Issue 212

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SAINT

The independent voice of St Andrews students since 1997

ST ANDREWS, 20 April 2017

THESAINT-ONLINE.COM

University staff join collaborative housing research project

Photo: Sammi Ciardi

MIRIAM WOODS

HARASSMENT

AND HOSPITALITY

Editor’s note: This semester, The Saint conducted a substantial two-month investigation into the culture of exploitation and harassment in St Andrews’ hospitality industry. Our article includes quotes from eight student sources, some of whom were willing to be named. However, to protect these sources' identities and act in fairness to both sides, we have decided to anonymise all individuals and establishments.

STORY BY RICHARD JOSEPH // Deputy editor WITH MEILAN SOLLY // Editor AND JONATHON SKAVRONECK // News editor

“

I cried pretty much on every shift, sometimes two or three occasions a night,” Jessica said. “I’m not a person who gives up really easily, but at that point I just thought it was time to leave. One night, I just burst into tears. I said I can’t do this anymore, and I’m leaving.”

Jessica spent a year working at a prominent restaurant/bar in St Andrews.

During this period, she experienced sexual harassment from customers and alleges her managers took no action despite being aware of the inappropriate behaviour.

Jessica is not alone in feeling mistreated. The following testimonies are based on interviews with waitstaff, hostesses, and bartenders around St Andrews. They signify a pattern of worker exploitation that targets, in particular, young female students working part-time.

In the UK, sexual harassment is defined as unwanted behaviour of a sexu-

al nature which “violates your dignity, makes you feel intimidated, degraded, or humiliated, or creates a hostile or offensive environment.” This can include sexual comments or jokes.

Another student, Kate, worked at the same restaurant/bar as Jessica for over a year.

“Working at a bar, you kind of expect a certain degree of harassment,” she said.

“But I mean, even if that’s what I expect, I’m never going to take any of it. I have been slapped on the ass, told inappropriate things, and spoken to in inappropriate ways. There was an instance where [my manager] told me to get over it one day, which really upset me.”

Jessica prefered not to go into specifics but confirmed that she was consistently harassed by customers. Often, managers >> see HOSPITALITY, page 4

SHARE YOUR STORY If you have experienced harassment in the workplace and want to confidentially share your story with our team, email editor@thesaint-online.com.

Last week, the School of Geography and Sustainable Development announced that senior members of its staff have joined a major research project focused on collecting housing-related data. The Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence will be granted a total of £7.5 million from various charities and research institutions.

St Andrews joins eight universities and four institutions helping with the project. The University’s team will rely on work from Dr Kim McKee, director of the Centre for Housing Research at St Andrews and geography and sustainable development senior lecturer.

Dr McKee explained the importance of her research, saying, “Housing is fundamental to understanding contemporary patterns of social-spatial inequality in the UK. “It has an acute impact on a vast array of individual and societal outcomes, from health and well-being to economic growth.”

The research conducted by CaCHE will focus on six themes, most notably housing and the economy, sustainability, and housing poverty. All aspects of the British housing market will be analysed and explored.

Eventually, the group hopes to achieve its stated goal of “tackling housing problems at a national, devolved, regional, and local level.”

The core partners in CaCHE are the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Reading, Cardiff, Heriot-Watt, Bristol, Ulster, Sheffield Hallam, and St Andrews.

Along with the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, the group is aided by the Chartered Institute of Housing, the Royal Town Planning Institute, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

The University of Glasgow’s Dr Ken Gibb, principal investigator and director of the project, said, “The serious and complex problems of the housing system are too important to ignore. This is why I’m looking forward to this major new initiative >> see HOUSING, page 3

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EDITORIAL

Inside the paper

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Page 6

News

What does it take to be a Deliveroo driver?

Viewpoint

Page 10

To punch Nazis or not to punch Nazis: that is the question?

Page 15

Money

The art of the speculative application

Page 17

Features

Hitchhiking across Europe

Week in photos: Can't Walk

Page 24

How to survive the night of May Dip and May Ball

Page 29

Arts and culture Do actors make good activists?

Page 38

Taekwon-Do Club holds kickathon The Saint Student Newspaper Ltd c/o St Andrews Students’ Association St Mary’s Place St Andrews, Fife KY16 9UX

he Saint’s investigation of our town’s hospitality industry revealed not only a culture of student exploitation in several local establishments but also the difficulties of addressing said problem.

Harassment, exploitation, and underpayment are common issues in the restaurant industry. In a student haven, however, this behaviour is particularly reprehensible. St Andrews has an unusual demographic composition: it is a town full of students but has many attractions for the wealthy. One source recalls serving “local aristocracy” on a regular basis.

The seemingly endless supply of students is part of the problem –– establishments have an expendable, cheap labour pool to draw on for the service of the well-established and wealthy.

Another source noted that though she experienced harassment on a daily basis, the food and atmosphere of the restaurant itself were unparalleled, indicating the quality of service and product, but at the cost of the employee.

British labour laws further exacerbate a culture of exploitation. In the last year, there was a 20 per cent increase in the number of UK workers on zero-hour contracts. Under zero-hour contracts, bosses are under no obligation to give their employees any hours. This leads to a precarious situation, particularly for students relying on income.

For example, if the boss takes a disliking to you for any reason, no matter how petty (say, voicing a complaint, or joining a union, or forgetting their birthday), they can stop giving you hours consequence-free.

Workers under these contracts have few rights and little pay.

Though they offer a much-touted “flexibility,” the exploitative potential is off the charts.

New Zealand’s parliament unanimously voted to outlaw zero-hour contracts in 2016 and now operates on the basis of minimum fixed hours.

At an individual level, students looking for work and food alike can avoid restaurants and bars with a poor history of employee treatment.

This town’s culture of harassment merits conversation.

Collective action, education, and accountability are key –– with them, St Andrews can address a deep-rooted, systemic problem.

Editor's note: This editorial represents the views of Deputy Editor Richard Joseph and Editor Meilan Solly, not The Saint .

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NEWS

News editor: JONATHON SKAVRONECK Deputy editors: Lottie Garton, Ellie Hope, Paige Smith, Tom Williams news@thesaint-online.com

>>HOUSING

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

making a serious contribution to tackling one of the most pressing policy problems in the UK today.”

Professor Jane Eliott, CEO of the Economic and Social Research Council, described CaCHE as “a vital national institution,” as well as “a leading voice in the UK on housing issues.”

In late 2016, the government announced a £3.7 billion plan to build 140,000 homes around the country, as well as provide funding and support for both the rental and ownership sectors.

Meanwhile, the University has frequently been subject to criticism over its handling of accommodation.

In 2014, it was forced to place more than 60 first-year students in postgraduate housing due to a shortage of beds.

In the same year, St Andrews took the unusual step of converting study spaces and common rooms in University Hall and St Regulus Hall, respectively, to four-bed rooms.

Furthermore, at the beginning of the 2015 academic year, students living in Fife Park expressed concerns that their accommodation was “unfinished.”

There were reports of several problems with the hall’s plumbing, electrical appliances, and heating, as well as complaints that there was still ongoing construction.

Four arrested for assaulting student PAIGE SMITH Deputy news editor A University of St Andrews student was assaulted by a group of four individuals on the evening of Friday 7 April, according to police. A Police Scotland spokeswoman said that four individuals have been arrested following the assault.

The 20-year-old victim said the incident occurred in Hepburn Gardens just after midnight as he was walking from his residence to town. The assailants were 17 and 18 years old, according to the police spokeswoman.

“The student sustained minor injuries in the assault,” the same spokeswoman said in an email statement.

The case has been referred to the procurator fiscal.

This assault follows a spate of egging of university housing around town.

Before spring break, another St Andrews student was also allegedly assaulted by a group of youths.

Police have confirmed that there is an ongoing investigation into the earlier incident, which involved a University student being assaulted after asking a group of teenagers for directions on Abbey Walk Road.

Photo: Jonathon Skavroneck

thesaint-online.com/news

IR focus group voices concerns with School JONATHON SKAVRONECK

News editor

TOM WILLIAMS Deputy news editor The Saint recently acquired a document compiled by School of International Relations class representatives that details concerns expressed in a focus group of second-year students. In addition to module evaluation questionnaires, the School of IR collects student feedback through focus groups and surveys conducted throughout the year.

The document centres on a late-February discussion of student experiences with the school’s curriculum, teaching, and assessment.

The focus group was composed of six IR students representing a diverse cross-section of students within the School, according to the document.

The School of IR is one of the largest at the University, with at least 400 students enrolled in sub-honours lectures. The School took its current form in 2003 after becoming a department in 1990.

It is consistently ranked as one of the top Schools of IR in the UK and world in terms of research and teaching.

Despite this, the group of students interviewed by the class reps agreed that the School needed to make improvements, especially concerning assessment and contact hours. They explained that assessment was “very inconsistent.”

This issue stems from tutors hav-

ing different expectations for students when assessing essays, a large part of the IR curriculum. Although the School employs a standard rubric for essay assessment, students in the focus group felt that personal expectations were not being adequately communicated by tutors.

Another area of dissatisfaction is the essay extension policy. Extensions are given by tutors on a per-case basis.

Currently, there is no standardisation.

Students complained that extensions are also inconsistent and some tutors can be “much harsher than others.”

The outgoing Students' Association director of representation, Jack Carr, has long identified irregularity of extenuating circumstance policy as an issue facing the University as a whole.

In a February interview, he told The Saint that, while a standard policy is in the final stages, it is unlikely to be implemented before the next academic year.

The focus group also expressed a sentiment held by many IR students: that the School does not offer enough contact hours in sub-honours lectures.

Those in second-year modules have just two hours of lectures per week.

According to the focus group, some students have difficulty perceiving IR as their main subject because most modules offer more contact time than their IR counterparts.

International students were “especially upset” at the cost for non-EU students per contact hour. The report estimated the price at up to £120 for one hour.

Those interviewed believed that another hour of contact time per week would improve their experience.

They also concluded that the increased hours would be a “more-thanfair-trade” if the School plans to opt out of implementing lecture capture.

Last month,The Saint learned that the School of IR was directly opposed to the implementation of lecture capture.

The technology would allow students to view recorded lectures online.

An international relations class representative, who did not wish to be named due to academic concerns, told The Saint, “During a staff-student

Some students have difficulty perceiving IR as their main subject consulting committee meeting, senior staff members within the School of International Relations expressed that they were not feeling confident about the use of video-captured university lectures.

“If the university was to implement this policy as compulsory, the school would actively fight it.”

Currently, the proposal would implement lecture capture across the University’s schools. As it stands, schools that employ the technology

include the School of Medicine and the School of Computer Science.

Second year IR class representative Gavrilo Stajkovac said, “I think it will be very useful for students in the school, but I also understand the concerns, namely the issue of ownership rights and controversial statements which has been raised by the school.

“And that is why I believe that debate should be formed around this question and students should get involved.”

Jack Thomson, a second year IR student, added, “Although it would make our lives easier to record lectures, I understand that lecturers might be opposed so as to encourage us to show up and to stop themselves from being quoted out of context.

"If the [lecture] slides are on MMS, I don't see the big issue.”

Furthermore, the focus group expressed concern over the lack of study spaces available to IR students.

“We’re the largest school in Arts and Divinity, and we don’t have a library or even a study space dedicated to our students," the report stated.

"Students feel that this puts us at a disadvantage in terms of study space and research materials.”

Two candidates in this year's IR School presidency race pledged to fight for more IR study spaces, including the subsequent winner, Sarah Gharib.

Despire these concerns, the focus group concluded that overall, students were enjoying second-year content and teaching.

They expresssed the concerns as a way of further improving their experience.

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

>>HOSPITALITY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 witnessed this harassment but chose to ignore both the customers’ behaviour and Jessica’s complaints.

“When I was there, [the work culture] was very negative,” Alice, who was a hostess at the same restaurant/ bar, said. “I think it was quite a toxic environment. […] There was a lot of harassment, pretty much across all boards.”

According to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, employees over 18 who work more than six hours a day are entitled to “an uninterrupted rest break of at least twenty minutes.”

But Alice noted that she would often work nine-hour shifts without her

And [these establishments] can do whatever they want. They can replace you in a second. They don’t have to make an effort to be good employers legally mandated rest break. During this time, she experienced sexual harassment “almost every shift.”

One day, Alice was working an evening shift and serving a table of rugby players. Her co-worker walked out about an hour into the shift, disgusted by the players’ actions, but Alice stayed behind.

An employee who witnessed the incident recalled Alice being “handed about like a ragdoll between them. It was horrible, just watching her.”

“We were so harassed by these guys, […] just these rugby boys and their coaches,” Alice said. “I had guys touching my ass and making very crude comments to the point where one of the managers actually saw one of these guys inappropriately touching me.”

“I was staring right at [my manager],” she continued. “We made eye contact, [and] he saw this guy touch me. And he just turned around and walked out. I was so shaken up after that.”

Alice also described an instance when she gave several napkins to an older man who had a drink spilled on his trousers. When she asked if she could help with anything else, the

drunken patron screamed across the restaurant, “Yeah, you can sit on my lap.”

Shocked, Alice looked around for support and saw her manager. This time, he didn’t walk away. He was laughing.

These incidents stood out for their severity, but they were just several examples, the three employees agree, in a long line-up of similar incidents of sexual harassment and mistreatment.

The three allege that on multiple occasions, management at the restaurant/bar did not actively respond to sexual harassment from patrons.

Jessica went to a manager with a complaint and was told it “wasn’t their problem.” Alice, after seeing management’s attitude in action, felt it would be a “waste of time.”

Joel, a former bartender at the restaurant/bar, noted that his overall experience was not a negative one, but “the women were expected to put up with more than they should have.”

Alice’s breaking point came when a manager actually laid his hands on her.

“I was helping out behind the bar, and it was very busy,” she explained.

“And one of the managers, […] he can go from zero to a hundred really quickly. He snapped at me that I was in the way and shoved me. I’m talking a 35-year-old man, shoving me. And I’m quite small. I was so flabbergasted by that. […] That was my last straw situation, where I was like, okay, this cannot go on any further.”

Employees interviewed recounted interactions with management that were inappropriately sexual in nature. Jessica and Kate both experienced a range of such comments from a lead manager. Certain aspects of the restaurant/bar’s policies, including the dress code for female employees, also reflected this culture.

“If they came into work and their skirt was too long, they were sent home to wear a shorter skirt,” Joel said. “If they weren’t wearing enough makeup, they’d be sent home to put more makeup on. If they didn’t have enough cleavage out, [they] would be sent home to [put on] a smaller top.”

In 2016, the Trades Union Congress conducted a survey on sexual harassment in modern workplaces. 52 per cent of women polled had experienced some form of sexual harassment. 28 per cent of women polled were subject to comments of a sexual nature about their body or clothes, and more than one in 10 reported experiencing unwanted sexual touching or attempts to kiss them. One in five reported that their direct manager or another figure of authority was the perpetrator. And four out of five did not report the harassment to their employer.

Lydia House, a spokesperson for the Zero Tolerance charity, which works to end men’s violence against

Infographics: Meilan Solly

INVESTIGATING THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY:

women by promoting gender equality, said that “sexism, harassment, and violence in the workplace are still not taken as seriously as they should be, and women's complaints are too often dismissed."

She continued, "This creates a culture which prevents women from coming forward and reporting instances of harassment or abuse.

Students, who are often new to the workforce, may be unaware or unsure of their rights, and unfortunately the female students could find themselves particularly vulnerable in the workplace.”

Victimisation is not limited to restaurants. Before Kate was employed at the restaurant/bar, she spent four months working at a different bar in St Andrews. Dana, another student, worked at the same bar for six months.

During this time, she experienced the same sort of harassment from customers. Dana noted that when customers behaved inappropriately, her managers would generally find it amusing.

She also recalled an incident when a customer grabbed her shirt as she was walking away.

“I was like, you just can’t do that.

And the manager thought it was funny. Stuff like that happened all the time, someone touching you on the dance floor,” Dana said. “They never

[She was] handed about like a ragdoll between them. It was horrible, just watching her actually did anything about it. They would actually laugh.”

At the beginning of their employment, both Kate and Dana worked “trial shifts” for which they were never paid.

“If the potential employee is being asked to do the job beyond a few hours, then it ceases to be a trial and

verges on employment, which must be paid the national minimum wage,” Bryan Simpson, hospitality organiser for Unite Scotland, explained.

Dana’s “trial shift” lasted 12 hours, from 5 pm in the evening to 5 am the next day. Kate’s lasted from 8 pm to 2 am.

The “trial shift” was not the last time Dana and Kate worked without pay. On several occasions, both had to stay until well after closing time.

“After the [bar] closes at 2 am, instead of normal bar practice where we have cleaners come in early in the morning […], the remaining bar staff would have to clean up at the end of the night,” Kate said. “So I would be there until 4 am, cleaning the whole […] place, [although] I would get clocked out at 2 am when the bar shut. That was quite common.”

On a regular basis, Kate and Dana were not paid for hours of nightly work after closing –– and this work was well outside the purview of bartending. Additionally, they had to work these shifts without pause; neither Kate nor Dana were ever allowed their legally mandated rest break, even when working twelve-hour

I have been slapped on the ass, told inappropriate things, and spoken to in inappropriate ways.

There was an instance where [my manager] told me to get over it one day, which really upset me.

-Kate, former bartender at a local restaurant/bar

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

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A CULTURE OF STUDENT EXPLOITATION?

shifts.

“I worked there for about six months, and I don’t think I ever had a break,” Dana said. “I don’t think anyone did.”

Jane worked in promotions at another prominent venue in St Andrews.

She worked front of house, holding menus and speaking to customers as they walked past. A few times, she went to work only to find the restaurant was closed for a private function and nobody had told her.

If they weren’t wearing enough makeup, they’d be sent home to put more makeup on.

If they didn’t have enough cleavage out, [they] would be sent home to [put on] a smaller top Once, when Jane showed up to work, she was asked, without prior warning, to visit all the bed and breakfasts in town and distribute promotional materials. One of the establishments was five miles away, but Jane wasn’t allowed to go home and change into more suitable walking shoes. She was told she couldn’t return until she’d delivered all of the materials and eventually returned with blisters. Jane was never paid for the extra hour of walking and quit soon after.

“There’s this mentality in this town,” she said. “Same kind of thing with housing. There are so many students. There are always going to be students wanting jobs, like there are always going to be students willing to pay extortionate rates for housing.

And [these establishments] can do

whatever they want. They can replace you in a second. They don’t have to make an effort to be good employers.”

Alice expressed a similar sentiment about the restaurant/bar where she was employed.

“They know enough that in a town like St Andrews, and with their reputation, they have no problem going through staff, because they know someone else would just love to work for them,” she said. “From what I've seen, what I've experienced, [the restaurant/bar] just kind of takes advantage of these individuals until they can't handle it. They quit. And they just find someone else, within like a day. I remember when I quit, the day after there was already a [help wanted] notice up.”

According to the University of St Andrews’ official policy statement, “harassment and bullying of one individual or group in the University community by another” will not be tolerated. But about half of students at St Andrews hold a part-time job. Time spent working is a significant portion of student life, and it is not subject to these safeguards.

What can student employees do to ensure better treatment? ACAS advises first approaching one’s manager with a complaint, but this is of no use when the manager is unwilling to take action or the actual perpetrator.

One option is to work only at establishments with a good track record and transparent employment practices. One notable example is the Union bar.

Eileen, who currently works at the Union, said she was paid for her trial shift, receives regular rest breaks, and feels safe on the job (due in part to the active, watchful bouncers).

“I think more establishments should do what the Union does,” she said. “We have the right to refuse service to anyone, whatever that reason may be, even if they’re just being way too aggressive or incredibly rude.”

What the Union has that some businesses lack is an infrastructure that incorporates accountability. It is university-affiliated, run largely by students and for students. The Union has an intermediary with elected representatives –– the Students’ Association –– and a student employee can trust the Association to have

their best interests at heart. There is no Students’ Association for the restaurants in town, but there is another option: joining a trade union.

Unite Scotland, for example, is the only union in Scotland with a dedicated branch for hospitality workers. The group is launching a Fair Hospitality Charter that seeks to put pressure on companies to adopt policy changes for the benefit of their employees.

“Workers in the hospitality industry are some of the lowest paid and worst treated in the Scottish economy, in terms of holidays, sick pay, and contractual stability,” Mr Simpson, the organiser for Better Than Zero and Unite Scotland hospitality, said.

“Less than four per cent of hotel and restaurant workers [are] a member of a trade union. We believe these are directly correlated because without a trade union, hospitality workers have very little collective voice [...] to challenge exploitative working practices as well as negotiate for better wages and conditions.

“The most effective way that student workers can improve their pay and conditions is to join a trade union and organise collectively in order to hold their employer to account. The more members a workplace has, the stronger the worker’s voice will be, and the more likely it will be listened

I worked there for about six months, and I don't think I ever had a break to by senior management.”

Unite is a Glasgow-based group, and thus many workers in Glasgow have a voice and the power of collective bargaining. Here in St Andrews, there are few checks and balances for large, monopolising institutions.

Youth membership in unions is miniscule, and joining one can be tricky; if an employee on a zero-hour contract joins a union individually, their employer can easily stop giving them

shifts to discourage other employees from doing the same.

Fiona, who worked at the same restaurant/bar as Alice, Jessica, and Kate, recalled issues with her initial contract. The contract she signed promised £6.40 an hour, but when she received her first paycheck, it was £5.33, barely over the national minimum wage.

“I asked [my coworkers], and they said, ‘Oh yeah, they tell you you’re going to get more pay than you actually are,’” Fiona said. “I thought, ‘Should I say something? But I know that a lot of kids in this town want a job, and I feel like they would just fire me if I say something.’”

Employees were also unlikely to earn money from tips. Alice noted that when she worked at the restaurant/bar, 60 per cent of all card tips went straight to management, and the remaining 40 per cent was divided amongst everyone who worked there (including bartenders, waitstaff, kitchen staff, and cleaning staff). This left a miniscule portion for hostesses.

In one month, Jessica made £3 in tips compared to a friend who made £80.

“It was putting a lot of emotional stress on me. I hated going to work,” Alice said. “I’d just be there from 5 [pm] to two in the morning working, and then I’d have to wake up for a 9 am class. I just thought, this is not worth it.”

Today, several of these sources work at establishments with better employment practices and generous, above-board payment. Others have given up bar work entirely. But there are many students who accept exploitation as an inherent aspect of St Andrews’ hospitality industry.

“There was just kind of an overarching theme of sexuality, if that makes sense. It was a culture, that’s what it was,” Joel said. “And you had to buy into it. And once you bought into it, you were [...] entrenched. Very much a bubble, like St Andrews.”

The Saint contacted the establishments referenced in this article to offer them their right of reply to the relevant allegations. The restaurant/ bar and bar did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The online version of this article, available at thesaint-online.com, will be updated to reflect further updates.

I was staring right at [my manager]. We made eye contact, [and] he saw this guy touch me. And he just turned around and walked out.

-Alice, former hostess at a local restaurant/bar

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IN BRIEF Blaze breaks out on West Sands On Saturday 8 April, a fire broke out on West Sands beach, alarming locals and affecting a wide area of sand and dunes. The Courier reported that two fire crews were sent to put out the blaze, but its cause is not yet known.

The fire comes after conservation work on the area, which was damaged in a 2010 storm. The West Sands Partnership has maintained the area since the storm, hoping to prevent tides and wind from causing further erosion. It is expected that the fire will set work back.

Association president criticises KK's lack of diversity Charlotte Andrew, president of the Students’ Association, recently called for a “drastic change” in the practices of the historic Kate Kennedy Club. She made the comment in a guest article written for the club’s annual processional magazine.

In the piece, Ms Andrew focused on the perception of the Kate Kennedy Club as being male-only, despite the organisation beginning to allow female members in 2012. She stated that the club’s membership ratio is not representative of the student body and emphasised the importance of gender diversity.

Ms Andrew also commented that the club’s image discourages students from certain ethnic and social backgrounds from applying for membership.

Though critical, Ms Andrew acknowledged that the club is not ignorant of this issue and members are making efforts to improve on all fronts. She concluded by calling for students to work together to advance the cause of diversity.

The 91st annual Kate Kennedy Spring Procession took place on Saturday 8 April and was attended by large crowds of both students and locals.

Aquarium vouchers set for donation stolen 300 vouchers for the St Andrews Aquarium were stolen in early April.

The vouchers were slated for donation to various organisations.

A Dundee man was accused of the theft after posting four vouchers for sale on a Facebook page. However, he told The Courier he has “nothing to hide” and was selling the vouchers because he found them lying on the ground after visiting the aquarium.

The stolen items were worth over £3,000 and have not been recovered.

Police Scotland told The Courier that they are following a positive line of inquiry into the matter.

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

InFocus: the Deliveroo riders of St Andrews Two riders discuss their experiences working for the ubiquitous service

LOTTIE GARTON Deputy news editor

T

Photo

: Mar cella Denb y

he latest addition to St Andrews' takeaway industry is wellknown by students and locals alike. Deliveroo has been active in St Andrews for several months, allowing students to fulfil their craving for restaurants such as Tailend, Nandos, and Pizza Express. Not many walks in town happen without a glimpse of a turquoise blur on a bike carrying someone’s food to their door.

The Saint interviewed two Deliveroo workers who were waiting outside local restaurant Burger on a cold, rainy night.

Waiting outside does not seem like the most attractive activity, but, as with Deliveroo workers everywhere, the two workers did not have an office or headquarters in which to wait for deliveries.

Deliveroo has grown rapidly since its founding in 2003.

Based in London, it now has more than 1,000 full-time employees and 5,000 riders delivering food around the world. Deliveroo started offering service in St Andrews in late 2016 and currently lets users order from eight local restaurants.

Publicity for Deliveroo has not been wholly positive.

Apart from the fact that artist Stormzy has been given the first ever Deliveroo gold card, most news concerning the company has focused on unfair worki n g condi-

tions and zero-hours contracts, which have also proved problematic for gig economy companies like Uber.

As with Uber, there are many stories of Deliveroo riders who are optimistic when first beginning work but later come to realise the disadvantages of being an independent contractor. As contractors, riders are self-employed and do not enjoy the same benefits as those categorised as employees.

Riders complain about working long hours and making little money because of the company’s pay structure. Riders receive a flat fee for each hour they work, but they can only reach their full earning potential when making multiple deliveries per hour.

Do these problems persist in St Andrews?

Asdaq Raja, a student and employee of Deliveroo, spoke about his experiences riding for the company.

“It’s really nice to work in St Andrews,” he explained, “because

Once I delivered [...]

Blackhorn to someone who lives next to the Vineleaf it’s relatively flat, unlike working in Edinburgh or London. When the students are here, it’s really busy.

Raisin [Weekend] was super busy [because] everyone was hungover and didn’t want to leave their houses. Most of the time we go to DRA or ABH, but sometimes we get ridiculous orders. Once I delivered [...] Blackhorn to someone who lives next to the Vineleaf."

As far as wages go, the advertised rate seems attractive to students working to make extra money.

“The flat rate is £6 per hour, and then you get an extra £1 for each delivery, plus tips. It’s all done through an app, which tells you where to go and pick up the food. [...] Once you have marked yourself as arrived, it will tell you where to go next,” Mr Raja said.

The work is by no means con-

sistent. Mr Raja explained that on one Friday it was fairly quiet, as he had only eight deliveries in four hours. In contrast, a good day would be three or four per hour, although this apparently happens very rarely.

Mr Raja's colleague, who wished not to be named in this article due to privacy concerns, is a local resident.

She recounts working 10-hour shifts with no deliveries at all, explaining that students make up an overwhelming amount of orders.

When there are no students or no student appetites, there are practically no deliveries to be made.

Deliveroo can be expensive compared to other options. Any delivery has an order minimum of £15, or an extra charge of £2 will be added.

Comparatively, Dominoes has a £10 minimum. The same employee was also under the impression that restaurants only receive 20 per cent of the delivery charge, meaning Deliveroo profits a large amount from these add-ons.

Working for Deliveroo, there is no contact with any form of boss apart from the occasional phone call in reprimand. Mr Raja’s colleague admitted that, although she enjoys the work, she sees it as a bit of a joke of a job and feels bad for taking part in something that is publicised as being such a negative experience.

Halfway through the interview, Mr Raja’s phone began to buzz, and he was off to a restaurant as quickly as possible, most likely in an attempt to improve his monthly performance review from Deliveroo.

Performance reviews, he explained, grade the employees on aspects such as speed of response to a call and speed of delivery.

Without Mr Raja, his colleague opened up more about her qualms with working for Deliveroo.

"One of the harder things is just hanging around in the cold,” she said. “In Edinburgh, they have a waiting zone called Portobello. [In St Andrews], mostly we’re just sitting in the cold at night. I reckon that Deliveroo could cover the rental of a small place where we could wait if they wanted.”

Despite having some contact with humans, she says that the process still feels impersonal.

“The entire company is basically online. We don’t have an office to go to, only a PO box at the DHL delivery place. When you get locked out of the Deliveroo employees app, that’s basically how they fire you. Now that they’ve centralised through Edinburgh, getting shifts is even more difficult, and they don’t give you a week’s notice for shifts, which makes planning anything, even doctor’s appointments, really difficult.”

As far as Deliveroo’s treatment of employees, the rider was hesitant to speak negatively, but speculated, “I feel like I don’t get any tips, and I don’t really trust in the contract. I

wouldn’t be surprised if it was some part of the algorithm that new riders get more tips.

“We have access to something called a perk box, a corporate thing you have to sign up to. You can [get] little vouchers for places like Amazon. To be honest, it’s just something to sweeten employees, I think. It’s not really worth much."

For Mr Raja, the job seems flexible and easy but tiring. It is suitable for student life in some ways but unsuitable in others.

Mr Raja said that one of the major drawbacks he sees in the job is that new riders are left to purchase their own kit. This includes the infamous jacket and food carrier, which amounts to about £150.

Costs are all taken out of employees' first pay cheques.

The same female rider explained her experiences with the payment system on Deliveroo, saying, “We are all self-employed, basically. We don’t get sick pay or holiday pay or anything like that. But you are supposed to get tips, so you’re aiming for about £10 an hour, even though the website advertises an average earning of £16 an hour. But that never happens.”

She added that riders typically

The website advertises an average earning of £16 an hour, but that never happens work two shifts during the weekend: easy for students, but not as convenient for locals attempting to live an ordinary working life and pay constant bills. Deliveroo also offers no help, to her knowledge, with filing the necessary tax forms for self-employed persons.

The experiences of both riders illustrate the relative advantages and disadvantages of driving for Deliveroo.

Given the large number of riders present in town, the service has clearly enticed members of the St Andrews community.

While Mr Raja acknowledges there are some negatives, he believes the company is a net benefactor to students seeking easy employment.

His female colleague, however, went farther in her criticisms. When asked if she had anything more to add, she made a general plea: tip cash in hand, otherwise online tips made on the app can just be included in riders' wage, and the Deliveroo workers have no way of keeping track of it.

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Viewpoint editor: AMY ELLIOTT Deputy editors: Henrietta Dow, Claire Fogarty, Lewis Frain, Max Waller

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@saint_ viewpoint

Climate change: a threat to mankind, or just a load of tosh?

U

pon leaving office, President Obama had very little foreign policy success to speak of. However, his redeeming achievement was the Paris climate accords, an initiative to bring under control the tempestuous global debate surrounding the future of climate control. There is no doubt that Obama was the most environmentally conscious president so far, there is equally as little debate on the subject of climate change itself, but what can be argued endlessly is the future of American climate policy. How far in four short years could Trump’s oil-loving regime break apart the work of the eco-conscious 44th President?

Under the influence of former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, it may very well be that the work is unravelled in a matter of months.

Already the administration seems to have adopted “Drill, baby, drill!” or “Mine, baby, mine!” as operative policy rather than merely as a catchy campaign slogan. Trumpian executive orders have tackled immigration from the Middle East, focussed on unnecessary government regulations and have now given the dying, toxic American coal industry a rebirth, or at least are trying to anyway. He is repaying the voters of Kentucky for their support by tossing the environmental security of future generations on the pyre.

There is no version of future events that play out with US coal production remaining a key driver of global energy production, yet despite this the administration pushes on with its denier’s agenda. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is fronted by a climate change-sceptic named Scott Pruitt, who feels it necessary to challenge the empirical conclusions of those better trained and educated than himself.

Mr Pruitt is a man who not only denies climate change, but also recently denied that carbon dioxide itself is a cause of global warming.

However, the beauty of democracy is that the opinions of those without any real comprehension of reality are equally weighted.

Then we have Rick Perry and Mr Tillerson. A couple of cronies who have environmental conflicts of interest aplenty, so many in fact that

Rather concerningly, extraordinary events are becoming ordinary above the 1880-1899 average, and 2016 was hotter still.

Whilst I appreciate the are just numbers, these numbers translate into very real effects. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment show that Greenland lost 150 to 250 cubic kilometres of ice per year between 2002 and 2006, with Antarctica losing a similar amount in the same period.

Moreover, higher temperatures lead to greater rainfall and greater

convection currents, as well as disproportionately lower temperatures in some parts of the world. As such number of record high temperature event in the United States have been increasing, while simultaneously the number of record low temperature events have been decreasing, the US has also witnessed the increasing numbers of intense rainfall events.

In other areas of the globe, the Paris floods of 2016 and the Arctic heat wave are just two examples of where climate change contributed to extreme weather in 2016. What is even more concerning is that extraordinary events are becoming ordinary - think back to the underwhelming reaction to the freak snowfall in the Sahara in December.

The aforementioned are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, and I would go on. Yet I feel that any reasonably intelligent person would have realised by now that climate change represents a problem. But are we solving it?

Well, not even close. Absolute reductions in carbon emissions of 50-85 per cent are required by 2050 in order to meet the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC’s) 450 ppm stabilisation target. Yet so far, despite declining energy and carbon intensities, carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels have increased by 80 per cent since 1970. And emissions today are almost 40 per cent higher than they were in 1990 - the Kyoto base year - and since the year 2000 they have been increasing at over 3 per cent per year.

Some positives can be drawn from China, whose chief climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, recently told reporters that China could now surpass its 2020 climate change commitments, which included a pledge to reduce 2005 levels of carbon intensity - the amount produced per unit of economic growth by 40 per cent to 45 per cent.

Further good news from the world’s largest polluter is that they are now the world leader in renewable energy spending, far outstripping the European Union. And is also building the infrastructure for cleaner electricity at the world’s fastest rate, a pretty darn good effort considering last year up to 90 per cent of new energy capacity came from renewable sources, according to a report from the International Energy Association.

China’s coal consumption also began falling in 2014 for the first time this century, and in 2015 its carbon emissions followed, falling by 1.5 per cent.

The EU and the US should at the very least be keeping pace. The former is simply falling behind, yet the latter is stopping, turning around and taking a leap back into the dark ages. As I have already mentioned, a man who has sued the EPA a total of

13 times now feels able to lead it. Mr Pruitt is a climate change denier with close ties to the fossil fuel industry, and has a long record of attacking the

Any politician who denies this evidence [...] will be wilfully turning a blind eye to [...] risks that threaten the lives and livelihoods of their citizens EPA and undermining environmental regulations. His boss has also regularly threatened to dismantle the EPA and roll back many of the gains made to reduce American’s exposures to industrial pollution - and Mr Pruitt’s appointment suggest these are more than just mere threats.

Trump has also signed legislation ending a key Obama adminis-

tration coal mining rule, specifically the Office of Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule. An environmentally destructive step, and one that will bring back hardly an jobs at all.

The Trump administration seems blissfully unaware that the coal mining industry has died its death and will not be resurrected, and for good reasons - it is no wonder that former Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman described the Republican Party as “aggressively anti-science, [and] indeed anti-knowledge”.

Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, said: “Any politician who denies this evidence from worldclass climate scientists will be wilfully turning a blind eye to rising risks that threaten the lives and livelihoods of their citizens.”

We have undoubtedly reached a pivotal moment in history, the point at which we really ought to start heading down a more responsible and sustainable path, and ramp up the pace of investment in renewables (apart from those utterly ridiculous bird-killing windmills). Yet it seems unlikely that the US will be taking that path any time soon.

Of course Trump’s foreign and immigration policies have caught the headlines in recent months, but I would argue that his environmental policies will have equally, if not more disastrous long-term consequences.

The debate surrounding this topic really ought to be brought to the fore.

The views viewsexpressed expressed in in Viewpoint Viewpoint do The do not notrepresent representthe theviews views of of The TheSaint Saintbut butare areindividual individual opinions. opinions.

Illustration: Beatrice Herman

Elliot Barker ejb28@st-andrews.ac.uk

between them they could comprehensively bog out their own swamp.

However, slinging metaphorical faeces at those members of the cabinet dripping in oil and reeking of gas will not sufficiently answer the question of America’s, and indeed the world’s, environmental future.

It is important to remind oneself of the facts, which, as perfunctory as it may seem, is something which has been left in the wake of the Trump post-truth, alternative facts, gas-guzzling cruise liner. Climate change is not a political football, nor is it a Chinese hoax, it is something which is very much real.

And please don’t point me out a contradictory ‘scientific’ study carried out by the University of Salford that proves every single reputable scientist and academic organisation wrong, just because it fits with your uneducated, ill-informed, and ignorant rhetoric. Because the truth is, climate change is happening all around us, and at an ever increasing pace and scale.

Over the last century, global sea levels have risen around eight inches, yet the rate in just the last two decades is nearly double that of the last 100 years. In addition, according to NASA, all three major global surface temperature reconstructions show that the Earth has warmed since 1880.

Most of the warming has occurred in the past 35 years, with 16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring since 2001. Furthermore, 2015 was the first time the global average temperatures were 1 degree Celsius or more

VIEWPOINT

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Devil’s Advocate Are Trump’s interventions in Syria justified?

YES eople convulsed in the streets unable to breath, there were “children lying on the ground, in their last breaths, their lips going blue […] wherever you looked there were dead human beings.”

These are the words of an eyewitness, Abu Al-Baraa reported in the Guardian describing the aftermath of the gas attack in Khan Shekhun, Syria.

Later that day, when doctors were busy treating survivors, the bombers came back again and bombed the hospital.

There can be no doubt that the Sarin Gas came from a shell, not a factory. A Guardian journalist, who was the first western journalist on the scene, found only abandoned grain silos and a shell hole, from which the sarin gas had dissipated. The shell was dropped by the Syrian Airforce, meaning that Assad is ultimately responsible.

When an attack is carried out against innocent civilians, it is a war crime. For the West to do nothing was, and should not ever have been, an option. It is already evident that Assad does not respond to sanctions; they were imposed after his last use of chemical weapons against a civilian population, after which he supposedly destroyed his chemical weapons in 2013. Evidently this was not the case, so something more had to be done.

There are now calls for Assad to step down, and pressure is being applied to Russia to in turn apply pressure to him, but with Russia’s ever growing isolationism from the west this method alone cannot be relied upon.

A justified and proportionate response was called for to demonstrate that the United States, which had already set down a red line that Assad then went on to cross, actually was going to act.

The USA could easily have wiped out the entire Syrian airforce or gone in and invaded the country, but such acts would be disproportionate.

Donald Trump’s chosen method of response was to fire fifty-nine tomahawk cruise missiles at the airbase from which the strike was launched, killing at least seven people and injuring nine.

While fifty-nine tomahawk missiles seems like overkill to me, the message is simple: the United States is no longer going to sit by the side lines and allow for crises to develop.

The Obama administration’s fear of intervention which arguably allowed

for Islamic State to get a foothold in the first place is no longer the norm.

Assad must go, and the sooner the better.

The only problem is that Vladimir Putin has claimed, without providing a shred of evidence, that the gas attack was orchestrated by rebels in order to frame Assad.

Furthermore, he has claimed that further “false” attacks are going to occur, and that they will be used by the USA to justify war in the same manner as the Iraq war was justified.

He has not provided any evidence for these claims, but shows no sign of backing down and looks prepared to back Assad to the end.

Rex Tillerson, Trump’s Secretary of State, has been dispatched to Russia in an attempt to get Putin to climb down and start to apply pressure to Assad - perhaps by imposing sanctions.

Boris Johnson tried and failed to get the European Union to also apply sanctions, but this proposal was rejected, and it is already evident that sanctions are not enough.

They only serve to hurt the Syrian population, who have already suffered enough. It is the administration that has to feel the consequences, not the people.

Trump’s intervention has led directly to a worsening of relations between America and Russia, which has been described as being at its worst since the Cold War. It might be speculated that Putin is regretting his support of Trump.

The reset of relations on which he campaigned, and his apparent like for Putin, seem to have not counted for very much once he got into office - unless he meant to reset to the Cold War. Yet despite the geopolitical consequences of Trump’s intervention, it is without doubt justified.

Other methods have been tried, and they have failed.

If the United States wants to maintain its role as world policemen, it has to be prepared to enforce international law.

The attack was not disproportionate; it was a warning of what the US is capable of under a president who, despite his many flaws, is not afraid of being Commander in Chief.

Henry Ford

[Sanctions] only I serve to hurt the Syrian population, who have already suffered enough

“

P

Max Waller

There is [...] nothing diplomatic about launching air strikes on a country 7000 miles away

YES 56%

Number of votes cast: 179

Illustration: Flo McQuibban

NO 44%

t’s often said that fighting fire with fire is a show of power, a sign of never backing down or allowing oneself to be thought of as inferior. It is also true that “bullies only respond to strength”, as Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister in Love Actually would have us believe. This certainly seems to be the mentality of President Trump, who last week authorized air strikes on a Syrian governmental airbase in response to a chemical warfare attack which killed dozens of civilians.

This has since caused tension with President Assad, who denies any wrongdoing, and with Russia, Syria’s biggest ally.

It seems that since coming to power Trump has googled what a president does, and, after a brief browse of Wikipedia, has concluded that military means are the best way of ‘doing diplomacy’. Except there is absolutely nothing diplomatic about launching air strikes on a country 7000 miles away and starting a potential international crisis for the outcome of nothing more than a couple of marginally damaged buildings. I remember when I used to walk past my primary school head teacher’s office and feel an undying urge to throw a water balloon in there or put a whoopee cushion under his chair. Donald Trump seems to have adopted the same mindless curiosity for his foreign policy, except the difference between he and I is that a) I don’t act like an eight-year-old anymore, and b) juvenile practical jokes become slightly more serious when your options for pranking are either nuclear weapons or a declaration of war.

And what has it achieved? Further internal conflict in Syria and the task of keeping amicable ties with Russia seem an almost impossible task. Trump has stated continually that he wishes to rebuild the US military and make it once again a formidable world power, but power is nothing unless he knows how to use it. A president can never be seen to condone the use of chemical warfare on civilians. If Assad is found responsible for the attack then he should of course face retribution. Similarly, in North Korea, Kim Jong-Un has been

9

NO increasing nuclear weapons testing and causing friction across the DMZ, and from a peace-keeping perspective this isn’t good news. Furthermore, it is not an unjust assertion to argue that the Obama administration was rather ineffective in implementing foreign policy and military engagements, so Trump is genuinely trying to implement a positive change of direction.

But managing international relations is the responsibility of the UN, whose job it is to handle such matters as Syria and North Korea. And forgive me for ruining the Trump party, but I’d rather not drop any bomb at all than be ready to press the button at all times just because I can.

What he doesn’t seem to understand is that you cannot keep making bold, empty promises like a vow to personally take care of North Korea when you are president of the United States. It’s a very good tactic to use on the campaign trail – and one which he was very successful in doing – but rhetoric is useless unless you have the capacity to follow it through, and, at the moment, he just doesn’t. Things he does have experience of: refusing to pay workers properly, failing to maintain several of his own business ventures, and knowing how to manipulate the truth. Oh, and bragging about sexual assault. Things he does not have experience of: politics, foreign policy or keeping up relations with international leaders. He is not a master tactician with experience in dealing with foreign powers, and the only dealings he’s ever done consisted of exploitative trade deals and profitable, yet invariably doomed, financial transactions.

The start to his time in office hasn’t gone particularly smoothly; the first few weeks were dominated by immense criticism regarding his Muslim ban, and now the United States’ already strained relationship with Russia, not to mention its questionable presence in the Middle East, is being put under further pressure.

It needs to be remembered that this was an extremely dangerous course of action to take. It wasn’t as if all of the other diplomatic options had been exhausted; the United Nations were barely given a chance to intervene before Trump gave the order for his airforce to take to the skies. Trump may be President, but this does not justify slap-dash, ill-conceived military strikes whenever he decides to take international matters into his own hands.

Therepresent views expressed The views expressed in Viewpoint do not the viewsinof The Saint but are individual opinions.

VIEWPOINT

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Students and stress: the new epidemic

his article is one of my six deadlines this fortnight. As you’d imagine, I write in a state of sleepless delirium, and possibly not the best mood to discuss ‘workload’. My blood is 80 per cent caffeine and fun is but a distant dream.

I know I am not alone in this feeling. When this wave of essays breaks, lurking behind are exams; and I predict that I’ll be swimming in swathes of anxious meltdowns, stress-tears, and mania, in a collective concoction from multiple people in every room.

Whether St Andrews’ workload is too heavy is debatable. I’d argue that, including contact hours, some subject combinations are as heavy as many Oxbridge degrees, and certain tests seem, to me, at least, ridiculous (one hundred paintings - seriously?).

Rumour has it that it is, in fact, possible to achieve highly across the board. We all know the BNOCs who keep up a 2:1 or even a 1st, whilst running several societies, writing for multiple publications, interning at the BBC and waking up at 6 every day to

has a guilt complex about procrastinating. People feel guilty for sitting outside in the sun instead of working on essays or spending time with friends instead of in the library.

In overworking, on the contrary, is an unwarranted sense of pride.

People boast constantly of how many hours they spend studying, and not only is this sad, it’s harmful. During sixth form I worked myself insane, to the point of clinical stress. And yet I was consistently praised for my ‘work ethic’. It reached a point where I was desperate for someone to just release me by giving me permission to stop, rather than continuing the encouragement.

I would even say that overworking is glorified. Elle Woods’ Harvardbound determination marks one of the greatest ‘feel good’ moments of ‘Legally Blonde’.

Though I appreciate the female empowerment and challenging stereotypes, I’m not sure the upbeat-music-montage reflects what reading all the time is really like.

I’m not criticising those w h o love study-

ing. I’m not advocating anti-intellectualism or bullying bibliophiles. I’m just challenging why those of us who don’t love what we’re doing continue to do it, to such an unhealthy extent.

What saddens me most about this attitude is that it is always in preparation for the future. It is always working towards a reward that doesn’t yet exist. What is so wrong with being happy now? Is it really so shameful to sometimes take the easier option?

I’m not saying give up or do far less than your potential allows, but this madness needs some mediating.

There’s nothing wrong with working hard and feeling motivated, but it’s important to sustain balance, and at some points question how much you’re sacrificing and if it’s really worth it.

Illustration: Tom Oldridge

T

Claire Fogarty cf205@st-andrews.ac.uk

hit the gym, the lib, or the beach for a seafront run. I assume that these multitaskers cope by coasting academically, though, and am more concerned by those who overwork solely on their degree.

I cannot conceive of how anyone completes all their reading, assignments, tutorial work, and exams to any standard of quality without sacrificing something significant. It doesn’t seem physically possible to complete all academic work without losing at least one of sleep, socialising, societies, exercise, or mental wellbeing.

Whilst it’s easy to curse the University, this pressure is not totally external. The amount of work that we do should be our choice. We must do the bare minimum, but beyond that, what we get from education is self-determined. We can choose modules and we can choose how much work to give each subject. We can choose how much time to dedicate to extra-curricular, social, and personal pursuits, and we can tailor our schedules accordingly.

What causes this pressure is a social epidemic which rewards working at the cost of our health (though this may be specifically a British middle-class phenomenon.). The attitude is always this: do as much as you possibly can do – ‘as much as you can’ not including the condition of ‘whilst being happy, well-rested, and healthy’.

Prioritising happiness is short-sighted, weak-willed, and lazy.

People are embarrassed to take ‘Great Ideas’ and almost everyone I know

To punch Nazis, or not to punch Nazis: that is the question

F

ree speech, in an ironic twist of fate, is one of those topics that has become highly contentious recently.

To allow the expression of opinion is an important freedom, one which constitutes a democratic society. But the issue on the table has become this: at what point, if any, do we police this right, if the views in question are controversial and dangerous?

To be blunt, I’m talking about Neo-Nazis, or the ‘Alt-Right’, as they are known in polite society. In the past year, we have seen this ideology take flight in a way it hasn’t in many, many years. Suddenly, discussion of Nazi-ism has become commonplace, and many people may even know someone who identifies with the movement to some degree. What is interesting, however, is how the movement has chosen to characterise itself. Rising up from the deep web, with memes as their weapon of choice, participants have flooded social media with racist jokes, personal

am also pleased to announce that all three incidents have been caught on camera.) Deported from Hungary for helping organize a white supremacist march, leader of a “Heil Trump” cry and salute at an alt-right Trump rally, renounced by conservatives, and disarmingly normal-looking, Spencer is the new and dangerous face of the Alt-Right movement.

In interviews, Spencer is calm, collected, and well spoken. He insists that his views are not born from hatred, but rather reason and intelligence. His sympathetic spiel about the silencing of his movement endears him to many like-minded people, who feel that within today’s liberal climate, they are under attack.

So what do we do with a man like this? Do we punch him? Do we punch people like him? The world seems as

if it does not remember what happened the last time ideas like this held power.

So often we swear that if we had only been there, in the 1930s-40s, we would have done something, that we would have stepped up.

Yet when we are confronted with the issue, we back off, and give people like Spencer the benefit of the doubt.

I am not a violent person. I do not believe violence is a solution to many problems in this world. It alienates the people we are locked in opposition with. But I must admit, the idea of Nazis being comfortable acting upon their beliefs in public unsettles me.

There can be no propagation of the mantra “peaceful ethnic cleansing”.

And so maybe, just maybe, I’d punch a Nazi.

Illustration: Gabrielle Wolf

Henrietta Dow hdd@st-andrews.ac.uk

attacks, and a fervent repetition of the word ‘cuck’. It would be comical if it weren’t so bizarre and disturbing.

Though they have distinct political ideologies, their preferred method of debate seems to be none at all.

Personally, I have seen that when confronted, their speech often devolves into mockery or complete denial. This is not to dehumanize them; these are real people, with real experiences informing their world views. And yet, the inner-mechanisms of their minds are still a mystery to me.

The debate as I interpret it is how to confront this. I have heard from many that it would be hypocritical to give them anything less than a conversation or debate, and to deny their right to speech would be totalitarian and deeply immoral. And I agree!

However, I would also point out that while they may say what they like, they must expect public backlash and counterargument should people be offended by their words.

And this brings me to Richard Spencer, a man people outside of America may not have heard about, but who has made waves in his home country. Spencer is the self-proclaimed inventor of the term Alt-Right.

He is a man who has publicly called for “peaceful ethnic cleansing”, and who has coincidentally, I am happy to say, been punched in the face multiple times by anti-fascist demonstrators. (For those curious, I

Hope: a different sort of four letter word?

Amy Elliott ase4@st-andrews.ac.uk

A

t the time of writing, a rather grey Easter Sunday has dawned. Most have pleasant activities planned, activities fitting for a pleasant day. Easter is rarely associated with anything particularly profound. It is a good opportunity to gather with friends and family but generally passes with little more than a fleeting hurrah of chocolate eggs, rabbits, and the occasional controversial Tesco ad.

The lack of profundity with which we associate Easter is somewhat ironic considering the Easter story (if you don’t know it, pro tip: check out the gospels.) Regardless, there is a certain sense of hope which seems to renew itself at this time of year.

Naturally, there’s something refreshing about experiencing a few hours extra of daylight a day after spending most of the year fumbling around in darkness - the way our semesters are set up often makes it feel that way, as a friend and I discussed a week or so ago.

There’s something gorgeous about evening suppers which extinguish late along with pink light especially in juxtaposition with months of chill and night.

Easter represents, if nothing else, a reminder of hope. Hope is a different sort of four letter word. For some reason, it is awkward to say unless it is implicated in some colloquialism. When we say ‘I hope’, we do not engage with the power of the word - we ‘hope’ that our Urban Outfitters order will be delivered, or that the bins will be collected. We undermine the word by treating it casually - we make it more palatable. Perhaps this is because the word does not have secular connotations.

Perhaps because it feels awkward to talk about hope in a world in which there seems to be so little of it.

Hope is not only for the faithful.

There is hope in beauty, in friendship, in bright mornings. And whatever your theological stance, there is an enormous hope in the story of a man who sacrificed his life for the world out of love.

Even objectively, there is hope in that kind of good, there is example in that kind of humility and sacrifice. Even if you have no faith and have objections to it, there is hope in the conception of this idea alone.

TheSaint viewsbut expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the The views expressed in Viewpoint do not represent the views of The are individual opinions.

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

VIEWPOINT

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Is Old England insecure?

S

oon St George’s Day will come, and thence will promptly pass unceremoniously by. The feast day of England’s patron saint is an occasion marked by a paucity of pomp and barely any traditions. This is excepting, of course, the annual array of newspaper columns fascinating over the endemic ‘crisis of Englishness’, another instalment of the wild-eyed fumble in the dark for some cultural definition for the English people. The Guardian has already got a flippant piece in early, offering a scathing profile of so-called ‘Deep England’ packed with pastoral tones and bucolic imagery.

However, this year, instead of stammering out half-baked nonsense imbued with a never-realm of boating on the Thames, jam-stalls at village fêtes and earthy, commonsensical pontificators propping up pubs, we have been presented with an ultimate, very tangible, manifestation of Englishness: Brexit.

I promise that this article is not going to descend into Europhilic insolence, the stuff of which we ‘Remoaners’ are allegedly made.

Instead, I ask you to consider the place that English culture- backed up by English political supremacyhas had in the British Isles within a long-term timeframe. This timeframe is best divide into three ages: the pre-Industrial (up until c. 1775), the Industrial (c. 1775- c. 1960) and the post-Industrial (c. 1960-).

The pre-Industrial age saw Englishness rise to political and cultural dominance. It was achieved through a domestic imperialism that was wont to use harsh measures indeed: the Highland Clearances, the suppression of other native languages and the forced transfer of landholdings to Anglo-Protestant gentleman and aristocrats, to name but three. The survival of other, previously-existing, socio-cultural structures became something of an act of resistance. In England, despite frequent upheavals, the gradual pace of demographic change meant that customs and cultural signifiers in England ebbed and flowed relatively organically save for the aberration of the Cromwellian Commonwealth.

A relative lack of a sense of national statehood contributed to this model as identities in England rested at primarily local levels.

In the Industrial Age, three seismic paradigms converged: Industrialisation, Empire and Romanticism. Industrialisation rapidly shifted huge populations into artificial communities, extirpating them from the land, its seasonal rhythms and the huge corpus of custom and

postcolonialism calls for a firm and progressive cultural response that nebulous Englishness just cannot muster. The child of immigrants to Glasgow will learn to ceilidh at school. He or she on the Lleyn Peninsular would be exposed to Welsh. There would be no need to be inherently anything or forgo any private practice in order to conform to the cultural norm.

How different it is in England, where Englishness may or may not depend on the colour of your skin and the deity to whom you pray.

It all depends on the politics of the people you ask and how reactionary their instincts are.

So then came the EU referendum. It was an English affair driven by an English Tory Party, and England voted accordingly. The thirty constituencies in which the most people identified as ‘English’ all voted to leave, as did the Unionist parts of Ulster that identify strongly with the English-cumBritishness of the nineteenth century and the heavily Anglicised parts of Wales that have been largely co-opted into a hegemony of cultural choas. On the other hand, Welsh-speaking Wales, nationalist Ireland and all of Scotland (which fared so well from Romanticism) voted to Remain. They were not scared of Europe, of internationalism, like the English were: they have endured cultural conflicts for centuries and had built bulwarks against it. They fear more a return to unquestioned English cultural dominance. They know who they are. In the face of real cultural challenge of globalisation, the English response was to erect harsh and political barriers.

Of course, areas of this broad narrative are far more complex than article can convey. Cultural struggles in Ireland in particular have hosted more mutual antagonism than words can perhaps describe. However, the fundamental truth remains: if your culture has never had to protectively define itself, then beware of a sharp jolt and potentially unpleasant political ‘solutions’ when a powerful test arises. The English and their Brexit will know that all too well this St George’s Day.

Illustration: Gabrielle Wolf

Isaac Leaver il29@st-andrews.ac.uk

culture that was predicated thereon.

Empire entrenched model of Anglocentric Britishness as national projects were dominated by an elite educated according to English cultural standards, therefore conflating and synthesising Englishness with the overarching national character. Romanticism captured the hearts of these same elites in the corners of their nation most unlike their own, spurring an interest most famously in the Scottish wilderness and the mysticism of the Welsh landscape.

English-cum-Britishness was underpinned by Industrialisation and by Empire, buoying up a liberal, Whig narrative centred on Westminster politics and Protestant reforms that could conceive of no coming crisis. It was not a primary beneficiary of the Romanticism around which cultural identities in Scotland, Wales and Ireland coalesced as they became even more ingrained with narratives of long-borne resistance against and difference from an overlord. Ironically, this overlord was in turn was willing to indulge in many of those narratives. When the likes of Cecil Sharpe started to assiduously document English folk custom in the 1890s- notably reviving the then moribund practice of Morris Dancing after having witnessed a rare performance at Headington Quarry, Oxfordshire, in 1899- it was too late to crystallise definitive notions and signifiers of Englishness. The Scots had their tartan and ceilidhs and the Welsh had their language and singing. The English had Morris Dancing and a fuzzy, imperceptibly vague sense of attachment to the countryside, neither of which resonated effectively and widely with the urban classes and liberal industrialists.

Supplementary to that, the Scots and the Irish emigrated in droves, often in response to tragedy, disaster and tyranny, to the New World, and even there had to continue in their struggle for respectability and integration into the mainstream. ‘No Irish Need Apply’ warned the notorious job advertisements. The wide diaspora and the marginalisation it felt wherever it went strengthened the affinity amongst especially the Irish for their cultural roots and for reaffirming their identity in opposition to their oppressors. This fed back into an international yet singular cultural experience for those who stayed behind in their homeland. The English, with less reason to leave and more immediate success when they did; did not develop the same cultural connections amongst themselves.

Fast-forward to the post-Industrial age, and this fractured sense of Englishness, bereft of unifying and easily transferrable and inclusive cultural signifiers such as a tartan or a language distinct from the national tongue has culminated in confusion and insecurity.

The English find themselves with one foot in a mythic past that they cannot fully articulate. Is it rural? Is it Christian? Is it liberal? Is it white?

How does it differ from Britishness?

Their other foot is in the reality in which globalisation, atomisation and

In favour of Singer

Max Waller mdmw@st-andrews.ac.uk

I

magine you are walking in a park and you see a child drowning in a pond. What do you do? You jump in and save the child, irrespective of any cost to yourself. A child’s life matters more than being late to a job interview or ruining your shoes. So you ought morally, to act and as you can act and it only causes insignificant harm to yourself given the consequences. So you jump in and save the child’s life.

This does not seem very controversial, but now consider the following: you receive an email from a charity which you know uses all of the money it receives on charity and not on other expensive activities. Do you donate and give the charity what it is asking for? It is an insignificant amount of money which for the sake of argument you can afford to give away, and it will save two children’s lives. Surely then, you ought morally to act in this case just as you did in the one above?

Yet, as Peter Singer points in his essay “Famine, Affluence and Morality”, while we will happily act in the first case, the majority of people are opposed to acting in the second case. Yet the only difference is geog-

For the price of a Blackhorn burger, you can save two lives. Is a burger really worth that much to you? raphy. It doesn’t make sense to say that in one case we ought to act, and yet in the other we should not. So using this Singer formulates a new principle to explain this difference: “If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it.” In the first case this is not in doubt, and because of this it seems sensible to conclude that in the second we ought, morally, to donate money as well. Our objections are just the result of a geographical bias.

While some would argue that “ought” is too strong a word; just because we can act does not mean we ought to. Can does not imply ought.

I can smoke one hundred cigarettes a day; that does not mean that I should.

In the first case we ought to act be-

cause the child’s life is immediately at risk. In the second we do not have to.

The act remains voluntary. Yet, however much I intuitively want to reject this principle, I find such criticisms unconvincing because they imply we have a choice to not save the child in the first case.

If so, we cannot not then refuse the plea to donate money in the email.

Think of those who are dying as a result of our own inaction and selfishness, why would you not donate? So we ought to donate money to charities to save people from dyeing of Malaria or other types of diseases. If you have the money, then you ought, morally to give some of it away to save people’s lives. Surely you cannot think

If you have the money, then you ought, morally to give some of it away to save people’s lives of something better to do with your money then saving people’s lives?

While Singer suggests we should reduce ourselves to the point of marginal utility, the point at which us giving money away makes those we give the money too better off than ourselves, such an extreme position is not necessary. Even if you just give away ten percent of your life time income, you can do a huge amount of good and save a huge number of lives.

Luckily for us here in St Andrews we have a Giving What You Can society. It is part of a larger movement which aims to get people to donate ten percent of their income to effective charities, chosen on the basis of a rigorous assessment criteria.

By giving money to the charities that it suggests you can sure that you are donating money to an ethically sound charity.

For example, by donating money to the Against Malaria Foundation you can track where your donation goes and know that for every five dollars you donate you are providing a mosquito net which saves at least one life.

Given the exchange rate, with eight pounds you can save two lives.

For the price of a Blackhorn burger you can save two lives. Is a burger really worth that much to you?

How about logging onto the Against Malaria Foundation and Giving What You Can’s websites?

How about donating eight pounds, right now, to one of their suggested charities?

You have a choice between saving two lives, or walking by on the other side of the road. Which one do you choose?

Links to the websites of these charities will be included in the online version of this article.

Therepresent views expressed The views expressed in Viewpoint do not the viewsinof The Saint but are individual opinions.

12

VIEWPOINT

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

It’s my interview and I’ll wear what I want to

In this age of so-called “champagne socialism,” is there still a place for £1,000 jackets?

Lewis Frain lnf2@st-andrews.ac.uk

P

rominent journalist Owen Jones faced a Twitter storm and newspaper controversy last week after he wore a jacket costing just over £1,000 whilst doing a photo shoot and interview for GQ magazine. Mr Jones identifies as a democratic socialist and is one of the most visible faces for left-wing political activism in Britain today. The image of him in rather expensive clothing faced criticism from individuals who considered it a hypocritical move for a supposed socialist to do.

It seems to some that Mr Jones’ fashion sense is enough to write his political stance as illegitimate and deceitful. How dare this man spend this much money on anything and still claim to support an ideology that wants to re-distribute wealth to the masses, what a fraud!

Except, this view is forgetful of numerous aspects of our reality. First of all, Jones may well want socialism in some form as our governing structure

but he is still a product of Britain’s capitalist society, just like the rest of us, this is inescapable. Furthermore, Jones has found success with his writing since his breakthrough book Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class was released and naturally he has made a healthy living off the back of this success.

Surely we should respect Mr Jones’ right to spend that money on what he likes? Apparently not. Some conservative commentators believe that you cannot possibly spend money on anything over a certain value or you must be a so-called “champagne socialist”. It would be interesting to see where this imaginary line is drawn. Socialism, especially in the sense Jones seems to align, is a system of beliefs that centres on public ownership, wealth sharing communities and representative democracy. At no point has Owen Jones suggested people should no longer be allowed to spend the money they earn.

This brings us to the great pointlessness of this whole controversy; Owen Jones didn’t even buy the jacket. He was merely wearing it as part of GQ’s photo shoot. Therefore, the point his detractors were trying to make is totally unfounded, Mr Jones wasn’t betraying his principles at all. My point is that even if it was his jacket, yes I know it’s all about a damn coat, he still wouldn’t be guilty.

This shows us a wider issue that

is appearing in British media both social and traditional. The trend gives the impression that once somebody who considers themselves working class earns a certain amount of money they lose their ability to comment on class issues. This is obviously an absurd notion and serves only to reinforce the primitive class culture that remains prominent in the UK. Jones has successfully improved the representation of the working classes in today’s media narrative and challenged the actions of the government and its impact on poorer communities. However, rather than listening to his views, establishment voices want to show evidence of him selling out and joining the elite.

This isn’t exclusive to Jones; any relatively popular figure who begins to challenge the views of the conservative establishment on class are immediately dismissed as somehow being a hypocrite. Jeremy C o r b y n opposes the g o ve r n -

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Have we oversimplified political discourse?

TRIPP WHALEN

A

s per usual, the weeks since the last “political round up” have been filled with typically flashy headlines and unpredictable events that have kept people focused on the topical.

Though as a person of this generation this is not at all surprising, for the past couple of weeks especially, all wannabe university political pundits (myself included) have spent their mornings scrolling through their various apps to find the juiciest Trump relate d

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

gossip.

This is all well and good if you are seeking a good chin wag in line for your latte at Taste, but in the grand scheme of things it will be mostly useless information in a few days.

The insistent focus on micro-news (trademark pending) really has only become relevant in the 24 hour CNN society we live in. Not all of these sound bites are irrelevant - they can help us piece together a better image of the political milieu in which we reside - however, they have largely blinded us to the more logical way to look at things.

It seems that this focus on micro-news has forced us to chat about politics in a bottom up approach, though I think even that is generous.

We all chat about our daily grievances with the system and throw around a few sentences that resemble political discussion, but focus on our emotional and gut reactions to things.

The extrapolations made from these discussions of events tend to be tenuous and largely completely useless in solving any of the issues that aforementioned headlines have shed light on. Why have people abandoned the old ways of political discourse?

Sitting in smoky rooms, having lengthy discussions on theory and policy, making speeches

ment’s grammar schools proposals as he believes it would further segregate children by class. However, as Corbyn went to a grammar school - which was his parents’ choice - the government essentially said his opposition was illegitimate, despite it being fifty years ago. Russell Brand also faced huge criticism at the peak of his Revolution and “Trews” campaigns for conducting activism on class issues and also being a millionaire.

I am not saying anyone has to agree with the people I have mentioned, I certainly don’t, but the continual dismissal of working class issues because of the wealth of those campaigning is unacceptable.

A person’s background may well influence but certainly shouldn’t define somebody’s beliefs and nor should anybody be held to account purely because of their wealth.

This becomes

with Churchillian rhetoric - actually trying to solve issues from their roots instead of complaining as we walk to class because it is now a faux pas to chat about the weather.

Why has politics become something we give as much thought to as choosing what colour Pablo we order at the Union?

Supplanting the previously described sessions that aim at solving a problem with casual whining about such serious aspects of society is not fair to anyone, including ourselves.

We are all better than that. We are all at a brilliant university and have the capacity to solve issues if we put the necessary effort in.

I hate to break it to all the wannabe revolutionaries in KY16, but I highly doubt Voltaire was making sure everyone knew he was upset over his cafe au lait (even though historically cafes were sites of political theorizing). He at least had the motivation to formulate some sort of solution.

I suggest we all make an effort to return to the old ways of discourse that allowed for progress instead of relying on what is now a fashionable way to express one’s grievances.

Then again, I myself am sitting here complaining about the politics of politics, expressing my frustrations with the general public, so maybe we do all need the occasional vent in order to stay sane.

especially true when what these people spend their money on certainly does not contradict their viewpoints.

Brand contributes significantly to grass roots charities and as GQ themselves have said, the £1,000 jacket has no links to underpaid labour or sweat shops, which would certainly align more to socialist ideals than if Jones had popped into Primark. Of course, this is still forgetting that Jones did not buy the jacket in the first place.

All this hysteria achieves is the dilution of the actual debate over working class issues and steers attention towards issues of apparent celebrity hypocrisy.

These prominent speakers represent a too often maligned and misrepresented part of British society and they should be engaged with and not overly scrutinised.

Owen Jones as a vocal activist for LGBT+ issues, class and socialism is unsurprisingly a target for conservative media and politicians. Too many of them appear set on continuing our primitive class culture, dismiss any left of centre stance as idiotic and refuse to participate in a conversation about real issues.

This whole controversy was a political smoke screen thrown up because some people didn’t like what they heard and they wanted to devalue the speaker, possibly because they didn’t know how they could criticise his argument.

Trump Corner

EMILY ALLEN

If there is ever an example of how much difference a mere few days can make in the world of politics, the past two weeks are a shining example.

President Trump’s decision to order US warships to launch 59 tomahawk missiles onto President Assad’s airbase in Syria provoked shock and outrage around the globe. The attack came in response to Assad’s attack on Syrian citizens in the town of Khan Sheikhoun. Speaking about the attack, Trump gave a statement from his estate Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, saying, “Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike o n the air base in Syria from where t h e chem-

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

ical attack was launched. It is in this vital national security interest of the United States to prevent and deter the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons”. This a major shift from Trump’s policy during his presidency campaign, where he affirmed that he was against the U.S. taking military action in Syria.

The airstrike is the first direct military action taken by America against the regime of President Assad during Syria’s civil war, which has lasted for six years. It later was estimated by Syria’s armed forces that six people were killed during the attack.

More recently, Trump has spoken with Chinese president, Xi Jinping, about North Korea’s nuclear programme. President Xi reportedly stated that the issue should be solved in a peaceful manner.

However, in an interview earlier that evening with Fox Business Network, Trump stated that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was making a mistake with his own nuclear programme, and declared that “We are sending an armada. Very powerful. We have submarines. Very powerful. Far more powerful than the aircraft carrier.”

For now, we cannot know whether this is merely an empty threat, or whether an attack on North Korea far deadlier than the Syrian strike will come to fruition in the near future.

The views expressedThe in Viewpoint do not in represent thedoviews of The Saint areof individual views expressed Viewpoint not represent thebut views The Saintopinions. but are individual opin-

MONEY thesaint-online.com/money

money@thesaint-online.com

Money editor: David Hallengren Deputy money editors: Eden Elliott and Acacia Beaton @saint_ money

No more EU funding for Fife?

Fife Council makes a plan for Brexit

C

oncerns regarding Brexit’s effect on Fife’s economy and job market have risen to the forefront of local issues. EU funding, employment prospects, and environmental regulations are of particular note.

So –– what effect will Brexit have locally?

Scotland’s structural funds Scotland currently receives an allocation of around £674 million in EU structural funds. These funds are distributed across the UK, with Wales receiving £1.7 billion and England £5.3 billion between 2014 and 2020.

These funds have been used to create jobs, assist start-ups, and contribute to a variety of essential projects across the UK, including building skills for the unemployed, increasing female participation in science and engineering, and developing new healthcare technologies.

Continuing this level of spending would incur a large cost for national governments, doubling domestically-sourced funding in some countries.

If the UK had voted to remain in the EU until 2020, it could have also claimed a large portion of the EU Cohesion Policy budget.

This money is provided to improve the wellbeing of regions in the EU and avoid regional disparities (consider the relatively poor economic performance of some UK regions in comparison to other EU regions in recent years.).

Whilst the UK government has guaranteed funding for any structural funds projects that take place prior to Brexit, it has not made any commitments thereafter.

Due to this lack of funding transparency, local governments have been forced to create their own plans.

The UK government’s “Plan for Growth” has been threatened in the wake of Brexit and certainly needs to be re-evaluated.

Written alongside the 2011 budget, the plan’s goal is to make the UK the best place in Europe to start and finance a business.

The government also hopes to have the most flexible workforce in Europe and most competitive tax system in the G20. This is certainly an admirable goal, but some reappraisal is necessary.

At a more local level, councils across Scotland have had to begin preparing strategies to face the maze of Brexit.

Fife: what’s in store?

The Fife Brexit Business Advisory Group was created in the wake of questions about regional funding. within Scotland. The group’s intention is to make Fife the best place to practice business in Scotland over the course of Brexit and beyond.

Council leader and group chair David Ross said, “In pulling this Advisory Group together, Fife Council wanted to ensure that we were in a position to articulate and contribute a strong voice to this ongoing debate.”

What does this vague statement mean for businesses, residents, and students in Fife?

The group has emphasised the newly-created Fife Economic Strategy 2017 to 2027. Whilst not written in response to Brexit specifically, the programme outlines a strategy for Fife to confront emerging economic trends, such as the predicted technological advances in robotics that threaten jobs worldwide, and the impact of the decision to leave the EU.

Fife’s plan Written by Fife Council, the paper outlines ongoing socio-economic issues that restrict economic growth.

These include above-average rates of youth unemployment, earnings and productivity below national averages, and persistent areas of deprivation in some parts of Fife.

The paper states that it hopes to tackle these issues “against a background of continued reductions in public spending, low oil and gas prices, constitutional uncertainty, and the implications to businesses arising from the outcome of the 2016 EU referendum.”

So, what measures is it planning to put in place? The strategy is comprised of four key goals, written with the intention of making Fife the best place for business in Scotland. In summary, these are inclusive growth, increased infrastructure, internationalisation, and innovation.

The council is hoping to achieve fairer, more inclusive growth with a focus on measures to reduce youth unemployment, improve the mobility of the workforce, and increase “upskilling” and support for start-ups.

Measures such as the Opportunity Fife Partnership’s Employability Pathway have already been created to help young people facing barriers to employment in the most deprived areas.

The council has also been working with NHS Fife and other medical bodies to assist those claiming benefits

due to mental health issues. Over 40 per cent of the individuals claiming working age benefits in Fife do so on the basis of such issues.

The second goal of increased infrastructure investment will surely be welcomed by many hoping for improved transport connectivity. Submissions regarding funding for new transport projects, including those that improve workforce mobility and commit to delivering the Levenmouth Rail Link (Levenmouth is currently the largest urban area in Scotland unserviced by any direct rail link), are being prepared for the Scottish and UK governments.

The council also hopes to make use of vacant and derelict land, facilitate joint infrastructure planning between national and regional agencies, and increase private and public sector investment in key industries.

Brexit was certainly in mind during the writing of the paper’s third goal: internationalisation and improved sales and exports.

Fife is currently focusing on building its competitive advantage in energy and renewables to encourage further international investment and innovation.

The strategy names St Andrews as a key center for growth and hopes to develop social and business facilities to retain graduates within Fife.

The council has highlighted the St Andrews Biomass District Heating Scheme, one of the most exciting sustainable energy projects in the UK. The £25 million project will transform the disused G u a r d bridge Paper Mill into an energy center that will pump hot water from Guardbridge to North Haugh.

The aim of this initiative is lowering carbon emissions, creating jobs in the local area, and, its planners hope,

creating the UK’s first carbon neutral university.

Finally, the goal of fostering a culture of innovation and enterprise may be slow to take off, but it is certainly not starting from nothing.

Fife is actually a key center for innovation in carbon reduction.

Many companies are developing cutting-edge products in energy engineering and advanced manufacturing. The Levenmouth area, for example, has the largest open-access wind turbine in the world.

What does this mean for businesses, residents, and students in Fife?

This business plan is less about economic ties and relations with the EU and more about improving Fife’s position economically within Scotland and Europe. By preparing Fife for a rapidly changing economic world, the council hopes that it will put its residents and students in better stead for the future.

Paul Vaughan, head of community provision, has said that both the council and community planning partners have

Illustration: Lauren Holmes

ACACIA BEATON Deputy money editor

a range of roles to

undertake as the Brexit process begins.

“The pace of this activity is likely to increase as negotiations begin and as further legislation is proposed,” he explained. “The breadth of activity is wide, although much will naturally focus on trade and competitiveness.”

Whilst these are all certainly constructive measures for Fife economically, they seem to lack an emphasis on the social repercussions of Brexit for Fife and Scotland. However, Mr Vaughan has noted that the council will play an active role in mitigating the inevitable wider societal impacts of Brexit.

He has suggested that these could include ongoing promotion of rights, European cultural activities, education, and utilising strong relations with European partners.

On a larger scale, an important issue is the lack of an institutionalised framework for the UK as a whole.

Beyond the current EU structural funds, there is a distinct lack of coordination regarding policy objectives and instruments across regions of the UK. Shared information and policy experiences are also weak points in local government relations.

This is in direct contrast to other European countries, which tend to have formal or informal coordination systems across levels of government.

Overall, the E c o nomi c

Strate g y presents many viable and well-thought o u t measures that tackle a range of challenges Fife will face in the coming years.

Small-scale programs and initiatives may well be the best way forward for a geographically isolated area with growing business potential.

MONEY

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Easter 2017 by the numbers

war?

e d a r T

DAVID HALLENGREN Money editor What began as a religious holiday to celebrate an end to Lenten self-denial has become a commercialised, interdenominational cultural phenomenon filled with hunts for plastic eggs,

Less than

Tariff A tariff is simply a tax on foreign goods. Several examples are taxes on all goods from a specific country and taxes on a specific good from all other countries. The goal of a tariff is to collect money and raise the price of goods originating from outside the country.

This makes domestic producers more

Finally, it wouldn’t be an Easter round-up without mentioning the ubiquitous chocolate egg. According to Cadbury, the British public spends £220 million annually on chocolate Easter eggs, of which their Birmingham-made creme eggs are the most popular.

According to a survey from The Independent, 80,000 eggs were sold this Easter, and the average child received eight.

Together, the eggs contain in excess of 8,000 calories. 78 per cent of parents buy their children chocolate eggs for the holiday.

ble

Trade deficit is the amount by which the cost of a country’s imports exceeds the value of its exports. The US trade deficit with China was $347 billion in 2016. The trade deficit exists because US exports to China were only $116 billion, while imports from China were $463 billion. President Donald Trump ran on a platform of bringing industries back to the US to create jobs and reduce reliance on Chinese products.

While you can have wars over trade, a trade war is typically defined as a situation in which one state raises tariffs on another, prompting the second state to raise tariffs on the first.

With high enough tariffs on either side, trade between the countries becomes infeasible.

Although there is ongoing debate about the precise impact of a trade war between the world’s two preeminent powers, the general consensus amongst economists is that the result would be disastrous.

In both countries, but especially China (due to its trade surplus with the US), industries would be hit hard.

The increasing difficulty of competition would make exporting to the other country costly.

Consumers would likely feel the burden of increased price levels. In both countries, but especially the US (due to its trade deficit with China), consumers would have to pay expensive domestic companies for items previously sourced in the other country. This would result in strained budgets for both Chinese and American consumers.

There is a possibility that other economic sanctions could come into play.

The United States has accused Chinese entities of cyber-attacks on American government and corporate

chocolate Easter eggs were sold in Britain

Go

Trade deficit

Trade war

assets, so President Trump could expand an Obama administration executive order that froze the assets of specific persons and organisations in China.

The political dynamics surrounding this situation are unique. President Trump ran on the promise that he would take China to task for what he identified as currency manipulation and unfair business practices.

As such, there is more political pressure on him to act tough on China than there was for his predecessor, who pursued a more conciliatory approach. China, on the other hand, seeks to avoid economic turmoil without compromising its international prestige and capitulating to American demands.

While details are still shadowy, it appears that talks between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have had positive results. NPR reports that China will no longer vote against UN resolutions regarding Syria –– in exchange for US assurances that it will not militarily intervene in North Korea.

While these are not economic agreements, they show willingness to compromise that many observers feared would be absent from US-China dealings under the Trump administration.

Additionally, a 100-day negotiating period, during which no action on trade will be taken by either side, was set up to give both sides more time to prevent a trade war.

However, this does not mean that a trade war is off the table; if the 100 days pass and there is no agreement, a trade war and all its varied consequences could still occur.

80,000

n: F rey a

Over the past several months, there has been an increasing amount of buzz over the possibility of a trade war between the United States and China. Such a conflict has been referred to in apocalyptic terms, with many observers stressing the possibility that it could lead to the ruin of the global economy at large. The developing economic and political situation, as well as the concept of a “trade war” itself, is complicated and deserves a thorough explanation. These are some important terms, defined in relation to the current circumstances.

competitive. For example, the US could put a tariff on Chinese steel, raising its price to equal or more than domestic producers. However, doing so, as President Trump has stated he may, would probably create a…

hollow chocolate bunnies, and shiny patent leather shoes.

Whether you celebrated en famille, went to Sunday mass, or had nothing to do with the holiday, here are some figures you might not have known.

Abundant holiday decorations and candies in shops belie a sharp shift in Easter observance.

While many observe the holiday as a religious celebration, more than three in five respondents t o a Times

tio

LUCIUS REIBEL

went to an Easter service

Illu stra

Illustration: Cosette Puckett

two in five

survey indicated that they had no intention of attending an Easter service. Women were more likely than men to be churchgoers.

This contrasts with the 60 to 65 per cent of Americans who attended church on Sunday, perhaps lending credence to a hackneyed view of church-crazy Americans.

Easter spending continues to grow, with Britons having spent almost £4 billion on gifts and food this holiday season, according to GlobalData.

Springboard predicted a five per cent increase in footfall, or customers in retail stores, over Easter weekend.

6.5 million Britons took an overnight trip this Easter, a sharp increase from last year. Their travel plans were estimated to bring £1.7 billion to the UK economy.

11 million cars hit the roads last Easter weekend, with holidaymakers travelling an average of 35 miles.

Some went further afield; 1.6 million travelled overseas in 2016.

Illustration: Freya Goble

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

MONEY

Making the first move

15

How to make an impact with speculative applications

W

hen students look for employment vacancies such as research opportunities, internships, and paid positions, they tend to check job postings. It’s a logical first step, but if it’s the only one an applicant takes, they are missing out on a hidden and growing job market that does not advertise vacancies.

Speculative applications attempt to tap into this market. They are proactive probes sent to organisations not actively advertising open positions.

In some industries––like journalism, broadcasting, and publishing––many employers don’t bother advertising vacancies, making the speculative application an important art to master.

The first part of any speculative application, and one of the most challenging parts, is finding out where you should send your application.

As your grandmother used to say, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”

This is a tiresome, hackneyed old saying, but, like most hackneyed old sayings, there’s an unfortunate glimmer of truth to it.

The most basic tool for “knowing who to know” is networking. LinkedIn, no one’s favourite social media site, is one of the best ways for students––especially students in a small, remote, northern town––to effectively network.

Stephanie Irwin, a fourth-year English student from Canada, used speculative applications to secure placements in the London fashion scene. She described LinkedIn as a student’s “best bet.”

Ms Irwin also stressed the importance of tailoring one’s profile for maximum effect; she turned to the Careers Centre for help. If Ms Irwin’s experience is anything to go by, with a professional profile and a courteous note to an alumnus, your “odds of receiving a response are incredibly high.”

Ms Irwin also noted that students with few connections would be well advised to seek the help of the Careers Centre. “[They] helped me go from seven LinkedIn connections to almost 500 in a year,” she said.

However, don’t neglect the Careers Centre’s Saint Connect.

Though it may be smaller and somewhat less intuitive than LinkedIn, all the graduates who are members have actively made a choice to help St Andrews students find positions and experience. They’re on the the site because they want to help, so take the path of least resistance and let them.

Bold individuals might want to approach academic staff in their field of interest. These professors and tutors will have connections and may be willing to vouch for you.

There’s also the more targeted approach where you choose to actively search for an individual with hiring or referral power within an organisation. Often, your network can help with this.

Failing that, the Careers Centre suggests trawling through company social media pages for useful contacts (for instance, those in HR or managerial positions) or cold-calling the organisation and asking whom you might contact.

The second step, and the one over which you as the applicant have the least control, is actually getting your application read. Again, if this

wasn’t clear, send your application to a named contact: not to the HR department, but to “Ms Doe” in HR. Give your email a clear, arresting subject line; if someone the addressee recognises has recommended that your application be taken seriously, make sure their name is part of it.

If you’ve got a unique skill set that can be summed up in precious few words, now would be the time to highlight it. Once you’ve sent off your application, all you can do is hope that someone takes the time to open your email and give it due consideration.

Of course, it doesn’t matter who does or doesn’t read your application if it’s fatally flawed.

The Careers Centre recommends that any speculative application consist of a CV and cover letter.

The creation of the CV itself seems little different from applications for advertised positions. There is one addition, however, that applicants would be well advised to consider.

The Careers Centre recommends that the CV include a “career aim” at the top. You might think of this as being a bit like a lonely hearts ad: who are you, why are you worth loving, and whom are you looking for?

The “career aim” section consists of a brief summary of your personal profile, what your marketable skills are, and what kind of position you want.

For example, you might write, “High-achieving third-year history student with research experience looking to secure a position in law offices this summer.”

The “career aim” makes it easier for the CV to be passed around. If one section doesn’t need a summer hire, perhaps another will.

Other than that, the usual precautions about CVs apply. Keep it concise, keep it pertinent, and list

achievements, not just positions. Resources abound online if you want a more thorough treatment of the subject than is appropriate here.

The cover letter for speculative applications, while not alien to those sent in response to advertised positions, does have its quirks.

Firstly, address it directly to your contact in the organisation. “Dear Sir/ Ma’am” is far too impersonal and does nothing to build rapport between you and the recipient of your unsolicited application. Where speculative applications are concerned, building rap-

In some industries. [...] employers won’t even bother advertising vacancies port is crucial, so go with “Dear Ms Doe” instead.

The first paragraph of the letter should explain the type of placement you want.

This should begin with a brief introduction (year, degree, etc). Explain your window of availability and length of the placement you are seeking.

The Careers Centre recommends expressing flexibility about length, citing the tendency of placements to

be extended if a shorter trial period works out well.

You should then express your interest in the field and organisation to which you are applying. The Careers Centre calls this the “why them” paragraph.

Show your enthusiasm, show your research, and be sure to carefully tailor your discussion to the organisation in question. A paragraph about why you want to work for a company will fall flat if it feels generic.

Up next is the “why me” paragraph. Here, you need to prove yourself. You’re trying to convince an organisation that you’re worth hiring even though they might not have a specific vacancy they need to fill.

Ms Irwin stressed the importance of having “a clear vision of who you are, and what you can offer the company.”

The trick here is not to reiterate your CV, but rather to expand upon it in such a way that you illustrate what you can bring to the table. Make it concrete and provide evidence.

The last paragraph is a call to action. Here, you express your openness to being contacted by the organisation in question for further discussion or an interview.

It’s also important that you express your intent to follow up on your application after a set period.

Beyond ensuring that your application is not lost in the shuffle, this illustrates your continued interest in the position and, more importantly, in the organisation.

“From my experience,” Ms Irwin said, “companies love speculative applications. It shows that you know what you want, what you have to offer, and that you want that company.”

In conclusion, it’s a lot of legwork for one uncertain application, but, if done well, it’s worth it.

Illustration: Emilie AG

DAVID HALLENGREN Money editor

FEATURES

Features editor: OLIVIA GAVOYANNIS Deputy editors: Kenalyn Ang, Julia Bennett, Emily Lomax, Daisy Sewell

features@thesaint-online.com

thesaint-online.com/features

@saint_ features

nightline: listen

CATRIONA AITKEN

S

ocials, extra-curricular activities, and lectures mean that life in the Bubble is usually an exciting, fulfilling experience. Sometimes, however, students experience stress, loneliness, and an overall sense of being overwhelmed. Luckily, St Andrews has a service that can help in these moments of uncertainty.

Nightline is run by students for other students, and it can act as a non-advisory “sound wall” when you want somebody to talk to.

The student volunteers responding to calls, emails, and instant messages remain completely anonymous. They are there to assist with anything from providing a taxi number to lending an anonymous, confidential ear when something is on your mind.

To find out more about the services Nightline provides, The Saint spoke to the students who promote and run day-to-day operations of the organisation.

Third-year Sarah RodwaySwanson is this year’s Nightline director.

She spoke about what inspired her participation, saying that previous experiences left her “knowing quite how bad things can get when someone bottles something up.

“I saw the benefit of having a service that’s that space for someone who has no one else they can talk to, that space to open up and not bottle

it up until crisis point, on the extreme side. That’s what first inspired me, although it’s not all that serious.”

Publicity officer and second-year student Anna Atwell added, “I actually heard about the service before I came to St Andrews, and I thought that it was a really unique opportunity to serve the community.

If you just want to rant for an hour about something or get something off [of] your chest [...] you can I’ve seen the work that the people in this organisation do. They’re all dedicated and passionate and truly amazing, and I just think the opportunity to help out in the community is really special.”

Nightline, which has been operating for nearly 45 years, works to

Illustration: Emilie

AG

here to ensure that its services are accessible to all students in St Andrews by providing phone, email, and, in the last two years, instant messaging support.

Third-year student Toby Phimister oversees Nightline’s training and recruitment, and he spoke about the broad range of issues and topics the group covers.

Mr Phimister explained, “It goes from really small stuff, like people not knowing where their exam venue is or wanting a chat [to] someone walking home in the dark and wanting someone to talk to [and] more serious stuff.

“Our volunteers are very extensively trained. [We provide] about 40 hours’ worth of training for every volunteer. So they’re completely prepared to deal with literally any situation.”

One of Nightline’s best qualities is its confidential nature. Unlike some support services, the organisation is not tied to disclosure regulations or required to chat on a need-to-know basis.

Moreover, emails and messages are filtered to maintain anonymity, and names and email addresses are never provided.

This is something Ms RodwaySwanson believes is incredibly valuable.

She said, “The anonymity and the confidentiality gives an extra layer in ensuring people feel more secure talking to us.”

Deputy Director Kieran Wallbanks added, “We will never know the full story of anyone’s situation. We only know a tiny snippet. Even if they tell us loads, there’s still things we don’t know, so it really isn’t our place to give them referrals to other services unless they want them, unless that’s what they’re searching for.”

The decision to listen rather than actively advise students is another key element of Nightline’s work.

“It’s quite different from just chatting with a friend or chatting with your family because we’re just here to listen, so if you just want to rant for an hour about something, or get something off [of] your chest, or even if you’re not exactly sure what it is you want to talk about, you can, which I think is quite important as well,” Mr Wallbanks said.

“It’s a space which allows people to come to their own conclusions and their own solutions, which in a way is more empowering than if we were to give advice,” Ms Rodway-Swanson added. “If [students] make a decision themselves, it is probably going to ultimately be the best decision for them.

I think that’s the most important thing about how we operate.”

While support services like

Nightline exist in various forms across the country, the team recognises that there is a particular need for the services it provides within the context of St Andrews.

“It’s such an international university that a lot of people come here knowing no one,” Mr Phimister said.

Ms Atwell spoke about how emotions and ambitions can be overwhelming within a high-achieving environment, adding, “Students in the Bubble tend to be really motivated in a lot of ways or really intense, and the programmes here can be really demanding.

“Given the nature of that situation, it can be a stressful environment and it can be really difficult, so that supportive ear can help people in those situations.”

While the team admits that Nightline cannot possibly be the service every person is looking for, members stress that they are still very much there for everyone, every question, and every issue.

Mr Wallbanks said, “If you’re thinking of calling, go ahead, because you just don’t know if it will be helpful to you until you try.”

Nightline services are available from 8 pm to 7 am every evening that university halls are open.

IM closes at midnight, but emails can be sent 24/7 and will be picked up at night.

Nightline’s next volunteer recruitment push will be in September.

For more details, visit Nightline’s Facebook page.

FEATURES

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

AARON MULDOON

I

t was as if I'd told her I planned to abandon my bright future, elope to the Midwest, and join the First Satanic Church with Morticia, some girl I had just met.

“Aaron! Absolutely not!” she declared with rising fervour. I had just told my mother that I planned to hitchhike in eastern Europe during spring break.

The plan was simple but genius.

We initially secured flight tickets from London to Sofia for just £12.99 (with Ryanair, of course –– my nation’s greatest export), and returns from Athens back to London 12 days later.

The rest we would make up as we went along, agreeing not to plan anything more than 24 hours in advance.

CouchSurfing would provide us with accommodation at no cost, and our means of free transport would be covered by the generous people of Bulgaria and Greece.

Hendrik and I were aware of the irony of “choosing” to go hitchhiking.

It’s not like hitchhiking is just another option offered by travel agents.

Instead, hitchhiking is last-ditch effort people resort to when left without any means of transportation.

Nonetheless, we convinced ourselves that if we used the old-school technique of sticking our thumbs out at the side of a highway –– avoiding any of that online Tinder-forhitchhiking nonsense –– we could enjoy a pure, unadulterated hitchhiking experience. It was in this spirit that we set off. I suppressed the guilt I felt about leaving my poor mother worrying where she had gone wrong. How had she raised a child who wanted nothing more than to throw his kite to the wind and “find himself,” adventuring like some sort of a hippy?

It was seven days into the journey, as I sat on the cracked tarmac near a highway toll station in the north of Greece, when I first began to reflect on the bizarre series of events that had culminated in our current situation.

Earlier that morning, we had made our way here from Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city, with the hope of catching a ride to Athens. As the morning mist lifted and the unforgiving sun climbed higher into the sky, I began to feel more and more like I was in a desert scene out of the movie Holes. The second hour of waiting passed by even slower than the first, and I tried to convince my travel companion that this approach wasn't going to get us anywhere.

side of the road

Yet Hendrik, the real hero of this tale, was far more committed to the cause than I. For some unknown reason, he stood unwavering as the cold, metallic river of negligent Greek vehicles flowed past us. It was approaching the three-hour mark when Hendrik decided to walk 100 metres along the motorway and approach a car that had been pulled over for the last five minutes. The anticipation of what could happen next made the stress of opening my A-level results pale into insignificance.

But first, let’s rewind to just over a

Hitchhiking provides a remarkable chance to explore the world from an alternative perspective week before the events at the toll station, back to when our great hitchhiking expedition was still in its infancy.

Our journey from Sofia to Bansko (a small ski resort in the Balkan mountains) was working out much better than expected. We began by walking towards a main arterial route that led south out of the Bulgarian capital.

Picking a convenient spot near a set of traffic lights, we turned and smiled desperately at the oncoming cars. After brandishing our beautifully crafted cardboard signs for little more than 10 minutes, a car carrying two women pulled over and the driver beckoned us in. The older of the two women told us they could take us to Blagoevgrad. From there, we might easily catch a ride on to Bansko.

Surprised and extremely grateful for how easy our maiden voyage was turning out to be, we couldn't help but grin stupidly at each other in the back seat of the car. Finding accommodation the previous night had been just as easy. Through CouchSurfing, we had arranged to stay with a man named Viktor just hours before we

would arrive at his house.

It was remarkable that we had transitioned from a pair of wandering hobos to becoming this man’s homecoming friends within a matter of minutes. Hendrik and I cooked dinner for the three of us and made some pleasant, if not slightly awkward, conversation across the table.

While Viktor and the two women who had accompanied us on the first leg of our journey were perfectly amicable and polite, they lacked a certain je ne sais quoi that we had been hoping to discover in our prospective hosts and chauffeurs.

Little did we know, as we stood with our thumbs out near a gas station outside Blagoevgrad, that our journey was about to get infinitely more exciting.

Ostrovski’s car screeched to a halt on the hard shoulder just before the gas station. The heavily built, middle aged man emerged without hesitation from his gold Volvo XC90 and began to lift our backpacks, placing them into the trunk beside all of his ski equipment. We timidly asked for confirmation (I had been reading a lot about the Bulgarian Mafia.) that he was, in fact, going to Bansko.

“Yez, yez. Bansko. Bansko is the centre of the universe!” his 30-yearold girlfriend confirmed from inside the jeep.

We made ourselves comfortable in the back seats.

“You are interested in politics?” he asked, after no more than five minutes of introductions and small talk.

We both confirmed, and for the next hour we were bombarded with an array of facts (most likely conspiracy theories, but who knows anymore?): apparently, George Soros pays all one million Bulgarian gypsies to rig the national elections, and underground communist organisations throughout Eastern Europe meddle with democracies to prevent their economic growth.

Ostrovski held very strong ideals and principles. He was not the kind of person to waver from them. Things were, quite simply, the way he said they were. There was little shelter from the onslaught of his political diatribe as we snaked upwards through the Balkan mountains, overtaking rickety, homemade farm vehicles at speeds that would appall any law abiding citizen.

The following day, after skiing on our own for most of the morning, Hendrik and I decided to meet up with Ostrovski once again. He had been rather insistent over text mes-

sage that we ought to ski together.

Bulgarian hip-hop tore through the peaceful silence of the valley as we ascended in the ski lift. Ostrovski was letting us hear a sample of his recent downloads on Spotify while giving us some much needed relationship advice.

“Russian girls are the easiest and cheapest,” he began without prompt.

It seemed we were in for a very long ski-lift ride indeed. Ostrovski was so appalled at the fact that we were both single he spent a significantly large portion of the afternoon giving us detailed advice on how to remedy our dire situations.

His misogynistic views were like nothing I had ever experienced, but I think both Hendrik and I were reminded of how truly diverse people's opinions are –– something that we are not always aware of when we spend time with like-minded people.

In comparison, our ride from Bansko to Thessaloniki was slightly less eventful. We were initially picked up by an investment banker named Emile. He and Hendrik immediately dove into a seemingly interesting conversation about cryptocurrencies, block-chain technology, and the future of investment banking.

However, I was regretfully left by the intellectual wayside at the first mention of computer science.

Emile dropped us off at the main road heading south, where we were then picked up almost immediately by a young, heavily-tattooed gentleman sporting a Dan Bilzerian-like beard.

His name was Chris, and for almost four solid hours he discussed girls and partying (with the occasional interjection about how we ought to “get our s*** together” on the relationship front).

Apparently, this was to be a recurring theme of our trip. As we hurtled into Thessaloniki at speeds that

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

hours by the

would have put our previous driver Ostrovski to shame, we began to bid farewell to Chris. He did not hesitate to deliver one last sales pitch in an attempt to have us visit Sunny Beach (the Magaluf of Bulgaria) the next time we were in town, and he wished us luck for the rest of our journey.

It was only a matter of hours before we found ourselves on the move again, this time on an overnight bus to Istanbul. Only a matter of days after that, we found ourselves back in the very spot where I began the tale of this journey: yes, the infamous highway toll station.

Fortunately, I can tell you the anticipation I initially felt that fateful morning evaporated immediately under the Greek sun as Hendrik came skipping back towards me from the pulled-over car, shouting, “He’ll take us! He’ll take us!”

Before embarking on this trip, I remember feeling apprehensive about the thought that our age group was maturing at a time of such widespread homogenisation in global tourism. I thought the individuality of destinations –– and the sense of adventure we feel from discovering somewhere new –– might be under threat.

Since then, I have learned that hitchhiking provides a remarkable chance to explore the world from an alternative perspective. It constantly produces opportunities to share some truly unique experiences in places one would never otherwise find with people one would never otherwise be so lucky to meet.

Hitchhiking, although oftentimes exhausting, frustrating and a little uncomfortable, can provide an exposure to such a pure and tangible display of human compassion and respect.

The feeling of complete freedom and independence and the joy of meeting new people from all walks of life are the things I will remember most from my 36 hours by the side of the road.

Photo: Aaron Muldoon

36

17

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Debatable issues

JULIA BENNETT Deputy features editor

T

FEATURES

he St Andrews Union Debating Society is one of the most quintessential St Andrews societies and can trace its origins back to the Age of Enlightenment. At this point, it was known as the Literary Society. The society we currently know came into existence almost a century ago, when the Literary Society merged with the Classical Society.

Today, the society is a subcommittee of the Students’ Association, which means that all matriculated students are members, public debates are free, and all are encouraged to participate.

The Debating Society prides itself on being accessible to students and differs greatly from most university debating societies in that it doesn’t charge large lifetime membership fees.

The Debating Society has, according to President Ruairidh Ferguson, “gone from strength to strength” in recent years.

One specific accolade was winning the 2015 European University Debating Championships, making St Andrews the only Scottish university to achieve this title.

But what is the society all about?

As the name might suggest, the Debating Society focuses on debates and participates in both competitive and public debates.

In competitive debates, the British Parliamentary format is used.

According to Mr Ferguson, “part of the thrill involved in competitive debating is that speakers are designated a side on a debate (regardless of their personal preferences) and only given fifteen minutes to prepare their seven-minute speeches. At first this may appear daunting, but it’s a unrivalled opportunity to develop your critical reasoning skills.”

Public debates, on the other hand, are more casual and use a looser interpretation of the British Parliamentary style that is infused with unique St Andrews traditions.

Hallmarks of these debates include the clerk of the house doing an impression before each weekly debate and, more often than not, being subsequently interrupted with a point and counterpoint.

Debate topics vary week-toweek, but the annual debate “This House Has No Faith in Her Majesty’s Government” is always a big draw. It continually includes high-profile politicians and generates large student turnout.

This year, attendees included Ian Murray, former shadow secretary of state for Scotland, and Stephen Gethins MP, representative for Northeast Fife in the UK Parliament.

Mr Ferguson said that “This House Believes that Israel is a Force for Good in the Middle East” was his favorite debate of the year.

He remarked, “[While it] was certainly a contentious topic, the speeches from the audience were well-informed and respectful despite the high passions in the room.”

The debate, held in Lower Parliament Hall, reached its full capacity of 140 individuals, and attendees included Michael Freeman, counsellor for civil society affairs at the Israeli Embassy in London, and Arthur Goodman, a member of the executive committee of Jews for Justice for Palestinians.

Besides being a hallmark of the St Andrean experience, the Debating Society is one of the most socially ac-

tive societies on campus.

They regularly hold events in cooperation with other societies, as well as themed socials, weekly debates, and training sessions. According to Mr Ferguson, the society is a great way “to meet a cross section of students from around the University.”

Not only is the St Andrews Union Debating Society a great way to socialise, it also provides an unparamounted opportunity to gain valuable skills.

For instance, public speaking capabilities can be greatly enhanced through active participation in debates.

The society holds weekly training sessions to help students overcome the common fear of public speaking.

These sessions give students the opportunity to artfully communicate their points in a confident, self-assured manner.

If greatly enhanced public speaking skills are not enough to draw you into the Debating Society, then perhaps the possibility of practicing patience and openness will. Because students are entered into competitions as teams, these two abilities are a requirement for success.

At first, the intricacies of the Debating Society appear complex, but Mr Ferguson explained that the in-

ner-workings of the society are not as mysterious as they seem.

He currently serves as Debate Society convener, often called the president, and is a member of the Student Services Council (SSC).

The president is responsible for the general management of the Debating Society and overseeing board meetings. He or she also acts as chairman during the society’s formal debates.

Finally, it is the duty of the president to arrange the attendance of high-quality speakers, a crucial element that contributes to the popularity and longevity of the Debating Society.

The Debating Society is also run by the Board of Ten, a committee that facilitates the organisation and general management of the society. The Board of Ten assists in the various activities put forth by the society each academic year.

They are elected at the Debating Society’s annual AGM. Each member of the Board of Ten has a specific role within the society that contributes to its continued success.

One position of particular note is the internal secretary. Their role is to organise the debates held at Lower Parliament Hall, as well as the two

Photos: St Andrews Union Debating Society

18

internal debate competitions that the society annually hosts. These internal competitions are called the InterResidential and Maidens competition.

Another integral position is the serjeant-at-arms. They sit to the right of the president during formal debates and are responsible for the safety of the president at this time. They are prepared to carry out this duty by arming themselves with the Debating Society’s sword, which is named Bessie. The serjeant-at-arms also manages alumni relations, weekly order papers, and apparel orders.

Inter-varsity secretary, chief whips, communications secretary, schools secretary, socials secretary, and the clerk are also roles necessary for the success of the Debating Society.

Some responsibilities of these positions include conducting weekly training sessions, publicising events, planning socials, and recording meeting minutes.

Besides the president and the Board of Ten, the treasurer, who is selected by interview, plays an important role. They are responsible for the society’s finances and sponsorships.

For any students who wish to get involved with the Debating Society, Wednesday and Sunday trainings and public debates are an optimal opportunity.

Wednesday training sessions occur weekly in Society Room A of the Union from 2 to 5 pm. All students, whether seasoned pros or utter novices, are welcome to join.

On the topic of Wednesday training sessions, Mr Ferguson urges students to come along, “as debating is a fantastic way to improve confidence as a speaker even if you do not wish to debate competitively.”

Sunday training sessions are typically for more advanced debaters with the aim of competitive competition.

Mr Ferguson states that they are “a great way to meet new people from across the UK (and beyond), as well as hone debating skills.”

Finally, public debates provide a fun, interactive way to get involved in discussion of certain topics.

The Debating Society is one of the oldest societies in St Andrews. It is also innovative and dynamic, consistently addressing pressing current affairs, actively engaging students, and imparting valuable skills upon those who participate.

FEATURES

A week at the AU

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

19

Photo: Harry Gunning

in review

KENALYN ANG Deputy features editor

A

s the year comes to a close and you begin to think about May Dip and summer getaways, you may consider taking steps towards becoming a fitter, leaner version of your late-semester two self.

Look no further than Saints Sport’s Athletic Union, which, alongside its gym equipment and machines, boasts an array of fitness classes for all to attend. These classes can satisfy any and all exercise cravings, as they are ongoing throughout the term. Just book one (or two) into your week, and you could very well be on track for the “summer beach bod(y)” of your dreams.

Each semester, the AU offers a new set of fitness classes for gym members. Classes can be booked in person at reception, over the phone, or online up to two days in advance. While I completed most of my booking online, this proved to be quite competitive, as classes filled up quickly and spots were allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Nonetheless, I managed to sample a handful of the many classes on offer, and I have created a run-down on a week’s worth of these classes.

Beginner’s Pilates, Monday 9:30-10:30 am with Carol This class could certainly be the perfect start to anyone’s week, regardless of whether you have experience with pilates. After two weeks of relatively hectic travelling, I headed to the AU Studio and joined half a dozen women to participate in what would be a reinvigorating, uplifting class.

The instructor, Carol, was very friendly, introducing herself to me at the start and asking me if I had any injuries she needed to know about.

The exercises focused on stretching the body through simple movements such as rocking forwards and backwards or side to side and stretching your legs up in the air whilst lying on

your back.

Throughout, Carol did a great job realigning her students’ posture and positioning, as well as assisting with certain movements. With sunlight streaming through the overhead window panes, I enjoyed a relaxed, refreshing hour of stretching.

The movements are simple and the class goes at a relatively slow pace, and this is exactly why it can be ideal for anyone with stress or excess tension in their body. The class serves as a much-needed moment of clarity on a Monday morning.

Workshop Workout 1, Tuesday 9:30-10:30 am with Ally Tuesday, I headed to the fitness centre bright and early to join a faithful group of a dozen or so participants in the AU’s Workshop Workout 1.

This session is hosted in the main gym area for regular, individual workouts. I was the youngest participant and the only student, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the class. In three-minute rotations, an AU instructor guided pairs of class members around each machine in the gym.

I had the chance to use several machines that I had never used before.

The instructor, Ally, was incredibly accommodating, introducing herself to me at the start of the class and helping me through each rotation if needed.

She made an obvious effort to circulate around each station and ensure proper use of equipment. Adequate resistance was also provided.

I would recommend this class if you want to incorporate new machines into your gym workout routine.

Zumba, Wednesday 6-6:55 PM with Ailsa Raring for a quick exercise sesh before dinner, I entered the studio to find about thirty or so women rang-

ing from age 17 to 50. Over the course of the class, I learned to flail, whack, jump, and “dance” with these women in time to energetic remixes of a conglomeration of tunes.

The instructor, Ailsa, was a bubbly young woman who demonstrated steps in front of the class in an over-exaggerated, slowed-down fashion that made the moves easy to follow. The class was 50 minutes long, but it flew by and was very entertaining.

Ailsa demonstrated a series of steps –– in other words a “dance” combo –– that she would run through several times without music, then again with music until attendees understood the order.

The class was a fantastic cardio workout. It is accessible for individuals of all fitness levels because you can minimise or maximise your movements however you please. Even if you felt awkward doing the movements, no one cared. This is the perfect class in which to move, groove, and shed pounds.

KETTLEBELLS, WEDNESDAY 7-8PM WITH ROSS Hosted in the studio, Kettlebells was a fantastic workout for the butt, back, and arms –– if carried out carefully and correctly. This was the only class I had no prior experience with, as I had never used kettlebells before.

However, this was not a problem, as the instructor Ross demonstrated every movement before a series of two or four twenty-second sets.

With a handful of other classmates, I had the freedom to use one or two sets of weights, switching between a heavier and lighter kettlebell depending on the exercise. We began by stretching the upper body out, specifically focusing on our arms, shoulders, necks, and waist rotation.

We then stretched out legs, hips, and backs and completed a few minutes of cardio to get our heart rates up.

Ross demonstrated each exercise, timing the class on a stopwatch for each and walking around to ensure proper alignment. He also checked that we were challenging ourselves enough.

While the class seemed to target

the arms, I would highly recommend that before attending you have some back strength and awareness of good posture, as with certain exercises, I found myself swaying my back and putting strain on my lower back due to incorrect alignment.

YOGA RESTORATIVE, THURSDAY 11AM-12 PM WITH ANNE With a little less than a dozen other attendees, I filed into the studio on Thursday morning for some yoga before a long day of classes. Amidst the group were several other students, but the rest of the attendees consisted of elderly women and one man.

What began with deep breathing and easy stretching quickly transitioned to series of different yoga positions, including mountain pose, triangle pose, and, of course, the lovely downward facing dog.

We did three or four different poses connected with a set of breathing and stretching exercises until each pose became one fluid combination of movement. Anne kept a steady pace throughout the entire class but successfully had us sweating and feeling refreshed, elongated, and calm with every stretch. The class concluded with a “constructive rest,” an exercise in which we all laid down and imagined the tension releasing from each individual portion of our body.

Instrumental music played throughout, accompanying us through each section of the class and reinforcing the calm ambience.

SPIN, FRIDAY 7:10-8 AM WITH ALLY The AU offers spin classes six times a week, but all are in high demand no matter which time you decide try to book. As I was unable to successfully book a spot at a spin class this semester, I will reference my experiences from taking the class last year with instructors Ally and then Ross.

It is a good idea to try out different spin classes, because from my experi-

ence each class strictly depends on the instructor.

Overall, participants spend much of the 50-minute long class cycling, with a couple of minutes dedicated to arm workouts utilising the machine’s handles and a cool down plus stretch at the end.

While spin classes are always a fantastic workout (especially for your legs, back, and overall posture), my biggest complaint about the AU’s spin class is the relationship the instructor has with their music.

Instructors guide the class through a series of timed intervals with the resistance on the machine at different rates. Yet often the cheesy EDM blaring from the speaker builds up and breaks into the chorus just as the instructor tells you to slow down and loosen your resistance. This becomes very anti-climactic, and you feel cheated, almost like you’re not quite cycling to your full potential and using all your strength.

In the class I took with Ross, however, attendees cycle to the beat of the current song, much like the style of several popular spinning places such as Soulcycle.

Like zumba, this class is heavily dependent on the music and beats provided, as they usually direct and guide the class through each series of exercise. Songs are strategically selected to provide a warm-up, steady pace, point of challenge, and finally cool down.

This class is great for your legs, and, if spinning correctly, your posture, neck, shoulders, back, and arms.

Next time you find yourself restless and in search of a place to release some energy and tension, head to the Athletic Union for a fitness class.

Overall, the instructors were great at making themselves available for questions and concerns, and each made a conscious effort to ensure that their students were effectively utilising the class contents.

While zumba, spin, and Workshop Workout 1 continued at a regular pace, kettlebells and beginner’s pilates were slower and could serve as effective workouts for those looking to personalise the exercises provided in a class. With only a month or so left of the term, be sure to catch a taste of what Saints Sport has to offer.

FEATURES

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

keep calm and Carry on with revision I

t’s that time of year again. The sun is finally shining, it’s suddenly acceptable to leave the house without a jacket, and the donning of sunglasses is no longer just because of that horrendous hangover. Oh, no. They are now actually being used to protect us from the sun. And with the blissful weather and ever lengthening days comes the realisation that the semester is nearly at a close; final deadlines are being turned in and dissertation pictures flood your Facebook timeline in triumph.

But there is one significant cloud in the sky which threatens to ruin our moods and suspend attempts at tanning: the looming exam diet.

Exam season is a funny period. We are simultaneously willing the time to go faster and slower. There is always at least one exam that you pray will never come, but you know it will be heaven when it is over.

St Andrews, in our two-week period of revision, seems to come alive with students enjoying the weather and lack of classes.

But there is a distinct atmosphere everywhere you go of an imminent return to studies. St Andrews students are extremely hard-working, and this is something we should be proud of.

However, everyone needs a bit of encouragement now and then, so here are some tips on how to best manage the revision period, make sure you do enough studying, and ensure you don’t go mad in the process. Thank me later.

1) Be basic, for once First of all, make sure that you know your stuff, especially the basics. Noting your exam times and locations is important and will help you avoid unnecessary stress.

I know too many people who have gone to what they thought was the right exam location, only to be turned away and arrive late to the actual paper. I would suggest knowing the time and place of your exams better than you know your own name.

Speaking of which, make sure you have your matriculation card or some other form of identification.

2) Planning, planning, planning Set aside a morning to write out exactly

what you need to know to do well in your exams, divide it up into manageable revision topics, and put it into some kind of calendar format.

Not only is this a great form of procrastination from the real task at hand, it is also a vital part of revision that ensures your studying has some kind of direction. This way, you don’t find yourself having only looked at the notes for one of your modules. I’m sure we’ve all been there.

Sitting out in the sun is all fun and games until you remember that you know absolutely nothing about medieval Islamic art and the exam is tomorrow. Then the most stressful 24 hours of your life ensue, and you emerge a broken human, probably wondering why you didn’t start revising a few days earlier.

If you have a plan that you will realistically stick to, this extreme trauma can be avoided.

3) Be keen, have a routine Often, the most difficult part of revision is the beginning. The key to overcoming this is to formulate a routine you know you will stick to.

Alice Cato, a second-year maths student, told me that during revision she has the following structure: “I wake up and start studying by 8 am. I then finish at 3pm. This way, I always have my evenings free to do something fun like go for a run or see friends. It makes those two weeks seem less stressful because I know that I am getting the work done but that I can still enjoy myself.”

Whatever routine you have, it is important that you stick to it and get the ball rolling early. As soon as you’re in an efficient yet manageable routine, you will find waking up to revise much easier.

4) let’s go shopping One of the only truly enjoyable aspects of revision is the absolutely essential stationery that I heartily recommend you take some time to investigate.

Not only does stationery add a sense of joy and colour to your library desk, it gives off an extremely studious vibe to those surrounding you (an important part of your revision week image).

Furthermore, you shouldn’t feel limited to the traditional methods of revision: there are thousands of apps available to help with revision planning and technique.

One of my favourites is Quizlet, a flashcard app you can use online and on your

phone. It is great for providing that much needed variety in a revision routine which threatens fatal boredom.

5) AvoId a brain drain You might already by revising for exams.

You may very well be in the library whilst reading this article. That’s great, but keep in mind that avoidance of any downtime at all could have detrimental effects on the quality of your studying and, perhaps more importantly, your mood and mindset.

I am sure we have all heard about the studies that show our brains can only concentrate intensely for short periods of time.

This is not an excuse to constantly prance around the library, as you will inevitably bump into someone and chat with them for two hours, but rather to recognise when your brain is switching off.

Jenny Jackson, a second-year geography student, said, “I find it really helpful, when I feel like I absolutely cannot concentrate anymore, to go for a short brisk walk around the outside of the library or even to Sainsbury’s and back.”

These short breaks are crucial. On that note, planning longer breaks with friends for mealtimes is a great way to take your mind off of what you are studying. When you come back to the library or your study area, you will have a refreshed attitude and be ready to take in more information.

6) remember, you’re allowed to be social Try and plan outings with your friends a few times during the revision weeks. In the morning, you could go for a long walk on the Fife Coastal Path. In the evening, you could go to the cinema or grab an ice cream at Jannettas. This way, you not only break up dragging revision periods but also have something to look forward to.

I believe it is essential that we all reward ourselves with something nice at the end of our long days of revision. You could even organise summer plans.

We all need that light at the end of the tunnel, and planning this can be a fun break from studies.

These study tips are but a guide to productive revision. Everyone is different, and everyone approaches the coming two weeks of studying in a different way.

Overall, the key is staying organised, a sure way to avoid unnecessary stress, without ignoring the opportunities of spring in St Andrews.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

DAISY SEWELL Deputy features editor

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

FEATURES

21

Religion Photo: Kylie Andrews

in the Bubble

EMILY LOMAX Deputy features editor

F

or some students, religion exists on the peripheral of daily life. For others, it is an essential aspect of university. At St Andrews, this diversity of opinion is reflected in the array of extracurricular activities available.

Further underscoring the diversity of our town is the sheer multitude of religious societies: the Christian Union, the Jewish Society, and the Muslim Students Association, to name a few.

These groups allow students to find a like-minded community, celebrate religious holidays, and attend regularly scheduled events.

For example, the Christian Union recently held a week-long “Stories” event. During “Stories,” the CU encouraged Christian and non-Christian students to come with open minds and listen to others speak about their religious journeys. 50 individuals celebrated the Jewish festival Pesach with a meal in St Andrews Episcopal Church Hall. And on 22 April, the St Andrews Coexistence Initiative will host its annual conference.

The Saint spoke to members of several religious societies to find out more about their role in student life.

Alberto Micheletti of the Catholic Society described several of the group’s regular events. On Wednesday, speakers from around the UK discuss issues related to the Catholic faith. Sunday sees potluck

suppers and vespers in the evening.

The Jewish Society has a bagel lunch every other Wednesday, fortnightly Friday Shabbat suppers, talks, and a ball, too.

The Muslim Students Association has brothers circles and sisters circles, hold charitable events and talks, and also hosted a “Discover Islam” week.

If you want to practice religion and become more involved in these societies, they are there for you. After all, university is the ideal time to explore and develop your interests.

Marcus Gong said, “I used to go to a Christian international school in Shanghai, and we were required to take religion classes and go to chapels and assemblies. But it’s not the same here because you can just do whatever you want.”

Those who already have extensive knowledge of a particular religion may depart from their beliefs at university or intensify their convictions.

Mr Micheletti said, “Coming to university and meeting many people in CathSoc who were my age and shared my beliefs greatly helped me deepen my faith. Praying together with other people has been and is a very enriching experience that helps me reflect on how to put my faith in practice in my relationships with others.”

Kathryn Rose, president of the Jewish Society similarly said that her time at St Andrews allowed her to strongly engage with religion.

She added, “Coming to university has definitely made me a lot more

engaged with the religion than I was before. I realised that if I wanted any Judaism in my life, I would have to actively find it. It wouldn’t come to me like it does at home.”

Both Mr Micheletti and Ms Rose emphasise the community aspect of religious societies.

Ms Rose said, “I would say that being religious has enhanced my university experience, mainly because of the friends that I’ve made through being involved in Jewish life on campus.

“I do really value having a Jewish group of friends, as we share traditions and come together to celebrate Jewish festivals, and it even means that I can use Yiddish words without needing to explain what they mean.

Having a Jewish community here in St Andrews is also part of what made me more engaged with the religion, and I think that if you don’t have the community there, it’s easier to lose that connection to that side of your identity.

“Judaism has a strong sense of community, [and] it’s great to be able to bring together similar people from all over the world.”

Although St Andrews has dozens of churches and a chaplaincy, however, Muslim and Jewish students must use the Mansfield. It is a great space, but not the real deal.

“Prayer can be difficult,” Ms Rose commented, “as we don’t have a synagogue in St Andrews, so our services are student-led. […] We have limited experience ourselves of leading prayer.”

Mr Micheletti notes how affirming it is to bump into people at the chaplaincy and around town. Both Mr Micheletti and Ms Rose are also keen to engage in conversation about their religion and answer questions.

“I have many close friends who are not Catholics or believers,” Mr Micheletti said. “I really value this

We’re trying to bring [...] a part of home to students who are away from their families both at these important moments in the year [and]also in their day-to-day lives diversity and I sometimes have the opportunity to talk about my beliefs with them, which is always a beautiful experience where ideas are exchanged.”

Ms Rose expressed a similar sentiment, saying, “My non-Jewish friends ask me questions about the

religion and enjoy learning about it, and it’s nice to be able to share that aspect of myself with them. […] I’ve definitely had stereotypical questions and lots of people assume that by being involved in Jewish student life, I must be very religious and observant, whereas I actually come from a very progressive background where I don’t keep all the Jewish laws strictly.

“For the most part, people are interested to learn about this aspect of my identity that is different to what they know. They’re often worried about offending me by asking questions, but I love to share my religion with other people.”

Indeed, St Andrews benefits from having such cultural, national, and religious diversity. Through shared beliefs, practices, and social events, religious communities become closeknit and are there to provide support for members.

Ms Rose’s description of the atmosphere JSoc creates at Jewish festivals exemplifies this.

She said, “For many Jews, religion is largely about family and home, and the piece of feedback from JSoc that resonated with me the most was a few years ago when a girl told us that our Passover meal had felt just like being at home. I often feel that’s what we’re trying to create when we’re organising events. We’re trying to bring Jewish life and a part of home to students who are away from their families both at these important moments in the year [and] also in their day-today lives.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY

This week in photos

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Photos: Grace Gathright

Photos from St Andrews’ football fashion show Can’t Walk

Photography editor: SAMMI CIARDI Deputy editors: Harry Gunning, Mika Schmeling photography@thesaint-online.com

Photo story: European vacation

@saint_photos

Photos: Harry Gunning

thesaint-online.com/pictures

EVENTS thesaint-online.com/events

Events editor: NATASHA FRANKS Deputy event editors: Elischke de Villiers, George Wilder @saint_ events

events@thesaint-online.com

May Ball ft. May Dip How to survive and thrive on the wettest night of the year

ELISCHKE DE VILLIERS Deputy events editor

T

tainly the last thing on my agenda. I only managed about two hours before opting out for the comfort of my bed.

Traditionally, the night before May Dip is spent stumbling through the cobbled St Andrews streets, dropping out of one house party and into the next, maybe drinking a round at the Union between Bridge a n d

Illustration: Lindsey Wiercioch

he Kate Kennedy May Ball. A ball to rule them all, as some would say. It provides the chance to dress up (which, face it, St Andrews students love to do), a world-class headliner and, above all, carnival rides! What student would not want to go? I most certainly was desperate to in my first year.

This year, however, this illustrious Ball falls on the night of May Dip meaning that mere hours after the ball ends, we will be obligated to run into the North Sea. Now this could either be an excellent opportunity, or a horrible idea.

The 2016 May Ball took place on the night after the May Dip, which was, in my opinion, a tragedy. Many a student was too hungover or tired to make the event and many resales occurred.

After a full night of partying, and a cheeky little 5 am dip in the North Sea, attending another ball was most cer-

North Street, before finding your way to East Sands just in time for the glorious sunrise, when the multitudes of drunken students around you strip off their clothes and immerse themselves in the cleansing water of the North Sea to separate themselves from their academic sins.

The 2017 May Ball could potentially change that. It could even (maybe) lead to the start of a new tradition. By staging the Ball the night before May Dip, it almost becomes a glorified house party.

Rather than trudging through the streets as per usual, ball-goers can stay in one place and party it up, before heading back to town for the Dip. Alcohol, food and entertainment provided in a single location saves time and energy for our sunrise exploits.

But then again, isn’t the roaming around St Andrews in search of the next flat part of the pre-May Dip fun?

Will May Ball take this away from us?

Obviously you are not required to purchase a ticket (some of you will not even have the choice, as they have sold out in record time), but - like my gushing states previously - May Ball is one heck of a time, and I for one do not want to miss it.

As per ball etiquette, May Ball requires formal dress. This means that the heels, make-up and cocktail dresses come out. It requires an enormous amount of effort to get ready for an event - just think of all the photo opportunities!

Although this is not a major player in the negative aspects of the pre-Dip Ball, it is a bit annoying for those of us who are lazy. We will have to prep for a ball-style event, knowing that after all of our efforts, our dresses will be discarded and our make-up washed off in the North Sea. I would rather just be dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, with my normally unkept hair from the get-go.

In the same lazy aspect, the ball is at Kinkell Byre. This is usually quite nice, as it gets one out of the confines of the town for a bit, but on this particular night it may prove annoying. We will have to trek to Kinkell at the start of the night and then be sure that when we catch the bus back to town, we are not too drunk or tired to make

it to the beach.

The solution of course is just to go directly to the beach from t h e ball, b u t s i n c e official St A n d r e w s events have the pesky habit of finishing by 2 am, you would be shivering on the beach for a good couple of hours (and not to mention still be dressed in your finest).

Whether or not this is a good idea,

there is

nothing to be done.

The 2017 Kate Kennedy May Ball will take place on 30 April, with the May Dip happening the next morning.

All that is left to do is to prepare accordingly in order to enjoy both events to their fullest potential.

Here are some tips to survive the night:

1. Before heading to the Ball, make sure you have all of the necessities for the Dip (like a towel, bathing suit if you are not going in your birthday suit, and some warm clothes for after) in one place so that you can change easily after you get back from Kinkell. This will help the drunken version of yourselves.

2. Have some cash in the same place for postDip food.

3. If you need liquid courage to run into the freezing w a ters, make sure t o have a couple of bevvies left out after the ball.

4. On the same note, do not consume too much at the Ball if you would still like to actually make it back and to the beach. Pace the night - we do not want you passing out before 5 am.

5. Eat before hand, and during the night.

Food is endurance.

But above all, make the best of both of these events. Sleep is for the weak!

EVENTS

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Noor: a ray of light

Many events endeavour to emulate the world outside of St Andrews. Our Oktoberfest rivals the Munich-based affair as a celebration of beer and German culture, our fashion shows take inspiration from the runways of London and New York, and our lineup of balls and dinners, while classically St Andrews, are smaller versions of big city events.

As a festival, Noor may be viewed as an offshoot of the names that are now synonymous with daytime revelry: Burning Man, Coachella, Tomorrowland, Firefly.

Noor intends to embrace, however, the natural small town feel of a St Andrean event. Hosting only a few hundred people on St Mary’s Quad, the self-described spring charity festival presents a day spent absorbing the cradle of civilisation: the Middle East.

Priced at £7, tickets allow guests access to traditional Arabic food, dance, visual arts, and music.

Affordable and lacking the unruly crowds of most large-scale events, Noor offers an intimate vibe that will complement the culture on display.

The first event of its nature in St Andrews, Noor models itself in part after Szentek. Both events emerged from beneath the umbrella of the Fellowship of St Andrews, an incubator of startup events. Yasmin Bou Hamze, the Fellow who first developed the idea of Noor, emphasised both the culture and the charity in her initial pitch. Although the majority of local events feature the “charity” descriptor, these philanthropic goals are sometimes lost in the focus on champagne and canapes. At Noor, the goal is education.

“I loved St Andrews For Syria” says Yasmin, of last semester’s conference.

“It was very academic, and as a result it attracted a very academic crowd. I thought, ‘How can we make this more accessible?’” The result: Noor, meaning light in Arabic. The event seeks to educate its guests via cultural immersion, an interactive display of Middle Eastern beauty.

In every aspect, Noor exemplifis its message of peace and unity. The Middle East Society, Refugee Action St Andrews (RASA), and the British Red Cross Group have all cooperated to organise the event. Other student groups, such as Inklight and the

Accidentals, have also become involved in the day’s festivities. Each group shares a common passion for the event’s chosen charity, Dundee Refugee Support, a grassroots volunteer organisation in Dundee.

DRS is the largest distributor of international humanitarian aid to Syria, a topical choice considering Yasmin’s inspiration for Noor. She emphasises the creative outlet that Noor provides: The day allows student individuals and societies to come together in a social setting, rather than an academic conference. Singers, dancers, and artists will all have the opportunity to display their talents on behalf of a good cause.

Alongside a variety of musical performers, guests can treat themselves to a range of Middle Eastern-themed activities. Arabic restaurant Tahini will be supplying food, available for purchase throughout the day. Henna, live painting demonstrations, a photography display, and belly dancers (courtesy of Shimmy Soc) will also be present at the Quad. In keeping with the festival’s interactive feel, there will be several demonstrations of dabke, which Yasmin describes as a “Middle Eastern ceilidh.”

“In the media, when we talk about the refugee issue, we see it as a political entity, rather than a group of people, a culture,” she says. “This is about accessibility.”

The day’s festivities will be opened with remarks from Alasdair GordonGibson, a PhD student at St Andrews.

He has worked with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement planning and managing humanitarian programmes in emergency relief and economic security for nearly twenty years. Furthermore, the Red Cross will be operating a booth in the Quad, allowing guests to approach at will to learn more about the charity and the movement.

The sheer variety of the acts demonstrates the ultimate theme of the event: unity. Be they a singer or a dancer, a lover of food or a lover of music, everyone can unite in the name of charity. Yasmin hopes to welcome both students and locals of all ages, crafting an event that bonds town and gown together. “This is such a pressing issue,” she says, of the refugee crisis, “that knowing about it is not really a choice at this point. In the current climate, everyone should know a little bit about it.” Noor can be the gateway to a much larger understanding of the Middle East.

Illustration: Emily Lomax

NATASHA FRANKS Events editor

GEORGE WILDER Deputy events editor It’s fair to say that St Andrews offers its fair share of events; from fashion shows to wine fairs there’s a host of options for anyone looking to get merry with a touch of something different.

However, when looking for true variety it is often the case that we are left unsatisfied: the moment when something unique is epitomised by a Pablo-only bar is the moment that we start to wonder if we are scraping the bottom of the proverbial hunter boot.

Yet, just as things seem to be get-

Tedx is an idea enshrined in the spread of knowledge that might easily not find its way beyond a limited audience ting a tad boring in the bubble, we have the arrival of the St Andrews University Tedx talks on Sunday 22 April.

Tedx is an idea enshrined in the spread of knowledge that might easily not find its way beyond a limited audience, from the Anthropocene to anatomy to autonomy the system of lectures quickly attained world renown with its wide selection of talks.

At the first St Andrews University Tedx talks of the year last semester students were given a snippet of what lay in store with a series of five minute talks given by potential students.

These talks, despite all being based on the theme of “New Beginnings,” drew on examples as far flung as The New Silk Road and Mental Health.

Having narrowed down the potential talks students are now prepared for the main event, which will have two student speakers along with a plethora of lectures sourced from outside the university. We have: 1. Conference Host Annie Othen, a national radio broadcaster and journalist who has interviewed the likes of Jack Straw and David Cameron. She continues to work freelance and gives masterclasses on journalism.

2. Olivia Wollenberg: founder of Livia’s Kitchen. Having left behind a career in Neuroscience Olivia Wollenberg began her company after

25

being diagnosed with multiple food disorders. Her talk is entitled ‘From Student to Boss’, a topical theme for the student who wonders if there’s more to life than a law conversion.

3. Mads Fibiger: Co-Founder and CEO of ‘Organic Basics’. Another young entrepreneur Mads Fibiger’s ‘Organic Basics’ experienced 500% growth in 2016 after being the most crowdfunded Scandinavian fashion campaign in history. His go-to basics relinquish the costs of branding, offering a high-value alternative to the high street.

4. James Hilton: CCO, Native and Founder of ‘Death Machines of London’.

Having co-founded the highly successful agency AKQA when he was only 21 and creatively lead the company for over 20 years until leaving in 2015, by which time AKQA employed over 1500 people in 14 offices around the world. Later he founded the custom motorcycle company Death Machines of London, a brand that has been covered by British GQ and Esquire.

5. James Golding: Managing Director ‘One Step at a Time’. On 26th February 2009, just before midnight as he was rushed into emergency surgery, doctors told James Golding’ family he probably wouldn’t make it through the night.

Eight years later James has an impressive accolade of events and challenges next to his name and yet continues to strive for more.

He has completed the challenging Haute Route 8 times, and raised over 3 million pounds for UK cancer charities. He works as an independent motivational speaker and is working towards new challenges in the coming years.

6. Siana Bangura: Writer, Blogger and Freelance Journalist. Siana Bangura is a writer, blogger, poet and performer hailing from South East London.

She is the editor of Black British Intersectional Feminist platform, No Fly on the WALL, and the founder of independent publishing house, Haus of Liberated Reading. Siana is the author of ‘Elephant’, a bold debut collection of poetry exploring themes of Black British womanhood, racism, sexism, gentrification and more; and is also the producer of ‘1500 and Counting’, a documentary investigating deaths in custody and police brutality in the UK. She has written for, and featured in, a number of publications including VICE, The Fader, Media Diversified, Black Ballad, Gal-Dem, Consented, The Times, Huffington Post, The Guardian, and has spoken and performed in venues and to audiences across the UK and Europe.

7. Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow: Founder and CEO, Mary’s Meals.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow is the founder and chief executive of Mary’s Meals, a global charity that provides a daily meal in a place of education to more than one million of the world’s poorest children.

The meal attracts children to the classroom, where they gain a basic education that can provide an escape route from poverty.

8. Resh Sidhu: Virtual Reality Creative Director, Framestore. Resh Sidhu is one of the most well-regarded names in Virtual Reality and one of a handful of women driving the medium forward with her fearless creativity and innovative approach.

Resh’s role extends well beyond the scope of creative leadership, she lectures and talks extensively all over the world on designing compelling human experiences in VR. 9. Talah Anderson: Aspiring Assyriologist and Trans Activist.

Talah Anderson is a joint Biblical Studies and Medieaval History student with a strong passion for trans rights. She’s been heavily involved with Saints LGBT+, acting as Gender and Sexualities Officer, which in-

These talks, despite all being based on the theme of “New Beginnings,” drew on examples as far flung as The New Silk Road cluded organising the University’s first Transgender Awareness Week festival.

Talah also extended her work spotlighting issues relevant to trans and gender non-conforming people to the arts in St Andrews, directing both the performance piece ‘The Joan of Arc Experience’ and ‘Salome’

by Oscar Wilde, addressing various (trans)gender issues within.

Our two St Andrews Students will be Lisa Marie Husby, who will be doing a talk entitled ‘Life is Just a Set of New Beginnings’, and a talk

by Natasha Waddell she calls ‘That’s My Personal Square’. With such a wide range of speakers ready to offer their delectable range of subjects this year’s St Andrews Tedx is prepped to do justice to the name it carries, delivering an experience that replaces the haze of the hangover with the smile of enlightenment.

Get your tickets now.

EVENTS

26

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Polo prepares to pop bottles at Errol Park

Arguably, there are around four rites of passage that every student must complete by the end of their four years here, as part of the traditional social requirements of your standard upper middle-class St Andrean: Raisin Weekend, the May Dip, attending a ball, and attending the annual University of St Andrews Charity Polo Tournament.

Equestrian fans left and right rejoice: The Charity Polo Tournament is one of the most well-known and renowned events that the University of St Andrews hosts every year.

Welcoming university students, alumni, and visitors from across the country - polo fans or not - the tournament is one that integrally defines St Andrean culture, in keeping up with our town’s well-oiled and maintained image of urbane frivolities. It is an affair not to be forgone, especially by those who are members of our soon-to-be graduating class of 2017, who have yet to experience the atmosphere of excitement, panache, competition, and friendly rivalry of the tournament, in which our very own St Andrews polo team competes with teams from other universities.

Branded as Scotland’s largest ticketed polo event, the tournament is expected to garner attention from all across the United Kingdom.

The epitome of sophistication, style, and class, the polo tournament will take place at the scenic Errol Park Estate in Perthshire. Errol Park has been the venue of choice for the polo tournament since April 2015, when surging popularity prompted the committee to find a bigger venue to accommodate its increasing acclaim and demand. The event is an all-day ordeal chock-full of various matches between teams and players from across the United Kingdom.

For those who are unfamiliar with the sport and are simply going for the

HamletSTUDIO Prince of 54 Denmark

O 54.

n Thursday 20 April, GIG returns with its much anticipated Studio

champagne (and the opportunity to dress up), polo is a fairly easy sport to understand. Essentially hockey on horseback, the objective of the game is to score as many points as possible by using a long mallet to shoot a small ball into the opposing team’s goal. A single game typically lasts about two hours, and is divided into periods called chukkas.

The standard ticket includes round-trip transport form St Andrews, pitchside views of the tournament, and a single drink from the

years may notice that the VVIP ticket no longer includes unlimited champagne. Head of PR Sibilla Grenon has expanded on this tweak to the ticket, explaining that “unlimited alcohol is not the best

While this may come as a disappointment to day-drinking enthusiasts, guests can rest assured that the committee is working hard to ensure maximum enjoyment of the event.

Anyhow, twelve bottles of Bouvet coupled with a drink from the bar should be an ample amount of alcohol to fulfil the appropriate intoxication quotas of a polo tournament.

VVIP ticket holders will also have access to the Champagne Garden (where food can be found), VIP areas and bars, and a

bar guests will receive their choice of spirit with a mixer or Bouvet-Ladubay. VIP ticket holders will receive an additional four glasses of Bouvet allocated via tabs on their wristbands, and VVIP ticket holders this year will receive everything included in the standard and VIP tickets, along with twelve bottles of Bouvet per table and an afternoon tea spread with a hot tea bar to complement. All guests will have access to the food court, which includes vendors f r o m across Scotland.

T o list a few: The Cheesy Toast Shack, The Crepe Shack, Blackhorn, Chick + Pea, Pizza Geeks, On The Roll, Alplings, barnacles & bones, and Babu Bombay Street Kitchen.

Returning attendees from previous

guests,” The committee is “focusing on improving the overall day experience through greater polo integration and heating, among other improvements.”

complimentary hot beverage bar. As the demand for VVIP tickets this year is at a record high, with the committee receiving 417 applications in 24 hours - nearly four times higher t h a n p r e ceding years - improvements to the

North Haugh Ball

LO KEY

Polo

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n Friday 21 April, the final hall ball of the year will take place.

VVIP section based on feedback from previous guests have been made, such as an increased focus on security.

The universities of Aberdeen, Stirling, Edinburgh, Warwick, Cirencester, Oxford Brookes, Newcastle, and Kent will be coming up to participate in the tournament.

Additionally, the British Army polo team, Royal Scots Dragoons, will be taking part, as well as two teams of Help for Heroes veterans and two exhibition teams.

Overall, there will be twelve to fourteen chukkas played throughout the afternoon.

As for attire, unpredictable Scottish winds complicate things a bit.

Nevertheless, guests should try their best to don semiformal spring dress.

Think linens, espaPhoto: Daniil Lapko

SARAH JOHN

way val[their] V V I P

to give ue to

O

n Friday 21 April, TEA takes over Rascals with their second episode of Lo Key Tea.

O

drilles, spring dresses, chinos, and dress shirts. Ladies, feel free to accessorise with sunglasses and hats, as the weather on the day is predicted to be clear and sunny.

This year, the tournament is proud to be supporting Help for Heroes official, to which all profits will be sent to. The charity helps support and rehabilitate UK servicemen and veterans.

With continually escalating hype in preparation for next weekend’s shenanigans, the 2017 Charity Polo Tournament will be held on Saturday 22 April, between the hours of 11 am and 5 pm.

n Saturday 22 April, the St Andrews Charity of Polo Tournament returns to Errol Park.

eight

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Tedx

n Sunday 23 April, the sell-out conference will bring top minds to St Andrews.

O

Noor

n Sunday 23 February, the new spring charity festival will provide a taste of the Middle East.

O

Final Throwback

n Thursday 25 April, Ashton Squires will host his final Throwback Thursday.

O

May Ball

n Sunday 30 April, May Ball will bring down the house with the final ball of the academic year.

ARTS & CULTURE Arts & culture editor: TIFFANY BLACK

Deputy editors: Emily King, Lauren MacGowan, Daisy Treloar, Sam Huckstep, Hannah Ritchie, Emme Hollingsworth, Tom Williams, Samantha Philipp, Christopher Wilde

arts@thesaint-online.com

@saint_arts

Photo: Marcella Denby

thesaint-online.com/reviews

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Kristin Atherton: Rome season interview Star of the RSC’s current productions of Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra

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hat attracted you to a career in acting?

When I was about 11 years old, my dad joined an amateur drama company. He was in Twelfth Night, played Orsino: the first lines of the play were “if music be the food of love, play on.”

I knew he was very nervous about it, as you do when you’re an 11-yearold and you actually know your parents that well.

I went and saw the show and the first words I hear don’t sound like my father’s voice. They’re strong and they’re powerful.

I remember even at eleven being so moved I started crying. It was the most incredible realisation that, actually, what theatre can do is transform you, as a person, into something you are not. You can be someone else and the play itself can actually take the audience to a completely imaginary world in such a powerful way. So I joined the amateur dram group with him and that was sort of what started my passion.

If I’m asked to jump into something I just go for it, I hope that I’m brave even if that means that more often than not I fall over my own feet

so much. The line that you hear is replete with meaning and you can play one meaning for a long long time, you know, it doesn’t mean that you change your motivations. It doesn’t mean that you suddenly decide that someone’s cocky if they’ve always been very shy, but there’s always a slightly different way to play something. If you’re always listening to your fellow actors that becomes very easy.

So both of our directors keep saying to us, just play. Don’t see this as the end of the process; see it as the beginning. And as long as you keep having fun hopefully it’ll stay fresh.

Are Angus Jackson and Iqbal Khan different in the way they run rehearsals and how they pull the characters out?

Well, it’s been such an incredible journey. In some ways, you couldn’t get two directors who work more differently. They both come from a place of respect for the text, and both of them begin with a lot of table work.

All of the company talk through the play and when we get to every scene we have questions: “So, hang on who is aligned with who? why does Caesar decide to go to the senate when everybody is telling him don’t go, don’t go?” And we all answer those questions together.

From there they departed from each a little bit. Angus is an incredibly intellectual man, he’s so clever it’s almost intimidating, so there are a lot of conversations.

But also Julius Caesar is in some ways quite a straightforward play, whereas Antony & Cleopatra feels like such a sort of wild play and a dangerous play, the scenes are almost filmic.

They’re very short sometimes and you don’t always know where it’s going.

Iqi, Iqbal Khan ... he hates us calling him Iqbal, he says it makes him feel like his aunt is having a go at him ... his method is always just “let’s throw it up into the air, let’s play.”

He’ll say to us “do the naughty thing, do the unexpected thing” and that

going “okay, okay can we talk about this” or “can I take a breath,” sometimes we just leap and that actually gives you some of your best ideas and your best impulses because you’re not given headspace. You’re not given time to think. You just get on with it. The process, as it were, almost goes out the window.

What interested you about the parts of Carphenia and Iras?

Photo: RSC

CHRISTOPHER WILDE Deputy A&C editor

will help us find out what kind of play Antony & Cleopatra is.

How do you find adjusting to those two environments?

For me personally that has been the biggest challenge, particularly when it comes to the actual female roles I play in the two performances. In one day, you can jump between rehearsal rooms anything up to five times a day and so you’ll spend an hour, as it were, in Rome; and then you’ll go to the upstairs rehearsal rooms and spend two hours in Egypt, and then you’ll come back to Rome.

How do you find changing into those headspaces? do you have a process?

It’s actually been a good learning experience. Much of the time actors feel like, “oh I’ll need a moment” or “I’ll need to build into this,” but this has taught me that sometimes actors can be very instinctive. Sometimes you’ll walk into a rehearsal room and just have to get on with it. Rather than

For Carphenia, for me, it was such a challenge to find strength and agency within a character in a woman who is actually given very little to say.

Someone told me the other day, which made me feel no pressure whatsoever: she’s got some of the most beautiful lines in the whole play, you know.

How do you make that not just about the poetry? How do you make it about really strong ideas, and how do you convey strength in a time when women didn’t have a voice, and had to show their strength in a different way?

Whereas Iras, she says very little.

I’m a very perverse audience member.

I’m interested in how you support a scene and how you tell a story without dialogue, by listening to what is being said. So, yeah, I think for Iras it was absolutely about her, both Charmian and Iras, her two handmaidens,and their relationship to Cleopatra and Antony. I think about how we tell an entire story about the universe and the history of these people; how to support their journey as well as telling our own stories.

What do you think you brought to the two roles of Carphenia and Iras?

I hope, and my directors are entirely free to contradict me, If I’m asked to jump into something I just go for it. I hope that I’m brave even if that means that more often than not I fall over my own feet a lot. Even last night I marginally fell off a bit of set.

I hope that there’s a sort of generosity going on and that sounds again

I remember even at eleven being so moved I started crying and it was the most incredible realisation that, actually, what theatre can do is transform you I think playing at the RSC you get to pat yourself on the back a bit. This is your debut season at the RSC, is it very different from other theatres?

It’s the first time. We have so many resources at our fingertips, it’s such a big organisation. It’s the first time I’ve really been aware of the wheels and cogs behind the scenes. I think actors a lot of time feel that we are the end product and we are the important bit of the play. Being in a big company like the RSC, I actually realise, god, the costume department is so vast and talented, and you know the entire backstage crew and team are all working away so hard at every single moment, so that everything is seamless and wonderful.

If you could speak to Shakespeare or ask him?

Will your father being coming to watch you?

Absolutely, yeah, both my parents are incredibly supportive. I know given that where he has come from that this probably means a lot to him, but neither of us are good at planning so he hasn’t given us a date yet.

Photo: RSC

How do you keep giving your all every night for seven months?

It’s, to be honest, this will be the longest run of anything I’ve done .

So I suppose I’ll let you know. Both directors keep reminding us to not settle into the tramlines, as it were, there is always more to discover particularly with a writer like William Shakespeare. He actually gives you

like I’m patting myself on the back hugely. I suppose my groundedness, because I think it’s very important that neither of these women seem silly. I think I owe that to my gender, and also to what’s on the page, to give them a voice and an intelligence ... to ground them and not to dismiss them.

So I hope I bring that, I hope it’s not entirely ridiculous.

Oh god, this is going to make me sound so pretentious. I would thank him for doing exactly what I just said :for having, I think, every single aspect of humanity in at least one of plays in some way. You know, it’s the most wonderful legacy. I suppose that has given us such an incredibly rich tapestry to look at our own time and also to look at ancient times ... what an extraordinary achievement.

I would also ask him: how does Iras die? Because you never explain it in the play and that’s caused me such a lot of grief.

Julius Caesar is streaming live at the The New Picture House, St Andrews, on April 26th.

ARTS & CULTURE

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

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T

he celebrity-turned-activist is hardly a new phenomenon, but it is an increasingly popular one. And as with all celebrity activities, their efforts and endorsements are recorded across the internet – on social media, news outlets, and celebrity gossip sites – and then critiqued from every possible angle.

While often unfair, ridiculous, or irrelevant, the unveiling of the hypocrisy of celebrity activism is often painfully true and it poses the question – can celebrities make good activists?

More specifically, how can actors make good activists?

They face the common impediments to successful activism – most obviously, the privilege which surrounds them like a bubble and makes them irritatingly oblivious to many “real-life” problems and experiences, and which comes across as incredibly hypocritical when they attempt to highlight poverty related issues in a designer dress or ask fans to donate their own hard earned cash before flaunting their extravagant lifestyle on Instagram.

But beyond that, actors have the more specific problem of working in an industry where they commit to representing someone else’s creative vision. Major production and distribution companies will often put pressure on their actors regarding what

they can or cannot say during promotion and it can be difficult to find roles which align perfectly with their personal convictions. Building a profitable or successful career often means putting these convictions to the side or trying to bend them just enough to convince an interviewer that their latest film is actually a glowing rec-

Unveiling the hypocrisy of celebrity activism is often painful ommendation for their chosen social stance or charitable cause. Some actors are better at this than others. The “others” do an embarrassingly poor job of hiding the hypocrisy behind their activism. Here are some of the most cringeworthy.

Leonardo DiCaprio – One of Hollywood’s most committed environmentalists, he has protested, fundraised, and given a fair number of speeches in aid of climate change, culminating in the production of his 2016 film, Before the Flood.

But DiCaprio was revealed to be something of a hypocrite when it was revealed that he owned his own

Photo: Flcikr private jet and was prepared to “fly around the world doing good for the environment.” Apparently, his own documentary didn’t quite manage to convince himself of the need to watch his carbon footprint.

Daniel Radcliffe – He may have praised fellow Hogwarts alumni Emma Watson for her campaign for gender equality, but he also described it as “bemusing” because his “cool parents with a very equal marriage” were enough to convince him that gender equality had already been achieved. His advocacy for LGBT charities is somewhat undermined by his apparently very sheltered upbringing and narrow world view.

Emma Watson – Her aforementioned feminist campaigning has been heavily criticised for a variety of reasons, some of them sexist, but accusations of advocating for a version of “white feminism” which fails to extend far beyond her own experiences with sexism have often hit uncomfortably close to the mark.

Of her 22 acting roles, she has only been directed by a female twice and her films are barren in the way of racial or LGBT equality. These issues are part of an industry-wide problem but one that Watson has done little to change.

And her roles in 2015’s Regression (where she played a young girl who lies about being raped) and 2013’s This is the End (where she engages with uncomfortable rape jokes) play into dangerous film making tropes surrounding the flippant mistreat-

Photo: Flcikr

LAUREN MACGOWAN Film editor

ment of rape, a surprising choice for a feminist. Finally, her environmentalism has proved to be equally privileged – recently promoting eco friendly clothing on her Facebook account that is so far from affordable you apparently need a magic wand to dress sustainably.

Matt Damon – His support for clean water initiatives is obviously praiseworthy but Damon under-

These issues are part of an industry-wide problem, one that Watson has done little to change mined his own positive image when he expressed his inability to understand why gender equality in film making is important and argued that actors should keep their sexuality private (a comment which counteracts positive LGBT visibility.)

Scarlett Johansson – Her punchy endorsements of gender equality took a recent hit when she was accused of contributing to whitewashing for her role in Ghost in the Shell. Johansson

thought the sacrifice was worth it to make a film with a strong female lead, but box office figures have not agreed.

Not only this, her global activism turned sour when she resigned from her role as an Oxfam ambassador after starring in a very well-paid Super Bowl commercial for SodaStream, a company whose headquarters in Israel “further the ongoing poverty and denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we [Oxfam] work to support.”

Samuel L. Jackson – Known for being outspoken, Jackson nevertheless decided not to contribute to the discussion which followed Tim Burton’s controversial commentary surrounding the almost all white casting of their film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Burton described diversity as being unnecessary in some films, Jackson responded merely by acknowledging that he was indeed one of the first people of colour to be cast in a Burton film, and referred to Burton as a “really great guy.”

Maybe this is a prime example of a conflict of interests - a promotional tour is probably not the ideal place to criticise your film’s director.

It also reveals that as passionately as an underrepresented actor highlights the lack of representation in Hollywood, fixing it requires a willingness, at least to some extent, to take roles and work with filmmakers that do not perfectly fit your creative ideal. Unfair accusations of hypocrisy will follow.

Photo: Flcikr

Photo: Flcikr

Do actors make good activists?

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

How to be a savvy film fan Finding the best cinema experience on a student budget

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hether it be tactical food freezing or the meticulous scanning of supermarket shelves for infamous “reduced to clear” labels, the canny student has it in them to mould frugality into an art form. With sky high tuition-accommodation-caffeine expenses, the need to navigate bargains has never been more necessary. And let’s face it, a trip to the cinema is a bit of a luxury.

A standard stalls ticket to catch the latest release at St Andrews’ own New Picture House, for instance, costs £7.50; add £1 if the said picture is in three dimensions, another £1 if you want to sit upstairs, and a further 50p if you’re paying by card. To put that into perspective, for this sort of money you could make your way through three pints at the Union.

So, what do you do? Turn to piracy? I implore you to think again.

Setting aside moral ambiguities, the quality of an online experience is a pale imitation of that on the big screen.

If you’re lucky maybe you’ll stumble across a decent quality rip (no subtitles, nobody getting up to restock on popcorn halfway through) but the quality of the sound and visuals can’t compare to the big screen and you are still missing out on the immersive quality of a cinema experience.

Films aren’t made to be watched on a 13 inch screen alongside a Facebook tab or in competition with Snapchat for your attentions. They were produced to captivate.

As a wannabe film journalist, so far in 2017 I have managed to get to the cinema 30 times. More impressive - if such cinephilic addiction can be termed impressive in the first place is that I haven’t paid the full price of admission for a single one of these visits.

Indeed, to five of these big screen experiences I gained my entry completely free of charge and prior to their national releases.

How? It’s surprisingly straightforward.

The most obvious way for a student to save on film viewings is via the student discounts that are unfailingly on offer in cinemas. At the NPH you can save 50p on your admission by presenting your matriculation card, whilst it’s around £1 off at most multiplexes.

The best deal for students, however, comes courtesy of the Dundee Contemporary Arts gallery where it costs just £5 for a student to spend the evening in one of their delightfully cosy cinema screens.

True, there’s the expense of getting to Dundee, but the DCA has the added attraction of screenings films overlooked by mainstream cinemas, from this country and abroad, by way of its passion for supporting independ-

ent cinema and through their connection to the Europa Cinema brand.

Similarly, classics regularly return to the DCA, with Kubrick’s The Shining showing as part of their Dundead Film Festival only next week.

Cinema deals aren’t just restricted to student discounts though, and some of the best deals make all the time spent supermarket discount searching worth it: Tesco Clubcard

As a wannabe film journalist, so far in 2017 I have managed to get to the cinema 30 times points can be swapped for tickets to Cineworld and Odeon cinemas, Sainsbury’s Nectar points can be exchanged at any Vue, and when you hit 5000 points on your Morrisons Match card you can exchange the points for a gift card for any major multiplex.

It also pays to subscribe to the cinemas themselves. Odeon and Cineworld charge £17.99 and £17.40 per month for unlimited cinema access, and If you have a My Cineworld or Showcase Insider account, both will - for free grant you price reductions witho u t t h e

when you book with them in advance.

Beyond discounts, Odeon also offers audiences the chance to watch films before their national release through their “Screen Unseen” program. Usually at least once a month Odeon announce an extra special, new and exclusive, one-night-only preview screening at the reduced rate of just £5.

There is a catch, but it’s a rather splendid one. As “Unseen” implies, this exciting and savvy experience is delivered to audiences blind without any foreknowledge as to what the film is actually going to be.

They drop a few hints on social media in the lead up, vouching all the while that the film is to be one worth seeing, but until the title card appears through the projector, you could be about to witnesses anything from any genre.

Horrorphobes don’t have to worry though, as scary films are promoted under the brand Scream Unseen so you won’t be unknowingly dropped into anything traumatic.

Since January these previews have included Oscar winners Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea, with Jordan Peele’s outstanding Get Out being the most recent of the horrors. It’s been a while since they’ve announced any of these, so it seems very likely that a new one is just around the corner…

Neat though these tips certainly are, none yet have eradicated the ticket fare in its entirety. But there is a way.

ultimately rely on audiences seeing the film and promoting it for them through positive word of mouth.

This is where ShowFilmFirst steps in. This third party intermediary company make it their business to set up free preview screenings throughout the country and right across the year.

Releasing secret codes into newspapers and magazines, they allow distributors to locate their target markets and spread the word.

Since launching in 2003, ShowFilmFirst have given away over nine million cinema tickets with their recent offerings including Their Finest, Raw, and The Lost City of Z. The easiest way to access the service is to sign up on their website and keep your eyes peeled.

The Guardian and Telegraph are regular distributors of codes too, whilst it’s also worth checking in with the Radio Times, Hello and the Daily Mail for freebies.

Officially speaking, the sharing of codes is frowned upon, but so is sneaking in a quick snack on the top floor of the library and, as all good students know, where there’s a will there’s a way. In this case, websites like FMUK are the ones to source out.

Closer to home, St Andrews is itself a hub for local film screenings, both within and outside the University. St Andrews Film Society and the Reel Film Series host regular screenings throughout the semester. Film Society screened Trainspotting last week with membership costing just £3 for the year, and the Reel Film Series screening for

Of course, it is sometimes rather nice, and just what’s needed, to settle down for a film night at home. Netflix and Amazon Prime are good choices for their vast back catalogues, whilst Curzon Home Cinema and the BFI offer brand new viewing content online, but these do come with a price tag.

Instead, make use of your status as a St Andrews student by mining our very own library and its vast collec-

St Andrews is itself a hub for local screenings, both within and outside the University tion, including everything from Alien to Zulu, by way of The Lion King and even Fifty Shades of Grey.

Equally handy is that your St Andrews login credentials also give you unlimited access to Box of Broadcasts, a streaming website full to brim with films

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

TOBY SYMONDS

monthl y commitment.

Odeon also have a no-strings club called Odeon Première in which members can earn points with each visit to be redeemed down the line for tickets, food or drink.

Vue haven’t such an offer, but fans of film art might be interested to hear that the chain do often give out free posters with new blockbuster releases

Whereas some films, the latest Fast and Furious for instance, have their arrivals trumpeted way in advance of release dates through franchise or leading stars’ popularity, for others, cracking the box office is no mean feat. These films

free the last instalment in their “unruly women” series, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, also last week.

Similarly, family films are screened for free at Holy Trinity on the second Saturday of every month, whilst the Byre’s Film Club runs every Thursday morning for £6 and they are currently in the midst of a £5/film Gangster Season, next week featuring The Godfather.

and TV series recorded from UK television channels.

Essentially, if it’s been broadcast on the box, it’s yours for the goggling.

Go forth and use these tips wisely, be as sly as a twenty-first century fox, live cinema and save your cash.

With Dunkirk, Alien: Covenant, and even Baywatch on the cinematic horizon, alongside a depressingly relentless stream of bad news in the press, escaping to the pictures has never sounded like a better offer.

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

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TOM WILLIAMS Games editor

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ara Croft is perhaps the most wellknown female videogame character of all time. Created by lead graphic artist Toby Gard for the original 1996 game Tomb Raider, Croft marked a significant departure from the depiction of female characters at the time. Kaiser Hwang of PlayStation Magazine, for example, wrote that Croft “brought girl power” to video games, and this so-called “Lara Phenomenon” served as an inspiration for a whole line of counter-stereotypical female

[She] was originally portrayed wearing her distinctive sports bra and shorts

Photo: Flickr

characters in the years to come. Not without controversy, the character was originally portrayed wearing her distinctive sports bra and shorts, an outfit that many pointed out seemed inappropriate for the harsh jungle environments she was meant to be traversing. It seemed curious that a character purportedly designed to counter video game conventions would be so overtly hypersexualised and wear such hideously impractical clothing.

Sadly, Lara Croft is not alone in her wardrobe of meticulously impractical attire. The world of video gaming is so chock-full of hypersexualised clothing that most people barely notice it anymore. It has simply become an industry staple. I intend in this article to discuss one particularly nox-

ious example of sexist design - the use of sex and sexuality in video gaming and, of course, my favourite type of armour, one that makes absolutely no sense, and very rarely has a convincing, diegetic reason for existing. Yes, you guessed it, it’s the “lingerie as armour” trope, the idea that somehow a bikini top and some shorts would offer any kind of protection against a gigantic medieval mace. It’s ridiculous, it’s confusing if you stop to think about it, and it’s present to varying degrees in almost every game with a female character.

So why did Lara Croft don a sports bra in the original Tomb Raider game?

Why, for example, did the creative design team decide not to roll back the change when Gard accidentally increased her breasts’ dimensions by 150 per cent? Why are so, so many female characters designed with the sole objective seemingly being to turn them into walking, talking sexual robots? The answer, in part, can be found within the commercial for Nintendo 64’s Perfect Dark. “Welcome to 2023,” a deep male voice announces, a rumbling baritone that was made for movie trailers, “it’s your job to save the world.”

The camera sweeps to the floor as the actress pulls up her leggings, puts on her sports bra and applies her dark red lipstick.

“So you’ve to an important decision to make… What are you going to wear?”

It’s comical in a sort of peculiarly depressing way, but the idea that a female agent’s most important decision is what clothing to wear to work is laughable. The chief appeal of the game lay in the female protagonist, Joanna Dark. In order to equip Joanna with the credible threat necessary to complete her mission, and in order to noticeably differentiate her from the conventional male secret agent, publishers Rare decided essentially to weaponise her sexuality.

Consider the female lead from the 2010 game Bayonetta. Her hypersexualised appearance is used to suggest

character power and self-confidence, but, in some ways a more subtle and insidious design decision, all of her combat conspicuously draws upon this blatant sexuality, all of her attacks ooze sexiness.

Often female attacks in video games seem to be partly based on, or take their root from, some aspect of their sexuality. This utilisation of female sexuality as a sort of weapon is damaging because it implies that female power, or identity, must be drawn from their sexuality, their sexiness, and their sexual availability to men.

And yes, I said “men,” because the target demographic for the vast majority of video games is still presumed to be straight men, and evidence of this presumption can be found in the design decision of games worldwide, every day.

Some of the defences of this trope are, quite frankly, utterly ludicrous. The character Quiet from Metal Gear Solid V, for example, must wear revealing clothing because, and I quote, “she breathes through her skin”.

Yes, that’s right, if she wears much clothing more than a bra, she suffocates and dies. In the build-up to the game, and as a response to the immediate criticism the character’s appearance received before the game was fully released, lead designer Hideo Kojima wrote that “once you recognise the secret reason for her exposure, you will feel ashamed of your words and deeds.” No Kojima, we’re not ashamed, this is just farcical.

Rather than tackle the more ridiculous excuses, I thought I’d tackle one of the most common and one of the most effective defences of female hypersexuality – best phrased as something along the lines of, “perhaps she wants to dress like this?” or “maybe wearing this gives her strength and self-confidence” or even, my personal favourite, “don’t be silly, she’s just owning her sexuality.”

It actually sounds vaguely convincing, that hypersexualisation can be a form of empowerment, but the decision to hypersexualise female characters cannot be seen as that character owning their sexuality for one simple reason: they do not exist, they are created, usually, by men, and they have no agenda or philosophy of their own without being given it by the game’s creators.

Ironically, given the medium’s core mechanic, any sexuality that female character exudes is being, quite literally, controlled by the player to achieve his or her desired ends.

Of course, it’s not just sexuality that’s weaponised in video games, or seen as a means to entertain and engage a presumed straight male player base, it’s also literal sex. Have a think back to the last sex scene you saw in a game.

Ask yourself a question – did that sex scene function as a sort of reward?

Was it at the end of a difficult section, or towards the end of the game as you finally vanquish your enemy?

In The Witcher III, for example, the witch Keira Metz is introduced to you via Geralt walking up on her bathing

Photo: Flickr

Lingerie as armour: objectification in gaming

in the middle of the woods. As she slowly rises to greet you, bantering flirtatiously, it becomes clear that the game is implying that by completing this questline, you’ll be rewarded by sex with her.

Sex as a reward system is almost as old as gaming itself. Even in the original Metroid game, when Samus took off her helmet, and it was finally revealed to the player that the character was female, she would appear stripped of more and more clothing and gear depending on how quickly you completed the game, up until she wore only a bikini. This concept is a slight iteration upon the “samsel in distress” trope that you might recognise from franchises such as Mario and Zelda. While Peach may not be the reward for completing the game

Sex as a reward system is almost as old as gaming itself per se, freeing her is the objective of the majority of Mario games, and you are oftentimes rewarded with a kiss on the cheek, in some ways a PG sexual reward, and similarly problematic in many respects.

I’m not trying to say that overtly sexual female characters shouldn’t exist. There aren’t many examples of well-handled female characters for whom their “owning” of their sexuality is actually credible, but it’s conceptually possible without being problematic.

Female characters these days seem to fall into the category of either having their sexuality utterly define their

character or having their emphasised sexuality being completely at odds with the other aspects of their core identity.

Consider the champion Caitlyn from League of Legends, an online MOBA with a monthly playerbase of over 100 million – she’s a resilient town sheriff and deadly accurate sniper. It makes absolutely no sense for her to wear precious little clothing and have voice lines such as “sorry boys, I left the fuzzy cuffs at home.”

This kind of vaguely themed flirting and impractical clothing belongs more in pornography than it does in a videogame, but, funnily enough, similarly to many examples in pornography, it exists to satisfy a male fantasy.

Having said all this, there is still some hope. Many video game designers are becoming aware of the demand for better representation of female characters and are acting accordingly. Overwatch, for example, have a number of female characters that display other body-types than the conventionally attractive “hourglass” figure of most games.

They have released a non-white, significantly older female sniper character, and even a gay female character. We live in an exciting world.

Even Riot, the game company responsible for Caitlyn’s self-conflicting design, have identified the problem and moved, quite convincingly, to remedy it in future. It’s not earth-shattering, it won’t instantly redefine the entire world of video gaming, and it won’t end sexist design choices overnight, but revolutions in small steps are nonetheless revolutions.

Game producers do tend to care about audience reception, and in a modern world of internet feedback and viral news stories, I genuinely believe that expressing your dissatisfaction with a sexist design choice, in any capacity, can act as a genuine catalyst for change.

ARTS & CULTURE

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

Photo: Wikimedia Commoons

32

Festival fashion: brands that will enhance your summer S

pring is here in full force and as summer approaches, shorts, tank tops, and sandals all start moving towards the front of our closets. Along with warmer weather and sunnier skies, this transition also brings about music festivals all across the globe.

The main festivals around the world that most people flock to are: Coachella, Burning Man, Ultra, Bonnaroo, Tomorrowland, and Amsterdam Open Air Festival. A key component in all of these festivals is the fashion. Over the past few years festival fashion has grown into a staple in most women’s wardrobes, as not all pieces are covered in sequins and ribbons. Many pieces by themselves are easy to get away with in an everyday outfit or for just going out, while others would make you stand out in the crowd. As the demand for festival fashion has grown, many brands have surfaced, each with its own unique style and flair.

Urban Outfitters: Now Urban has been in a staple in many students wardrobes way before we stepped foot on campus, but many of their pieces are festival ready and can be easily combined with different tops or bottoms, to add an ever changing flair to your festival attire.

Many of their newer items include sheer crop tops, flowery bralettes, and off the shoulder tops and dresses. Many are loose fitting and allow for the wearer to have more room to dance without the constraints of a tight bodysuit. Overall urban is where to go if you’re looking for a light summery and very floral outfit perfect for dancing in.

Asos: Asos is the epitome of laid back festival fashion that is also ad-

aptable to everyday life. They also have adaptable lingerie that can also be used as a crop top along with a high waisted bottom. Shift dresses are also heavily featured, as they can be dressed up or down, depending on the festival. One could pair them with

Festival fashion has grown into a staple in most women’s wardrobes a pair of over the knee boots and statement earrings for a slightly dressier look. Or wear them with either sneakers or sandals and a rope or leather belt for a look that could survive the front row of any headline act.

Sole Society: Anyone looking for festival ready shoes should turn here.

They have a never-ending website that is constantly being updated with new sandals, booties, sneakers, and heels. Any style that you could think of is on here. From open-toed lace up booties, to gladiator sandals they have all of the styles you could want for your days spent walking from stage to stage. When comfort and style are both equally as important, take a look at their booties section. They provide stability and support for your feet, while also adding flair to any outfit.

From fringe, to classic leather, to lace up booties, each shoe will add a differ-

ent flair to your outfit.

Elsie and Fred: Anyone looking to make a statement should look no further than Elsie and Fred. All of their clothing is designed to turn heads, as well as turn the spot light onto you.

Any look can instantely be upgraded by adding one of their denim jackets with elephants emblazoned on the back in sequins. Perfect for any festival that may get a but chilly at nighttime, or if just want something to throw over your shoulders to avoid a sunburn. Along with jean jacket they have many different jumpsuits with cut outs on the backs and sides to add a bit of edginess to your look. As well as having an array of different pieces, most of them are also modestly

priced, Allowing for your cash to go farther.

Bottle Blonde: Bottle Blonde is the place to go for graphic t-shirts. They are easy to casually were with a pair of jeans or to tuck into a skirt. Anyway that you go, you can’t go wrong with a graphic T. Although they may not have the largest selection, they are a growing brand that is up and coming.

As this festival season comes and goes make sure to check out this website for any new surprises that they have in store.

Hissy Fit: Hissy Fit is any bando lovers dream. Most of their repertoire is covered in glitter and sequins, along with lots of hanging beads that would fit in at any festival. Bodysuits

are also at the forefront, which allow for one to never worry if their top was untucked again. Most of their pieces are featured in bright neon colors that having a shine to them.

A flower crown, flash tats, or body glitter would fit right in with any of their clothes, and add a little extra sparkle to your day. Many could also be used as swimsuits, so if your near an ocean or a pool, you could dive right in to cool off right after the music ends.

Overall no matter what brand you turn to, you won’t go wrong when its time to trek to whatever festival you may be attending that week. From sequins to denim to lace, no fabric can steer you wrong.

Photo: Flickr

GABRIELLE HOLLIDAY

ARTS & CULTURE

THE ANTI-TRUMP SONG AND THE DANGER OF FORMULA Musicians can benefit from the opportunity to speak both as members of the public and as artists. Music has always been a method of self-expression where ideas and emotions could be captured with poetic subtlety.

Subjects of controversy do not need to be addressed directly – a message can be conveyed within the subtext.

Politically charged popular music released in the last few months has showcased examples ranging from stunningly sophisticated lyricism to cringeworthy wannabe-revolution-anthems.

Several musicians and bands have returned from long hiatuses; when was the last time we heard anything about Fiona Apple or Arcade Fire?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the factor uniting them all is the anti-Trump message. It’s thrilling to see the abundance of artists resurfacing in 2017, and there is undeniable excitement in anticipating their upcoming albums, but if their reasons to return universally revolve around commenting on their fears of Trump’s America, there is a considerable risk of individuality fading.

Gorillaz disappeared from the spotlight shortly after the release of “The Fall”, and their long-awaited return was finally brought to life

in January’s “Hallelujah Money”.

Featuring eerie vocals from the ever-brilliant Benjamin Clementine, the song sheds light on the indistinguishable symbiosis of business and politics, and criticizes capitalism in a music video featuring Orwellian all-seeing eyes as well as Ku Klux Klan imagery and snippets from the film adaptation of “Animal Farm”, among others.

The song has not been released on streaming services yet. After threemonths, the most accessible way to give it a listen is through the music video – this indicates Gorillaz’ intention to render the song to an audiovisual experience. “Hallelujah Money” divided fans, with some being impressed by its subliminal social commentary and others arguing that a potential new “Feel Good, Inc.” was lost on the way to deliver a politically charged expression of art.

Later singles such as “Ascension” and “Let Me Out” continued with the obvious, apocalypse-foretelling h i n t s at the corrupt nature of power, establishing the upcoming “Humanz” as a conceptual work revolving around

Photo: Wikimedia Commoons

LASZLO SZEGEDI

current issues in politics.

Consequently, the question concerning soon-to-be-released music is whether the “anti-Trump” song is bound to become a formula, and whether that would prioritize political commentary over quality.

“Hallelujah Money” is a black sheep in Gorillaz’ (and Clementine’s) discography. It’s something they haven’t done before, and in terms of offering their point of view on the ongoing state of unrest and division, it is necessarily unique. If artists decide to make their big returns with universal anti-Trump messages, the later they plan to resurface, the harder the task will be to leave an individual imprint on the subject.

Almost five years have passed since singer-songwriter Fiona Apple’s last album was released. In December, she came back into the spotlight with a parody of Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song,” titled “Trump’s

I give you power / I can take it away / watch me Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire.” This was not intended to be part of Apple’s still unclear return, but as a standalone, pre-inauguration gag, it was undeniably hilarious. In January, she took another humorous, one-minute song to the Women’s March: in “Tiny Hands”, she chants “We don’t want your tiny hands / Anywhere near our underpants” over a loop of a sample from Trump’s leaked conversation with Billy Bush. Apple’s approach of the subject is funny and subtle, a noble effort in her musical career which has remained relatively unadulterated by politics for more than two decades.

She responded to the urge to react as a musician and created an accessible (by uploading the song exclusively on Soundcloud), subtle, and funny take on the subject.

Another notable effort was Arcade Fire’s long-awaited return after their streak of success in 2013 with “Reflektor” and the soundtrack to Spike Jonze’s “Her.” The quirky beat under “I Give You Power” still reflects LCD Soundsystem’s influence on the band, and soul-queen Mavis Staples’s low voice fits well into the song.

However, similarly to “Hallelujah Money,” the single had Arcade Fire fans scratching their heads over the excessive repetition of its chorus (“I give you power / I can take it away / watch me”), resembling political chants and reflecting an oddly forced vibe. Nonetheless, Trump’s name is never mentioned; such subtlety can still be appreciated.

Alongside “Hallelujah Money” and “I Give You Power,” rapper Joey Bada$$ dropped “Land of the Free,” to overall positive acclaim.

Part of the song’s appeal lies within Joey’s aim to detach himself from his breakout introspective musical style and provide a memorable, upbeat song to his fans.

“Land of the Free” bluntly addresses the election and enlarges its scope on racism with expected vulgarity and thoughtful criticism: “In the land of the free, it’s for the free loaders / Leave us dead in the street then be your organ donors / They disorganized my people, made us all loners / Still got the last name of our slave owners.”

The song’s funky melody and solid approach to the subject certainly makes it a highlight among other releases.

His new album “All AmeriKKKan Bada$$” has since been released and was met with overwhelmi n g critical acclaim.

Photo: Flickr

33

Incorporating a political message in music leaves a hard task to the artist: in an abundance of other musicians reflecting on the same subject, the successful delivery of a message carries the danger of succumbing to formula. Joey Bada$$ cleverly incor-

There is a considerable risk of individuality fading porated it into his career and took the opportunity to make a shift in musical style together with his lyrical subject matter.

Fiona Apple used it to humorously connect with her fans at the Women’s March. Arcade Fire and Gorillaz pulled off risky projects that divided fans with their experimental nature.

Other positive examples include Eminem’s “ C a m p a i g n Speech,” Father John Misty’s cleverly cynical “Pure

Photo: Wikimedia Commoons

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

SAM HUCKSTEP Books editor St Andrews is not renowned for its many brutal murders, nor for its hard-boiled policemen. Dark winding streets are hard to find, and the underbelly of society – where one might go if one desired to find black deeds and darker hearts – does not make its presence excessively felt.

In other words, St Andrews is very different to the rest of Scotland: this, at least, is what one would gather if one had lived only in St Andrews, and only learnt about Scotland by reading books by authors of the likes of Ian Rankin, William McIlvanney, or Stuart MacBride.

Scotland’s crime fiction scene has been booming for several decades, and does not yet show any sign of abating. In 2009 James Kelman, Scotland’s most recent winner of the Booker Prize (in 1994), short-temperedly remarked that ‘if the Nobel Prize came from Scotland they would

Tartan noir is more concerned with the why of a crime than with the who give it to a writer of f****** detective fiction’; detective fiction, however, sells.

Ian Rankin’s Rebus novels, with their eponymous bad-tempered DI, have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide; this year is the thirtieth since Rebus entered the literary sphere in 1987, and for it Rankin is embarking on a worldwide tour. There is a great affinity for Scottish detective fiction.

It is unclear when it started to be called “Tartan Noir.” The veracity of the title is even debated: tartan is definitely involved – they’re set in Scotland, after all – but what “noir” means, and whether the Scottish writ-

ers have quite got it with their dour detectives and violent crimes, is another thing.

Stuart MacBride, who with ten detective novels of his own may be in a position to comment, disavowed the “Tartan Noir” label in an editorial on the subject for the BBC. The only thing uniting the Scottish detective novels, he declared, is that all their protagonists are ‘thrawn’: they are all inherently stubborn in a way that only Scots can really be. Beyond this, though, Tartan Noir is “a dirty-big marquee,” accommodating within it a diverse range of sub-genres from satire, to comedy, to something more approaching social investigation.

There is another uniting feature, however: Tartan Noir is more concerned with the why of a crime than it is concerned with the who. It is rare to find Agatha Christie-esque novels teasing the reader until the final pages for a big reveal.

Instead the details of the crime – the method, the perpetrator, the time, and so on— are not infrequently revealed at the start, and the rest of the novel devotes itself to unravelling the life of the perpetrator, and their motivations.

This set it apart, at least initially, from the typical fare of English and American crime writers. It may, though, have been an American crime writer who coined the name of the genre, when James Ellroy, the blockbusting writer of books including LA Confidential, declared Rankin “the king of Tartan Noir” on a cover endorsement. Rankin was far from the first, however. William McIlvanney is popularly held up as if not the father of Tartan Noir, at least its godfather.

His three Laidlaw novels, telling the stories of the Glasgow-based inspector Laidlaw, were praised by Doug Johnstone (still another crime writer; there have been several hundred in Scotland in just the past decade) as the books that came before the cliché.

McIlvanney preceded Rankin’s Rebus by ten years, and it was McIlvanney that inspired him to abandon his mainstream novel-writing for something more crime-oriented.

Originally, Rankin had been studying for a PhD on Muriel Spark, a writer as far from Rebus as it is per-

Damien Hirst: the art of decadence and death MEILAN SOLLY Editor

Photo: Wikimedia Commoons

TARTAN NOIR:

Scottish crime fiction

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

haps possible to find.

So where does that leave us? How much longer can Tartan Noir continue to dominate the Scottish literary markets, and to export itself across the world? Rankin, clearly, is one of the biggest names in the business, both in Scotland and elsewhere. However, the primary inspiration behind the wave of Tartan Noir (McIlvanney), is

It does not seem that Scottish readers’ interest in crime will decrease unfortunately far less known.

For several years, his books were out of print, and it was only in 2013 that Canongate Books (perhaps the UK’s most exciting publishing firm, and certainly among the sharpest) re-released them to wide delight among the crime writers that he inspired. That the genre will follow its creator into obscurity in the coming decades is unlikely, but not impossible, as Rankin has given voice to his ambitions of “cracking the US.” Whether that happens or not, it does not seem that Scottish readers’ interest in crime will decrease. The literary tradition of Scotland has known its own uniquely thrawn and dark masterworks; Stuart Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde both explore the consequences of tampering with forces beyond the control of the individual.

In the imaginations of Rankin, McIlvanney, MacBride and the hundreds of other Scottish crime writers, the forces of the devil and misapplied new science have been replaced by those of sex, drugs, and gangland violence; the underlying interest in dark deeds, and the black hearts of those who carry them out, remains. In this regard, Scottish writers are considerably as thrawn as their protagonists.

Few artists attract the ire of contemporary critics as readily as Damien Hirst.

After all, the general populace may not fully understand Pablo Picasso’s cubist paintings or Marcel Duchamp’s 1917 Fountain (a literal urinal turned on its side and signed with the pseudonym “R. Mutt), but they appreciate the works’ significance.

Hirst’s brand of art is morbid, confrontational, and even disgusting, making it difficult to admire on a purely aesthetic level. Add in accusations regarding the artist’s showmanship, and you’ll have an idea of why he is such a controversial figure.

In 1990, Hirst arrived on the British art scene with One Thousand Years.

The piece featured a rotting cow head, maggots, and flies continually fried by a bug zapper –– not exactly subtle. This striking depiction of death catapulted Hirst to prominence and began his career-long obsession with animals incorporated into art.

The following year, Hirst debuted the work he is best known for: The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. As viewers stopped beside a formaldehyde vitrine, they were once again forced to question their mortality. This time, death arrived in the form of a tiger shark floating eerily inside the glass case.

Hirst’s shark and its subsequent multi-million dollar sale divided public opinion. Was Hirst a sensationalist who exploited innocent animals and only cared about profit? Or was he the greatest innovator the art world had seen since Duchamp?

No one had a definite answer, but this certainly didn’t affect Hirst. He continued creating controversial pieces, including a diamond-encrusted skull, so-called “spot” paintings, and more works featuring rotting animals.

And he continued making an immense amount of money.

In 2008, however, Hirst’s luck ran out. The global financial crisis halted growth in the art market, and Hirst, an artist keenly attuned to the demands of art collectors, suffered greatly.

Another aspect of this downward spiral was the seeming distance between artist and art: spot paintings, for example, were created by Hirst’s workshop and manufactured so rapidly they seemed to be as ubiquitous

as cheap posters.

After ten years without a major exhibition of new work, Hirst is attempting to regain the public’s affection.

His new exhibition, Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, is currently on display at the Punta della Dogana and Palazzo Grassi in Venice.

Treasures, which is advertised as a collection of artifacts rescued from an ancient shipwreck, bears Hirst’s trademark extravagance. Several of the items allude to popular culture (one sculpture bears a striking resemblance to Mickey Mouse, another to Pharrell Williams), while others stun with their massive scale and ornate detail.

Hirst the capitalist has overtaken Hirst the artist Hirst and François Pinault, the owner of Christie’s auction house, have poured millions into the show.

Both hope that it will mark Hirst’s return to art world dominance, and it very well may.

The problem, however, is that Hirst the capitalist has overtaken Hirst the artist. From the beginning of his career, Hirst has emphasised shock value, and for a time, this approach worked.

Although a stuffed tiger shark and piles of dead flies contrast with typical conceptions of art, there is no denying these works had a powerful impact.

Hirst’s early pieces generated visceral reactions because of their shock value, but this value worked in service of a significant artistic concept.

Hirst’s recent art, on the other hand, is pure show. He has always lacked subtlety, but works such as the spot paintings and perhaps even Treasures have little artistry driving them. Instead, they seem to work in service of Hirst the brand, a money-making label thrown onto any old piece of art.

Perhaps Treasures will launch Hirst’s career back to the top. But the perception of Hirst as a true artist is gone, and future success will always be tinged by hints of insincerity.

Photo: Flickr

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ARTS & CULTURE

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

35

The Saint's guide to upcoming local music gigs EMILY KING Music editor

Saturday 22 April 2017 • Hue & Cry – Full Band with Strings Show, 19:00, O2 ABC • Hacienda Classical, 19:00, The SSE Hydro Sunday 23 April 2017 •Rag N Bone Man, 19:00, O2 ABC

Photos: Wikimedia Commons

Friday 21 April 2017 • Hue & Cry – Accompanied Stripped Show, 19:00, O2 ABC

Friday 21 April 2017 • Lisbon, Sneaky Pete's • The Spook School and The Ninth Wave, La Belle Angele • The Jensen Interceptors, The Voodoo Rooms • Wide Days 2017, Vistas (Scotland), Liquid Rooms, Saturday 22 April 2017 • Honeyblood, Liquid Rooms • The Unthanks, The Queen's Hall • Be Like Pablo, The Mash House

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Friday 21 April 2017 • Honeyblood, Bar 15, Dundee • Fatherson, Fat Sam's, Dundee

Dundee

The semester is ending, revision is around the corner, and at this point, you’re just dying to get out of the Bubble.

Well never fear, The Saint has you covered.

Check out some great music this weekend in Dundee, Glasgow, or Edinburgh.

Saturday 22 April 2017 • Jackal Trades, Conroy's Basement, Dundee • The Vegan Leather, Bar 15, Dundee • Conor Heafey, Blend Coffee Lounge, Perth • Nuclear Club, the Green Room, Perth

THE SAINT • Enter to win a free Amazon gift card by participating in our 2016-17 readership survey!

• Share thoughts on how your student newspaper can represent all St Andreans.

• Email saint.businessmanager@ gmail.com.

SPORT thesaint-online.com/sport

Write from the Off Andrew’s column First paragraphs are like this. They have a 4mm indent in the first line.

Everything else in the article is like this, without the 4mm indent.

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Sequat nibh the et eugait Many have iliquis bemoaned death do of euis eum nulla am dui ent heavyweight boxing andeugue to betehonillam aliquisit dit dolum ilit est theyzzrilit are not far wrong.

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In esto espersonalities and even fewerdelbigsequisl ilit, conse min estrud do elis name fights. essisl utem ip acilit, do However, a ea week on volore Saturday odolumsan ut lum zzriure et veratin could well mark the start of something velisi teasconullum delpositive Watford’s dolorerosto Anthony Joshua iquisit, quis estrud his tatieInternational tie ming ea attempts to unify facipsumsan henismo delisisi Boxing Federation (IBF)dolore Heavyweight tie velenissis crown with aut thedolorpero World consenis Boxing adi Association (WBA) strap by taking on the legendary Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko. Some will rightly point out that ‘Dr Steelhammer’, as Klitschko is sometimes known, already has one foot out of the door to retirement but this is an incredibly competitive fight and the recent record-breaking sellout at Wembley highlighted the huge market for the fight.

Unlike the WBA title bout booked between Shannon Briggs and Fres Oquendo, which can only be considered a travesty (come on, they have a combined age of 89 and neither has beaten a relevant opponent in years), this is an excellent bit of match-making. It really has the chance, especially with a Joshua win, to spark life back into the most prestigious division and set up some big fights in the years to come – you have to think that Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker will be watching the fight with great interest.

At the time of going to press only two other fights were confirmed for the bill, which could be one of the biggest boxing cards of the year, but they are both interesting ones. Former super bantamweight world champion Scott Quigg returns to action against Romania’s Viorel Simion, who has really developed since a disappointing 2013 defeat to current IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby.

The other bout announced is a lightweight eliminator between 2012 gold medallist Luke Campbell, who has three KOs in four fights since his shock loss to Yvan Mendy; and Colombia’s Darleys Perez, known to British audiences for his bouts with Anthony Crolla. They should both be

Sport editor: ANDREW SINCLAIR Deputy editors: Jack Cannon, Seoras Lyall,Henry Mallin, Jason Segall sport@thesaint-online.com

@saint_ sport

Exploring the depths of the St Andrews sub-aqua club

entertaining scraps.

The main event, though, is a very intriguing fight. Klitschko is one of the best heavyweights to have ever set foot in a ring and whilst he’s clearly past his prime and no longer the fighter he was under the late Emmanuel Steward, he’s still very dangerous and will be Joshua’s toughest career test by a country mile. Joshua doesn’t have the same range and physical advantages that Tyson Fury made use of to beat Klitschko, but he does possess the greatest equaliser of them all, monstrous power. He hasn’t been made to go the decision once thus far in his career and I don’t expect him to in this fight, although I think Klitschko will push him harder than anyone has managed previously.

Whilst that card is all about promoting new stars, last week in St Andrews, Sinners was co-promoted

by Saints LGBT+ in support of the Rainbow Laces campaign. The tagline of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign is to “Make Sport Everyone’s Game” and it is perhaps one of the most important campaigns going on in British sport today.

Only two players playing in the English Football Leagues (all four top divisions) have come out as LGBT+ in the last decade.

Homophobia is still a major problem in sport as well as society more broadly and by uniting with Sinners, Saints LGBT+ have once again managed to send out a really positive message and demonstrate their importance to this student body.

And thus we come to the end of my final column as Sport Editor.

As many of you who read this may know, I will be moving onwards next semester to become the new deputy editor and it would not have been possible without having the wonderful three semesters worth of experience I’ve had in this role. I managed to cover 60 per cent of the University’s sports teams and I am incredibly grateful to anyone who stopped and did an interview, replied to an email, wrote me an article or even just read an article. Thank you.

I know that my successor, the incredibly talented Seoras Lyall, will do an excellent job and will continue to improve the Sport section. As the Saints Sport motto goes, ‘Ever to Excel.’

Photo: Saints Sub-Aqua

Andrew Sinclair

SEORAS LYALL Deputy sport editor When you think of scuba diving, you often imagine tropical beaches, huge corals reefs, and exotic fish. Rarely is it thought of as being an activity you might do in the UK, especially in St Andrews. Yet one club is challenging that preconception. The Saint met with Sub-Aqua Club captain Fiona Lundin and dive officer Adam Chapman to discuss what they do.

The club itself is a branch of the wider British Sub-Aqua Club and provides weekly training for sport and ocean divers, as well as dive leaders, on Mondays in the pool. This varies across a wide range of skill levels from people who are complete beginners to the more experienced.

They go on several trips across the year, starting off with several “crossover” trips to Prestonhill quarry.

These sessions are designed to acclimatise divers to British conditions, as funnily enough snorkelling in the Bahamas in your swimsuit is remarkably different to scuba-diving in a cumbersome dry suit in the icy North Sea. They also go down south to the Farne Islands to dive with seals, and have day trips to Crail, along with frequent visits to the west coast. For those who aren’t particularly keen on the idea of diving in Scotland, the club also have a warm water trip over the Christmas break. Last year, they went away to Honduras.

This time last year, however, the club was in a slight predicament over the state of their boat. It was due an upgrade, having reportedly been with

the club since the 1980s. Constant repair costs and faults led to the boat ultimately breaking down. Stressing that without a boat there was no club, they went to the Athletic Union (AU) with several quotes for the different boats found through the designated boat officer.

Sympathetic and aware of the

Aware of the work the club were doing, the AU covered the cost of the new boat great work the club were doing, the AU covered the cost of the new boat.

The interviewees at this point wanted to emphasise how supportive the AU were throughout the whole process.

After several tests, a new boat was chosen and there is soon to be a fundraiser as well as a boat naming procedure. Apparently, it is bad luck to sail a boat that has no name.

Unfazed by the boat’s namelessness and encouraged by several test dives, the club went off to Oban on their annual “Appin” trip over the spring break, so named after the area they first went to. There, a team of 16 people from beginners in British conditions to Alumni went for nine

days to explore the incredible wrecks and wildlife. A highpoint was touring round the SS Breda, one of the most dived wrecks in the UK. During World War Two, the Dutch cargo ship was hit by a German bomb in Scottish waters and sank off the coast of Oban.

For Chapman, it was a personal highlight of the trip to guide some less experienced divers around the wreck, showing them the conger eels, soft corals, and sponges. Other highlights included helping a dive leader pass their qualifications by assisting a depth progression test down to 40 metres, and getting to know their new boat.

Other wildlife they saw on the trip included the protected brittle starfish, octopuses, and dogfish. They were also greeted by some seals near their boat, although none appeared when diving. Yet the trip wasn’t all about what was in the water.

The club had a great time socially, going on walks, watching films, and sitting by the fire.

They were also able to scout out new diving areas for next year’s “Appin” trip when the weather was not suitable for diving.

Plans are already in place for trips next year. There is talk of pre-season being in either the Aberdeen or Coll areas in the hope they may be able to dive with Basking Sharks, the second largest shark in the world.

For their warm water trip at Christmas, there is talk of a potential return to Thailand, where they went to two years ago.

Regardless, the club is in excellent shape, fresh from their boat’s maiden trip and has exciting plans lined up.

SPORT

37

Toronto Wolfpack: Transatlantic Trailblazers?

JACK RENNISON

T

he Toronto Wolfpack “Who?” you might ask.

Although even the keenest of sports fans would be forgiven for not knowing about this rugby league side, who ply their trade in England’s third tier, they represent a tantalising prospect for the future of sport collectively.

In addition to transforming themselves from obscure pub trivia to the first Transatlantic Super League side, the Wolfpack aim to spike North American interest in their own sport and play a key role in securing the 2025 World Cup for the continent.

Additionally, if the Wolfpack is a success, it could provide a model for the much-discussed and highly anticipated project to create a Londonbased National Football League (NFL) franchise.

The man behind this ambitious project is Toronto-born broadcaster Eric Perez, who fell in love with rugby league whilst living in Birmingham nine years ago. Describing it as the most Canadian sport not played in Canada, he has aspired to create a team and introduce the sport to his homeland. No mean feat.

Financing the project presented a major obstacle. Perez successfully gathered numerous financial backers to his project, most importantly David Argyle, an Australian mining tycoon based in North America, who is the club’s main investor.

Sponsorship deals have been astutely secured, most impressively with the airline Air Transat who will

cover all of Toronto’s travel to and from England. Additionally, the company are supporting English sides’ away fixtures, allowing the full squad, coaches and backroom staff to Toronto

Perez successfully gathered numerous financial backers, most importantly David Argyle, an Australian mining tycoon for free, whilst fans will receive subsidised travel. Perez has secured the 10,000 seater Lamport Stadium in Toronto as the Wolfpack’s long-term home and has sold the broadcasting rights for TV stations across Canada and the UK. How practical is a transatlantic sports team? The team’s opening fixture of the season was at Siddal, near Halifax in West Yorkshire, in

the Challenge Cup third round, some 3,421 miles from Toronto. An accommodating fixture schedule is designed to combat the distances.

The Wolfpack played the first five weeks of their season in England but will alternate between home and away fixtures thereafter. English teams are expected to fly out on a Thursday morning, play the game on Saturday before flying back the following day.

Anxiety has been expressed over travelling such long distances but Perez has displayed his characteristic optimism in the face of these concerns, stressing that players would rather spend eight hours on a plane than six on a coach. The reality of the travel will become clear when Oxford RLFC become the first team to play in Toronto on 6 May. Introducing a new sport into a country is never easy but there appears to be an appetite for rugby league in Canada.

A pre-season game at Lamport between the Wolfpack and the Royal Air Force team attracted a crowd of 8,000 spectators and before the season was underway, nearly 3,000 season tickets had been sold, even though the first fixture on Canadian soil is yet to be played.

The Lamport crowd can look forward to seeing a wealth of talent perform on 6 May. Captain Craig Hall has represented Super League outfits Hull FC, Hull KR, and Wakefield Trinity; Tonga prop, FuiFui Moimoi, has played in the NRL for Parramatta Eels and for Super League side Leigh Centurions; as well as local talents such as American centre Ryan

Burroughs, Canadian scrum-half Rhys Jacks and prop Tom Dempsey.

The long-term future of the team has also been kept in mind. Scouting programs have been established to target young athletes who did not make the grade to play in the NFL or Canadian Football League (CFL) and adapt their skills for rugby league.

The Wolfpack’s results have certainly aided their popularity. So far, they have played perfectly, sitting at the summit of League One, unbeaten in their first four games and into

3,421 Miles travelled for first game of the season in the Cup against Siddal the fifth round of the Challenge Cup. Continued success will not only expand the club’s profile and fan base, but could have important ramifications for the future of rugby league as well as sport generally.

Canada and the USA launched a bid to co-host the 2021 Rugby League World Cup but narrowly missed out, with the tournament being gifted to England.

The general sentiment after the de-

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

cision was one of missed opportunity, for both the hosting nations and the sport in general.

The bid represented a key opportunity to expand the fan-base beyond its strongholds of Oceania and the UK. However, there is optimism that a bid for the following tournament, in 2025, would yield success, and the Wolfpack has a large part to play in this process. Their success, it is hoped, will nurture an interest in rugby league on the continent, creating knowledgeable fans and a television audience ready to welcome the pinnacle of the sport.

Further expansion is desired from pioneers like Perez, who has made clear his intentions to branch out into Boston and Montreal with new sides.

Whether the future sees several North American sides competing in England or a separate North American league system is so far unclear, but both are enticing prospects.

The Wolfpack could have wider ramifications for sport generally.

If successful, they could provide a model for transatlantic teams across a wide range of sports.

A London-based NFL franchise has long been discussed. Over the past decade, the annual fixtures hosted by Wembley stadium have expanded, from one game a year between 2007 and 2011 to four in the 2017/8 season.

Groundwork to realise this dream is underway and, providing the Wolfpack’s season is successful, they could provide a useful working model for this project. Transatlantic trailblazers? Time will tell.

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20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

MIRIAM DOYLE 48 hours, 10,000 boards, 10,000 press ups, 100,000 pattern movements.

Were we insane? Maybe.

From 9:30 am on Friday 7 until 9:30 am on Sunday 9 April, the University of St Andrews Taekwon-Do Club were kicking up a storm with their annual charity Kickathon in support of Anthony Nolan, Women for Women International, and Frontline Fife.

The Kickathon 2017, now in its third year, saw the Taekwon-Do Club members aiming to break 10,000 boards, endure 10,000 press ups, and perform 100,000 pattern (a fixed set of self-defence movements against an imagined opponent) movements within 48 hours, all in an effort to raise money for the University Charities Campaign. These targets were smashed, and the event truly embodied the Taekwon-Do tenets of perseverance and indomitable spirit.

When the first board was broken and spirits were high. We were blessed with a sunny day and were confident. High volume Spotify playlists provided the background as we settled in for a long weekend. 12 hours later and we were still going strong.

Boards were being broken, patterns were being performed, press ups were being (grudgingly) done, and we were only a little bit chilly.

With resolute spirit still intact, we continued to power through boards into the late hours.

Some of the most entertaining experiences of the weekend happened when the revellers inside the union were sent home at 2 am. Easily entertained, they were wowed by our ability to break boards, and were generous when it came to donating.

The unsung heroes of the Charity

Kickathon are those brave souls who stay overnight. This is, without doubt, the worst shift to have as we are not allowed to break during this time due to noise regulations. These invaluable members of the club suffered through the cold and the sleep-deprivation valiantly doing press ups every 10 minutes and performing a plethora of patterns. Like all good university students, they turned to Disney classics in their time of need and powered through a night of patterns and press ups to their childhood favourites.

With morning came a whole new day of fundraising. At 6:20 am we had hit 4,150 press ups, 35,002 pattern movements, and 2,126 breaks.

For those of you who are numerically gifted, you will have noticed that with only 27 hours left we had a way to go in order to meet our ambitious targets. Thankfully, blessed with another sunny day, we got down to work.

The afternoon saw the arrival of Rory McLion. Everyone’s favourite lion took a hands-on approach and joined us for some patterns, press ups and breaking. Boosted by Rory’s support, we began the final leg of our Kickathon.

After yet another night shift, we gathered to see how far away from our targets we were. Thanks to an impressive effort overnight, in which nearly 35,000 pattern movements were performed, we were close to the finishing line. However, at 7 am we were still roughly 2,000 breaks short. There were some questions as to whether our targets were even achievable, and like anything worth its salt, we entered the final hours of Kickathon 2017 with the good old will they/won’t they cliché.

With half an hour to go, we reached the final 20 breaks. Battered and bruised, we lined up for the fi-

Photo: Saints Taekwon-do

St Andrews Taekwon-do raise over £1300 for charity with impressive 48-hour Kick-A-Thon

nal assault on the boards. 9.30 am on Sunday came around. 48 hours since we had begun our valiant, and some would say ridiculous, fundraising efforts, 10,000 boards had been broken. 10,000 press ups had been done.

100,000 patterns had been performed.

Thus far, £400 has been raised on our online donation page, and a further £977.85 was raised through bucket donations during the course of the event. Thank you to those that have already been generous enough to donate. The online donation page is to remain open until the 23 April, and we would be incredibly grateful to anyone who would consider donating in aid of the three chosen charities:

Anthony Nolan, Women for Women International, and Frontline Fife.

Club Captain, Charlotte Crowe, stated that when she spoke to people about what the Taekwon-Do Club achieved at this year’s Kickathon, “their reaction is often gasps of amazement. Our club members are regular St Andrews students: we’re not top level athletes, we all have deadlines, we all need sleep and rest.

I am extremely proud of how our club members pulled together through mental and physical exhaustion to raise money for charity.”

I would encourage anyone who saw us practicing various elements of Taekwon-Do and thought that it was

pretty cool to come along to any training session and try it out for yourself.

Or maybe you saw us laughing at our own jokes, grumbling about tiredness and bruises, and dancing (badly) along to our music and thought that was the sort of club you want to join.

We train on Mondays, 8-10:30 pm, at the Sports Centre; Wednesdays, 8:159:15 pm, at Victory Memorial Hall; and Fridays, 7:30-8:30 pm, also at Victory Memorial Hall.

Lastly, a massive thank you and congratulations to all those who took part.

Online donation link: https:// mydonate.bt.com/events/ standrewskickathon.

Saints Netball enjoy excellent year on and off the court

It has been an outstanding year for the University of St Andrews Netball Club. The club is incredibly ambitious, striving for excellence and as a result has surpassed expectations in one of its most successful years to date.

Netball at St Andrews has continually improved and expanded, now boasting record numbers of memberships and producing excellent results.

The success of the newly established fourth team in their BUCS league highlights the expansion for the club which aims to produce a fifth team competing in a competitive league.

This year saw the appointment of the club’s first ever director of sport, Heather Gaunt, the first female director of sport at the University. She has brought a new impetus to the club, focusing training sessions, introducing additional shooting sessions, and improving the level of technological analysis in strength and conditioning

sessions. This highlights the increasing stature and professionalism that this club upholds.

On the field, the results across the teams speak for themselves. In the highly competitive 1A BUCS league, the first team finished second. They also finished second in the SSS Netball Championship and played in their first ever Varsity match against the formidable Edinburgh side. The level of commitment and attention to detail put in by the girls behind the scenes is extraordinary and it is no surprise that their results reflect this.

Special mentions must go to Anoushka Nichols and Sally Sandison whose performances this year have resulted in them being selected for the Scottish Student Sport (SSS) National Rep Squad. With an abundance of outgoing players, it will be exciting to see whether the team can surpass the progress made this year.

It is not just the first team that is excelling. The twos came tantalisingly close to promotion, finishing second is a very competitive division. With many fresh faces in this new look

team, it seems certain that they will achieve great things next year.

Having won back-to-back promotions, the third team were able to maintain their place in a tough division, leaving the second team looking anxiously over their shoulder.

However, perhaps the biggest success was the emergence of the new fourth team. In their debut season, they remained undefeated, thrashing those who dared to stand in their way and finishing with a magnificent points difference of +323.

Alongside its terrific team results, the club has made outstanding achievements in its fundraising and engagement with the local community. It strives for the inclusion and expansion of the game both within St Andrews and the wider netball community.

The girls have had coaching responsibilities at Madras College, but have also assisted with Greyfriars Primary School and with Active Fife to run primary school netball festivals within the sports centre.

On top of this, as I’m sure many

of you are aware, the netball club are responsible for the organising and creation of the ever popular Sports Stripped Calendar.

Depicting the University teams in all their glory, the calendar, alongside

a sold out launch event in Club 601, raised more than £3000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

If this year is anything to go by, things are only looking up for Saints Netball.

Photo: Saints Netball

HENRY MALLIN Deputy sport editor

20 April 2017 • thesaint-online.com

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Last week Celtic won the Scottish Premier Football League (SPFL).

That’s right, in April. Now this in itself is not remarkable, indeed the vast majority of people couldn’t care less about a one-team league whose quality and entertainment value matches that of the Saints Sunday League. Yet this does raise a question that has haunted the two Glasgow clubs since the dawn of time, and no, not whether they could beat the Sports Friends over two legs. Celtic’s win was inevitable, but the manner in which they did it was impressive. They haven’t lost in Scotland all season and look set to win the domestic treble, assuming they beat Rangers and then either Aberdeen or Hibernian in the Scottish Cup. The fact they won the league with eight games to spare is also one of the fastest in European history, and if they do finish unbeaten it will be the first time a team has done so in Scotland since the 19th century.

They have achieved this through a mix of excellent management under Brendan Rodgers (the Brodge to his friends) and an incredibly talented squad. In Kieran Tierney, they have a player who could play for any team in the English Premier League (EPL), while Moussa Dembele has been in white hot form. These two, along with Stuart Armstrong, a resurgent Scott Sinclair and a dependable (if hated) Scott Brown have put Celtic in a position where they may dominate for years. With Rangers and Aberdeen nowhere near them, and with the quality of the league below that of Belarus, Israel and Romania in terms of UEFA coefficient, there is little challenge for them. Hence, the age-old question arises, how would Celtic do in the English Premier League (EPL)?

They certainly could join: Cardiff, Swansea, Newport, and Wrexham are all teams that play in the English system. The real problem is judging how they would fair both with their current squad and in the long-term, along with what consequences their departure would bring to Scottish football.

Let’s talk money. The EPL is the richest league in the world: the players’ wage bill is greater than both the

German Bundesliga and Spain’s La Liga combined. This is largely down to a huge broadcasting deal between Sky and BT worth over £5 billion, where 50 per cent of that is split equally among the 20 teams. It is why the Championship play-off is dubbed “the £100 million game” and the why the three promoted clubs spent nearly £120 million over two transfer windows, while Celtic only spent £8 million including money they got from qualifying for the Champions League group phase. It is why Celtic had the 16th largest revenue stream in the world in the 2004/2005 season, but now Sunderland’s revenue is now more than double that of Celtic

If they are able to utilise the extraordinary wealth in that league, then they have potential. at £122 million. It is why the top 12 transfers fees paid by Scottish clubs are all concentrated between 1998 and 2002. Part of our conclusion then depends on whether or not Celtic could be included in that broadcasting deal.

If they are not then they can forget about the top four as Rodgers claimed in a recent interview, instead focussing on avoiding the bottom three.

Their squad is good, but ultimately they did fail in Europe. Their main striker Dembele may win plaudits across Europe, but as yet the opposition in his career has been the likes of Blackburn and Partick Thistle: he is untested against regular high quality defences. Even if they do get included in the broadcasting deal, they would probably still struggle. Despite the money that Middlesbrough and Hull have spent, they are still in a relegation dogfight.

However, if Celtic survived that

first season, the potential is unlimited. Leicester have shown what is truly possible, but more reasonably the benefit would come from the windfall from survival. Sky Sports estimated with Deloitte that the winner of the Playoff final would gain an extra £190 million if they survived one season. With Celtic’s fans, stadium, and brand, they have the potential to join the established EPL clubs and from there who knows what they can achieve?

But what would this all mean for Scotland’s national team and league?

In terms of the former, one would hope that with their new wealth, Celtic would reinvest into their youth setup to produce the next Kenny Dalglish or Denis Law. However, the wealth of the EPL has hardly helped the English national team, with clubs spending fortunes on the next best talent from abroad. Meanwhile for the SPFL, would it really lead to a more competitive league? If Scotland’s league coefficient was bad, then Wales’ league is even worse, with only the Faroe Islands; Gibraltar; Andorra and San Marino being ranked lower.

It is also not even that competitive.

The New Saints have won it for the last six seasons and they aren’t even based fully in Wales. Celtic joining the EPL also sets a dangerous precedent.

If Rangers or Aberdeen dominate, at what point would they get allowed in? Football would also lose arguably the greatest derby on Earth in the Old Firm.

So, what can we take from this?

If Celtic were to be put into the EPL right now they would struggle. Their squad is talented but not to the extent that Celtic fans imagine. However, if they are able to utilise the extraordinary wealth in that league, then they have potential. What this would mean for Scotland is uncertain: it could bolster the national side and league or condemn them to ruin. .

This debate has been going on for generations and will continue to do so. You sometimes wonder about the motivations of those at Celtic who want to join the EPL. Is it truly about more competition?

Are they realistic when they come out and make these claims? Or are they salivating at the prospect of indulging in the gluttony of modern day football?

Photo: World Football

SEORAS LYALL Deputy sport editor

Photo: Grace Gathright

Celtic: A premier league team?

Football steals the show with Can’t Walk 2017 CAITLIN LEWIS

This weekend saw the definitive event of the St Andrews fashion calendar Can’t Walk. By combining the polished professionalism of FS, the raw edgy cool factor of Don’t Walk and the exotic flair of *Sitara, the Men’s Football club promised a show that would not be easily forgotten.

In the coming weeks before the big day, the committee teased the eager guests with a number of enticing promotional pieces. The widely successful THIS IS MY KITE campaign introduced the guests to the models in their most raw, intimate states, redefining the event’s motto, “A parade of imperfect bodies.”

A day before the big event, the committee reluctantly and apologetically informed us that despite the strong winds that had shaken the Kingdom of Fife, the show did in fact have to go on. No we couldn’t have a refund, yes we did have to actually attend. Hearts broke that morning.

Show day arrived. Rascals bar was buzzing with an atmosphere of excitement, nerves and a little bit of fear.

The Men’s Football Club had learned from their spatial challenges of the previous year and put up an actual stage, which became the focal point around which the eager guests cumulated.

The lights went down and the room was filled with the techno beats of DJ Jake Rivett as the models took to the catwalk. The boundaries of fashion were about to be blown away.

In just one year, Can’t Walk has cultivated a legacy around - shall we call it - an ‘irregular’ style, and this year it more than lived up to its reputation. The show combined old crowd-pleaser’s, including the return of the legendary diving suit, with new ground-breaking fashion choices.

The show was split into 8 sections; Football, Beach, Charity Shop (think floral patterned dresses mixed with yellow v-neck jumpers), Sinners (in which the Football Club truly managed to capture the sweaty vibe that this Wednesday night favourite has come to be known by), Ager Apparel, Vogue (aRtY) and the crowd’s favourite, Underwear.

The creative team had come up with some brilliant new innovations this year including a Tesco gillet, this season’s must-have accessory, aka a plate of chicken fillets and a man/pizza box hybrid costume which channelled the Football Club’s main muse - Dervish.

Nakedness was abundant as Can’t Walk delivered on their promise to display the human form in all its imperfections. This year saw a new trend take to the catwalk- underwear made almost entirely out of sticky tape (catch this look on the Victoria’s Secret catwalk next year).

Just when the crowd thought they knew what to expect, the Can’t Walk committee threw another curve ball in the form of the Ager Apparel section which contrasted with all other sections by actually displaying nice clothes. Ager Apparel is St Andrews most up and coming online vintage clothes store which sells the coolest brands at the fairest prices.

The show’s raffle also exceeded expectations, with guests winning some pretty sick prizes including Tesco wine, free Rascals meals and the most sought after prize - an aubergine.

Can’t Walk addressed all the spatial issues of the previous year and put on a night that was incredibly enjoyable for everyone there.

Congratulations to the Men’s Football Club for once again being one of the key players in the St Andrews fashion scene.

Photos: Flickr

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DUrham Shine at St Andrews Sevens ANDREW SINCLAIR Sport editor

I

f the flood of Facebook posts in the week before the St Andrews rugby sevens were anything to go by, the 2017 edition of the competition was going to be something special and one of the highlights of the University sporting (and social) calendar.

In the end social media was irrelevant, as the action on the pitches and the atmosphere around University Park did the talking – the St Andrews sevens once again smashed it out of the park.

The tournament retained the format established last year for this edition, the 47th in the competition’s history, with a performance tournament of eight teams (Falkirk and Edinburgh subsequently pulled out, making it just six teams) and a social tournament of 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four. Group winners progressed to the cup competition, runners-up to the Plate and third-place outfits went into the Bowl.

Meanwhile, the women’s competition was able to boast the strongest field in their history with nine teams competing for the top prize.

Beginning at 9 am was always going to be a problem for some but those who were there in the morning were able to enjoy the highs and lows

of the social tournament and some excellent rugby in the performance competition. That is not to say that there wasn’t good rugby in the social tournament as there was a lot, but in an event where matching kit isn’t essential it is much more about entertainment value than hardcore fans nitpicking backline moves.

This year saw the poignant re-

In the end social media was irrelevant, as the action on the pitches and the atmosphere around University Park did the talking turn of the St Andrews Cavaliers to the performance tournament, nine

years after their founding by former St Andrews first XV captain Stephen Sims, who sadly died in 2012.

This team was captained by Scott Docherty and in spite of a 38-12 victory over Dundee High just before the midday intermission, the Cavaliers crashed out in the group stage, ultimately punished for their controversial opening match defeat to Scrum Powerbomb.

Last year the tournament was blessed by exceptionally good weather and whilst it didn’t reach the dizzy heights of 2016, the backdrop for this tournament was still pleasant aside from an early afternoon downpour.

That downpour, however, was somewhat of a blessing for the performance tournament’s opening semi-final as it meant that the crowd that had been dispersed across five pitches largely coalesced around the pavilion.

The game they witnessed was a special one, as sevens specialists Howe of Fife and Rex Club Red Kites played out an incredibly close, physical encounter.

The Kites had beaten Dundee 4115 and Durham 19-12 in the group stage and maintained that form in the semi-final, scoring two first-half tries that would prove insurmountable for Howe as the game finished 14-5.

Durham then took on Scrum Powerbomb, an invitational sevens team from the Borders, and the two

put on a gripping encounter that eventually saw the English side run out 24-12 winners.

Durham had gone into the break 12-7 up and although they were on the backfoot for almost the entire second period, they were able to run in two tries from their own half to secure a rematch with the Red Kites.

On balance it was the final such a highly competitive tournament had merited, with Durham’s pace and the Red Kites’ organisation making them the sides to beat. This time, though, the fixture was to yield a new winner of the St Andrews sevens competition, with Durham holding off a late fightback to triumph 28-19. The first half was a topsy-turvy affair with Durham bookending the half with converted tries, sandwiching a beautiful bit of champagne rugby from the Red Kites that briefly saw them draw level.

Durham’s positive start to the first half was repeated in the second as they nailed two tries in quick succession to leave the Kites needing three converted scores to draw level and a fourth to win. They managed to get two tries on the board but Durham were too good and in the end they ran out deserved winners.

That was not the only silverware Durham took back to England with them however, as their women’s team also dominated the field to win the competition in convincing style

Photos: Harry Gunning

SPORT

Could Celtic be successful in the English Premier League?

against one of the three St Andrews women’s sides in action.

Three winners, in the customary fashion, were also crowned from the social tournament. The first victory went to the Great North Molerats, who held off a stirring fightback from the Alpha Nails to win the Bowl final 24-17.

They were later joined in the winners enclosure by Glasgow-based side the Skitesaders, who put on an excellent performance to down the Dragontroops 19-5 and claim the Plate; and by the Richmond Renegades, who dominated a competitive side from Stirling University to take home the Cup in the day’s final game with a 35-19 win.

Although at times it ran behind schedule and they had some hiccups on the way (I mean come on Edinburgh, don’t pull out on the day of the tournament!), the event was a major credit to the entire rugby coaching setup and to Rory Gardner, the sevens convenor.

There was something for everyone to enjoy, in terms of both rugby and pitchside refreshments, and all the hard work behind the scenes ensured that once again the St Andrews sevens was one of the town’s best events of the year.

As the tournament tagline suggested, everything really is better in sevens.