. There were people talk ing about ecology in the seventies and what was going wrong. That was the mo ment that we were encouraging China to become an industrial capitalist consum erist society. We knew these things; we just didn’t think they were a priority. So, in a sense, my research project is about that. It’s about what happened, how and why it happened, how we let it happen and how we encouraged it to happen.”
As Professor Lee noted, he has had a “worthwhile and interesting ca reer” and his attention has now been drawn to founding the Chinese Depart ment at The University of St Andrews.
The arrival of the Chinese Studies De partment in the 2021/2022 academic year is eagerly anticipated by many prospective students and staff. It will allow students to take Chinese Studies as part of a joint honours degree or as an MLitt – options that would not have been possible without the University’s hiring of Professor Gregory Lee, the Founding Professor of the department.
Having graduated at the School of Ori ental and African Studies (SOAS) in Lon don, Professor Lee has subsequently stud ied at Peking University and taught at the University of Chicago, the University of Lyon, and the University of Hong Kong.
Professor Lee noted that a pro ject like this does not exist. He said, “It’s something that hasn’t been
The scientists took biopsy samples from female humpback whales in the Gulf of St Lawrence in the North Atlantic, a signifi
The study found that the environmen tal changes in the north Atlantic, in cluding a rapid temperature increase, changes in circulation patterns, ocean
39% unsuccessfulwhalesidentifiedpreganciesofinwere “ “
Humpback whales are widely viewed as a vital part of our ocean’s ecosystem health. The correlation between cli mate change ‒ and the subsequent loss of herring availability ‒ and the decline in calving rates, “over a period of ma jor environmental variability”, the study suggests, may mean that the popula tion of humpback whales, “has limited resilience to such ecosystem change.”
key to a community’s recovery are the small voluntary projects and organisa tions that react quickly and creatively to the needs of their members. Therefore, we were keen to receive applications that considered opportunities and activ ities that offered solutions to commu nity needs during the Covid-19 crisis.”
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in the number of humpback whale calves born every year. The study found that around 39% of the pregnancies that were identified in the whales were unsuccessful.
The study states that, “the declines in reproductive success could be, at least in part, the result of females being unable to accumulate the energy reserves necessary
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Caldwell emphasised that, “The Univer sity has supported a wide range of com munity projects and organisations over the years, with support sometimes coming from a particular school or department.
Caldwell hopes that it will build new and extend the University’s connections with communities across Fife, and build resilience within those communities.
Caldwell also said that, “Whilst the fund was conceived before the COVID-19 crisis, the University recognised that
Researchers from The University of St Andrews have found that warm ing in the North Atlantic over the last 15 years may be causing humpback whales to struggle to breed, as a re sult of a depletion in their food sources.
to maintain pregnancy and/or meet the energetic demands of lactation in years of poorer prey availability rather than solely an inability to become pregnant”.
munities and engage with potential partners to work together to the ben efit of all in and around St Andrews.”
with the organisations and projects which we will financially support”.
The panel for The University Com munity Fund has been made up of staff with existing links to the local community and that have been in volved in the local conversations.
They types of StmunitiesbenefiteligiblewhichprojectsaremustcominAndrews
During the first Round they had a mix of applications, with approximately half be ing Covid specific, according to Caldwell. All applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Students and staff can also apply to the fund. It will pri oritise small, grassroots charities and community organisations over larger organisations. The final deadline for Round will be on Friday 19 March 2021.
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot6 NEWS
Key to projectsvoluntarytherecoverycommunity’saaresmall
St Andrews Research Finds Climate Change May be Leading to a Decline in Humpback Whale Breeding
The types of projects which are eli gible must benefit communities in St Andrews and neighbouring communi ties. It must increase engagement be tween the University and the commu nity, and celebrate St Andrews and the local area’s heritage. It must also promote knowledge exchange, diversity, inclu sion and environmental sustainability
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The funding will be between £250 and £3000. This fund is supported by a core University donation of £30,000. This will be available directly from the University in the University Commu nity Fund across three funding rounds.
Due to the high number of requests for the University to engage and support various groups within the community, the decision was made in 2020 to launch a fund which aimed to benefit residents across St An drews and its neighbouring communities.”
The University Community Fund will enable the University to listen to ide as, adapt to local needs, and provide financial support that will, in turn, be of benefits for the wider community.
Caldwell stressed that, “The Fund en ables the University to play an ac tive role in supporting our local com
The first round of the fund was launched in April 2020, and gave financial boots to dif ferent causes after the University of St An drews recognised that various local caus es would benefit from a financial boost.
KIRSTEN TAYLOR Deputy News Editor
ecosystempart...whalesHumpbackareavitalofour
During the initial round two of the cases that benefit from the support was Saje Scotland Ltd and The Friends of Craigtoun Country Park. The former, received £2000 towards the provision of online programmes and support for women and girls, particularly during lockdown, who had or are experiencing domestic abuse. The latter received £3000 to refurbish the park’s Lodge Garden.
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acidification and declining sea ice, has impacted the availability of herring, a crucial source of prey for the whales.
cant feeding ground for humpback whales, to discover pregnancy and breeding rates in humpback whales by observing 457 individuals between 2004 and 2018.
Researchers have confirmed that although there has been no overall decline in preg nancy rates during the 15 years of obser vation, there has been a significant decline
The ratio of their orbital period from sim
“Our Rail decarbonisation Action Plan sets out to make our passenger railways emissions free by 2035, but to maximise our climate change ambitions, there is also a requirement to look at what we do with retired stock. If we can bring those back into use in a carbon neutral way, there are huge climate gains to be made.”
PixabayPhoto: project has changerbepotentialthetoagame
what we would find with closer inspec tion using CHEOPS. With 11 days of high-quality data it quickly became ap parent that there were at least five planets in a special resonance chain of orbits.”
“ “ A ful ly willtiondemonstraworkingmodelbeoperational Novemberby “ “
which is a UN summit designed to help meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement as well as the UN Frame work Convention on Climate Change. Scotland is not the only country pursuing the use of more energy-efficient trains. Scientists at the Helmholtz Institute Erlan gen-Nuremberg are also working on using hydrogen fuel cells to produce the elec tricity needed to power trains. An organic carrier liquid functions as a liquid deposit bottle for hydrogen, with one litre of liq uid binding over 650 litres of hydrogen. procure Phase 2 of the Project
Claire Lavelle, Scotland Energy busi ness lead at Arup, said, “With Scot land’s focus on achieving net zero
The project, based at the Bo’ness and Kin neil Railway, involves integrating a fuel cell power system into a former ScotRail Class 314 car passenger train. A fuel cell
IONA MITCHELL
Deputy News Editor
Scientists From St Andrews Form Part of an International Research Team to Discover New Planets
718 February 2021 · thesaint.scotNEWS
solution. We are delighted to be working with Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scot land and the Hydrogen Accelerator, to support Scotland’s strategy to make pas senger railways emission free by 2035.”
“The hydrogen train project is an ex cellent opportunity for industry leaders in hydrogen, rail engineering, and safety to collaborate with Scottish technology providers to develop a deployment ready
The joint commission led by the Eu ropean Space Agency (ESA), includ ed researchers from the University of Bern, the University of Geneva and The University of St Andrews. The team made observations using the CHEOPS (Characterising ExOPlanets Satellite) space telescope, launched in December 2019, as part of the efforts to precisely measure the size of the known planets.
Transportation Secretary Michael Matheson said, “This project has the potential to be a game changer for the future of Scotland’s rail rolling stock.
Plans for Scottish Hydrogen Fuel Cell Train Underway
Scottish scientists are working to power a train by using hydrogen fuel cells by the end of 2021. Projections estimate that a fully working demonstration model will be operational by November, and debut at Glasgow’s COP26. The project is be ing led by Arcola Energy, in partnership with Transport Scotland and the Univer sity of St Andrews’ Hydrogen Acceler ator. It is hoped that the entire Scottish train fleet will be decarbonized by 2035.
The outer four planets are gaseous and have densities similar to Nep tune and Jupiter, while the inner two have terrestrial (earth-like) densities.
He stated, “When we started study ing this planetary system we thought that there were three planets orbiting TOI-178 based on observations with NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), but we were unsure
Further information on this discov ery, alongside the research article pub lished in Astronomy and Astrophys ics can be accessed via their https://www.aanda.org/website:
Dr. Ben Todd, the CEO of Arcola Ener gy, has high hopes for the impact of this project. He said, “Hydrogen traction pow er offers a safe, reliable, and zero-carbon alternative for Scotland’s rail network.
A working model of the train will first be demonstrated at the COP26,
This
emissions by 2035 and rail playing a leading role in this, hydrogen offers a safe, reliable, and zero carbon alterna tive to other forms of rail propulsion.”
An international research team has been observing a unique planet sys tem around the star TOI-178, which is 200 light years away from Earth. Re searchers originally believed that only three planets were orbiting the star TOI-178. On 25 January 2021, Astron omy and Astrophysics published that they had discovered three more planets and that five of these six planets or bited their star in a harmonic rhythm.
In the case of the six planets around TOI-178, all but one are locked in a rare rhythm as they move in their orbits. This means that they are in resonance. The patterns formed by the planet’s or bits repeat themselves rhythmically as the planets move around the star, with some planets aligning every few orbits.
works by combining hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. To power the train, the fuel cell is made by combining an an ode, cathode, and electrolyte membrane. The charge created by the fuel cell power system can either be sent to the electric motor of the train, or stored in lithium bat teries. Stored hydrogen passes through the anode, splitting into electrons and protons. The electrons are then forced through a channel, producing an electric charge, the byproducts of which are water and heat.
Professor Andrew Collier Cameron, Pro fessor of Astronomy in the Centre for Ex oplanet Science in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of St An drews, who led the mission’s data-analysis team, explained, “The chain of resonances between the planets in the TOI-178 sys tem is a remarkable fossil clue to the entire system’s formation process. This order liness has allowed these closely-packed planets to avoid catastrophic interactions with each other for billions of years.”
ple fractions, with the planets following a 18:9:6:4:3 pattern. This pattern translates into a regular harmonious motion; while the second planet from the star (first in the pattern) completes 18 orbits, the third planet from the star (second in the pat tern) completes nine orbits, and so on.
Third party safety certification and compliance verification will be per formed by AEGIS Certification Services.
ESA Project Scientist Kate Isaak, said, “It is the first time we have observed something like this. In the few systems we know with such a harmony, the density of planets steadily decreases as we move away from the star. In the TOI-178 sys tem, a dense, terrestrial planet like Earth appears to be right next to a very fluffy planet with half the density of Neptune followed by one very similar to Neptune.”
The University of St Andrews to
The University of St Andrews will pro cure phase 2 of the project through the new Hydrogen Accelerator, which it leads alongside The University of Strathcyde.
She continued, “This project is not only a crucial step in helping us understand the practical challenges of using hydrogen traction power on our railways, but an ex ample of the type of investment Scotland needs to take advantage of the opportuni ty to build a secure, flexible, cost effec tive and zero carbon energy network.”
The movements of the five planets in the system create a kind of music as repre sented in a video published by the Europe an Southern Observatory. This video can be found using the following link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wevhttps://
Dr Thomas Wilson, from the School of Physics and Astronomy at The Universi ty of St Andrews, research fellow in the Centre of Exoplanet science and co-au thor of the paper published in Astronomy and Astrophysics described the discovery.
The hydrogen powered train is only one piece of achieving Scotland’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions.
A number of additional groups are work ing alongside Arcola energy to complete the project by its ambitious target date. Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland, and Abbott Risk Consulting are all in volved, as well as engineering consultan cy Arup and Hydrogen Accelerator, a St Andrews based start-up. Arup and Hy drogen Accelerator are working together to chart mainline deployment of all hy drogen-powered trains across Scotland.
vRG9ysY&feature=emb_logoTheconfigurationofthisuniqueplan etary system challenges our current un derstanding of planet formation and evo lution. Typically, closely packed planets orbiting a star in such a unique manner decrease in density the further away they are from the star. However, in the case of the planetary system surrounding TOI178 the density of the planets is far more irregular, despite the harmonic, orderly manner they orbit around their star. A similar resonance is observed in the or bits of three of Jupiter’s moons, yet the resonant motion in the TOI-178 is much more complex as it involves five planets.
ALEX MOONEY Deputy News Editor
As if it needed to be said, the in fluence was not a positive one.
To quote Stephen King from “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft”, one “learns most clearly what not to do by reading bad prose.”
Although the history of Europe as Sub ject is narrativised by the law, political economy, and ideology of the West, this concealed Subject pretends it has ‘no geo-political determinations.’ The much publicised critique of the sovereign subject thus actually inaugurates a Subject…”
Terry Eagleton remarked in his re view of Spivak’s other work that it is a key principle within these schol arly circles to “be as obscurantist as you can decently get away with.”
plex ideas demand complex lan guage. This is true to an extent. Spe cialist verbiage is inevitable when one is dealing with specialist sub jects. Yet it is not merely technical terminology which is at fault here. The general style, convoluted and polysyllabic, is what is objectionable.
imagine others not knowing it. The result is to outline what the typical reader already knows, to presume that which they do not, and to unwit tingly use terms that those outside the discipline would regard as jargon.
in the second semester of my second year. The lecture was “Public His tory: Or, How My Love Affair With History Went Sour”; the lecturer was Professor Gerard De Groot, without whom I would not have switched degree. It was an incredible hour. He not only affirmed my thoughts on the discipline, its problems, and its possibilities, but also how best this can be rectified. Public history has its perils, worst of all a demand for sensationalism over truth. Howev er, if scholars do not at least act as if history can be accurately portrayed to the popular audience, then they resign themselves to redundancy. I cannot have been the only one to have left the lecture theatre with a sense of confidence after hearing an aca demic argue that, if a student finds a text incomprehensible, it is the writ er’s fault for failing to communicate rather than the reader’s stupidity.
The latter two are especially per tinent. You may initially write in the manner exemplified above.
For most academics, I presume, this would be an insult. However, as Ste phen K Roney argues in his article “Postmodern Prose and George Or well” scholars like Spivak deliberate ly reject clear language. They regard it, like all discourses, as a tool
If academics attacked their work with the same objectives, I think we would have more “they were cold” and less “viewing the subject from a tempo-situational positionality, and engaging via autoethnograph ic self-consultation, one could argue that an increase in thermal circula tion would be conducive to an in tensification in expressed comfort.”
The rational response to this kind of impenetrable prose is to think “if I were cleverer, I would understand it.” However, the appropriate reac tion is “why can’t these people write in plain English?” Is it not the pur pose of speech to elucidate a thought and communicate it to an audience? Furthermore, if one has been ac cepted into a prestigious university with a functional admissions system, they have already proved to be able to handle complex ideas. No doubt all undergraduates have been given the same advice: keep your writ ing clear, avoid convolution, and minimise jargon. I also venture that everyone was left wondering, “it’s a shame those whom we are required to read have not accepted these same principles.” This disparity is my topic here. As I approach the final semester of my honours year, it is time to lay out my thoughts on the curse of pseudo-complexity which pervades some academic writing. I was first turned onto this topic
The Enigma of Academic Writing
Deputy Editors: Alex Beckett, Jess Burt, Rebecca Holmes, Kate Lau, Jamie Locke-Jones, Cara Shepherd, Niamh Yates
If a monograph addresses social re lations in eighteenth century Peruvi an peasant migrations and is going to sell for 70 pounds, it is only going to be bought by libraries and read by other academics. In short, no one from the wider audience will ever read it. Thus, its impact is likely to be minimal.
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For some, this is a call to write to be read (by turning to the popular audience); for others, at least they can be assured of the worth of their efforts if it sounds complex and important. In short, it depends on one’s conceptualisation of impact: audience size or difficulty of content.
As one of the formative texts on his opinions about academic history, Prof De Groot cited “Patriarchal Prece dents: Sexuality and Social Relations” by Rosalind Coward. The text begins: “When we turn our attention to theoret ical discourses, our gaze falls on what the discourse itself sees, its visible. What is visible is the relationship between objects and concepts that the discourse proposes. This is the theoretical problematic of a given theoretical discipline. It will ren der visible only those objects or problems that occur within its ho rizons and upon its terrain. Only these objects and problems are signif icant for the theoretical discipline, and have a place in its overall structure.”
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The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions.The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions. @thesaintsta
I frequently do so, creating breath-taking sentences (not in the good sense) and attempting “look at my vocabulary” word choice. But second and third drafts are for such improvements. During the editing process, I hold Orwell’s latter two questions as axiomatic.
I have a couple of propositions: (1) that writing for the academy can provide an incentive to use overly complicated language and (2) that it provides little incentive to write well.
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So, given our universal preference for clear writing, why does it not come from those within a prose-cen tred profession? The cynic in me won ders– contrary to Steven Pinker’s case outlined below - that the only way someone can produce this is through an active attempt to over-complicate. At the very least, no effort is expend ed on clarity (the distinction is an important one). I can only sup pose that to such scholars, clar ity is confused with simplicity - the highest form of blasphe my. What self-respecting intellectual could possibly create something “simple”? This, after all, is the language of the laity. If the uneducat ed masses, can understand it, then it cannot be knowledge. Instead, the style is intended to ward off the ignorant. Think of it as an 18-age-rating on a film. The stark red warning announces to the naïve customer that herein lies ma terial they could not possibly man age. Better to try something diluted to suit their inferior constitution.
If that were true, then why do these scholars not abandon Eng lish all together and produce a new language which only the enlight ened in-group understands? Are they not halfway there already? Not for the first time, George Orwell was on the right side of the matter. Clear prose is surely the way to com municate if one is to be as honest as possible, if they are to reject elitism, if they have nothing to hide. Converse ly, to quote the damning words of Richard Dawkins, “suppose you are an intellectual impostor with noth ing to say, but with strong ambitions to succeed in academic life[...]. What kind of literary style would you culti vate? Not a lucid one, surely, for clari ty would expose your lack of content.”
A few weeks after Professor De Groot’s lecture, I had to read a 38page article (not including notes) which is as close to “Patriarchal Precedents” as I have been or would ever wish to be. This excerpt is from Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s es say “Can the Subaltern Speak?”:
of this dense jungle of jargon, I have gone for the opening. Believe me, it gets worse. It is telling that when my tutor came to discussing this ar ticle and the class was asked “does Spivak think that the subaltern can speak?”, silence echoed in the office. I tried to read it twice and did not have a clue. Rather, the self-flagella tion of the second read left me with but one conclusion: there must be a religious sect out there which ad ministers this sort of thing as atone ment for the sins of its congregation.
Nevertheless, despite my preference to be polemical about this, I shall Offer the best counterpoints I have found. One of the most plausible is referred to by Pinker as “the curse of knowledge.” Simply put, once you know something, it is difficult to
“Some of the most radical criticism com ing out of the West today is the result of an interested desire to conserve the sub ject of the West, or the West as Subject. The theory of pluralised ‘subject-effects’ gives an illusion of undermining sub jective sovereignty while often provid ing a cover for this subject of knowledge.
My second proposition is drawn from several points. Firstly, the role of academic writing is not to be read
So as not to straw man the matter by picking a section from the depths
Photo: Jorge Royan
but to build one’s resume. In ex-Har vard president Derek Bok’s book, “Higher Education in America”, he says that 98 per cent of humani ties and arts papers are never cited by another researcher (compared to 25 per cent for the sciences).
Thus, rather than to be read, the primary purpose is to in dicate one’s scholarliness.
You are assigned, among other things, an academic article to read over the next week for an upcoming tutorial. Given that there are course work and assignments aplenty, this one gets left until the night before. Then you open the PDF and see that there are 28 pages. Warily scrolling to the end, you hope for five pages of notes and the same again of bib liography. Perhaps the final page of prose only consists of three lines. Yet, you keep going and watch as the words trickle down to the very bottom of the last page. Letting out a sigh, you return to page one and read a first line that sounds some thing like this: “Structural authori ty (from now on, ‘authority via the structural’) operates in, through, alongside, and beyond discursive landscapes of transmitted knowl edge and subjective portrayal, often (re)enforcing the non-inte gration of the narrativised other.”
Yet, it is a distinct minority in the academy who adopt this position. A more common defence is that com
of the he gemonic power structure (they are, after all, influenced by post modernism), which does not al low radical ideas to be formulated.
Viewpoint Editor: Sophia Brousset
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Instead, the style intendedis to ward off the ignorantit not the purpose of speech elucidateto a thought?
ETHAN FLETT
While Pinker’s point is true, I am inclined to think that this is solva ble in the editing stage. As Orwell suggests, “a scrupulous writer” will ask: “What am I trying to say? What words will express it? […] Could I put it more shortly? Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?”
Indeed, in “Politics and the Eng lish Language”, Orwell makes the case that there is not a relationship between complex ideas and a diffi cult style. Difficult topics, he argues, should spur the writer to present it in a clearer way. As Roney cites in his article, René Descartes, Pla to, and Karl Marx all managed to be “plain, elegant, [and] clear of expression.” It is, I venture, either laziness or arrogance which leads one to shirk from this difficult task.
As opposed to leading the UK, Scot tish parliamentarians are heckled to “go home to Skye”. The Vow was a shameful last-minute intervention by the British political establishment to win over the Scottish people with the promises of further autonomy the day after the referendum, which transpired to be, unsurprisingly, half-baked and not as seamless a transition from policy to practice as the Union’s advocates contended.
The next five years must be about using, expanding the powers of Holy rood to chart a path, make our values real and felt in communities from Glasgow to Inverness to Irvine. Some may say this is skipping the hard ques tions, that saying we should avoid a referendum is the easy way out.
The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but areThe views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions. 18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot ViEWpoiNt 9
Unionists contend that the Cov id-19 pandemic should slow down talks about a second referendum, but the opposite is true. This pan demic has shown us that small er, democratic countries were able to act decisively and prop erly tackle the Coronavirus. Fur thermore, as we look beyond the pandemic, we believe economic and political sovereignty is es sential to rebuilding our country. Meanwhile, Westminster has cut Scotland’s budget and is forc ing the Scottish taxpayer to fund extortionate military spending.
Scotland should hold a second in dependence referendum. Since 2014, support for a different political path in Scotland has increased, for exam ple, every Scottish council area voted to remain in the EU in 2016. Despite this, Scotland has been dragged out of the EU against its will. A core com ponent of the NO campaign’s mantra was ‘vote no to protect Scotland’s place in Europe’, leading to many in Scotland voting to remain in the UK. The lifetime of Scottish politics when the answer was to be part of a Unit ed Kingdom in Europe is dead; Scot land’s political landscape has been radically altered by Brexit and the assured stability of Union member ship has proven to be almost farcical.
Devil’s Advocate
of the most democratically en gaging periods of Scottish his tory, but the engagement did not stop upon Cameron’s dec laration of victory for Britain.
As Mr Foote’s testimony shows, politics in Scotland and the wider UK has changed in the last seven years and a true democracy would recognise and support the rights of its citizens to change their opinion on the question of self-determination.
Yet power over education is fully in the writ of Hollywood not West minster. Or drug deaths which have reached record highs across this nation and we must fight for the powers to treat those who suf fer addiction with compassion and empathy rather than a cell.
Brexit has taught us referen da aren’t only divisive during the campaign, but also that they are only the beginning of a long pro cess. Ending a decades old union is hard, let alone one centuries old.
Saying that now is not the time for a referendum is not to say “never”, nor is it to say that Scotland is not a proud nation, your any less a patri otic Scot or driven to achieve pro gressive change across our country.
Whilst remaining neutral on the question of independence, this shows that an important working people’s organisation in our soci ety recognises that the democratic and just option is to grant the peo ple of Scotland a fresh opportuni ty to decide their political future.
Member of St Andrews University Labour Society
Like education which has suffered declining standards for decades and is so vital to our future. (New figures show long-term education al decline as Scotland falls behind).
We must come togeth er for Scotland and fo cus on the challenges we all face, building on what we have already achieved, not plunge our selves into another all-or nothing-campaign, split ting ourselves in two. This is when both “sides” agree on so much, rooted funda mentally in the same values of social justice, tolerance, and inter nationalism. When there is a clear progressive coalition in Scotland.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Post-referendum, SNP policy has been to hold another referendum should Scotland be taken out of the EU against its will; this has been endorsed by the Scottish people in one Holyrood, one European, and three Westminster Elections. These victories, alongside 21 consecutive positive polls for independence, shows that there is a mandate for a second independence referendum. Whilst not being the primary argu ment for independence, EU member ship has certainly become the driv ing force for a second referendum.
Not only should we have an other independence referendum, Scotland should vote YES in that referendum. The issues which cre ated the grounds for the first in dependence referendum have not been resolved, in fact they have been exacerbated since. Independ ence is the only way to fully ad dress these issues, and to create a fairer, more inclusive society.
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Alongside individuals, organisa tions in Scotland realise that the ma terial circumstances of political life in Scotland and UK have changed since 2014. In February 2020 UNI SON, Scotland’s largest trade union, came out in support of a second referendum in a vote backed by al most three quarters of its members.
Scotland requires bold change and looking back at the Scottish parlia ment, we have already achieved so much within the UK: free tuition for all, prescriptions charges for none, and free period products for all a global first. The challenges ahead are repairing our public services.
Scotland did not become the “equal partner”, as promised in The Vow by Cameron, Miliband and Clegg two days prior to the vote in Sep tember 2014. Instead, Westminster’s true face was quickly unmasked as any hope of further autonomy was quickly forgotten and the usual dis criminatory rhetoric was flowing.
As Paul Sweeney former MP ar gued, expanding the work Glasgow has achieved with a similar ap proach to knife crime which has seem the once murder capital of Europe become of its safer cities, a model for London.
Members of St Andrews University Students for Independence
The referendum of 2014 was one
What should the priorities of Scot land be for the next five years? What are the people’s priorities, after this devastating pandemic having taken so much from so many - live lihoods, mental health and most importantly too many loved ones?
But that’s forgetting the hard est thing is governing, improving lives, finding the innovative mod ern ideas and fighting to imple ment them, make them work for the country, making government work for people and using our col lective power to empower each oth er. Is that not the point of politics?
“ nowSayingis not the time is not to “never”say “ “
Dealing with finding new trade arrangements with UK (our larg est trading partner), moving away from EU alignment while trying to join it, creating a currency which is both trusted and in our control so it works for our needs, and man ging a spending deficit which is amongst the largest in EU (£2000 per person) preventing investment and far outside EU requirements. It would consume time, monumen tal political capital and brain power diverted from other issues. Issues which must be addressed with all our attention. We cannot afford to be distracted from building the Scot land of which the progressive major ity dreams - with jobs, opportunity, and most importantly dignity for all after the pandemic.
53% Yes HARRY STAGE & COOPERDUNCAN Yes! 47% No PAUL TIPLADY No!Should Scotland hold a second independence opinionchangecitizensrightsSupportreferendum?theoftotheir
I believe, and think the majority would agree, that the priorities are jobs, rebuilding our universal public services and ensuring that 230,000 or 25% of our children no longer live-in poverty (a figure destined to increase to 40% by 2030 without action). This is what we must focus on, not a narrow nationalist debate.
The ‘architect of The Vow’, then Dai ly Record editor Murray Foote, has since resigned from his post and pub licly supported independence citing Brexit and the “blatant contempt” for devolution throughout the withdraw al process as a key factor. Also arguing that the problems of an independent Scotland can be solved, the grow ing xenophobia of the Conservative party which leads the UK may not.
The £13.9 billion that Scotland is forced to spend on Trident could instead pay for 289,000 new nurs es, helping to address deep-rooted health and social concerns. Brex it, a decade of Conservatism, and coronavirus means many in Scot land are viewing the sovereignty question through a different lens.
We see this normalisation in the images, texts, and music that per vade a culture. The celebration of artists like Manson, the production of films like “365 Days”, and the consumption of easily-accessible vi olent pornography all aid in this jus tification of violence against women.
pressionable audience without any proper warning as to its dangers.
The issue with fining as a pun
Viewpoint Editor
Since then, other women have come forward corroborating her story and discussing their own experi ences with Warner. The accused’s actions are immensely disturb ing, having been alleged of tortur ing these women using starvation, sleep deprivation, death threats, lashings, rape, and tormentation. You can call these accusations dis tressing, appalling, or sickening, but anyone who knows his career cannot call them shocking. The musician spoke loudly about his fantasies to smash Wood’s skull in with a sledge hammer; he told the world about cutting 158 X’s into himself after his break up with Wood; he has depicted himself
The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but areThe views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions. 18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot10 ViEWpoiNt
The film markets BDSM to its im
CARA SHEPHERD Deputy Viewpoint Editor
I understand that this brings its own difficulties such as how to determine economic status and the different fees that would correspond as a suita ble deterrent. However, it solves the unequal im pacts of the execu tion of justice. placing all
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The fact that in the Marilyn Man son case, his disturbing music, egre gious comments, and violent persona raised next to no red flags is a clear reason we should not solely recog nise abuse when it is abundantly, undeniably, and unequivocally clear.
At the beginning of the month, ac
The issue extends beyond the pan
tress Evan Rachel Wood accused him of grooming, manipulating, and abusing her throughout their relationship which began when she was just 18 and he was 36.
ingly details his hatred for his-then wife and lays out his fantasy about murdering her; heck, even fun’s “We Are Young” glosses over the fact that it is a story of domestic abuse with its undeniably catchy pop feel. This is not a music industry spe cific phenomenon; in movies, vi olence against women is sexual ised. As The Guardian’s Noah Berlatsky puts it, “For women in media, violence is sexual, exciting, and defines them.”
On top of this, it basically tells us that a powerful man, like the Italian gangster in the film, can have what ever he wants because any wom an can be coerced into wanting it. Porn is another notable offender. A study found in the journal Violence Against Women found that around 90 per cent of best-selling pornographic videos depicted physical aggression against women. Many would argue that porn is nothing but “fantasy”. They would claim that everyone is entitled to their own kinks as long as they are not hurting anyone.
Equality has meaningdifferent depending on the context Make statuseconomicateproportionfinestoone’s
This theoretical injustice, howev er, has real impacts that have been brought to the fore by the pandemic. When we consider the need for people to stay home and the Government’s responsibility to ensure that lockdown is followed in order to limit the spread of the virus, fines seem a reasonable and important tool in this pursuit.
However, it is certainly concerning that one of the biggest names in metal appears to have taken the lyrics literal ly. It seems because Manson’s image revolved around violence and gori ness, these atrocious actions and com ments were all taken to be part of his stage character. He was able to hide in plain sight, being completely unapolo getically himself yet facing absolutely no suspicion of being a real abuser.
For years, Brian Warner, more com monly known by his stage name, Marilyn Manson, has personified what was seen as the “noncon formist” side of the music industry (that is if you define nonconform ity as being a blatant sadist), which hinges on shock value and the shak ing heads of parents everywhere.
Cultural Violence: The Manson Case
ise a break from the norm and from the vanilla rather than directly in stigate any type of real violence.
One of the many systemic injustices highlighted by Covid-19 has been the inherent economic disparities in punitive fines. The main punish ment for those breaking government mandated lockdown and distancing laws has been through handing-out fines of increasing size depending on the severity of one’s misdemeanour.
Pushing aside the Manson case (for the love of god, the man called him self Manson and people still act as if this is a shock), off the top of my head, I can think of several examples of mainstream music which blatantly detailed abuse against women; Em inem’s “Kim” in which he disturb
All these examples can be viewed under the idea of “cultural vio lence” outlined by sociologist Jo han Galtung. Cultural violence can be defined as elements of cul ture which normalise violence both directly and structurally.
As a society, we must stop dismiss ing the evidence when it is right in front of us; the normalisation of fictional, artistic, or pornogrpahic depictions of violence against wom en has made us immune to the fact that this often manifests in violence.
However, when the fines are of relatively little significance to one’s financial situation, the mentality of those nursery parents takes hold - in a much more dangerous way. The idea of a fine being a potential addi tional cost to those who can afford it, for some, means that when cal culating risk, it poses relatively lit tle significance. Whereas, for those without the ability to easily afford said fine, it serves as a real deterrent.
By
Whilst I am not attempting to tack le the entirety of the way the justice system works, I am saying that for fines to be understood as a genuine punishment and disincentive, they need to actually mean something to those they are being imposed on. This is why it is essential that we move to a system of proportionate fin ing. A sand-poundone-thou fine means theforderstandI,nessperson.busiaparedcomincomerealoutwithdentaferentverysomethingdiftostuanytowealthyofcourse,untheneedequalitywithinjusticesystem.The
But enough on this vile individual. This problem reflects more signif icantly on the disgusting levels of normalisation of violence against women. I am not saying we live in a society in which physical abuse against women is socially accept able; however, we see a clear desire to hurt women peeking through the cracks in subtle ways (that is, sub tle if you do not critically reflect on them for more than thirty seconds).
“ “ But shockingaccusationsthesecannotyoucall “ “ In sexualisedwomenagainsties,movviolenceis “ “
fromstopsfooting.anthemualsindividwithanequallysignificantamounttolose,youplaceonequalItpeoplebeingableto get away with crimes as if they don’t even matter.
idea that some punishments are only
required of some of the population is, I hope, recognisably unjust. But equality has different meanings de pending on the context: fines are equal in flat out number, but they are unequal in impact. If punish ment is to serve as a disincentive to people then surely it is impor tant that all feel the same impact?
The film inspired a trend on Tik Tok (an app used largely by teen agers) in which young girls showed off their bruises, strangulation marks, and cuts from their sexual interactions after watching the film.
Rather than serve as a genuine de terrence to these parents, however, it was viewed more like a charge for overtime. Parents that could afford private nursery were, for the most part, willing to pay extra for their own convenience. Such a mentality goes beyond a nursery’s “overtime charge”: rather than see ing something as a punishment, it becomes an additional charge to facilitate your desired behaviour.
Equitable, Not Equal, Fines
The
I would mostly agree — but the idea that violent porn is victimless simply ignores the reality. There is a growing pool of evidence which connects intense pornographic consumption and violent crimes; further, we can clearly see the way sexual norms have changed over the past couple of decades as violent forms of sex like BDSM are becoming more normalised.
demic as fines serve as the designated punishment for speeding and parking tickets and other low-level offences. Thus, the solution is to make fines pro portionate to one’s economic status.
SOPHIA BROUSSET
ishment, however, is that there is evidence it does not always work. I remember a while ago my dad told me the story of a nursery that put a fine on parents who did not collect their children on time.
Think of the quarantine hit “365 Days” — the Netflix film is about an Italian gangster who kidnaps a Polish woman; she is to be his prisoner for “365 days” and if she doesn’t fall in love with him within that time, she is free to go — essentially “Beauty and the Beast” and “50 Shades of Grey” meshed into one horrifying spectacle.
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons idea that violent porn is realityignoresvictimlessthe
The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions.
The nation of a hereditary monarchy within a mod ern democracy is confusing in and of itself. As we no longer hold onto bizarre be liefs about the superiority of royal blood or the god-given right of one family to rule a state, it is surprising that the U.K. refuses to let go of an institution that in every way undermined our political process.
There aren’t any lectures, no tuto rials in the traditional sense and no exam, just a poster and a presentation along with some graded self-reflec tion. The Scottish university system is meant to encourage diversity of study, so why not choose to study something genuinely different?
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
portunity to try what is a genuinely different way of learning at the mo ment – the more interest is shown, the bigger the scheme, and others like it, should grow. Even if you don’t care about VIPs, you should care about smaller-scale learning. It would make everyone’s experience at the University better: here’s why. VIPs are different because they are smaller and more individual. If there were 300 people in each project, then there would be no posters, no close collaboration and no meaningful pro gression, because there simply aren’t enough staff members to go around.
Photo: Harry Gunning
The extensive power of one fam
lack.Anunelectedhereditarymonarchy
constitutional power controversially, but in this new case, completely legally. This constitutional monarchy is by no means political neutral and the in sistence that tradition is preferable to change is undemocratic and unimagi native. It is not simply a question about democratic principles, but a political question with practical implications.
In being allowed to approve bills before they appear before Parliament, the Queen has been able to conceal the extent of her private wealth, re vealing a key contradiction within the royal family; they want to be human enough to be loved, but roy al enough to retain their privileges. Their whole existence rests on a fun damentally indefensible principle: that they are special and deserving of specialised pow
Whenever St Andrews manag es to beat Oxford in the university rankings (ha), a great deal of fuss is made about how such a tiny univer sity can beat one of the biggest in tellectual institutions on the planet. While that gratifies a bitter and jad ed Oxbridge reject like me, it also makes me think about what exactly St Andrews does to compensate for its small size. My answer is that the University makes its smallness into an advantage rather than a limitation. You can find one example, and a way forward for the univer sity, in its adoption of VIPs.
So why are VIPs such a good idea?
There are larger reasons to support the VIPs during their infancy. With only eight teams running in the first year, not many students have the op
How the practice of Queen’s Consent undermines British democracy
The latest scandal involves the controversial process of Queen’s consent in which the monarch is al lowed to review bills before they are debated in parliament. Though previously seen as a harmless prac tice that is rarely employed, it has been uncovered by the Guardian that at least 1,062 bills have been subjected to this process.
The Plus Side of Not Being Plus Sized: Vertically Integrated Projects
It turned out to be an extremely good decision, and if I manage to convince some of you to apply for a VIP then this article will have done better than some of my previous efforts.
No, not that kind of VIP: legend has it that Hugh Grant sadly remains banned from University ground. I’m talking about Vertically Integrat ed Projects, a new initiative which St Andrews has boldly adopted a mere 20 years after its initial con ception. OK, that’s not entirely fair – St Andrews is only the second UK university to adopt the pro gram, the first being Strathclyde.
because one of the projects caught my eye, and partly because I had de cided that last semester’s psychology module was almost diametrically op posite from my idea of a good time.
In many ways it is admirable that the monarchy has continued to survive so long in a country that prides itself on its supposed legacy of democ racy (the unelected House of Lords is a debate for another time) espe cially in a world which shows an in crease disdain for undemocratic rule.
Constitutional Monarchy and the Mockery of Democracy
revealedfamilytheconventions,turies-oldcenroyalhavethattheyutilise
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot ViEWpoiNt 11
JAMES LOCKE-JONES Deputy Viewpoint Editor
Partly because they’re so different.
It has gone unchallenged for so long under the presumption the mon archy ultimately gives more than it takes to the country, supposedly contributing in duty, reputation, and finances. However, what the Guard ian’s latest discovery reveals is that, along with ideologically tarnishing democracy, the monarchy is taking advantage of its position to be more politically influential than even consti tutional experts previously assumed.
A lot of the projects are based around real-life research being done by staff, and it can often feel less like a tradi tional class and more like a research post. As a result, you can find your self studying things that don’t fit into the traditional mould of a module.
I came to St Andrews partly to get out of Wales – I never expected to find myself researching my home coun try’s early book trade, but it’s turned into an unlikely source of joy for me.
The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions.
However, focusing on the minor ity will always mean excluding the majority, which is why this method of teaching is less popular than the traditional approach. The trick is to create enough different opportunities for small-scale learning that every one who wants to can experience it. In tying the learning to faculty re search, the VIP shows a way to do just that without overburdening staff. In fact, the opposite might be true – I can’t imagine many research teams at the university would be hostile to the offer of what is effec tively a small team of unpaid interns.
It is both a reminder and evidence of the fact that we continue to live under a political system which glorifies and privileges one (very problemat ic) family by virtue of their birth.
ily was somewhat defensible when people believed they were funda mentally superior, but as social and political equality has supposedly been embraced, it is baffling that we continue to uphold a system that contradicts our democratic freedom. Republicanism has been dismissed by any who believe the continuation of tradition is an asset rather than a contradiction to political life in the U.K., and that the democratic deficit is a small price to pay for the eco nomic boost through tourism that the royal family generated. However, it seems the price is getting higher and higher as the royal family continues to be embroiled in scandals, both per sonal and political, revealing them to be more damaging than many as sume. From the shady past of Prince Andrew, to the abuse of
has no justifiable claim to approve bills before they reach a democrati cally-elected parliament. From Prince Charles preventing people on his es tate from buying their homes, to the Queen’s consultation of the High Speed 2 rail line between London and Birmingham, it reveals a dark reality that our monarchy continues to have influence over a political pro cess that really doesn’t impact them. The royal family will be fine no mat ter what happens and that is where they simply cannot relate to ordinary people. Queen’s consent exists to give the monarch influence over bills that directly affect them, but where is the public’s equivalent power? The unjustified influ
itself is alarming enough, but the concealment and lack of transparen cy are even more troubling. While the Freedom of Information Act has allowed the Guardian to reveal which bills were subject to Queen’s consent, they cannot, however, re veal on which occasions the Queen lobbied for them to be changed.
My initial impression was that the VIP would be like an undergraduate research assistant position without the money, and I was essentially cor rect. I chose to apply anyway, partly
I know that taking something which thrives because it is small and try ing to expand it sounds like a bad idea, but the fact that the Univer sity has added another avenue of small-scale teaching is encouraging. A larger university would find it nearly impossible to reach all its stu dents with high quality, small-scale teaching of the type VIPs offer, but St Andrews is small enough that, with enough initiatives like the VIP, it might. The University has another opportunity to make its small size an asset, rather than a limitation.
And is this concept not the very antithesis of democ racy and of meritocracy?
JESS BURT Deputy Viewpoint Editor
For all of our posturing about be ing one of the world’s oldest de mocracies, the U.K. undermines its democratic processes with its continued attachment to a hered itary monarchy that is becom ing progressively less defensible.
From a Former Petersonite: In Defence of Jordan Peterson
The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions.The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions.
Alas, today, I recognise far more readily what are gaping problems in Peterson’s oeuvre: coinages such as “Postmodern Neo-Marx ist”; alignment with the ‘Intellec tual Dark Web’, a loose grouping of YouTube polemicists who are lit tle more than right-wing activists; his attempt to rationalise his way out of complex social problems, of ten not taking into account the an ecdotal, irrational, all-too-human components of the issue at hand.
enjoyed for the growing cracks in its paint, rather than in spite of them.
His supporters appropriate what he says as a form of empowerment – ‘social justice is stupid, my echo chamber is correct, facts matter more than feelings’. His detractors appropriate it as an attack on their fundamental beliefs,
prisoned at higher rates for heinous acts of political extremism, provo cation, and violence. Peterson and his imploration to clean one’s room is trying to clear these trains before they leave the station, for when they do, return tickets from the proceed ing stations of despair, hatred and misanthropy are hard to come by.
A great indeterminable num ber of people truly are existing under an ideology of hopeless ness: they are merely existing.
which prevents any further dia logue. I think on both sides it comes down to a
Even then, I hope sincerely that he may be a figure whose core mes sage – hope for the hopeless, and meaning for the meaningless – may be received, evolved, and carried further in the relay of ideas – to new and diverse audiences that may in clude, but shall not consist only of, young men - by others more acces sible and less controversial than he.
Photo: Gage Skidmore
I used to be an ardent Petersonite, a fact towards which I am now prac tically indifferent. I bought and read 12 Rules for Life; I regularly watched
sarily spring from its creator). The Notre-Dame de Paris wouldn’t exist as she does now without centuries’ worth of history making its marks on her. When art bends and yields to the ravages of time, there is a good case for letting it. We already know what it was made to be — and with our digital advancements, so can future generations — why not find out what it could be?
After a bitter fiasco unravelled be tween him, his daughter, and The Times this week, I thought it the ideal time to write of him not a cri tique, nor a paean, but a sledgeham mer defence that articulates clear ly why he is an individual who, in the end, has done more good than bad, has healed more than harmed.
Likewise, I remain hopeful that Pil grimage to Cythera can one day be
in the agonised Laocoön’s half-bro ken arms, in the jagged fierceness of the headless Winged Victory. I am, of course, not advocating for ignorance. I will merely suggest here, with my very limited authority, that how art appeared once is of equal im
As individuals push against the restraints of this ideology, the like lihood is a descent into trains of thought worse still: that of nihil ism or totalitarianism, neither of which is ever desirable.
As for the matter of repainting classi cal statues — with the ghastly spectre of its role in the ideals of white supremacy, there is a real case to be made for its colour restoration (though an equally strong case against). Thus, my parting note on the propriety of restoration is sim ple, and far more contrarian than it should be: sometimes, but not always.
we attempt to rescue decaying art from the “rude wasting” of Time?
portance to how it appears now. We should, by all means, educate the new generations on how the Trojan Archer once dazzled in technicolour. But we mustn’t do it the disservice of sug gesting it languishes now in a dimin ished state of ruin: the word “trans formed” comes to mind instead.
For reasons unbe knownst to me, it is men who predomi nantly board these trains of toxic think ing: men are com mitting suicide at higher rates and men are being im
Deemed by his opponents reactionary, alt-right, transphobic, sexist, misog ynistic, and ultimately “dangerous”, the controversial Jordan Peterson, who was a few years ago no more than an esteemed psychology professor, has sold millions of books, sparked viral outrage, built one of the most robust personal followings of modern times, and recently emerged from a near-fa tal addiction to Benzodiazepines.
This case study of the classi cal marbles is, admittedly, an extreme one. The sculptures in question are so old — ancient, really — that the impression of them that persists in humanity’s collective consciousness is, by necessity, post-ruin. More spe cifically, a conception devoid of colour, weapons and, for the most part, limbs. Since their first discovery in the fifteenth cen tury, ‘classical sculpture’ has been synonymous for “ambig uously cream-coloured marble with various bits missing”. A harmless enough, if inaccurate, misconception? Well. In a grim twist of history, this anodyne ar tistic muddle would be sinisterly co-opted over the next few centuries to conflate Whiteness with the ideal. Now, it seems as though we have been given a second chance at things. Our twenty-first centu ry archaeologists have done what
LauKateIllustration:
Beyond the bounds of St Andrews, the world is a large, solitary, and often depressing place. Many don’t have the hope for the future that is only natural in young and gifted people who are fortunately studying what they love.
KATE LAU Deputy Viewpoint Editor
ALEX BECKETT Deputy Viewpoint Editor
This rescue is not a zero-sum game. When Peterson’s message works in a healthy way – when its subject finds a greater meaning for exist ence – we all gain. The connota tions and furore that surround him presently may put off certain au diences for good, understandably.
The title of this article is a fragment from “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” (written by an impassioned John Keats after a visit to the eponymous marbles) that I have shamelessly borrowed, then altered for my own nefarious agenda here. Though instead of commenting on the fraught politics of Lord theirfar—stitutewhichsexywell-meaning/heinous/irrelevant/Elgin’splunderofthesculptures—wouldquitepossiblyconamoresensationalarticleIwillinsteadweighinonthelesscontentiousquestionofpotentialrestoration.Should
Renaissance. In “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles”, a simultaneously awed and despairing Keats waxes lyrical on the diminished “Grecian gran deur” of the broken sculptures. I am, embarrassingly, inclined to do the same: there is a specific sort of tragic beauty that surrounds ruined things. I see it in the Charioteer of Delphi’s corroded bronze cheeks,
his lectures; if I remember correct ly, I mentioned him in my personal statement – as a token of what I read beyond my A-levels. Although I’d be slow to do this were I writing my personal statement again today, I cer tainly don’t regret having done so.
That said, I do not count myself exempt from the long claws of nostalgia, scrab bling to preserve a flower before it wilts, struggling to hold an ephemeral moment still. But sometimes we must endeavour to think of art as a wayward child, who may grow into some thing better (or worse, if you are the pessi mistic sort). Instead of thinking of change as the death knell of art, might we recast it as the benign agent of a gradual and nat ural metamorphosis?
mit with some shame, I would be distraught and I’m certain I’m not alone in this. This is simply because we hold the aesthetic myth of bare, fractured statues too dear, an afflic tion that has plagued the Western artistic consciousness since the High
misunderstanding.ThismisunderstandingisthatPetersonisimplicitlyputtingforwardapoliticalmanifestoinhisobservationsand
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scotViEWpoiNt12
Our modern obsession with pres ervation has gone unchecked for far too long, and we’ve forgotten how art emerges from imperfections and experimentations (that do not neces
lectures; this isn’t so – Peterson doesn’t wish to discuss politics per se, but instead life at large.
The Rude (or Wonderful?) Wasting of Old Time
fifteenth century excavators could not: identified the colours that used to reside on the crumbling marble. Surely the right thing to do, at this juncture, is to re-paint them, to re place their rightful colours. It would be no different from restoring, say, a Vermeer, or the Mona Lisa herself, and would do more good besides. Were this to happen, I must ad
Students economicsnotjusticewithconcernedaresocialissueswith
It is true that the Liberal Democrats, as the biggest centrist party, have suffered dramatic losses in popular ity over recent years, however, this is generally thought to be a result of their collation with David Cam eron’s Conservative Party. Econom
A couple of Sunday Times’ ago, Rod Liddle wrote an article entitled “My party had definitely caught the pub lic mood. Now all we need is some votes”. The party he is talking about is the Social Democratic Party (SDP). They are an economically left-leaning party like Labour, but with a patriotic and traditionalist social outlook, often associated with the Conservatives. Despite a thoroughly controversial leader at the helm (Google him, if you don’t believe me), the discerning St Andrean may wish to know a little more about this lesser-known party.
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ViEWpoiNt 18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot 13 The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The Saint but are individual opinions.
I don’t know how well a social dem ocratic Labour would be received; they might risk being thought too English, as Johnson is. Then again, if the SNP lose their hold on Scot land, the Un ion may be in somewhat better shape,
ically left-leaning centrism might be better received by the public. The truth is that Britain is already a generally moderate country. It just doesn’t realise it. Conservative and Labour members may act like chalk and cheese, but it is crucial to remem ber that both parties, both socially and economically, sit not too far from the centre. I would like to believe that Britain will come to recognise itself as a more centrist country in the coming years. It quite clearly won’t mould into the shape of the SDP - not in the foreseeable future, an yway. But maybe socialracydemocstill
It is evident that students are pri marily concerned with social jus tice issues, and not so much with economics. But as has been proven, the student vote is regrettably not enough for a party to succeed. Stu dents might instead vote for the Lib eral Democrats or, as Owen Jones argued in the Guardian, the Greens. Not many will vote Conservative though and, at the moment, that’s all that should matter for Labour.
CommonsPhotos:
In 1988, the SDP and the Liberals threw in their lots and formally united to become the Lib eral Democrats - a par ty with which readers will be more familiar. That was, seemingly, the end of the SDP. However, a new SDP survives to
The “Gang of Four” quite rightly recognised the need for a more cen trist opposition in the face of a Tory party which would govern for an 18 year spell, mostly under Margret Thatcher. Foot’s successor, Neil Kin nock, tried to adopt a more social democratic stance after Foot lost the 1983 election, although it was too lit tle too late, and Kinnock was contin uously hampered by internal party squabbling and eventually suffered a landslide defeat to Thatcher in 1987.
and oncecydemocrasocialmightmore
The SDP formed an alliance with the Liberal Party (the SDP Liberal Alli ance) which proved successful in the 1983 election, where they split the opposition vote almost in half – and in doing so delivering a crushing blow to Labour.
The SDP was founded in 1981 when four renegade moder ates split from Michael Foot’s la bour party, which they saw as too militant and too left-wing.
“B*llocks to Brexit”. On top of that, the current leader of the Liberal Dem ocrats, Sir Ed Davey, is a staunch liberal who has openly expressed scepticism of socialism and social democracy alike. “Democrat”, as Lid dle remarks, “is the vestigial tail” of the SDP within a party quite remote from its original, successful, ap proach. Thus, the modern SDP strug gles on, in spite of the unification.
dence, there is perhaps reason to be optimistic for the centrist ideals of the SDP, if not the party itself. De spite increasingly shared ground between British parties (Brexit aside), a feeling of greater political division has been widely reported. It is only a matter of time before a party takes a more vocally centrist stance, in the vein of New Labour.
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Photo: Wikimedia
The blend of liberal and social dem ocratic ideologies within the Alli ance did not sit as well as one might think. Liddle is right to point out “the liberals are the last party with which a true social democrat would align themself”. The modern Liberal Democratic Party advocates socially progressive causes, and liberal eco nomic policies, such as privatisation and an unhampered free market. Recently, they fashioned themselves as the true Remainer’s party (with decisiveness Corbyn’s Labour sore ly lacked) with the colourful slogan:
ing chance. If any party were to swing towards social democracy, it would most likely be Labour. It is much easier to shift the social focus of a party than the backbone of economic principles, meaning both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats probably won’t adopt social democracy any time soon.
After all, there is no reason why pa triotic Britons should feel obliged to vote Conservative. Boris John son wasn’t elected for his economic strategies; he was elected because he seemed to genuinely like our country and believe it could succeed despite Brexit. Also he wasn’t Corbyn. The one-nation Conservatism pioneered by Disraeli seems to still work for Johnson today, and it shouldn’t be difficult for Labour to tackle. Naturally, an openly socially democratic Labour would lose some of the student vote they cherished in the last election.
they need to stop being thought of as a party of crusty Marxists and self-righteous student activists.
Wikimedia Commons
day, albeit without any MPs or any meaningful influence over politics.
However, their large share of the votes only manifest ed into 23 seats, as opposed to Labour’s 209. In 1987, the Alliance proved slightly less successful, but still man aged to snare 22.6% of the vote.
leaked document, by encouraging the party to make use of the “flag, veterans and dressing smartly”.
More importantly, Labour already has a strong social democrat, or “soft labour”, faction (typified by the likes of Lisa Nandy). Keir Starmer is al ready trying to make a clear distinc tion between himself and Jeremy Corbyn with the slogan “New Lead ership” and, according to a recently
Liddle claims the party has only 2,000 members, and a growth of rough ly 100 per month. And whilst these are not numbers to muchinspire
The Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) “Gang of Four”, four former Labour politicians who left the party and founded the SDP; From left to right — David Owen, Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers, and Roy Jenkins.
The political landscape here in Scot land shall naturally be determined by the fate of the Scottish National Par ty (SNP) and a second independence referendum - or lack thereof. If the SNP fail to deliver on their promises to Scotland however, Labour must act decisively to reclaim the throng of seats lost in the 2015 election and make sure the Liberal Dem ocrats don’t swoop in and take them.
If even superficially, Starmer recognises the need to shed the image of Corbynism if Labour are to reclaim any of the many seats they lost in the last election. But perhaps labour will need more than a new lick of red paint. Maybe something a little more purple, or blue and red stripes. A more genuine approach towards the combination of tradition and leftist economics might work. This doesn’t mean they must regress to the alleged bigot ry of Liddle, it just means
Socially progressive cause and liberal policieseconomic
WILKINSONCHRISTIAN
The SDP and Social Democracy in Britain
Features Editor: Ally Addison
£10 billion per year in diabetes costs alone. Amid the double assault pre sented by the pandemic, which has left huge swathes of the population with underlying health conditions ex tremely vulnerable, the NHS has never been closer to breaking point. Yet de spite this growing chronic disease bur den, we seem to be repeating the same old mistake in our response - contin uing to provide an endless supply of pills and potions to keep us plodding along. And with annual growth rates of medication spending far outpacing that of the NHS budget itself, from £13 billion in 2010 to almost £17.4 billion in 2017, it is becoming increasingly clear that this pill-popping strategy
The huge pressure on the NHS and demand for quick fix pills are ulti mately being fuelled by bad diets, stagnant inactivity, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. A growing number of doctors, such as Rangan Chatterjee, are advocating the idea that to fully address disease we must address the factors driving disease, such as obesity. And within that, confront lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet, sleep and stress, or even psychological factors such as loneliness, which are also believed to cause obesity. But with as many as 20 prescriptions now being written per head of the population, and nearly half of adults in England having tak en at least one prescribed medication in the last week, it is clear that we are a far way off this holistic approach.
Furthermore, exercise provides a clear-cut way to reduce obesity its side effects like diabetes and oth er chronic diseases.Combined with other lifestyle changes, it also goes a step beyond ‘doctors orders’- in stead offering patients the chance to become accountable for their own health, without the cost to the NHS and the threat of side effects. Yet de spite the wide body of research on the powerful benefits, some doctors are reluctant to prescribe lifestyle chang es such as exercise, or healthy eating, for fear of appearing judgemental or discriminatory. Other factors such as a lack of time, funding and emphasis on lifestyle alternatives in medical training can also be blamed for the dependency on hard drugs for tack ling health issues. Fewer than 10% of doctors reporting they felt adequate ly trained to give patients advice on physical activity, despite 90% stating they would like more training on it.
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As it stands, the NHS is failing to utilise one magic tool against the flood of disease and poor health currently rushing through its doors in all corners of the country, a tool which drastical ly reduces the chances of premature death or chronic disease, while at the same time boosting mental wellbeing and years spent in good health. It is free, it is effective and it comes with out side effects and the hefty price tag attached to the current go-to treat ments. It even boasts potential for a 34-year boost in disease-free life at age 50, taking you up to the age of 84 with out diabetes, cancer or heart disease. Sold like that, it sounds like a pill I’d certainly be willing to swallow. Hence why its underuse begs the question: why are we not prescribing lifestyle changes as actively as we are pills?
While providing a pill may treat the individual symptoms, until we commit to tackling the root causestreating patient’s health as products of their lifestyles rather than focusing solely on treating isolated health is sues - the rate of diseases will keep mounting as the NHS simultaneously crumbles under the growing pressure.
case of treating high blood pressure or cholesterol, research has further shown that lifestyle changes improve the chances that medication will work. This highlights the need for medica tion as an addition to lifestyle chang es, rather than simply a substitute.
While the human population may be getting older, our years in good health are failing to keep up with the growth in the number of years the average person is living. Chronic dis eases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer are now common place amongst our aging population. Latest figures reveal that one-in-three patients who are admitted to hospital in an emergency have five or more serious health conditions for doctors to juggle, up from just one-in-ten a decade ago. Adding fuel to the fire, 63% of adults in England were also revealed to be overweight or obese in 2018. A sobering fact, considering that 80% of premature heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes could be prevented through maintaining a healthy weight via diet and exercise choices. Doing so would offer per haps the most economically sustaina ble and holistic approach to tackling chronic disease - and the financial burden on the NHS - than any pill.
This is despite the growing body of research pointing to the fact that reg ular exercise may be a more effective treatment for mild depression than an tidepressants. With its powerful effect on boosting serotonin and dopamine levels in the brain, as well as add ed benefits of improved self-esteem, sleep, energy and overall health. If prescribed seriously, exercise has the potential to be a substitute for medi cation for some, or a powerful boost er in others. Yet unfortunately, the pressure to prescribe ‘quick-fix’ treat ments to treat deep-rooted feelings of unhappiness, ultimately characterizes how the NHS is treating our nation’s poor health on a fundamental level.
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is as ineffective as it is unsustainable.
PexelPhoto:
The Lifestyle-Pill
In failing to adapt the way in which our healthcare system operates on a deep and transformative level, we stand to lose an immeasurable amount of both a personal and national level. the NHS is too far gone to simply stick on a band-aid and expect the problem to go away in a few weeks. Shifts in training, practises and attitudes are re quired to tackle the deepening chronic disease crisis we currently face. Sim ple lifestyle changes are the golden ticket to ensure that our increased years of life are spent really living.
The associated improvements in health from lifestyle prescriptions would not only leave us with a health ier, more productive and happier pop ulation, but would drastically reduce the burden on a healthcare system we all cherish so dearly, both through driving down prescription costs and improving general levels of health. On the other hand, continued failure to take lifestyle change seriously leaves us vulnerable to sleepwalking into the bleak inevitability of a deepening chronic disease crisis. And with smok ing, poor diet, inactivity and heavy al cohol consumption currently contrib uting to 60% of premature deaths and up to 20 years loss in life expectancy, lifestyle changes are as much a ‘magic pill’ as they are a lifeline for the UK.
Over the past year, the NHS has been pushed to its utmost limits dealing with COVID-19. Politician after politi cian has stood up and placed the issue on the podium alongside them as they continue to urge us to all play our part in reducing the strain on a system that has carried our country through war, through disasters and now, through a global pandemic. Yet while it is with out a doubt one of the UK’s greatest assets, we cannot risk losing sight of the fact that the NHS has its flaws. And as we begin to exit the immedi ate peak of the pandemic, the new found strains on the NHS - from the backlog of operations to the mentally drained staff - makes the need to rec ognise and reform more pressing than ever. These fresh pressures are only now threatening to break a system which was already shown its cracks.
Yet with our ageing population continuing to collect multiple health issues as if they were fashionable accessories, the NHS is at breaking point under its current medication mania strategy, cutting out 70% of its Primary and Acute Care budget to treat chronic disease and spending
Hannah Comiskey Deputy Features Editor
Simple lifestyle changes such as moderate exercise also have the po tential to alleviate symptoms without the issue of negative side effects asso ciated with more traditional medica tion, which in themselves are increas ing the burden on the NHS. One study revealed that traditional medication causes a quarter of hospital admis sions in the elderly via adverse drug reactions. Conversely, the extensive research pointing to the fact that ex ercise improves sleep, energy, weight loss, depression and Alzheimers, makes it clear that this lifestyle habit
Deputy Editors: Hitanshi Badani, Alexandra Baff, Hannah Comiskey, and Sofia Gerace
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The current pattern of experiencing a medical problem, sitting in the doc tor’s chair and walking away with a prescription in hand has become the all-too-familiar structure of how our healthcare system operates. And it has culminated in an alarming annu al rollout of over 1.1 billion prescrip tion items, an eye-watering double of what it was a decade ago. With pre scribed medicine being our answer for everything from the simple headache to high blood pressure, we are pop ping pills like they are sweeties with no regard for the cost, the side effects or the blatant ignorance surround ing the root cause of our nation’s poor health - an unhealthy lifestyle.
The doubling of the number of pre scription drugs dispensed in the last decade points to a growing depend ency on medication being used as a band-aid to patch up issues, without confronting the deeper driving force.
Within mental health specifical ly, half of doctor’s advocate talking therapy as the best cure for moderate depression. Yet within the 10-minute window of a GP appointment and waiting lists that drag on for months, there is little scope to explore alter native options. And an alarming three-quarters of those who go to the Doctors about depression are auto matically prescribed antidepressants.
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should be viewed as much as a med ication as the pills we are gobbling for our various ailments. And con sidering the fact that regular exercise lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 50%, osteoarthritis by 83%, heart dis ease and strokes by 35% and depres sion by 30%, it stands as the most powerful preventative cure out there.
Even in the face of the endless list of potential negative side effects: diz ziness, anxiety, low sex drive or in somnia, these pills are often chosen as the default above therapy or lifestyle changes. And with 60% of people vis iting their doctor for depression not even being offered counselling, or be ing faced with desperately long wait ing lists, the current system is pushing someone into medication who might have otherwise not needed to take it.
changeslifestyleSimple are the ticketgolden
Widespread research points to the fact that a healthy lifestyle comes hand in hand with a lower risk of di abetes, cardiovascular disease, and even cancer. It is arguably the most powerful preventative weapon against disease, and something we should be prescribing en masse. And while there is undoubtedly a need for pills and modern medicine in many cases, lifestyle changes offer a prevention, a complement and sometimes even a reversal in the need for pharmaceu tical drugs. Comprehensive healthy lifestyle interventions in patients with type 2 diabetes have been reported in some cases to bring the disease into re mission, as well as fully reversing cor onary artery disease in others. In the
unknown, but we now have the chance to rediscover the places in which we live. We were excited to meet new people, but now we have more time to really get to know those we live close to. We hoped to embark on a journey that would revolutionise our lives, but now it is being sedentary at home that is changing us for the better. We are missing something and we cannot deny it. If travelling is becom ing more difficult again, just as it was in the now distant past, then we have to learn from the older generations how to cope with, and even appreciate, that situation. In the meantime, while we are waiting for this long nightmare to pass, we can discover the world by reading books. This is what people in the past used to do. If we do not have the chance to start a new adventure, then we can still discover Paris by reading ‘Les Misérables’, or London by reading ‘Oliver Twist’, or even Venice by reading ‘Death in Venice’ by Thomas Mann. And, as we are lucky enough to live in the era of TV shows, we can even transport ourselves to London by watching ‘The Crown’ or ‘Sherlock’, to Paris with ‘Lupin’ or even to Jerusalem with ‘Shtisel’.
Like many other young students, I thought that the best way to conclude my studies at university would be to travel to a new place: it was just the perfect plan. I dreamt of leav ing home with my backpack on my shoulders and I was ready to enjoy whatever life was going to throw at me. Yet now we are stuck at home and the only place I have been vis iting recently are the small streets around my flat. I had fantasies about being lost in a maze of streets in a big European city, surrounded by a crowd of strangers while smelling the scent of a new environment. But the truth is that today cities around the world look empty: on social media, images of deserted towns and cities taken by drones are heartbreaking.
We
Second, just as our grandparents did, we can learn to find beauty everywhere. Sometimes travelling is about collecting stories to tell the people we love: to our parents, to our friends, or possibly to our fu ture children or grandchildren. But even if we are unable to talk about our travels, we will still be able to teach them that, when travelling is not possible, we must try and ap preciate our immediate environs. have the chance thing good has come out this of the Travel Industry: Nostalgia and Remedies
Sofia Gerace Deputy Features Editor
Nevertheless, the one thing that will always be irreplaceable is travelling.
In many newspapers and surveys it is familiar to read things like, “in these difficult times, one of the things that young people are missing the most is travelling”. The COVID-19 pandem ic is affecting every economic sector all over the world. However, many people managed to adapt their jobs by working from home. We are rely ing on the internet to overcome these hard times. We are having online lec tures, doing online shopping, organ ising online meetings, attending on line interviews, and the list goes on.
Likewise, Flixbus organises bus jour neys for very low prices - not the best quality we could wish for, but it still allows young students to leave home and discover the world. There is also the increasing number of low-cost flights that many students have bene fited from in the past few years. Final ly, there are hostels where you would find yourself sharing a room with complete strangers: an option that may not comply with current health measures but that would allow you
intherediscovertoplaceswhichwe live “ “ I thatbelievesome-
The tourism sector is one of the most affected by the pandemic and you don’t need to be an expert in the field to know that the recovery will not be easy. Incomes are shrinking while prices in the travel industry are rising. In these times, there’s not one tourist to be seen on Tower Bridge in London, nor any crowds crossing the Champs Elysées in Paris. Young people are no longer riding their bikes around Amsterdam. Via del Corso in Rome and Las Ramblas in Barcelona are also empty of tourists. COVID-19 is taking away many things from young students and the opportunity to trav el around the world is one of these.
In recent years, the range of oppor tunities for students travelling on a budget has been getting bigger and bigger. Interrailing springs to mind as an opportunity where young peo ple can get discounts on trains that allow them to travel around Europe.
18 February 2020 · thesaint.scot FEaturES 15
students, love. There is often the need to look for something new and the desire to find something different. For many students, being at university is essential to set oneself up for the world of work. Studying can shape our understanding and knowledge in order to prepare us for the job of our dreams. However, travelling can shape our souls. On every journey, we have the opportunity to embrace a new culture, meet new people, have new experiences, taste new food, discover new places and learn some thing new. And often, after a journey, we are not the same person that we were at the start. I think this is what students studying in St Andrews ex perience on a small scale: in every case, there is a long, winding journey that leads the student here, each jour ney unique in its own way. But what is common to all is the desire to get to know different people and cultures.
travelled abroad more than in their own countries. I remember when dur ing my fourth year of senior school in Rome, my history professor decided to take my class to visit the Colosse um. We were a big group of teenagers, 16 and 17 years old, and had always lived in Rome. And yet, many of us had never visited the monument before. Many of us dreamt of exploring the
something good has to come out of this pandemic. While waiting to trav el again, we can instead learn to ap preciate the beauty of the world that surrounds us. We have the chance to truly discover the places where we live and to acknowledge that it is not necessary to go that far to have new experiences. Before the pandemic, many of us were taking for granted many things that are actually very special. And besides, once this is all over, we will appreciate even more the opportunity to travel again. I have met many people that have
“ “ FutureEdwardIllustration:Emery
to meet all sorts of interesting peo ple. I remember going on a journey by bus from France to Italy last year. I was on a bus full of students who were looking to have fun during the winter break. It is sad now when you realise that this kind of option is not even thinkable. When you are young and ready for new adventures, new experiences can really change your life; but now the pandemic is prevent ing us from broadening our horizons. In many countries, the ban on non-essential travel as well as all the quarantine rules are still in place, re sulting in many young people being unable to leave their neighbourhood. And where travelling to other coun tries is currently possible, prices are rising in order to comply with health measures and to cope with the lack of customers. For example, the British government just decided to charge £1750 for people having to quaran tine after entering the country: for many students travelling is not an option anymore. Not to mention the cancelled flights where refunds take months to arrive. Travelling is becom ing a privilege and the youngest gen erations are those who are going to suffer the most from it. It feels like we are going back to the past, when tak ing a flight or a train was something that many could not afford. Many of our parents and grandparents did not get the chance to discover new places around the world while being at university. It was expensive and it was only for the most privileged. It took many years to make travel ling accessible for everyone but now the economic crisis is hitting hard. However, I’d like to believe that
Travelling is the kind of hobby that most people, and especially young
Support “Study Buddy” scheme is great if you struggle to find the motivation to study or else you simply like to have someone to keep you company when you are working. The same student I interviewed remarked that being matched with someone in the year above him who also studies physics was very use ful, as they were able to answer specific questions and provide encouragement whenever the workload felt like too much.
Once the matching process is complete, it is up to the “sup porter” and the student they are paired with to do whatever they like. They may meet for a coffee, go and do some sport, attend an event together, or just have a casual, relaxed chat. Although in a sense the “supporters” can be described as ‘professional friends’ in that they are specially trained to be a friendly presence
for my last hurrah. To my dis appointment but no surprise (2020 in a nutshell), it was an nounced a couple days before Christmas that a mutation of the COVID-19 virus had taken over the United Kingdom. My return to a more “normal” St Andrews was looking bleak. I made the voluntary yet invol untary decision (I’m legally unable to return to Scotland due to the current lockdown) to extend my stay at home.
Coronavirus has also proved problematic for the commit tee, with the transition to on line events affecting them just as much as any other student group. In normal times, they would be running all sorts of in-person events, but now they are limited to one-on-one chats via Teams. On the other
Peer Support is not without its problems, however. One issue that the committee has encountered is the shortage of male “supporters”, which they think has something to do with the stigma against men having open chats about personal or emotional issues.
ing about, thinking about, let alone actually doing some thing about such an important matter as what my life will entail after university? I mean I am procrastinating even sim ply by writing this article. My original plan was to take a gap year after university because I didn’t take the chance when I finished high school - I felt as if I needed a break from endless studying and perhaps also the limitless nagging of everyday society and the pressure which
students, they are not qualified to preach remedies for mental health issues, and as such they should be there as a friend, not as a therapist. Another piece of advice that ‘supporters’ are giv en is to not be afraid of big si lences. Often, especially in oneon-one chats, people are scared of pauses and so they interject with something random and meaningless to fill the gap. In fact, silence can be a good thing as it allows you to gather your thoughts and communicate your problems straight from the heart. The matching process that Peer Support uses is rigorous. Once they have signed up, students seeking help from Peer Sup port have to let the Coordinator know what their interests are, what they enjoy doing, where they are from and so on, so that the committee can find as suit able a “supporter” as possible. They are currently working on recruiting more postgrad uates, a demographic that is often left out of such schemes.
making friends and settling in. Sometimes the process of find ing friends takes a bit of confi dence. With this in mind, Peer Support seeks not only to pro vide students with someone to speak to in the short term, but also to help them to find longterm friends, for example by go ing to social events with them. For others, it is not so much the social aspect of university life that they find hard, but the ac ademic side of things. The Peer
The steady stream of students signing up for Peer Support is a testimony to the fact that, with or without Coronavirus, univer sity life is difficult, both from a social and academic perspec tive. Their work is invaluable and their innovative schemes and events serve as a model for
“So, it wasn’t meant to be,” I tell myself as I receive yet an other job rejection. There are plenty of them these days - as demonstrated by the record number of rejection emails in my inbox. I’m twenty-one years old, on the verge of grad uating from university, stuck, like everyone else, in the mid dle of a global pandemic, my dark roots exposed from my otherwise golden hair with no sign of subtlety, and my diet consisting mostly of obscene amounts of coffee, vitamins, green tea, bread, oranges and cauliflower (odd combination I know). And niggling at the back of my mind is the con stant realisation that I need to hunt down a job ASAP so that I don’t end up either home less or staying at my parents’ house after graduation. A fork in the road I’d like to avoid. For the past month and a half, I have been living at home with my family. I left university for winter break thinking that when I returned in the New Year some sense of normalcy would appear like magic. That St Andrews as we used to know it, a cor nucopia of euphoric events, would make a reappearance
own shadow, never leaving your side. From time to time, though, the thought of the possibilities and opportunities that lay before me fills me with great excitement but some how, at the end of the day, the anxiety always seems to win.
But why do I dread talk
StconnectedtotheyUltimately,wantfosteraAndrews
Fanny Wahlberg Staff Writer
A problem common to all uni versities is that it is exceptionally hard for students to get appoint ments with therapists, as there tend to be very long waiting lists. It is critical that the Univer sity makes up for this limitation.
18 February 2020 · thesaint.scot16 FEaturES
One of the things they learn is not to force advice on anyone; as
I’m not afraid to say that I don’t know exactly what I want to do or what I want to become, but I would like the chance to figure that out for myself. I would like the time and space to ponder without the pressure. It is common, perhaps even expected that at twenty-one years of age, you do not know exactly what you want out of life. Yet the fact remains that society gives young people very little space and encouragement to figure that out before they embark on their working lives. Indulge yourself in creating your own path and ignore the one that you think is laid out before you. Let’s encourage students to think, dream and aspire rather than simply follow. An hour after having sent the obligatory “I didn’t get it” text to my mother, she steps into my room and says, “there will be other oppor tunities”. With that said, let me continue the job search.
“ “ dream.think,studentsencourageLet’stoto “ “
St Andrews prides itself on its student satisfaction rate, which has played no small part in allow ing it to rise to the top of the UK league tables. Nonetheless, this does not mean that we should neglect mental health schemes.
it heaps on us. However, that plan went out the window a couple months ago when COVID-19 decided to plant its roots a bit deeper, making it clear to us that it had a grand er plan in mind. So here I am voraciously applying to jobs. But I am frustrated. There is a sense of expectation and effort less routine to the process by which students apply to post graduate jobs. It is a thought less, mechanized procedure of ten lacking any consideration as to what it is you really want. A process whereby you are pushed and pulled in different directions and expected to ful fill the requirements of them all. It’s not acceptable for you to apply to different jobs and end up with nothing and for that to be it; you are supposed to have a back-up plan and a back-up to your back-up plan. I mean, I’m starting to feel like a hard drive that is way past its last gigabyte. But it’s also a process that is meant to rep resent your first step out into the real world: a world that is not sheltered by the comfort of teachers, school friends and ivy-covered buildings. But it is done with such haste that you forget to stop and reflect on what you truly want and what other alternatives and ways there are, in addition to securing the perfect job, to get
ting that thing or reaching that destination. Instead of cherish ing your achievements so far in life, you punish yourself for everything you haven’t done and haven’t achieved. Why and with what end goal in mind do we think that chastising ourselves in this way will ulti mately help us? I do not know. But I am certainly guilty of it.
In Praise of Peer Support
Ally Addison Features Editor
Since COVID-19 struck at the beginning of last year, loneli ness has been on the rise. The need for mental health schemes is now greater than ever. In St Andrews, the Peer Support group, a Union subcommit tee overseen by the Director of Wellbeing, is doing a heroic job at fulfilling this much needed role. Though a small commit tee, they work extremely hard to put on events such as Can Do chats, mental health workshops and Safe Spaces with the help of a team of ‘supporters’, who are paired via a rigorous matching process with students who sign up for the scheme. The main aim of the service is to provide one-to-one support to those who are experiencing loneliness, or who simply want to chat. Ul timately they want to foster a connected St Andrews commu nity, where no one feels left out. These “supporters”, student volunteers in second year of un dergraduate studies or above, have to undertake a four to five hour training day, run with the help of Student Services, where they build on their active lis tening skills so as to maximise their potential to help the stu dents they are matched with.
Regardless of where I am, there is still the expectation that I, as a graduate-to-be, should do the sensible thing accord ing to society and find a prop er job - not an unpaid intern ship, paid solely in clothes and shoes (shoutout to the fashion industry), which is what has occupied my past two sum mers. Other than the topic of COVID-19, which, to be fair, is hard to beat in today’s world, my quest for a job seems to be a never-ending topic of conver sation for me. While for a lot of other people, like my mother, my hairdresser and my den tist, and literally anyone I run into, it may seem like a safe, easy topic for a relaxed bit of chitchat, for me it is the exact opposite. To my mind, the top ic of what I’m going to do next year mainly causes severe anx iety. The kind of anxiety that follows you around like your
in someone’s life, the scheme is far from superficial. Some stu dents, including a third year I interviewed (who wishes to re main anonymous) have contin ued with the scheme for over two years. Others just make use of a few sessions, or more commonly, the duration of first year, which is often the most challenging for
hand, a lot of people actual ly like the privacy that Teams provides, where meeting up in person can feel intimidating.
Peer Support not only provides help to individual students, but it also works with student clubs and societies to ensure that they are paying attention to the mental health of their members. Sports clubs in particular can often fall prey to a toxic culture that gen erates exclusion and insecurity.
When asked whether the uni versity itself ought to do more to combat mental health issues, rather than leaving it to stu dent-run groups, the same com mittee member remarked that, given the University’s money and power, it is unfair that it is left to students who are already over-worked as it is to lay the groundworks for mental health support. However, she wishes to make it clear that this is a person al opinion and not the official line of the Peer Support committee.
The Job Search: So It Wasn’t Meant To Be
Tom Groves, Direc tor of Events and Services
Ms Walsh stressed how important it is for students to vote. “If you have an agenda for something, or want to see something done, put that pres sure on the candidate…. Ask them questions, talk to them about their campaign, make an informed choice.”
“The AU President is responsible for overseeing the governance and devel opment of the AU and student sport at the University. They represent the sporting needs of students within the University and also represent St An drews externally within the sporting world.” Ms Tyler also “works with the rest of Saints Sport to support club development and club’s day-to-day operations” and line manages The AU executive committee. “Recently, two groups have been formed looking at sustainability in sport and EDI in sport which the President co-chairs.”
“Unfortunately, I had hopes last se mester that we might be in a better place to do some things in person, but this will be a fully online elec tion.” It will be run similarly to the
Dan Marshall, Association President
This year, Ms Gallacher collaborated with the University “to provide stu dents with a safety net in light of the ongoing disruption in their studies.”
He also works “with the University on student development including careers, entrepreneurship, employa bility, and volunteering”. He added that he is also “the Sabb for lots of the experience-based student representa tion within the Uni: orientation, mu seums, arts, and (this year) lots of work as part of the Can Do Group.”
“Almost every single position on councils is up for election. There are a few that are co-opted such as rector’s assessor, ents convener, the On the Rocks coordinator, principal ambas sador, and a few others.” The size of the Student Association election can feel overwhelming, but it is important that students read up, and participate.
Ms Gallacher “works daily with the Proctor’s Office on University policy as well as to develop the ac ademic experience at a school-lev el.” and supports “the faculty fres idents, PG academic convener, school presidents and modern lan guage conveners with student-led projects and initiatives that bridge the school and university levels.”
Mr Marshall outlined his role: “The Association president is responsible for representing students on a broad range of issues such as accommoda tion, widening access and sustainabil ity among other things. They are also responsible for the external relations of the Students’ Association handling media enquiries as well as our rela tionships with the local community and alumni. Alongside the director of education, the president represents students on University Court, the
relating to education, employability and postgraduate studies as well as in their capacity as a student gover nor to the highest governing body at the University, University Court.”
“As DoES, I'm responsible for the Union's entertainment schedule. I manage bookings for venues like 601, Beacon, and Sandy's, and help socie ties to plan and promote their events. Alongside permanent staff, I oversee the Union's bars, cafes, and market ing strategy.” Mr Groves also line manages “6 subcommittees: STAR,
Amy Gallacher, Director of Education
Olivia Bybel Deputy Editor
In the Student Association election, “all the sabbatical positions, which are full time paid representatives, the association positions, the student services council, the student repre sentatives council, and school pres idents positions are up for election.”
Ms Gallacher shared that “the Stu dents’ Association director of educa tion (DoEd) is responsible for over seeing and coordinating the work of the academic representatives at the University. They represent students across both faculties on all matters
He expressed that on of his greatest achievements this year “was ensuring that students in halls received rent re funds if they were unable to return to campus due to government lockdown preventing travel.” Mr Marshall add ed that he has “been working on mak ing sure the University provides great er clarity to students on key issues.”
The purpose of the election is “that the union and the University can be the best it can be next year.” Student democracy is a way in which we can all have a say in our experience in St Andrews. It is crucial that elections are representative of the actual stu dent body, and the way to ensure that is to get informed, and participate.
Your fordoresentativesstudentelectedrepsomuchyou.“ “ Vоting will take place on the 4th and 5th of March. “ “ CommonsWikimediaPhoto:
Emma Walsh, Director of Wellbeing
In addition to being the lead on in ternal democracy Walsh is, “the lead representative on areas involving mental/physical/sexual health as well as representation and equality. I line manage several of the Union subcommittees and am in regular conversations with the University about how we can make the whole community a safer and more wel coming place for students, as well as how support services can be im proved.” She expressed that her role is crucial “for proper representation of students” as she heads student elections, “your elected officials repre sent the student body at high levels.”
Elections Round the Corner
The Saint reached out to the current sabbatical officers to share a little about their role within the Univer sity, and how it impacts students.
The role of the DoEs looked differ ent this year than it did in the past. “I have spent a lot of time improving the website, yourunion.net, and develop ing the Union's outdoor spaces, like the Piazza and FiEld. I've also worked closely with the University's Can Do group, rewritten the Union's discipline procedure, and grown the Union's In stagram account by 4,000 followers.”
Ms Walsh is one of six elected sab batical officers—or recent graduates who run the union. They each lead student representation in different ar eas. She, as the director of wellbeing, serves as the senior elections officer and is responsible for “leading on the campaigning, nominations, publicity, and event planning,” as well as be ing “the point person in the election process.” With support from the oth er sabbatical officers she has “been doing most of the planning” for the upcoming student election, and will be running it as goes on in March.
governing body of the University.”
Most of these positions are open for anyone to run for, though school pres idents must come from their respec tive schools. “Traditionally sabbatical officers are recent graduates, fourth years who hope to stay after they graduate, or thirds years taking a year off of their studies.” This, however, is not an official restriction. If you are thinking of running, it is not too late!
Ms Tyler shared that she has “been working to make all our procedures significantly better for our clubs and updating our policies to make them clearer and more efficient to follow. This should make things easier for our clubs and our staff. At the same time, I’ve been working with other University departments to create guidance for clubs on var ious issues such as sexual miscon duct and health and safety laws.”
Gavin Sandford, Director of Stu dent Development and Activities Mr Sandford explained that “as di rector of Student Development and Activities I oversee most of the ac tivity-based subcommittees - Mer maids, Debates, Charities, SVS, BAME, LGBT, PG, Music Fund and OTR - as well as all societies through the societies officer and committee.”
Like most things this past year, the Student Association election will look different due to COVID restrictions.
The sabbatical officers are six of the positions up for election this March. They are full-time, paid positions. Much of the Sabbs work goes on be hind the scenes, and for those who may not be up to date on the intrica cies of running the union, what ex actly they each do can be confusing.
Who Are the Sabbs? A Report On The Students’ Association Elections
“My greatest achievement this year is the set of recently announced academic mitigation,” she said.
St Andrews today, is different then it has ever been before. The student body faces a unique set of problems, and student representation is more important than ever. Nominations open 22nd of February and are open for a week after. Voting will take place on the 4th and 5th of March.
Sophie Tyler, Athletic Union President
18 February 2020 · thesaint.scot FEaturES 17
Rector’s Election earlier this year, as well as putting more emphasis on Instagram. This decision was made, “not only because of COVID restric tions, but because even if something changes and we are allowed to do more things in person, I want to make sure that students who aren’t in St Andrews, because they could not return or chose not to, have equal footing in the election.” It is impor tant to Ms Walsh that students all have a “fair chance” in their election.
It’s nearly that time of year again. The exhilarating few weeks that our Face books, emails, and, in past years, li brary walkways are bombarded with information about the Student Associ ation Election. While many of us might be feeling more disconnected from St Andrews than usual, student de mocracy forges on. The Saint sat down with Emma Walsh, current director of wellbeing (DoWell), to discuss the upcoming election and how impor tant it is for students to participate.
This year, “Saints Sport was the only university department to run an in-person event during Freshers week, we had over 2000 people attend in total (only 200 people at any one point) and the event was a huge suc cess, and importantly, very safe! We also put in a procedure which enabled a safe return to sport and subsequent ly had more sport happening than any other university during Semester 1.”
She added that she is “proud of the ongoing review of PG rep resentation which will provide a set of recommendations based upon consultation with other institutions, surveys and focus groups to im prove and enhance the postgrad uate experience at St Andrews.”
Mermaids, Design Team, Ents Crew, On the Rocks, and Music Fund.”
“Whether or not you are aware of it, your elected student representatives do so much for you.” One issue cham pioned by a sabbatical officer which had an impact on students is the abili ty to SP-Code the three terms affected by the pandemic. “The recent develop ment in the availability of SP-Coding, and academic mitigations, was fought for by the director of education.” The Student Association election, and its many positions, has a wide variety of influence, ranging from BOP’s on fri day nights, to charity, and to consent workshops. Alongside voting for the director of events, students will vote for positions like “charities convener, mermaids president, accommodation officer, and member for gender equal ity.” Ms Walsh emphasised, “when you think about all these background things going on, and progress being made, a lot of that is actually headed by student representatives. Students are benefitted [sic] in countless ways.”
Natalie, 4th Year, IR and Arabic: No matter the weather, my lovely friends and I would meet up for walks around the town. The quintessence of student life in a small town such as St Andrews in 2020!
Photography Editor: Emily Silk Deputy Editor: Emily Muller
Photo: Joe Waters
There is no other university that has tra ditions as weird, wonderful, and certain ly memorable, as St Andrews and whilst they have all been put somewhat on hold in the current moment, our appreciation of them has certainly never been greater.
After receiving the principal’s email regarding the essential ‘cancellation’ of an in-person semester, there is no doubt that an enormous amount of dis appointment was felt amongst students.
Photo: @alicevinephoto
To avoid the general sense of doom and gloom, looking back at a few happier memories cannot fail to bring a smile (or two) to one’s face. While we are all missing out on our wonderful little town and mak ing new memories in it, we can look fond ly at those which we have already made.
Alice, This is my submission for favourite St Andrews memory photo. It was taken at sunrise on East Sands with a friend, the day before I left St Andrews before lockdown, and it reminds me how special and unique our little town is, and how I can’t wait to get back!
EMILY SILK Photography Editor
St Andrews is one of the few univer sities where you can go to a fancy-dress ball in your wellies, get chased down the street by a colony of aggressive seagulls, and spend a night around a bonfire on the beach with some guy who just ‘had’ to bring his guitar along.
thesaint.scot
@thesaintsta
Joe, 3rd Year, IR: One of my favourites times - Gaudie 2019 - hopefully I’ll be able to see another Gaudie before I graduate! I still remember the contrast of the chilled night air and the warmth of the torches.
thesaint.scot
We at The Saint asked students to sub mit a photograph of their favourite St Andrews memory, detailing what this memory is and why it is important to them. Sharing what makes you happy can spread that happiness to others, and that is what this project is all about. We hope that by sharing happy memories, we can look forward, as a community, to making new ones together, even when the fu ture is so uncertain. We hope you enjoy!
St Andrews Memories...
Photo: Natalie Pereira
photoS
Linden, 3rd year, English: St Andrews Day is the most wholesome of the St Andrews calender. Last year the beach fireworks were a special sight, During the day the streets are full of students, locals and tourists, and the town is gripped in a festive spirit. The highlight is always any ceilidh that takes place in the evening. St Andrews Day is the town at its best, and is always sure to create a special memory of some kind.
English: May Dip is one of St Andrews’ special traditions that I was lucky enough to take part in. I stayed up all night with my friends, and bleary eyed, walked down to East Sands at dawn. I remember feeling so amazed at the beauty, and novelty of a sunrise over the water. While the sun rises every day over the North Sea, I loved watching it come up with tons of other people, sleepy, and cold.
GriggLindenPhoto:
BybelOliviaPhoto:
Laura, 3rd year, IR: The start of this academic year felt so unfamiliar and uncertain, yet was still the formative site of some of my favourite memo ries at university. This photo was taken the first week of last semester: a walk on the pier with my flatmate reminded me of how lucky I was to be in St Olivia,Andrews.3rdyear,
BeveridgeLauraPhoto:
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot photoS 19
EVENtS
promotion of a world where every one is free to be their true self. In ad dition to these core values, Szentek maintains a strong relationship with its charitable partner, Variety Scot land. This cause speaks to the hearts of the Szentek committee and our on line presence this year has called in creasing attention to this partnership.
Scotlandner,tableitsshiprelationamaintainsSzentekstrongwithcharipartVariety
It is no secret that 2020 has been a year full of difficulties and disap pointments. But, if I’m allowed to take a bit of poetic licence and cite a cliché here, I’d say that every cloud indeed has a silver lining. While the fact that our beloved events being cancelled for a year really did shatter our hearts over at the Szentek HQ; it also gave us the possibility to channel the im mense creative potential of our com munity in unimaginable levels. I’ll quote Millie once again to finish this ode to the Szentek community and to all music and art lovers who can’t wait for our return: “The committee’s passion for eclectic artwork and dance music still remains, and has perhaps even strengthened in lockdown. Now more than ever we are desper ate for a sweaty dance floor”. And we sure hope to see you there soon.
“
BowdenElenaGraphic:
If you would like to sub mit something to the Szine please check out the info below: Submissions can be produced digitally or physically but should be submitted as an A4 PDF file and sent to lr211@ st-andrews.ac.uk with a subject head ing “Szine Entry” and your name. All submissions should be completed by 12 noon on 22nd March. If your work is selected for inclusion you will be sent a form to complete with further de tails about you and your submission.
art for which Szentek is so renowned.
and we’re super excited to be work ing with the EH-FM gang again.”
There was a way for the atcommunityputtingwithoutmainspiritSzentektorealivetherisk “ “
“Honestly, I have no idea when we can safely dance again. It seems the COVID situation is changing on a near-weekly basis, so I don’t think anyone can predict when this will all be over. Because of this uncer tainty, I don’t have anything set in
Events Editor: Erin Boyle
ahead in its normal fashion. Further disappointment followed when they reached a consensus that an audi ence-free Szenek was not on the cards.
When thinking about Szentek, there are a few things that come to mind; the feeling of being in Kinkell Byre surrounded by psychedelic colours and art, the fine techno music that is a breath of fresh air for electronic music lovers in St Andrews, getting ready for a Szentek event, dressing freely with the right to go complete ly crazy… These feelings were what made me fall in love with Szentek the minute I arrived in town, and what motivated me to join their commit tee as a second year. However, it is no surprise that the year of 2020 de prived us of these feelings, and so like everything else, this year has defied all expectations. This certainly wasn’t what I pictured when I first went to the launch event and told my friends that “next year I’ll be backstage.”
through regular Facebook live events, filling the whole that covid has left for music lovers. As of last Summer, in an effort to establish a creative out let for all artists, musicians and par ty lovers, members of Szentek began producing articles about music and artwork. These showcases have been a great success for the team, and an amazing way to dig deeper into the topics that we love to broadcast at our usual huge events. The key, however, to successfully maintain and transmit the Szentek atmosphere, has been col laboration. As Delaney-Doust later said: “We’ve been collaborating with loads of interesting people all over Scotland and have some great stuff in the pipeline. ASHA Sound System have very kindly passed on crea tive control of We Will Dance Again Vol. III to the Szentek team. WWDA is a day takeover of EH-FM, the Ed inburgh-based online radio station,
“
“Just before the Christmas break, we had our first ever ‘Charity Week,’ where every day we used our social media platforms to highlight the in credible work Variety does to help kids living below the poverty line, or with disabilities. We also did a toy drive to help Variety with their Christmas toy campaign, where families living in poverty are given presents distributed by Variety, to ensure that no child goes without. The biggest downside to not having in-person, ticketed events is not be
The essence of collaboration is pres ent in every event or project that Sz entek has put together thus far. Size doesn’t necessarily matter. From small-scale events like the colour-in project created by the Graphics team, where exclusive Szentek designs can be printed and completed; to the col laborations mentioned by Millie, and finally the Szine. The Szine, the first in-print art publication signed by Szentek, is due to be released soon. This gives artists in St Andrews an op portunity to contribute to the theme in any way they want and have fun in the process. The theme, ‘Art of the Apocalypse’ is a tongue in cheek nod to the crazy year we have lived through. The publication will be ac companied by a virtual launch party, to showcase the original and exciting
Deputy Editor: Ben Alderton and Anna Harris
Szentek: When Will We Dance Again?
important to understand what has happened this past year in the depths of the Szentek committee. When the realisation hit that November would be absent of the usual lights, music and colours, how did Delaeny-Doust react? Despite a burning desire for everyone to enjoy Szentek freely and safely, Delaney-Doust and the wider committee were devastated to real ise that the craziness could not go
stone yet (don’t want to jinx any thing!) but we have Szentek 2021 pen cilled in for this coming November, so my fingers and toes are crossed that by then we can go ahead with a big party. I will have graduated by then, but you had best believe I will be making an appearance. If you wanna catch me, I’ll be front left.”
ing able to raise a significant sum of money for Variety – in 2019 we man aged to donate £10,000 from ticket sales – a huge amount which makes a real difference for Scottish kids. After thoroughly answering my ques tions about events, hopes and plans for the Szentek community, Millie an swered a question that has occupied my mind since the first online event with Szentek and ASHA Sound Sys tem and the cancellation of Szentek 2020. This question not only permeat ed my everyday reflections but comes up every time I mention my commit tee role or discuss life post-COVID. After all, when will we dance again?
“There was hope for a second-se mester event, and we did reschedule some dates with Kinkell, however with the current COVID situation it looks like it’s just not going to be safe in Semester Two. We did consider hosting some alternative live events which were compliant with regula tions, but we decided that it would be too small – one of the things that Szentek stands for is inclusivity, we want everyone to come and par ty with us rather than limiting the number of people who can attend.”
Fortunately, there was a way for the Szentek spirit to remain alive without putting the community at risk. Stu dents became increasingly familiar with the backgrounds of Szentek DJs
An inside perspective of Szentek events as we await a return to Kinkell Byre
Ms Delaney-Doust stressed that one of her top reasons for keeping Sze ntek’s online presence strong despite the adversities of this year is that once the pandemic is over, incoming stu dents will have the same chance to get excited and fully experience Szentek. While our first thoughts of Szentek may be memories from music events; the first priority of the committee is its charitable mission. Before anything else, Szentek is a charitable cause that is deeply rooted in its values. Ms De laney-Doust stressed that one of her top reasons for keeping Szentek’s online presence strong despite the ad versities of this year is that once the pandemic is over, incoming students will have the same chance to get ex cited and fully experience Szentek. As one of St Andrews’ few large events committed to maximum accessibility, Szentek pairs lower ticket prices and
@saintsta thesaint.scot/eventsthesaint.scot/events
SOFIA BALESTRIN Staff Writer
Though sadly I’m not in the post-Sze ntek 2020 state of euphoria, I can guar antee that being backstage has more exciting than I had hoped. An exciting list of projects and plans has occupied Millie Delaney-Doust, director of op erations this year, and she answered a couple of questions for the Sze ntek lovers past, current and future. Before we look to the future, it’s
is free but a donation isPlatform:recommended.Teams More information: Chinese Hongpao Society Facebook
NHS will soon be able to add this vi tal weapon to their growing armoury. Recent music events in New Zealand have been a source of excitement and, I must admit, considerable jealousy. They are reminiscent of a pre-COVID era, with no masks or social distanc ing in sight: Gisborne’s Rhythm and Vine Festival in New Zealand alone was attended by 20,000 people. Al though this may seem irresponsible at first glance, the government of New Zealand has handled the virus admi rably, keeping active cases under 100 nationwide. The Instagram stories of headline artists Sub Focus, Dimen sion and Friction were testament to this as they undertook the mandato ry two-week isolation. Their subse quent performances (streamed from the comfort of my couch) were truly
ERIN BOYLE Events Editor
18 February 2021· thesaint.scot EVENtS 21 4 53 2 1Chinese WorkshopNY FitnessBALLADSClass
BEN ALDERTON
of over 300,000 means that, if main tained, the vast majority of the UK population will have been immunised by the summer. And with the efficacy of the Novavax vaccine confirmed, the
Summer 2021: Festival Fever or Lockdown Likeness? eventsmusicRecent in New Zealand have been a source andexcitementofjealousy
As part of the RAG week events, the Chinese Hong pao Society is running a crafts workshop. Atendees will make their own Chinese New Year crafts and all you need is scissors and a piece of red paper.
is free. Platform: TBD More information: Disabled Students Network Face book
February 20th, 14:00 GMT
sensational, as their first opportunity to flex long-stored unreleased tracks and dubplates to bass-deprived fans. Proceedings in New Zealand are a world away at the moment. But the “Virgin Money Arena” event in Sep tember 2020 proved that live music events can go ahead, at scale, and with appropriate social distancing. The organisers just need courage and, one could argue, the audience need a bit of courage too, though of a different sort: ticket holders were required to stand in metal pens of 6 people, 2 metres apart. Nonetheless the Arena, which saw performanc es from Chase & Status, The Hunna, Patrick Topping, and Alfie Boe, re ceived rave reviews. While spectators inevitably missed the mosh pits and crowd surfers that characterise British
Platform: Zoom
Application for Drag Walk 2021 are now open. There are three contests: Fashion Design, Lip-Sync Battle, and SubmitionsMake-up.willbe posted on Saints LGBT+’s profiles for the week of Queerfest. Applications close May 5th.
“ “
Entry
BALLADS, the Ballroom Latin Dance hosting stamina,
Online Events This Week
Women in Work are run ning a panel discussing ca reers post-St Andrews. The panel will include women from different fields, including alumni. There will be top tips on how to create a competitive application and ways to se cure your dream career
A Ticket to Boomtown Festival 2021 was at the top of my Christmas list this year. Instead, I got a national lockdown. To make matters (much) worse, Glastonbury festival, the largest music event in the UK, was cancelled for a second year running. Once again, I could feel the promise of a “normal” summer growing dis tant as my plans disintegrated before my eyes. Glastonbury has become an iconic (albeit very muddy) expe rience for students, and indeed all age groups, across the country. Its loss has inspired countless articles tapping into anxieties about whether life will ever be normal again – and whether fun may actually return at some point before we start drawing our retirement pen sions. The BBC, for example, was nota bly downbeat in its assessment. They warned that festi val-goers shouldn’t get their hopes up this year: uncer tainty surrounding vaccine efficacy could mean that social distancing measures remain in place long after everyone receives their jab. Moreover, Dr Forrester-Soto, a virologist at Keele University has said it is wrong, even dangerous, to as sume that summer festivals will be saf er because they are outside. People will nevertheless be crowded together, singing loudly and therefore expel ling more potentially infectious air out of their lungs. The cancellation came as coronavirus-related deaths
in the UK passed 100,000. Boris John son’s recent announcements have stamped out any traces of optimism that our lives may return to nor mal this semester. Indeed, this term will most likely see our calendars as empty as their predecessors. But, are there grounds for optimism? Or will summer 2021 fall prey to the lock down monotony that plagued 2020. In another corner of the Corporation, journalists were confident that music festivals this summer are still a very real possibility (I know the BBC is meant to observe balance in all things, but this extreme dichotomy borders on the hopelessly indecisive.) It was Glastonbury’s sheer scale, they ar gued, that forced it to cancel early: it takes several months to get the citysized site ready. By contrast, smaller city-centred festivals with no camp ing like TRNSMT and SW4 take mere days to set up and therefore stand a much stronger chance of going ahead. But, regard less of size, live mu sic events will need a
February 20th, 13:00 GMT
February 20th, 19:00 GMT
Disabled Students’ Network is hosing talks on mental health. The talks will share the experiences of creators and advocates with the goal of lessening the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental health
Let’s CareersTalk Stop Stigmathe Drag ApplicationsWalk
February 25th, 18:00 GMT
Finally, the Government has launched a £1.6bn Culture Recovery Fund which some of Glastonbury’s smaller siblings – Womad, End of the Road and Nozstock – have already successfully accessed, so life can be breathed back into this vital sector as soon as the eye of the current storm passes. And the Government is also under increasing pressure to sort out the madness of the insurance sector, whose ambivalence about support ing a cultural revival has been, well, pretty shaming. Given the long lead times for securing venues at scale and booking top acts, we can only hope all these people in positions of author ity get their act together. And fast.
More information: Women in Work Facebook
free Platform: Facebook More BALLADSinformation:Facebook
More information: Saints LGBT+
Submissions: Saints LGBT+ Facebook, Instagram, and
Society, are
SprattAnniePhoto:
strength, and stretches, etc.
music events they seemed truly de lighted to be able to see their favour ite artists performing live once more.
Attendance
The
and
Deputy Events Editor
Thebacktomism,groundsprovidestionNHSTheedcoronavirus-relattofestivalslifelinevideThisinsuranceCOVID-19comprehensiverelatedscheme.wouldprothecrucialtoBritishstrugglinginsureagainstcancellations.rolloutofthevaccinaprogrammefurtherforoptipromisingmapourroutetonormality.daily“jabrate”
March 5th
dance fitness classes. The classes are suit able for all levels. The focus is on
Attendance is free.
Attendance is
With not a green-screen in sight, The Dig takes place among the rolling grasslands of Suffolk’s countryside, a natural arena left to speak for itself through beautifully understated wide shots. It is a seemingly formless, age less backdrop perfectly suited to a film in exploration of human imperma nence through the ages. The unassum ing hills embody the endearingly hum ble, stoical nature of its protagonist, Basil Brown, who does not seek status and has little time for frivolous social etiquette. He shares an intimate un derstanding of the land and can locate soil’s origin in the region simply by its taste, a relationship presented visually at one point as he literally finds him self immersed in the soil following a mound collapse.
EMILIA BRYANT Deputy Arts & Culture Editor
moments of brilliant under statement which have drawn criticism for the contrastingly clumsy portrayal of Peggy and Rory’s relationship, add ed seemingly for the sake of an inev itable love interest. I don’t disagree with this, however in a film which em phasises the transience of life and the passions which make it worth living, it doesn’t seem to me completely out of order that a young love story could flourish in the midst.
of hand-written letters, and murmur ing about how to go about drinking champagne so as to fit in at a garden
For any of us having grown up in Southern England, Sutton Hoo brings flashbacks to rainy primary school trips spent trudging through muddy, unremarkable hills. A decade later, following its starring role in The Dig, I realise this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
artS & CulturE
Editor: Milo Farragher-Hanks
@thesaintonline
The threat of impermanence here is met with the hope of mutual human ity which unites the past and present and gives meaning to the time sep arating them. Edith recalls Howard Carter’s account of an ancient yet per fectly preserved human fingerprint in Tutankhamun’s tomb, as if “time has lost its meaning”. Just as Basil is un covered from the collapsed mound of earth like the Anglo-Saxons beneath him, the past intrudes on the present through the common humanity shared by us and those who came before us;
The new Netflix release focuses on the excavation of the famous Sutton Hoo treasure, based on the novel of the same name and the historical events which inspired it. It follows as Edith Pret ty (Carey Mulligan) hires self-taught archaeologist Basil Brown (Ralph Fi ennes) to excavate burial mounds on her property, a project which serves as a catalyst for the unfolding emotional drama. Its style is refreshingly subtle, the beauty of its characters and land scapes found in their understatement, and the subject lends itself to the issues of mortality and transience explored in the film. A careful effort has been put into its authenticity, even down to the local Suffolk band playing in one party scene, the hiring of Suffolk-born actors’ assistants, and the dialect coach who painstakingly honed the actors’ accent away from the generic west-country lilt of less careful films.
At its finest points, the film demon strates the passion of its characters without explicitly spelling it out. We see Edith silently grieving at her hus band’s grave, a monogrammed suit case under the bed, and hints of the dutiful sacrifice she has made for her ill father. Similarly, the underplayed af fection between Basil and his long-suf fering wife is shown by the smallest touches on one another’s arms, stacks
party.Itisthese
thesaint.scot/culture
we learn that the ‘dark ages’ were not so dark after all. Humanity which tran scends time is reflected in Rory’s pho tography, which in capturing the past drives the drama of his relationship with Peggy in the present, and in Rob
ert Pretty’s make-believe games which flit between the past, present, and future, seen most beautifully as the family plays together in the excavated remains of the burial-boat one evening. The fact that the film was made at all is testament to the work that has been done in uncovering and remembering the life and works of Edith and Bas il—figures who, until now, had been largely forgotten. Therefore, although Basil faces the reality that “I won’t even be a footnote” and we learn that Edith never lived long enough to see her public exhibition open, the film is not a tragedy. Instead, it answers its own existential dilemma by acting as an artifact of remembrance. The film serves the same purpose as the dig it self in showing us that this strand of humanity will be remembered, even if it has to be uncovered years later.
Its style understatement.foundlandscapescharactersbeautysubtle,refreshinglyistheofitsandintheir
arts@thesaint.scot
in the background as military planes and radio broadcasts cast the looming shadow of WWII on the characters’ fu ture, after which the dig will be forced to stop. Each character faces mortality in their turn: future pilot, Rory at a fa tal plane crash on the site, Edith in the deterioration of her physical health, and Basil in his near-death experience in the mound collapse.
‘The Dig’: A Review
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Deputy Editors: Sairaa Bains, Emilia Bryant, Paola Córdova, Addie Crosby, Mairi Alice Dun and Amelia Perry
Although The Dig lacks a clear sense of peril to overcome, its dramatic tension comes from the broader, unavoidable threat of mortality itself. The characters are not faced with external opposition to the dig, but rather the transience of their own lives which the human re mains represent. This reminder lurks
On the exterior panel of Jan Gossaert’s Carondelet Diptych (1517), the artist was kind enough to spell this out for us the viewer on a painted slip of paper above a skull with a dislocated jaw. It
Sadly, England during the Regency Period was a profoundly rac ist time where horrific colonialist atrocities were being commit ted across the world by the British Empire. Some say that by eras ing these truths from historical dramas, it plays into the nar rative of glossing over history’s details to make it more palatable to wider au diences.Onthe other hand, the show has re ceived praise because BAME people have often been racially stereotyped or ignored by period dramas such as The Crown or Downton Abbey. It has
reads: “He who thinks always of death can easily scorn all things.”
Firstly, many have argued that if Bridg
Despite this, I enjoyed watching the show regardless of the genre. Hopeful ly, the second season of Bridgerton will bring more clarity—and also more love ly multicoloured gowns.
ual decay. These symbols range from clocks, sundials, and hourglasses to recently extinguished or almost burnt out candles. Yes, they often contain the basic fruit and flower medley as well, but only because those two substanc es rot and wither so fast. Hasn’t your mother ever told you not to pick a flow er because as soon as you do it is dy ing? Well, consider yourself and your lifeforce the flower in this symbolism. The memento mori still life was made most popular in the 17th century, when the popular religious belief was that life on earth was merely a prepa ration for the afterlife. Picasso and oth
In a memento mori painting one will almost always find a still life rendition of a skull of some kind, not always hu man, surrounded by other symbols al luding to the passage of time and grad
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot artS aNd CulturE 23
Indeed, despite being the current most-
NIAMH YATES Deputy Features Editor
I am in no way trying to urge my readers to shun their possessions and contemplate nihilism until they’re empty inside. I merely mean to shed a new light on still life paintings, and perhaps convince you of their con tinued relevance in today’s climate.
Yes, dearest reader, I am going to go so far as to make the argument that one can view still lives with a renewed ap preciation these days. For the still life subject matter goes further than simply flowers and fruits. Its close cousins (or sub-categories even): memento mori and vanitas paintings explore themes of mortality and the worthlessness of earthly pleasures. Both issues of angst that I believe the modern uni student can very well relate to in the midst of a global pandemic and lockdown num ber three.
Memento Mori
Vanitas Paintings
watched Netflix original TV show of all time, Bridgerton has received criticism. The criticism is often centred around its historical accuracy, particularly when it comes to race. The show por trays BAME people as members of the British nobility which is unheard of in most costume dramas and has led to both commendations and confusion.
That inscription brings us nicely to the vanitas painting. I find it easiest to differentiate the two sub-genres by re ferring back somewhat to the rules one uses to differentiate between the rec tangle and the square in geometry: all vanitas are memento mori, but not all memento mori paintings are vanitas. I only mean to say that vanitas paint ings always refer to the fleeting nature of human life, but also to the vanity of worldly possessions. Another religious ideal, the vanitas still life was first in
Sound familiar?
MAIRI ALICE DUN Deputy Arts & Culture Editor
Still life paintings. Fruits and flowers on tables. Skulls, hourglasses, and books carefully posed and intricately and skillfully painted. No movement, no change, no life. Boring, you think, what is the point of someone dedicat ing so much time and energy to such a monotonous result? There is a reason they are placed at the very bottom of the French Academy’s hierarchy for genres of art after all. These paintings are classified by their lack of excite ment and life.
er more modern artists explored this genre as well, so perhaps an obsession with our own death is not an intrinsi cally religious topic. Memento mori artists often blurred the line of defi nition between themselves and their cousin the vanitas painting, often aim ing to shame those who wished their images to be immortalized in portraits by reminding them that their faces will eventually decay and leave only bones.
spired by the Bible in the opening lines of the Book of Ecclesiastes: “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Symbols like skulls and smoking candles abound, but also musical instruments, books, wine, scientific objects, and sometimes even paintings to remind the viewer of their worthlessness. One master ful vanitas still life painting is Pieter Boel’s Allegory of Worldly Life (1663).
The work condemns the grandiose ornamentation of Baroque art by por traying many beautiful objects, such as a gilded parade helmet, tiaras for a king and a pope, all sitting on top and around a sarcophagus in a cathedral that appears to be on the verge of col lapse and ruin. The eye is drawn up wards on this pile of splendor to a skull with a crown of laurel leaves, pointing to both the inevitability of death and the futility of war, art, and other earth ly achievements. In the end, death con quers all, and this painting is trying to show how only the church can save you from meaninglessness.
Stilled Lives The Art of Doing Nothing
‘Bridgerton” — Fact or Fiction?
erton is a period drama as it says, it should be as historically accurate as possible and the series fails to do this.
Literally meaning “remember you must die” in Latin, these macabre piec es confer the fragile state of mortality.
Bridgerton, I was transported into a fantasy of exuberant parties, live ly multicoloured gowns, beautiful peo ple and dramatic gossip—a welcome escape from the reality of COVID-19 Britain. I found the show enjoyable, though at times it was unclear quite what it was attempting to be.
also been argued that Bridgerton is in tentionally historically inaccurate—as indicated by the orchestral reworkings of Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish songs on the soundtrack. It depicts an alterna tive history of a more accepting Britain where BAME people can be members of the traditional aristocracy. That is part of what makes the show so alluring as it is a contemporary take on history. I believe that here lies the problem with Bridgerton. The series has not decided whether it is trying to portray fact or fic tion which has appeared wishy-washy. It, at times, alludes to past divisions on race as Lady Danbury suggests Britain was “two separate societies, divided by colour until a king fell in love with one of us.” Following this, there was no further explanation of these racial divi sions which somewhat took away from the alternative history aspect. It would have been excellent to understand what took place, how the world changed and
Like so many others, I watched the shiny new Netflix period drama Brid gerton over the winter break. Based on the first of Julia Quinn’s hit romance novels, the series depicts the eldest siblings of the aristocratic Bridgerton family’s attempts to find love during the Regency Period in England, large ly focussed on the romance between Daphne Bridgerton and Simon, Duke ofDuringHastings.
It is, of course, evident throughout the show that it took inspiration from the Regency Period. The use of ‘ye olde’ language, outfits loosely based on the period and of course, King (in name only) George III and particularly Queen Charlotte featuring as characters in the show suggest this. The scandal of a woman being pregnant before mar riage, LGBT romances or a wealthy heir dating a commoner also add to the historic theme. Sadly, these things only heighten the conflict between fact and fiction to me. The show is trying to kick back against traditional genres but is confusing by keeping some historical accuracies, but discarding others.
how this affected the characters.
Personally, I believe that the power of art in all its forms transcends time and thus mortality. After all, if monotony is something that can be made beautiful, then maybe we all can find some art in the humdrummity of our lives which have (temporarily) been stilled.
ing Anna Delvey as she conned half of New York into believing she was a member of high society. Partially dramatized, this is a gentle introduc tion into true crime.
This description of the wallpaper re-em phasizes the fact that the writer does not expect the reader to visualize the pat terns as much as the layered meaning behind it. While talking about her dis turbed state, Jane also refers to another woman who is supposedly living in the wallpaper. At the same time, the longer she stares at the wallpaper, the more the woman seems to change shape and take
Why Does Confinement Look Yellow?
only within the physical constraints of her room but also the patriarchal ide ologies in society. As a result, Jane feels herself forming a connection with her bedroom walls and even tries to tear this wallpaper to free the woman she sees or even imagines. The destruction of this wallpaper is a moment where the protagonist sees herself in the wall
SAIRAA BAINS Deputy Arts & Culture Editor
It’s hard for the reader to imagine this wallpaper since it’s described as a living person with patterns that commit “sui cide” and create “outrageous angles.”
A Review of ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’
started. In the Victorian Era, women were expected to take a hiatus from life indulging in no activity that could stim ulate their senses. This was known as a ‘rest-cure’ which was the required treat ment for women who were diagnosed as suffering from a hysterical fit or nerv ous condition. The Yellow Wallpaper is a reflection on this misdiagnosis whose cure directly aligns with ‘caging’ a hu man almost. The woman at the heart of this story is a product of her surround ings and her lack of self-expression and opinion highlights the oppression she is under. Both her husband’s ideas of repression and silence as a healing practice further strengthens her dis taste for the “repellant, almost revolt ing” pattern of the yellow wallpaper.
It seems also in part to be due to the fact that it makes us feel better about the current situation—yes, okay, we might be forced to stay in our houses with very little to do for the foreseea ble future, but at least we’re in no way involved in the events that we see un folding before us in a documentary. Whichever way you look at it, that’s a silver lining, albeit a fairly small one.
But the act of being in lockdown it self seems also to play a part of it. The requirement to stay inside wherever possible means that we’re facing fewer external threats than usual. We can’t be approached at a bus stop by a sketchy stranger, which makes exploring the genre from the comfort of our own so fas feel safer and the events that we see seem much more unlikely and further removed from reality.
The pattern and design of the wallpa per are described as creating an “artistic sin” with indefinite lines and curves.
long, meaning that as the title sug gests, it goes perfectly with your first cup of coffee.
paper, and tries to break free. These attempts at freedom are stopped short when her mental state is questioned or used to compensate for her behaviour. The yellow wallpaper and its descrip tion is confusing on the surface but when you really delve into it, you find that the confusion takes on meaning leading to a somewhat unexpected end. At the end of the story, much remains open to interpretation. It’s hard to say whether the woman in the wallpaper was conjured up by Jane’s imagina tion or if she was describing herself all along. The description that Jane pro vides could also signify her troubled headspace as a result of being subju gated on such a level. It’s almost as if she has become a part of the yellow wallpaper that she found so constrain ing. If Jane had really been living inside the wallpaper, she is nothing more than a decorative ornament. She is the wallpaper that merely covers the walls and is pushed onto the background by societal stereotypes. This can be equat ed with several customs in society that impose a particular form of behaviour onto males and females. In that sense, every person is trapped and confined within the ideals laid out by their par ticular religion, nation and society.
There is probably a reason why Oscar Wilde’s last words were: “My wall paper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us have to go.” The wallpaper survived, yet its dangerous influence remained. This certainly makes you wonder—how can a design on a wallpaper become so oppressive to the eye? Why are we so influenced by the colours and textures on our walls? What is it that paints our thoughts, emotions and desires? The Yel low Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gil man answers some of these questions making the reader reflect upon the sym bolism underlying a domestic object as basic and simplistic as a wallpaper.
True Crime: Why We Love to Watch It
It is by no means a new genre, and I am in no way unique for finding it so absorbing, but true crime stories, par ticularly those that focus on murders and serial killers, seem to have grown more and more popular in recent years.
1. My Favourite Murder (2018–)
Whether it’s the odd late-night episode of Making a Murderer when nothing else seems appealing, you binge-watched The Serpent, or you counted down the days until The Ripper was released on Netflix last year, it seems that as a na tion we’re all partial to a good crime documentary. But what about a true crime podcast? As someone who finds the psychology behind it all particularly fascinating, here are my top three:
Each day, Korina takes us through the complexities of a case that hap pened on that date in history. The average episode is only ten minutes
It is undoubtedly a macabre fascination, and while it can at times be uncomfort able, it’s also incredibly addictive. But Britain’s obsession with true crime, however, seems to have grown expo nentially during the pandemic – so what is it that makes true crime so com pelling during a national crisis?
2. The Fake Heiress (2019)
Radio 4’s Vicky Baker and Chloe Moss explore the scandal surround
3. Morning Cup of Murder (2020–)
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot24 artS aNd CulturE
There’s a sense of comfort in telling yourself that you’d know what to do if you found yourself in such a situation or in some cases a sense of pride that you’d trust yourself not to go home with a serial killer, or that you’d spot a criminal from a mile away.
Next is the sense of guilty relief, the schadenfreude, that comes with the feeling of having dodged a bullet. Take the example of Curtis Straughter, who was approached by Jeffrey Dahmer whilst waiting at a bus stop, some thing that millions of people do on a daily basis. Statistically, it could have happened to any one of those people. There’s an oddly comforting feeling of having cheated the system or escaped death in some way. And finally, there’s the phenomenon of the negativity bias, an evolutionary mechanism by which we give more weight to negative ex periences in our memories, which af
fects our actions going forward. Thus, true crime satisfies this bias by giving us negative experiences to process, all while providing us a safe way to ex plore the dark sides of human nature and confronting our fears.
For a start, there’s the scope for psy chological analysis, which for once, we have time for with all the extra time at home. We’re an empathetic species, which is exactly what drives us to try to understand the complexities of a case. Audiences enjoy trying to pin down exactly what motivates a killer, and the satisfaction of finding the an swer is unparalleled. There’s a reas suring element to this, too. If you are able to put your finger on what went wrong, what marks them out as differ
While referring to the pattern of the wallpaper Jane directly draws a comparison with her own being. This is evident when the protagonist
If you are a true crime aficionado, chances are you’re familiar with this one. Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff talk you through the facts of their favourite murder cases as well as hosting “minisodes” dedicated to crimes that take place in their fans’ hometowns, providing a healthy dose of comedy along the way.
ent, and what ultimately drove them to commit a crime (or several), you can comfort yourself that you are not the same as them, that nothing in your past could lead you to the same end. True crime prepares us for the most dreadful eventualities imaginable.
AMELIA PERRY Deputy Arts & Culture Editor
Throughout the story Jane, the pro tagonist, is describing her relationship with her husband and the confines of her room. Even though Virginia Woolf believed in women having a room of their own in which to write, the room in The Yellow Wallpaper was made wholly for reasons of suppression. This is the background of Jane’s story where she is not only constricted by the limitations of a patriarchal society but also that of rigid gender roles and expectations. It can be said that this is where the notions of females being overly emotional, dra matic and sensitive could possibly have
Content warning: article contains references to violent crime
proper form. For all we know, Jane’s troubled thoughts could have stemmed from the wallpaper itself. In this sense, the wallpaper is oppressive both on the exterior and interior. It holds a trapped woman while also surrounding the headspace of another woman who is imprisoned inside the room. There’s a sense of being boxed in and bound not
says, “There are things in that paper that nobody knows but me, or ever will”—it can also be understood as her own idio syncratic qualities that are left concealed and unseen. She is herself a storehouse of thoughts, ideas and emotions that she has been unable to put on paper or ex press in any form. In this way, The Yellow Wallpaper becomes a commentary on the art of writing itself which wasn’t easy to come by for many women. It is iron ic that the process of writing is talked about as a form of healing or relief that is extremely cathartic, but society viewed it is as a form of mental illness for wom en at the time. When you read this sto ry, you can’t help but become aware of this small act of defiance which is seen when the protagonist pens down the story we read. Even though she knows that her husband, John doesn’t like the idea of her writing, she still writes as a form of liberation or escape. Here, the husband can be linked directly to an au thoritarian or fascist regime where press freedom is repressed and voices of both the people and media are censored. The comparison between a woman being treated like she is mentally unstable for writing and journalists being thrown into prison for speaking the truth has an uncanny resemblance. In The Yellow Wallpaper itself, repression takes the form of confinement in the guise of a medical cure that does nothing but si lence the protagonist’s self-expression.
While there’s a certain inexplicable thrill that comes from watching suc cessful professional adults—fictional ones that is—make terrible choices, another more convincing pos sibility is that these shows are appealing be cause they are, in fact, nothing like the reality of most of our day-to-day lives. Baiting the view er with a touch of relatability (tem peramental boss es, long hours,) these series are markedly glamorous in styling and lavish in their presenta tion of wealth. They are also a far cry from British and American office com edies like The Office(s), a phenomenon which, had that particular dead horse not already been thoroughly flogged, I might endeavor to unpack. Call My Agent and Love and Anarchy are, respec tively, set in a Parisian talent agency and a Stockholm publishing house. Characters dress impeccably, have complicated and illicit entanglements with their co-workers and clients, and frequent grand parties.
So the dull pain you feel from reading or watching Connell and Marianne’s story comes from understanding from a fundamentally human viewpoint that their suffering is valid and legit imate. Even though we have not all experienced an exact replica of their relationship, Rooney does an excellent job at building her characters to be more realistic and relatable than most two dimensional tropes in narrative fiction. Marianne’s masochism strikes a chord with us, as does Connell’s depression and constant loneliness.
The worst part, however, is seeing their situationship and briefly re membering situationships past, or perhaps one that you just can’t shake no matter how circumstances change. A generation with an aversion to commitment, mummy and daddy issues galore, and zero obligation to one another in the post-apoc alyptic mess we call 20082021, we all share the plight of wanting to be wanted so badly, we stick around each other in hopes that we have what Connell and Mari anne do. We tell ourselves lies about the way that the people with whom we have a situationship think about us—that they are not in a relation ship with us because they cannot be. We romanticize takeaway pizzas and days spent indoors with no addition al company because we want a love story that transcends the traditional dating narrative before we have seri ous relationships of our own. We want the tortured romance between two friends (who really aren’t just friends), and we want it to end happily for us.
It would, I think, be natural to assume that most well-adjusted people prefer to spend their leisure time consum ing media which does not reflect the unpleasant practicalities, obligations, and encounters of life. So, what could it possibly say about us that the con verse is also true? Are we to accept the death of the imagination? Is the future of popular culture predicated on mas ochistic humour and a preoccupation with the mundane?
For one who has, from an admitted place of privilege, long regarded the theoretical monotony of unfulfilling office jobs as a sub-genre of horror, I have of late derived far too much en joyment from workplace dramedies. I speak of two in particular: Call My Agent (originally Dix Pour Cent) and Love and Anarchy
dealing with the grown-up version of the same genre? Perhaps. To the imagined viewer, the microcosm of both programs is simultaneously fa miliar and unfamiliar, the very combina tion that lends itself so well to enabling escapism. Reality is dynamic and the unique careers depicted are often as un predictable and exciting as the personal storylines which develop with them. Of course, it’s pessimistic and unfair of me to suggest that the general populace unanimously hate their jobs (a general isation I happily know to be false,) and that these programs are appealing only in the contrast that they provide to view er reality. However, it is the romantici sation, if not the eroticisation, of work which subverts expectations, providing the element of fantasy viewers crave, and with it, the possibility of escape from the menial and every day. Rather than putting the fantastical and the quo tidian at opposite ends of the narrative spectrum, it seems more pertinent to be aware of an immense potential for over lap, and the appeal of fiction that seems, at times, almost within reach.
to be together, it’s just that they can’t be together. The timing is all off with them, but we remain convinced that they are each other’s “person” and Sally Rooney does absolutely nothing to show us otherwise. When they do not end up with each other, we re main hopeful (especially as the book is so ambiguous) that the saying “right person wrong time” is true for them.
Situationships, Students, and ‘Normal People’
ADDIE CROSBY Deputy Arts & Culture Editor
Sally Rooney broke all of our hearts with the ending of Normal People, be it if you watched the BBC special or read the book (as I did). We see two people in a will-they-won’t-they scenario that drags on for years and years, only to find out—you guessed it—they don’t. The ending is heart-breaking with out being earth shattering, hell, I for one, saw it coming. The book doesn’t even end with a tearful kiss goodbye between Connell and Marianne (the aforementioned protagonists). It ends with her nonchalantly telling him to pursue his dreams in New York away from her in Dublin while they sit side by side on their shared bed.
other they do without ever really tak ing any liberties, and sometimes they pretend that they’re not, to spare the other pain. When one of them starts dating someone else seriously, the oth er stays around like an immortal fruit fly, waiting for something to happen before they can do anything about it without claiming jealousy. Think Carrie and Big from Sex and the City Now, being a university student, it’s almost a rule of thumb you come across one of these. You meet at a party (RIP to all our social lives) or on a dating app (RIP our love lives) or they’re a friend of a friend, or you encounter them simply by pure chance, and you hit it off almost immediately. There’s an amazing sense of chemistry, you read the same books and like the same music, you share a similar background and excitedly con nect with one another. You start ditch ing your friends to hang out with each other and beam when you receive a text message from them. You listen to the music they send you and read the terri ble poetry they write you (or simply lis ten to them recite Allen Ginsberg until
If you don’t know exactly what a sit uationship is, it can most easily be de scribed to you by looking to the people you know who are “talking” or “chat ting” with someone and have been for months. Maybe (almost always, really) they are having sex, cuddling with each other into the night, sometimes even kissing in front of other people. They are not dating formally and will make a point to tell everyone that. But then they also spend hours together several times a week for months on end. They text constantly and speak of each other fondly, but tell each other they “really just don’t want anything serious at the moment.” Sometimes, they see other people, and sometimes they tell each
18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot artS aNd CulturE 25
Seeing the protagonists of Normal People not even get a shot at that hap py ending maybe hits us extra hard because we as an audience almost got exactly what we wanted, even though we might have subconsciously known we weren’t going to have it anyway. We let our hearts race in our chests as Connell asks Marianne to ask him to stay, expecting her to do something different to what they have done to each other throughout the novel. When she tells him to go, it’s almost like we received the crushing reality of our own situationships handed to us after ripping out our racing hearts.
of what makes the show compelling. Showcased are careers characterised by variety and unpredictability, and all four seasons are as delightfully hilari ous as they are moving and manic. As both shows deal with the practical, managerial side of creative industries, similarities abound: the creation of Love and Anarchy is likely a testament to the success of its predecessor Call My Agent, from which it undoubtedly draws. The eight-episode first season was released in 2020, and follows Sophie, who joins a prominent publishing house as a con suwwltant, set against the backdrop of a difficult relationship with her hus band, their children, and her father’s struggle with mental illness. Over the course of the show, Sophie develops a relationship with Max, a young intern at the company, through a perverse set of challenges they invent for each other.
In many ways, both Max and her ‘rad ical’ socialist father represent liberation from the constraints of the ideal life she has built, and an antidote to her disillu sionment.Anecessary comparison is to be made between these series and the similarly popular category of school-based mov ies and TV. We can identify with the pivotal mo ments central to coming of age sto ries, but such tales are infused with enough intrigue and melodrama to make reliving the Arecencepartsuncomfortableofadolesworthwhile.wesimply
Workplace Comedy, European Style
PAOLA CÓRDOVA Deputy Arts & Culture Editor
your ears bleed) and in doe eyed naïveté you respond with feigned amazement hoping to elicit a positive response. You daydream about the romantic moments you share with one another and those marathon make out sessions that make your head spin in circles. This is all un til one of you starts to wonder whether what’s happening is serious because you haven’t had that “define the rela tionship” talk, but you’re almost too afraid to ask and hear the wrong thing.
In each episode of Call My Agent, which has just released its fourth and final season, a well-known French ac tor guest stars as a version of themself, with appearances from some of the most eminent personages in French cinema; this last season features the likes of Charlotte Gainsbourg and José Garcia. The self-satirising whims of these cameo actors and the chaos they inspire (resulting predicaments solved, of course, by their agents) is at the heart
When you read Normal People, per haps what is most evident throughout is that Marianne and Connell will al ways choose each other when it comes down to it. They will not even contest or consider their options if the other calls them to their side. They are mag netically attached, so perfect for each other that the idea of them being apart is ludicrous—even within their own minds. With them, there are no games, just tortured silences that keep them from being together. Mishaps in com munication reoccur throughout their time apart. It is not that they don’t want
A few pages before, we finally get the two on a balanced social stand ing with each other, holding the same amount of power, and, at long last, in an official relationship after four years of pining for one another. Then it falls apart before our eyes on that final note of ambiguity. Even though I expected it, I felt robbed. I felt robbed of the happiness I wanted for Connell and Marianne. My heart ached whenever they missed opportunities to come together, only to end up with someone who would never measure up to their true object of affection (that is, each other). The missed opportunities, the unspoken words, the deep seated hatred of themselves that prevented them from being with one another fully—it all felt so familiar in the vaguest way possible. What I mean by that is that it creeps up on you—the realisation that the nagging feeling that comes upon you during the rocky trajectory of their love story (if you can really even call it one) comes from the universal pain in the ass we like to call situationships
But what actually happened? Reddit day traders (amateur day traders), who connect through WallStreetBets,
A Simplified Overview of Non-Fungible Tokens
IGNACIO UGALDE Deputy Editor
also sold at extraordinary prices such as the rare Pepe cards, or Lil Yachty's exclusive content.
#3 The Musk effect: Tweets by Elon Musk fire up Bitcoin, Shopify and CD #4Projekt.Hyundai, Kia shares tumble after automakers say they’re not in talks with Apple to develop a car: Shares of Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors fell 4.41% and 11.82% respectively during Monday trade. In regulatory filings on Monday, both companies said they were not in talks with Apple to devel op a car.
The GameStop and Mevlin Capital for both
opportuniartTheFiascocryptocreatesties
It is not clear, however, that either of these is true. In the case of the for mer, it could be argued, with differing levels of success, that WallStreetBets served as a platform for the sharing of a piece of publicly available informa tion (this being which stocks had been significantly shorted by hedge funds) and based on which each Reddit day trader (without assurance of the ac tions to be taken by others) acted. On the other hand, the complex function ing of Reddit and its legal obligations (such as possession of a required ratio of the value of transactions in cash) could potentially explain the decision to halt further long positions in the security.Eventhough the short squeezes have concluded, the debate on the legality of the actions of both Reddit day trad ers and the financial trading platforms has not disappeared, nor have the nu merous questions which lawmakers and financial regulators will have to answer in the near future, for the bat tle between Reddit and Wall Street does not seem to have ceased.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced museums and art galleries to close which caused a considerable decline in artists’ revenues and employment, pushing them to seek new opportuni ties. The growing use of blockchain, both as subject and tool, allowed artists, collectors, and crypto-enthu siasts to revitalize a formerly technol ogy reluctant market with non-fungi blesDistinguishabletokens. digital assets is sued in Ethereum (EC-721), NFTs are characterized by unique features and hence not interchangeable. The decentralized platform values the tokens by preventing changes to the data thus preserving ownership rights and authenticity of the original artwork. Due to their many advanadvantages, experts predict that NFTs
This phenomenon of collective in vestment, possible in theory but disre garded in practice (until now), posits
money@thesaint.scotthesaint.scot/money @thesaintsta
have been sharing information on and targeting stocks largely shorted by hedge funds to bid up their prices and undermine the latter’s financial positions. Since Tuesday last week, GameStop shares (GME) have been bid up to unprecedented levels (with a 146.78% price increase), just to plummet subsequently as the short squeeze clarified. This, however, did not lack consequences: it led Melvin Capital (a $13bn hedge fund), among others, to close its short position with considerable losses. Once the com mitment and impact of Reddit day traders had been made clear, one of the main trading platforms this group used (Robinhood) suspended trading by disabling users from tak ing further long positions and caus ing robust backlash. Other stocks targeted in the same fashion includ ed BlackBerry Limited (BB), AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC), Nokia Corporation Sponsored (NOK), and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY), although these did not experience price fluctuations as high as GME.
One of the fascinating aspects of these developments is the successful coordination of numerous individuals throughout the world via an internet forum to decide to invest their per sonal income and savings, therefore taking a risky position on a stock with un-ideal financial prospects, driven principally not by personal gain, but by alien loss.
Money Editor: Sanjana Ramaswamy Deputy Editor: Ignacio Ugalde
Firstly, it is important to understand that this was not an isolated episode, but rather one instance of the con tinued battle between Reddit day traders and Wall Street hedge fund investors, which aims not only at en abling positive returns for the former through collective investment in spe cific shares (some form of stock bid ding up) but also at undermining the latter’s’ financial positions in an an ti-establishment spirit. Be their drive a false democratization of financial markets or resentment towards a spe cific group which represents the his torical financial elite, these past events have made one thing clear: Reddit day traders are not here to play.
NFTs ownership grants a digital (sometimes physical) artwork, along with other benefits and new proper ties earned over time, therefore its value can appreciate. For instance, Dazzle, India’s first NFT, lowers ex change fees and provides discounts on some services. NFTs are exchange able without intermediaries and can serve as a speculative store of value, a value based on their rarity and digi tal scarcity ensured by blockchain, as well as social dynamics. Amongst oth ers, social status acquired by the pos session of exclusive items, such as the Rick and Morty NFT Art Collection auctioned for over $1 Million under five-minutes.
digital artists...traditionaland “ “
NFTs offer significant opportunities to both investors and entrepreneurs
across various industries, and just like art, the use of NFTs is only limit ed by imagination.
The Reddit/Wall Street Battle
tages, experts predict that NFTs will take over the whole Ethereum chain as the trading value of art NFTs rose from $2.6 million in November 2020 to $8.2 million in December.
In the aftermath of the GameStop bid up, many people, including un surprisingly those with close ties with hedge funds, have accused the behav iour of Reddit day traders of being a form of (illegal) market manipulation through collusion. Similarly, and to the same level of surprise, those with ties or sympathy towards Reddit day traders have accused the behaviour of Robinhood of being illegal.
The crypto art market creates oppor tunities for both digital and tradition-
Digitisation of Assets: Where Blockchain and Art Meet
#1 Oil Prices Hit Highest Level In A Year On Growth Hopes, OPEC+ Cuts: As oil prices come close to be ing normal as they were in pre-covid times people see a scope of economic growth.
NFTs are highly affected by market volatility. As BTC and ETH recently reached historic highs, the current li quidity will boost NFT investments. On the other hand, easily affected by speculation due to wash trading, price imperfectly reflects the worth of digital artworks as shown by their quality disparity. Fortunately, as col lectorship culture grows, speculators are recognized and isolated, hence stabilizing market prices and their reliability. However, NFTs are weak ly scalable, high transaction fees, and slow transaction time, are accentuated by the fact that each token has its own market.Despite these issues, Crypto art at tests to Ethereum’s potential as a platform to manage intellectual property.
al artists by providing new means of revenue and reducing traditional art market commissions. Artists use NFTs to monetize their work and engage with a larger audience - even without particularly understanding the under lying technology of blockchain. The former has reconsidered artists' com pensation by offering reselling shares to artists to take into account appreci ation. The technology is liberating for some, as it drives a social movement that promotes the democratization of art because individuals of lower financial status can acquire fractional shares of
SALMA BENCHRIFF Staff Writer
The events related to GameStop Corp. shares and Melvin Capital LP which unfolded last week to the astonish ment of some and amusement of oth ers have prompted serious questions regarding the proper functioning of financial markets and the legal and moral concerns of this form of mod ern collective investment. In face of the pace with which these events de veloped, and the flood of information that followed them, I present a sum mary on the main ideas to understand one of the most significant challenges the financial system has faced since the Great Financial Crisis.
ISHIKA AGARWAL Staff Writer
Weekly Financial Wrap Up MoNEy
several doubts to financial market participants, especially its legality.
Anotherartwork.example of a successful NFT, sold at $101,100, is Matt Kane’s “Right Place & Right Time,” which changes daily based on bitcoin price volatility. In addition to the art piece, this productive asset provides the owner with a 21% revenue share ashe piece generates new NFTs previously programmed. Simpler pieces were
#2 US economy suffers worst contrac tion in 74 years as Covid-19 surges: Despite a partial economic rebound in the second half of last year, the economy shrank 3.5 per cent for the whole year of 2020, compared with an increase of 2.2 per cent in 2019, according to the Department. It also marked the first negative annual growth in the US GDP since 2009.
#5 Jeff Bezos stepping down from the CEO of Amazon: Andy Jassy to take over as Amazon’s new CEO while Jeff Bezos to become its executive chair man. Today, Amazon is an e-com merce behemoth with a market value of about $1.7 trillion.
McQuibbanFloIllustration:
Oil Prices, Jeff Bezos, The Musk Effect
PARTH GOYAL Staff Writer
Boom or Bust? The Bitcoin Bubble
30 MoNEy 18 February 2021 · thesaint.scot
Why should you not?
It is open to anyone who owns a smart device, with no restrictions on its use, and much more transparent and secure than corporate banks mak ing it very appealing for the common public who normally finally get the chance to manage their wealth.
The uncertainty brought about by COVID-19 in funding universities, with a £2.5bn national funding “black hole” and a shocking 313,000 fewer home and international students has led to a rush by economists to evalu ate the impacts of universities on the wider economy. A recent study by Midlothian-based Biggar Economics suggested that the University of St Andrews contributes quite signifi cantly to the Scottish economy with over £473 million per year in terms of GDP, supporting 6990 jobs. Looking
more locally, it contributes around £298.3 million throughout the Fife economy supporting 4830 jobs. This goes to show the influence our univer sity has on the wider economy. More importantly, as put by research econo mist Mr Graeme Blackett, “compared to others, St Andrews University has a lot of assets and is one of the Scottish universities that is least reliant on income from the Scottish Funding Council”. Being more self sufficient is good when the economy and the stu dent base is thriving, but when stu dent numbers fall, the income drop is not necessary balanced by the cost falling, leading to struggles in uni versity finances. St Andrews’ status attracts quite a proportionally high international student base, but the lack of it this year has caused a loss of about 25% of the income.
Our Principal, Professor Sally Mapstone, warned that there was a £25 million black hole financially, leading to the requirement of a “range of eff-iciencies” being introduced, such as the furloughing of up to 500 university staff, cancelling of academ
The meteoric rise of Bitcoin is hard to Ignore. Especially since the latest announcement about Tesla’s mas sive $1.5bn investment in the cryp tocurrency. According to this bitcoin reached a new record-breaking high of almost $48000. Everybody is now wondering the same thing: “Should we also invest in bitcoin or not?” Why should you?
COVID-19: The Importance of St Andrews to the Scottish Economy
-ic promotions, but through all this anequally positive promise, com mitting to not seeking compulsory redund-ancies or salary cuts from current staff. This shortage will have an impact on the Scottish economy, but by how much is all dependant on the management and support of the finances of the University. Outside of general economy, St Andrews is also a lead research university and an ex emplar model of an innovator, look ing at Eden Campus as an example of world-leading innovative ambition in the clean energy sector. This also has a long term effect on the economy, lo cally and globally with developments in green technology becoming an in creasingly important driving force in growth, bringing countries closer to help support climate change.
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The praises for its decentralized system and potential to become the framework of our financial institu tion aren't all that genuine in reality. Firstly, bitcoin is the perfect Ponzi money laundering scheme. Since an ybody can buy with no regulation at all, it is very easy to buy bitcoin with black money, and because of how de centralized the system is it is almost impossible to know if a transaction is through legitimate money or not. Secondly, there isn't enough bitcoin to make it available to everyone. With only 21 million available, everyone can't have bitcoin. It is a supply short age issue. In the future when demand for bitcoins grows, and supply de creases, a situation similar to the oil industry could occur, where major bitcoin mining companies monopo lize on the value of bitcoin using the supply shortage. Leading to ripples across the global market when it all comes crashing down.
In totality, it is all simply a big risk, because no one can say for certain, what is going to happen. In the short run due to the momentum bitcoin has, prices may keep increasing even fur ther, however in the long run, there are just too many uncertainties and potential risks to go full-in on bitcoin.
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Technically, bitcoin’s fundamental value is zero, or even negative zero if a carbon tax is applied to its mas sive polluting energy-hogging pro duction. Did you know according to Cambridge University Bitcoin con sumes more electricity than the whole of Argentina? Just because it’s not pa per-based doesn’t mean it’s environ mentally friendly.
as well? The issue with that compari son is that gold’s market cap is north of $12 trn whereas bitcoin’s is only $420 bn. The problem this poses is that bitcoin’s market is small enough to be enough individual investments, an example being Teslas’ $1.5bn dol lar investment. This causes the price of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to be extremely volatile and risky. The cur rent investment surge was primarily triggered by rookie investors who don't necessarily understand the mar ket accurately. In the 2017-2018 crash bitcoin went from $1000 to $20000 and down to $3000 all in a span of a little more than a year.
such a popular investment. Bitcoin is essentially a piece of software. It allows users to trade digital 'coins' which’s worth is determined by how much someone is willing to pay for them. The idea behind it was that us ers would be able to create a 'peer-topeer electronic cash system'. This would be free of middlemen such as banks – it is no coincidence bitcoin sprung up in the depths of the financial crisis when confidence in big banks was at its lowest. With the tum bling dollar and reducing confidence levels in the Central bank, many be-
The reason its intrinsic value is zero is that bitcoin is a non-productive as set, hence investing in it doesn’t mean you are investing in an assets poten tial to generate revenue, rather you are investing in what people believe its value is or could be. Now isn’t gold a non-productive asset
It is important to understand what bitcoin is to comprehend why it’s
lieve that bitcoin is the future for fi nancial transactions, this is becoming even more apparent in the pandemic.
Coronavirus has had an massive impact in Scotland in so many ways - both physical and mental health, changing the way of life and be haviour of individuals day to day, changing people’s employment, and denting the economy as a whole. However, it has also brought to light the importance of universities to the Scottish economy, specifically the University of St Andrews.
Though education and research doesn’t strictly have a profit making motive, it is a substantial social invest ment and its decline would lead to a lot of socio-economic problems — de clining education standards, less de mand for jobs, falling living standards and quality of life, and more.
mentum for bitcoin is being driven by large institutions and groups of pro fessional and amateur investors. Itis being legalized in a sense. Popular Fin-tech companies like Paypal, Robinhood, Square are now allowing purchases and exchanges of the cryp tocurrency. The biggest asset manag ment firm in the world: Black Rock has allocated funds for Bitcoin. Now that Tesla has broken the Ice, it's only a matter of time until we see other ma jor corporations investing in bitcoin. With the growing demand on an indi vidual and institutional level bitcoin is expected to grow even further in the future with predictions as high as a million Anotherdollars.reason for its rise is because in concept unlike a regular currency like the pound, bitcoin isn’t infinite. The Bank of England can always ask the money printers to create more banknotes, if it sees fit, or create a similar effect through its bond-buying programme, however for bitcoin there is a limit, due to way it was created only 21 million of it can be mined out which 18.6 million has already been mined, this scarcity is another reason why in theory the value of bitcoin should never decrease.
What to do?
ENUKA BALASURIYA Staff Writer
With such upside naturally, the demand for Bitcoin has reached the point it has today. Unlike 2017 when the hype was driven by fundamental ly individual investors today the mo-
Chelsea have had their inevitable upturn in performance that so often accompanies a new manager tak ing over a dejected looking squad. Nevertheless, this will prove Tuchel’s biggest challenge so far in his short time in England. In spite of PSG’s shortcomings in last year’s final, Tuchel showed himself to be a tacti cally astute manager and helped the Parisian side overcome a Champions League hoo-doo of exiting the com petition when they really shouldn’t have, even if those efforts weren’t rewarded with a trophy. It’s not nec essarily a free pass for the German, but this will allow him to measure his still new squad against Europe’s best Atletico, meanwhile, will be hoping that the game will go the same way as the last time they played English opposition where they dispatched then reigning champions Liverpool after overturning a 2-0 deficit at Anfield. They currently sit top of La Liga, with a rejuvenated Luis Suarez firing on all cylinders and João Félix proving his worth. Despite their dis appointing exit last season, Simeone’s side can consider themselves fa vourites for the competition which has eluded the club throughout its history and of course twice under their beloved Argentinian manager. Lazio vs Bayern:
As we completed that semester from home, I began to miss the little things about St Andrews that we all love. Walks on the beach, a drink with your mates after a good work day, sitting on the library top floor until 2am; all of these seemed miles away sitting in my room at home, staring at a screen as my tutorial battled through con nection issues trying to discuss the impact of the German Reformation
SAMUEL MITCHINSON Sport Editor
Last March, when I left St Andrews during the midst of this growing pandemic, I certainly didn’t think it would be almost 5 months before I returned. At that time, reports of new cases were still a slight novelty, and the news would qualify deaths with a comforting assertion that the victim had ‘underlying health conditions.’
A Sad Goodbye to University Sport
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It was as a member of a sports team that I learnt the most during my first year at university. I learnt the eternal maxim that ‘you’ve just got to want it’, the importance of regular man scaping, the first class batting aver ages of a huge number of Sri Lankan cricketers, and I certainly learnt my limits. It was a huge chance to meet people outside of my typical social sphere and my course, and a chance to foster some lifelong bonds with people I respect, and with whom I shared a common love. Outside of playing the sport, the social events were the most important dates on my calendar. Yet another chance to meet new people, discuss the past, remon strate on the present, and wonder at the future, even if that future was only an upcoming England Test series.
With the latest news from Sally, it looks like any dreams I had of ever playing sport for this university again are over. Nevertheless, I had two and half years to make and reinforce some incredible friendships, that I know won’t end when my time at universi ty is finished. It’s for this reason that I have nothing but huge sympathy for the huge numbers of new first years who haven’t had the opportunity to do what I could. Back when we took meeting with a friend for granted, one could hardly imagine that it would one day be illegal. I’ve met some of my best friends at university through playing sport, and it saddens me that there is a group of people who’ve been denied this formative experience.
Champion’s League: Round of 16 Preview
Last year’s surprise package in the Champions League sadly hailed from one of Italy’s most affected cities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in Bergamo. After rallying to secure qualification to the last sixteen in their inaugural season to Europe’s top competition, the city was un able to celebrate a historic season for the club. Indeed, they would then go onto reach the quarterfinals after scoring four goals in succes sive games to dispatch Valencia.
Atalanta vs Real Madrid:
For Lazio, they of course go into the tie as underdogs and anything other than a Bayern victory would be a sur prise. The Italian side have spent the last few years in the Europa League. Out with Real Madrid’s unprece dented three Champions League’s though, you have to go back to 1989 and 1990 to find a team that have won consecutive European Cups.
Your first year at university is per haps the greatest step up you will have in life. You’re thrust into a large community amongst people you’ve never met before, faced with four years at a place where you know abso lutely no-one. Perhaps the greatest ad
ADAM ROBERTSON Deputy Sport Editor
Any hopes of a double treble were squandered after a disappointing penalty shoot-out exit to second di vision side Holsten Kiel in the DFBPokal; contract talks with Austrian David Alaba have turned sour with the Austrian looking to leave whilst new signing Leroy Sane has not hit the ground running as one might have expected. Nonetheless, they strolled through their group with out defeat, look likely to retain their title and Robert Lewandowski continues to score for fun.
Of course, not everyone reading this will have a love or appreciation of cricket, or a great desire to get in volved with this specific club. As much as I wish it weren’t true, some people just don’t like cricket. Yet, the advice to get stuck in and meet a community of people who are pas sionate about the same things as you remains the same, regardless of whether it’s a sports team or a society.
However, as we slowly moved to wards summer and the grey haze and rain gave way to blissful warmth and sunshine, I realised what it was that I truly missed most: university sport.
Sport thesaint.scot/sport sport@thesaint.scot@thesaintsta
The reigning champions set such high standards last season when new manager Hans Dieter Flick converted what was on course for a disappoint ing season under Niko Kovac into a historic treble-winning one. Now they fall victim to the same curse as all champions – high standards often become the impossible benchmark which you become measured against rather than a joyous memory at the team you were less than a year ago
Deputy Editors: Rose Annable, Adam Robertson, Daniel Ross Chelsea vs
Sport Editor: Samuel Mitchinson
tie against Manchester City. Perhaps the competition where their legend ary manager has brought them suc cess is being given one final chance to do so before they inevitably get someone else on the merry-go-round. Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Manchester City
Real Madrid, amidst good times and bad, always seem to retain that element of soap opera drama at the club. Zidane, for this writer, is one of the finest managers of the last ten years. Whatever people may say about the squad he inherited; to manage a dressing room of that stature takes some doing.
In what is arguably the pick of this second round of fixtures, Chelsea, now of course under the management of last year’s finalist Thomas Tuchel, will be hoping to fare better than their last meeting against the Spanish side. It was Simeone’s men who prevented Mourinho from a meeting with his old club Real Madrid in the 2014 final.
vice I received before I arrived came from one of my secondary school teachers, who recommended that I “try absolutely everything.” Despite multiple misfires, including a brief period where I thought I was interest ed in Economics, I finally found what I’d been looking for: the University of St Andrews Cricket Club.
Nevertheless, whatever some doomsayers might say, this pandemic won’t last forever. In some ways we’re extremely fortunate that our degree lasts four years, and when this is all finally over, many will finally have the opportunity to get back involved with sport. All I know is that it’s the best decision I made at university, and regardless of what sport you’re interested in or what club you join, whether you’re the next Joe Root or the next Sam Mitchinson, I can only implore you to get as stuck in as possible. You’ve just got to want it.
Consecutive last sixteen exits though will never sit well with a club who pride themselves on their record in this com petition, particularly given that they never really looked like winning last season’s
Chelsea vs Atletico Madrid:
In my case, cricket. Now, I can hardly claim any natural athletic ability – my all-time BUCS batting average of 0 will clearly attest to this fact – yet I couldn’t help feeling a tangible sense of loss as the period of the cricket season came and went. I missed more than the re vitalising effects of outdoor activity, more than the nervous pit in my stom ach as I made my way to the crease, more than the exhilaration upon hearing the crack of ball hitting bat. Most of all, I missed my teammates. The half-hearted chuckles as some one yelled “don’t mind seeing that boys!”, belting out a particularly stirring version of ‘Loch Lomond’, and sitting in Beacon bar discussing the minutiae of club administration. All of it, which I had taken for grant ed in my first two and a half years, was now felt through the void in my life as the final weeks of my third year at university came and went.
Fatigue eventually set in after taking a 1-0 lead against Paris Saint Germain but even then the French side needed two injury-time goals to carry them through. The side have continued to defy expectations this season with a 2-0 victory at Anfieldwho had only lost once in European Competition at home under Klopp up until their arrival. They did of course show their frailties though as Liverpool won 5-0 in the reverse fixture in Italy.
After a shaky start to the season, Pep Guardiola’s side have been in impeccable form in the Premier League and look firmly on course to secure the title for the third time un der the Spaniard. The rejuvenation of a solid defence after the acquisi tion of Rúben Dias and the upturn in fortune of John Stones has seen to that; coupled with the sparkling form of the likes of Phil Foden, City have looked virtually unbeatable. Many won’t be giving the German side much of a look-in here, de spite their navigation through a tough group which included Real Madrid and Serie A challengers Inter Milan. Indeed, it would be a shock and Pep’s side have glided through this stage of the season with relative ease the last three seasons. Regardless, questions persist over Guardiola’s record in the competi tion since joining Manchester City as his side have failed to progress past the quarter finals in spite of their domestic dominance. Often rueing a combination of missed chances and over-complicated tactics, the blue
Anyone who has been paying the slightest attention to the state of the word recently should probably not
The reality is it is a chicken and egg situation. The issue of treatment to
@thesaintsta 25/9/19
who sent death threats to Mike Dean, and previous incidents like this, are conducted by a very small minor ity of supporters. Yet I also know from watching and playing football for the past 10 years that this nar rative of we are all innocent and it is a rotten few that ruin it is farcical. Reflecting on growing up and play ing football I see a clear progression of disregard and disrespect toward referees. This culture toward referees comes in different forms at different ages. At under 10 and under 11 lev el girls and boys playing football may be fouled or give away a foul. In disbelief that they could somehow have done wrong, flail their hands in the air in disgust towards the referee. This is an important step in the culture of disregarding ref erees. The player whilst playing the game subconsciously criticize and question the decision of the refer ee. At age 10 this is hardly alarming; a referee will feel far from threat ened by a child with an attitude.
Sport sport@thesaint.scot
Mike Dean, Premier League football referee, will not be taking part in any Premier League fixtures this Saturday or Sunday (13/2- 14/2) In his previous 2 matches Dean gave a pair of red cards which have come under criticism. Yet clearly a line has been crossed (and not for the first time).
It does go without saying that Mike Dean is paid for the work he does and holds a position of responsibili ty. Thus, he should rightfully be held to account for his decisions made. Yet there is a clear line between ra tional and respectful criticism and threatening a person’s life. Further, I completely grasp that the people
Victoria, where the Australian Open is taking place, has just gone into a snap 5 day lockdown, demonstrat ing the seriousness with which the Australian government treating the spread of COVID, and the least play ers can do is endure the same rules as the rest of us without complaint.
I have particular sympathy for the Australian residents who have, en tirely reasonably, expressed annoy ance that players have been allowed to travel into the country. Players were flown in on chartered flights, and questions have been asked about why this has been possible for them, while the thousands of Australians currently stranded in other coun tries are having to wait to get home.
thesaint.scot/sport
COVID Australian Open
regulations seriously, the general pub lic don’t look kindly on rich, famous people who believe they should be ex empt from rules in place to save lives.
have been surprised that anyone trav elling into Australia is required to quarantine on arrival. Tour level ten nis players, however, have seemingly been taken aback by these require ments, resulting in complaints from many about their living and training circumstances. To some extent, these complaints are understandable. The majority of players flew directly to Melbourne, where they were required to complete quarantine in assigned hotels. Most of these players were al lowed out of their rooms for 5 hours per day in order to train, however 72 players were forced to spend the 14 day period in their rooms, with no time out to train, after being on a flight with somebody who tested positive for COVID-19. Compare this to a select number of top play ers, including Nadal, Djokovic, Osaka and Serena Williams, who quarantined in Adelaide, and were permitted to play exhibition match es before travelling to Melbourne. It is easy to understand why those
on, while it was reported that Novak Djokovic submitted a list of demands for loosening restrictions, including moving players to private homes with tennis courts for training purposes.
Yet, later perhaps when the kid turns into a teenager, this attitude may es calate. When they give a away a foul, they might provide the referee with
Instead of simply criticism, Dean has been on the receiv ing end of a number of death threats. I would have thought, perhaps all too opti mistically, that foot ball and its support ers (I am one) would have gained some form of perspective on life during the pandemic. No one should ever finish a football game fear ing for their life or feeling threatened.
who have been subjected to the strict est levels of quarantine may be upset that the big names of the sport seem to be getting preferential treatment. They have not been allowed to train for two weeks, which left multiple players with just a few days before the start of the event to get on a tennis court and practise. It is worth noting, though, that a week into the tourna ment, it has not been clear that this lack of training has had any real im pact on how matches have played out. For the most part, however, the com plaints coming from players have, for many members of the public, been deeply frustrating. All players were in formed of the regulations before they travelled, and indeed some decided not to attend the tournament. The impression many players have given is that they believed they would be given special treatment upon arrival, rather than accepting that the rules do apply to them. Roberto Bautista-Agut, the world number 13, complained that quarantine was like being in pris
At a time when sport is struggling, due to the complexities involved in staging tournaments, and the fact that revenue is being lost through the lack of fans in attendance, it is not helpful to have players suggesting they de
I am sure I was not alone in my frus tration at hearing Djokovic making such requests. Last year he demon strated his lack of interest in following COVID regulations when he staged his ill-advised Adria Tour, which in volved him and other players pictured clubbing, and subsequently testing positive for the virus. He has refused to accept responsibility for the event, despite being the organiser, and this reads as another sign that he believes tennis players are above the rules.
The Beautiful Game is Caught Offside - Again
adolescent back chat. Something in nocent and surly like “referee what game are you watching?”. This is now a less passive and more direct questioning of a referee. Perhaps by the mid-teen years, the players will have discovered that swear words when used in other walks of life can shock and em phasize problems or is sues. So why should a football match be any different? Rather than openly challenge a ref eree with a question, few expletives might be inserted around the statements. By under 18 and adult level when players are the same size if not big ger than the referee, these verbal assaults come across as threatening. Further hav ing played adult football in both Scotland and England, I can also say that the exple tive back chat can actually be escalated into over and direct threats. I have seen an instance where a player has told a refer ee to “go and die” after the ref eree awarded a penalty. Clearly a culture of disrespect towards referees is allowed to perpetuate and reach fairly horrifying levels. This is obviously a very simplis tic progression. It also assumes that every player who dares to throw their hands in the air out of frustration
referees plague all levels of the sport. Far greater effort needs to be made by all to end this despicable culture. I fear irrespective of if generated at grass roots level or the pinnacle of the Premier League and the Women’s Premier League, it is something which quite simply does not plague other sports in the same way. When watching rugby, cricket, golf, or ten nis, the idea of a player insulting a referee or match official is not toler ated. When Kyrgios criticizes an um pire, it will often lead to headlines the next day. Even more starkly though, in all these sports when a player un necessarily criticises or offends a match official the phrase “oh it was like a football match” often is used.
Whilst British fans will perhaps claim that American soccer is simply not the same standard or lacks the same atmosphere as the UK, what is clear from American players in St Andrews is that referees get treated with far bet ter respect. If many other sports can treat referees with a more consistent level of respect along with football associations on different continents, then why can’t football in the UK do the same? Paul Field, Chairman of the Referees’ Association, said that if harsher punishment is not introduced for the abuse of officials, then a ref eree’s life will be lost. Football is the most popular sport in the world and is the “beautiful game”, but aspects of the sport look far too dishevelled. Responsibility should be taken by everyone in the sport to take a stand.
at the
Yet is it a top-down lem or a bottom-up issue? I have clearly presented how it can perpetuate at grass root and amateur level. Many will say the issue stems from the top down. For example, 10 year olds will gesticulate at a referee because they see their heroes do it. On top of this, cer tain pundits after the matches Dean and his fellow matchday of ficials officiated described the refer ees as “a bunch of idiots”. To many, “Idiot” is a play ground insult and something many won’t be overly offended by. Yet pundits, players, and coaches at the top level conduct themselves on a platform which is viewed by the next generation of football fans and players. You do not want to be encouraging this culture of verbal assault toward a referee.
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Why should tennis be above the rules?
could one day be threatening a ref eree with his life. This is far from the case, many female and male players that I have played with quietly get on with it. When the foul happens they accept it and perhaps only question it after the game. I know a great many coaches who do not tolerate any form of disre spect towards referees. Yet a great many of us (play ers and supporters) are bystanders to this form of abuse and should do more to take a stand.
serve special treatment. As we have seen in the UK recently with anger to wards influencers not taking COVID
ROSE ANNABLE Deputy Sport Editor
This week the 2021 tennis season got truly underway with the first major tournament of the year, the Australian Open. As the first Grand Slam of the year, it is always a hugely important event for players wanting to make a strong start to the season, and fans looking for signs of what the season is likely to hold. As such, the build up to the tournament is usually strongly focussed on which players look to be in form, who was playing well (or not) at the end of the previous season, and speculating about who might be the dominant players for the next year. This year, however, has been slight ly different. The build up has cen tred not around the sport itself, but around the quarantines imposed on players on their arrival to Australia.
DANIEL ROSS Deputy Sport Editor