November 2018

The

Boomerang November 2018

A relatable lecture on racism

by Saskia Vrensen

J

erry Afriyie, poet and ‘founder’ of the Zwarte Piet is Racisme (Black Piet is Racism) movement, is the epitome of relatable content. He arrived late, and then had technical difficulties, which meant he had to shout at a very full Dining Hall lounge - so

“

the lecture, “Jerry is such a bro.” And Jerry is a normal guy. Jerry himself wants everyone to think he’s a normal guy. But is that a wise choice for the movement he now leads?

A short history of Zwarte Piet, as told by Jerry: A Dutch holiday ‘tradition’, Piet is the Dutch Santa’s ‘servant’, who happens to be black.

Along with the classy rise of blackface came Dutch parents and children alike dressing up as Zwarte Piet, skin colour, painted red lips and all.

Go to anywhere except Utrecht (feel proud) this December 5th, and you can see these costumes swarming the streets in festive parades. Yes, this is happening in 2018.

In my humble opinion, whether it is tradition or not, blackface does not belong in 2018. Jerry mentioned that since Zwarte Piet is a ‘scary’ character, children sometimes hide behind their parents when they see Jerry or another black person at a Sinterklaas parade. And when you consider the Netherlands’ past, including, but not limited to, involvement in the slave trade and the use of plantations, it is no wonder many black people in the Netherlands, and worldwide, are ready for this This article continues on the next page

Netherlands to declare, “I wanna be somewhere in the countryside, run around naked, smoke weed, plant stuff, look at the sky and think ‘I’m good’”. You can guess what I have to say about that - relatable. A clear conclusion can be drawn: Jerry Afriyie is so relatable. As one student put it as she left

His understanding for his opponents makes his campaign different from that of many other activists: you can have a dialogue with him, and he will listen. relatable. At one point during the lecture, he deviated from the topic of racism in the u

Illustration © Amu Endo

A Story from the Marhaban Project

“W

e made our first attempt to get into Turkey, but it was very bad and dangerous. It was a lot of walking and in the end, at the Turkish border, they started to shoot at us, so we had to go back.” This is how Nour Eddin Salilah, 23, explains his first attempt to cross from Syria into Turkey. “But I look back at it as a fun time, because it was adventure in a way.”

“

I decided: ‘That’s it, I can’t take it here and I’m not going to spend my life in a war.’

by Reinoud Pino

Nour is a stateless refugee that grew up in Baniyas, Syria. His mother is from Syria, his father from Palestine. As such, for the entirety of his life in Syria, he walked around with documents that were said to be ‘temporary papers for a refugee from Palestine’. Baniyas has remained relatively safe during the conflict in Syria because of Russian naval facilities in Tartus. It was, however, under siege at the beginning of the war and according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, was the site of the massacre of 77 civilians and 14 children on the 3rdof May, 2013.

These statistics and many others are part of the story of the Syrian Conflict and consequently its refugee crisis, but you won’t hear Nour mention them. In spite of all the tragedies in his life, he maintains that what he has had to suffer through

Alumni in the National Think Tank Ending the dreadlock ‘debate’ Sustainability hacks for UCU

wasn’t that bad, as others had it worse, and even more impressively, he manages to find joy and humour in his story. I am speaking to him in my friend’s Voltaire bedroom, and he seems at ease as we smoke cigarettes and drink coffee, even though what we’re about to discuss can’t be easy to speak about.

“For my city it was not very dangerous, because there was no war in my city, because it was like a Russian base. So compared to places like Aleppo, it was relatively safe. The thing is, it was safe, but without a future, without the ability to study, do good things, or really live, because you know you’re in a country at war where they check you every day for your ID and if you don’t have it u

This article continues on page 3

3

The Brazilian elections

8

4

Why TEDx videos suck

9

6

A rant about bookstores

10

2

The Boomerang | November 2018

BUBBLE

particular tradition to be quashed.

All of the above was neatly and eloquently presented to us in Jerry’s lecture. The facts and figures were interesting, if not slightly conventional. I’d hope that most of the people in the room were aware of the described racism in Europe and how it is contextualised. Interesting points were raised, in particular how racism is a system, under which “we all discriminate”, but that only those with power in the system can act on this discrimination. Jerry said, “I’ve been [in the Netherlands] for almost 500 years but I don’t see myself on TV.” But what I took away from the lecture was not the content it contained. I just kept thinking about how goddamn relatable Jerry was.

Jerry has, in past interviews, made it clear that his passion is poetry, and that activism was never really what he wanted to do. A video of him being beaten up by a cop while he was wearing a ‘Zwarte Piet is Racisme’ t-shirt went

viral, and so he found himself thrown into the midst of a movement with the same name. Even though he never chose it, activism has cost Jerry his job and, apparently, some of his friends and relatives. Perhaps this life isn’t for him, and someone more ruthless and driven should head the Zwarte Piet is Racisme campaign. If Jerry prefers to run around naked in the countryside, that is all I want for him.

But Jerry’s relatable, neighbourhood-nice-guy air makes his vision for a less racist Netherlands approachable. He holds an immense amount of understanding for, well, racists (some call them Zwarte Piet supporters), and this makes his campaign different from that of so many other activists: you can have a dialogue with him, and he will listen. I think this makes Jerry a powerful activist and gives him the potential to go far with his campaign. And, as he himself says, “no one else will do it”, so I commend Jerry Luther King Afriyie for stepping up to the black-faced-plate.

Peer support

by Ronit Rosenberg

W

ith our one year anniversary of issues I can come to the office with? We deal coming up, we felt it was a with a variety of issues, from homesickness and good time to briefly reiterate loneliness to academic or emotional stress. We the goals and features of Peer are, of course, not professional counsellors, nor Support. The Peer Support do we act as a replacement for them. ConseSystem is an initiative set up by the Wellbeing quently, we are limited with regard to the type Team in response to the increased need for of issues we are equipped to provide support mental health support for the UCU student for. That is not to say that you cannot come see a Peer Supporter with these types body. Hence, Peer Support has of issues, because the purpose of been set up with the aim of being a Peer Support is two-fold, in that we peer-to-peer initiative addressing are here both to provide support the high demand for improving We deal with a as well as information about wellbeing on campus. We seek to variety of issues: professional counselling. We also lower the threshold for students to seek (professional) help, by from homesickness try and help students through the university’s psychological services providing a platform where issues and loneliness system and the Dutch healthcare can be discussed with a peer as system in order to find an approwell as providing information on to academic or priate body of support. available types of support systems emotional stress Peer Support may indeed still be both on and off campus. All thirteen Peer Supports have received training a work in progress, but we are here to provide about aspects of counselling such as empathic a place for everyone to turn to for support. If listening. The key to the Peer Support System you need any more information, you can always is the concept of confidentiality, where anything contact us through our Facebook page, UCU shared during Peer Support office hours, is not Peer Support, or by sending us an email at wellbeing.ps.ucu@gmail.com. to be shared outside of the office.

An oft asked question is what are the types

“

What about an interdisciplinary collaborative thesis?

by Jamie March While students may be informed enough to know that our sister college is University College Roosevelt, and the weird step-sibling we don’t really talk about is Amsterdam University College, not as many students know that the UU has a Liberal Arts and Sciences program as well. At the request of our dean, an exchange was organized between a student in each of the programs to see if the ‘myth’ of UCU students being more stressed is actually true. I’m not

going to get into what the article talks about, but if you’re curious, it’s called Mythe of waarheid: de UCU-student heeft meer stress (sorry it’s in Dutch) and you can find it on the DUB website.

But that’s not the point of this article, I learned that LAS students at the UU are required to write an interdisciplinary thesis alongside their normal disciplinary thesis. They write these in groups of 3 or 4 students from different fields,

“

LAS students at the UU write an interdisciplinary thesis alongside their normal disciplinary thesis

Dear Campus, Another month, another Boomerang!

Even when you throw us away, we really do keep coming back. Despite being on this board since my first semester, I only recently learned the reasoning behind our dear campus newspaper’s name. It’s quite a far-fetched Dutch pun: ‘Kromhout’ or ‘Krom hout’ translates as ‘crooked wood’.

What type of wood is crooked? Right, a Boomerang :) Enough with the lame jokes, we have more important things to discuss. Since November is wellbeing month, I wanted to shed some light on one of its aspects.

Recently I read an article in the DUB that compared UCU’s workload to that of the UU. Aside from the obvious relatable remarks made, such as stuffed schedules and stress, it also raised the recurring issue of our never-ending competitiveness.

Competition for grades, sports, and sometimes even our social lives. This is fair: some friendly competition can be healthy and pushes you to new heights, but too much and you might lose sight of what you were striving for in the first place. It can take a serious toll on your wellbeing and mental health if not dealt with accurately.

One of the ways to do so if by seeking help. Our very own Peer Support has its one-year anniversary coming up soon and therefore wrote a little piece about their goals and aims. You’ll find it on this page.

Perhaps equally as important are sustainability and the environment. Although sustainability week has passed, there is no excuse to stop saving energy. Recycle your trash, turn off that tap when brushing your teeth, and switch your lights off when leaving your room (I know you forget, we all do). On pages 6 and 7 you’ll find a nice spread of additional tips and tricks to help you do your part.

While you enjoy reading the edition that is in your hands right now, keep an eye out for the final issue of the year. Rumour has it the Boomerang is bringing back the controversial blackout…

Sincerely yours, Meike Eijsberg, Editor-in-Chief

who can all bring their own insights to create a piece of work greater than the sum of its parts.

Implement this at UCU. Don’t make it mandatory, but we have the option for honors thesis already, why not do something creative with it.

Right now, it’s just “Oh you’re a special student, so write a second thesis worth 7.5 ECTS.” Lower the requirements a bit. A 3.7 cumulative GPA means the breadth requirement in your first year that “didn’t matter” ruins everything.

“But doesn’t that lower the esteem an ‘honors thesis’ provides?” Thanks for asking straw man, but I’m pretty sure doing a collaborative interdisciplinary research thesis is worthy of acclaim.

“Ok, but Jamie, we literally all hate group work.”

I mean, it’s optional, but you got me there. Think about it though. @CollegeHall @ASC @StudentBody

A University College Student Association Magazine

This is a continuation of page 1

you’re fucked. So I decided: ‘That’s it, I can’t take it here and I’m not going to spend my life in a war.’ So we decided to go to Turkey.”

“Our first attempt was from Aleppo. So of course, for our second attempt we tried in a different way. We went to Idlip from Aleppo, because it’s much safer there.

The first time we tried from there we were stopped 5 minutes from the border by a Turkish soldier shooting bullets in the sky.

The second time, I went with my brother in the night, it was less dangerous and I think better. We discussed this with my family, but we decided that it was too hard for them to walk this path. So my friend from the Free Army managed to get some fake ID’s and they entered in the legal way, but this cost a lot of money.”

“In Turkey, because they have no camps, like here, you have to find your own way.

So I had to find a job. We lived in a small room with the five of us, like this room here.

My job was very bad. I worked on a wharf, building ships, but since I didn’t have papers and was there illegally, people could use me.

So I worked 12 hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week and got like €50 per month.”

“Then my father decided to come to Holland, since my brother had been here for a while already. So my dad got smuggled into Greece in the baggage department of a bus. My brother met my father in Greece and they managed to buy a fake passport in Belgium, I think. My father has grey hair and blue eyes, so he doesn’t look very Arabic.

That helped us a lot. So he has his ticket and everything and he was getting on the flight to Holland. But the security was a bit confused about him, so they asked him for his signature, which he of course didn’t know. So he just signed his own signature and it turned out to be similar enough. Because my father made it to the Netherlands, we all got to come. I got so very lucky.”

He says he’s very lucky, so what does that make us?

Nour is part of the Marhaban Project, where refugees are buddied to UCU students. These kinds of projects offer a great opportunity for refugees to integrate themselves, and see all the different sides of Dutch society. I myself am not part of the Marhaban Project, but would urge everyone to participate as it allows you to meet a whole range of different and interesting people.

“

3

He says he’s very lucky, so what does that make us?

Illustration © Anne van Wendel

u

BUBBLE

Life after UCU: Four alumni in the National Think Tank

by Lianne Dekker

UCU alumni Inge, Lianne (both Class of 2015), Hilde (Class of 2016) and Remko (Class of 2017) are all - together with 16 other enthusiastic recent university graduates - part of the National Think Tank (De Nationale Denktank). The National Think Tank is a Dutch foundation that feels that young thinkers are the best people to solve complicated societal problems. They do this by presenting an independent vision, thorough analyses and innovative ideas. Every year, the foundation organises the yearly National Think Tank: twenty Master’s students, recent graduates and PhD students from different disciplines work on a societal problem for four months and produce practical solutions for the problem. This year, our topic is the transition to a circular economy. This is a tremendous challenge that we examine from different disciplines.

R

emko says: “I had an awesome time on campus. Next to my interdisciplinary major in Mathematics and Economics, I loved working for the Acquisition Team, Auditing Team and other committees.”

He now uses these interdisciplinary UCU skills at the National Think Tank: “Our job is to perform interdisciplinary analyses similar to those conducted at UCU, but now with more direct societal impact.” Apart from the Think Tank being a great way to use his interdisciplinary skills, he also loves the atmosphere, “We have created a little bubble of our own. Not only do we work together, we have become friends outside of office hours too”.

Lianne flew quite a different trajectory, as she combined Linguistics with Neuroscience and some Cell Biology. “While finishing up my Master’s in nature conservation, I heard about the National Think Tank. Although I loved my Master’s, I missed the possibility to have a real impact and solve the societal issues that I studied.

The Think Tank offers the opportunity to both analyse and implement solutions for problems, exactly what I was looking for!” She fully enjoys

the Think Tank: “What I enjoy most is that for a large part we run the Think Tank ourselves, we decide what our product will be!”

The work at the National Think Tank fits quite well with any UCU trajectory; Inge (Earth and Environment, Chemistry and Economics) says: “The skills I learned at UCU, such as being able to read quite a lot in little time, managing different responsibilities at the same time and knowing your own boundaries, really help.”

That last part is important because the pressure is on! We have thoroughly analysed the hurdles to reach a circular economy in just 7 weeks. “You really become a bit of an expert and you notice that you can join in conversation, form your own opinion and ask the interesting questions”, Inge says. We analysed the circular economy through a literature review but also by talking to a lot of experts. Hilde (Economics, Psychology and Statistics) says: “What I enjoyed most about this journey is that we spoke to a lot of interesting people. I have spoken with people who are so passionate that it is hard not to become passionate too.” Inge adds: “It is amazing to see how many people are enthusiastic about talking to us. You get to meet people from different

organisations and sectors, including ministries (even the Secretary of State!), labour unions, big companies, start-ups, municipal decisionmakers and experts from science.”

After the analysis phase, we transformed the hurdles we found into 753 ideas for solutions.

Inge: “We had creative post-it brainstorms to come up with crazy ideas and to make them more realistic afterwards. We went out again to interview people to sharpen our ideas, to validate our approach and talk to potential implementation partners.” However, it is not as easy as it might seem. Hilde: “I find it interesting that it is quite difficult to bridge the gap between a good conceptual idea and the actual implementation.” We have 3 more weeks to work towards implementation. After those weeks, the Think Tank ends. Nevertheless, the Think Tank network will keep supporting us to bring our practical solutions to life. Hilde concludes: “All in all, the National Think Tank is an amazing adventure that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys complex puzzles, PowerPoints and working with a group of committed and ambitious people!”

4

The Boomerang | November 2018

BUBBLE

Stuck in time: The outdated, overwrought dreadlock ‘debate’

by Keerthi Sridharan

P

icture this: it’s 2014. Societally, we are at the height of what has now come to be known as ‘cultural appropriation discourse’. People are being ‘attacked’ left and right for wearing dreadlocks, hanging dreamcatchers up in their rooms, and in extreme cases, even learning languages that aren’t native to their own cultures. “Why”, victims of these horrific allegations cry, “can’t I just refuse to wash my hair for weeks on end in peace? It’s just a hairstyle! “ “Oh, really?” Others demand. “Well, if you make mashed potatoes and you’re not Irish, how come that isn’t cultural appropriation?” Reader, I told you to imagine us in 2014, but the reality of the situation is a disappointment: these are questions one hears when walking across this campus--a bubble seemingly unaware that the cultural appropriation ‘debate’ was settled a long, long time ago.

Dear white people: what you think are ‘dreads’ are actually just curls of unwashed, unhealthily matted hair. Hair types 3B and under are simply incompatible with the process of being dreaded, which leads to several enthusiastic but underprepared folks attempting what are known as “neglect” dreads; dreadlocks made by simply refusing to wash one’s hair and letting it clump together ‘naturally’. Ever wondered why white dreads universally look gross? It’s because straight, thin hair isn’t made for it.

Dreading is a traditional process done in salons or at home, involving tools, and techniques including backcombing and rolling, that

What actually happens to your course evaluations?

by Jonathan Sendker, on behalf of the ASC Board Course evaluations. For the first years, they are a foreign concept, and the rest of you might be rolling your eyes right now. Towards the end of every semester, usually when everyone’s particularly busy with finals, UCU students get an email encouraging them to fill out online evaluations of their courses. You can give your course an overall score as well as ratings in different categories, there’s some space for open comments, and that’s it.

That doesn’t sound like rocket science. But it also doesn’t sound particularly interesting. Which is why I’m here today with some good news on behalf of my board: Course evaluations are actu-

has been passed down generationally among people of various backgrounds. There has been one clearly demarcated line across all of them though: none were white. Indigenous groups across continents are involved: Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist ascetics, Rastafarians, Aztec priests...the list is long, I know. But the list is also pretty clear: this wasn’t made for you. Sure, transculturation results in people who were not the original ‘owners’ of a culture or trend

“

Dear white people: what you think are ‘dreads’ are actually just curls of unwashed, unhealthily matted hair

adopting said trend, perhaps reinventing it in the process. Here’s where the problem lies: something is said to be culturally appropriative if a non-marginalized party adopts a cultural aspect from an oppressed group and claims that it now has a positive connotation, while members of said oppressed group are still societally prohibited from engaging in that cultural aspect.

Let’s put this into context. In 2016, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that it is legal and constitutional for an employer to discriminate amongst potential employees based on whether or not they have dreadlocks, stating that ally a vital part of our UCU education, and we can only beg all of you guys to fill them out!

So, what actually happens to that form once you’ve filled it out and sent it off? Well, first of all, the teacher reads it and reflects on the feedback their students have given them. But, perhaps even more importantly, we read them.

ASC reads every single course evaluation. For all courses. Every semester. It’s a fair bit of work.

That’s because four ASC members – Marco, Soomin, Janneke and I – are members of the UCU Council. The UCU Council (which includes us and four teacher representatives) is the main checking body at UCU. As the UCU Council, we have to approve important documents, give advice on policy issues, and we regularly assess the quality of UCU education.

Part of that quality assessment is reading all the course evaluations. After we’re done with that, every semester, we meet with the Heads of the three departments to discuss what we’ve found in this semester’s round of evaluations.

If students complain about the structure of a course, we bring it up and try to get things moving in the right direction. If the focus of the course seems unclear, we inquire about that too.

Apart from all this, those evaluations also motivate some of the other work ASC does. I’m actually the board member responsible for the Humanities department – so, surprise, I have brought the results of the course evaluations to the department many times. The negative reviews for one particular course actually started a discussion with the Head, the fellow, and students about revamping that course. It’s going to be taught by a new teacher – the Head of

hairstyles are a “mutable trait”, even if they have “socio-cultural racial significance”. The case was brought forth by Chastity Jones, a Black woman who was denied a job offer after she refused to cut off her dreads; her employer’s reasoning was that the hairstyle can be construed as “messy”.

Let that sink in for a second: a woman of color was denied a job for wearing her hair in a style that is natural for her hair type and culturally and generationally important. Zendaya received backlash for wearing ‘locs to the 2015 Oscars, with a fashion reporter claiming that she looked as if she “smelled of patchouli oil”. Meanwhile, models such as Kendall Jenner and Cara Delevingne are praised for being ‘trendsetters’ when they ‘rock’ hairstyles such as dreads and cornrows.

A note on cornrows, by the way--probably the second-most popular culturally appropriative hairstyle on this campus. Cornrows were historically used to transfer and create maps of plantations and escape routes among slave communities across South America. What for some is ‘just a hairstyle’ could have been the difference between life and death for others.

So no, a college student eating leftover pasta pesto out of a Tupperware container is not ‘the same thing’ as a white person appropriating a hairstyle that communities of African descent worldwide still face marginalization for. Wake up, UCU. Just because you’re in ‘the bubble’ doesn’t mean that your actions don’t have serious consequences. We’re not in 2014 anymore, and the rest of the world knows it. Do you?

Department herself, actually - with a new focus next semester. Now, you might call me a nerd, but I think that’s pretty cool!

Another course had good overall reviews, but disastrous scores in the category ‘organization’.

Well, the course is on again next semester as well – with a fresh structure and a new, clearly organ-

“

Your voices are heard, loud and clear, and they produce results every semester.

ized syllabus.

The list goes on, but I feel like the message is pretty clear. When you fill out those forms, you might feel like you’re sitting alone at your laptop and sending data into the digital void – but the reality is that your voices are heard, loud and clear, and they produce results every semester.

Filling out those evaluations is actually important for one more reason: The people ASC presents these findings to - the faculty of UCU are intelligent and experienced academics. They know about statistical significance. If only 30% of students – instead of, say, 75%, which would be amazing - have responded on a particular course, they will be less inclined to take the student voice seriously. That can’t be in any of our interests, right?

Thanks for making it this far, my friends. If you have any questions about all this, just talk to me or any of my lovely fellow ASCies. And perhaps you’ll give those course evaluations another chance, aye?

A University College Student Association Magazine

BUBBLE

5

Hitchhiking: Befriend the axe-murderer

I

magine this: It’s eleven o’clock at night; 7 degrees Celsius; the world outside the German gas station seems pitch dark.

You and your two friends get into a car with two construction workers. You’re crammed in the backseat with your bags on your lap, and there’s no seatbelt. The men do not speak any of your languages and their German is as good as yours: the level of a fifteen-year-old high school student. After twenty minutes of driving, they finally seem to understand what you’re trying to tell them: you want them to drop you off at a 24-hour McDonald’s along the highway, so that you can be indoors overnight.

They tell you there are no more of those where they are going, but they’ll drop you in a good spot.

Ten minutes later the car exits the highway, and a little while later they stop. Here is a gas station, they say, and they point to a patch of concrete next to a very closed, very deserted, Shell station. You try to explain to them that you will not find someone to drive you in the right direction from here and that you do not want to sleep outside. “My friend

by Jana Elbrecht

sleeps in a Garten”, one of the men says, “you can go with him instead.”

You now have a choice: spend the night – and most probably the next day or however long it takes for someone to pass – on that cold patch of concrete, or go with these men that you met half an hour ago to their Garten. What do you do?

We chose to take our chances. We arrived and walked through a large gate that closed behind us, along a path with small gardens on either side. There was not a soul within screaming distance. The path led to another, smaller gate that protected the two little sheds on this man’s piece of land. Inside the shed it was cold, the only light came from candles, and the only water from a pump outside. I spent the night sleeping with my eyes open, waiting to be murdered with an axe, or a shovel, or even the watering can used to flush the toilet. I could see the headlines in my mind: “Naïve girl gets in van with stranger and dies.”

Eight hours later we were sitting at breakfast in a Kurdish restaurant, eating homemade bread and baklava,

drinking Turkish tea, and using the little German we spoke to joke about how spicy the soup was.

We wanted to pay to thank Mehmet for hosting us, but he refused. After taking a selfie and exchanging phone numbers, we continued our hitchhiking journey to Stockholm, so far without having been axe-murdered.

In fact, very few people get murdered with an axe by a stranger. Very few people are serial killers. And those who are, usually have a better strategy than driving around gas stations waiting to pick up innocent kids. Still, I was scared for my life. In a society that becomes evermore individualistic and obsessed with security, we have grown wary of strangers. We expect the worst of people who may just be trying to help or strike up a conversation. Through our suspicion we bypass the opportunity to make connections, and that really is a shame. After meeting Mehmet, I would advise everyone to go hitchhiking or to pick up hitchhikers. If you get the chance, make friends with the person you initially thought was going to murder you. It keeps things interesting.

Illustration © Samantha Dharamraj

149 destinations, 81 days to make up your mind

by Sophie Martens

As a “halfie”, I was given quite some time to consider whether I wanted to go on exchange and, if so, where I wanted to go. But even now, as the deadline is approaching, stress levels are rising. I can’t imagine how stressful it must be for those of us that just started their studies here at UCU. Is UCU forcing us to take a rushed decision?

UCU classes started on the 27th of August, and if you want to go on exchange in your fourth semester, you must have applied by the 16th of November. That gives you exactly 81 days to make up your mind. During those 81 days, there is quite some material for you to consider.

Before you even start looking at destinations,

you should have your major and curriculum planned out. These plans often turn out overly rigid, as I have experienced myself. On the one hand, UCU forces us to make a detailed blueprint. On the other hand, I have never successfully been enrolled in all the courses I requested, which kind of defeats the purpose of having the blueprint.

In the meantime, you need to get some kickass grades, otherwise you’re not even eligible to go. More importantly, you have to keep those grades up, because UCU reserves the right to cancel your plans if your grades drop off. If you have some time left, don’t forget to work on your CV because they will consider that too.

And as if this wasn’t enough, you also need to get your finances in order. Have you done all of the above? Good, now you are confronted with a new dilemma. Namely: where am I going? UCU offers 53 destinations, ranging from Belgium to

Japan. UU offers another 96 choices all over the globe.

Going on exchange is a wonderful experience, and I think every student at UCU should be given the opportunity to at least consider it. Unfortunately, I now see a lot of stressed out first-years, who are anxious when faced with such a big decision. Instead, they are - understandably so - focusing on settling in and finding their way around campus. I’d like to call for a different system. A system in which people get more time and assistance to decide if, and where, they want to go on exchange.

“

Is UCU forcing us to take a rushed decision?

6

The Boomerang | November 2018

SUSTAINABILITY

9 Sustainability hacks For a more environmentally friendly campus existence

by The Boomerang board

1

Bring your own mug and get rich

Did you know that if you put your own mug in the coffee machines in the academic buildings, you get a 5 cent discount? This means that for every 10 hot chocolates you buy (NOT the chocochino, which is a scam) you’ve saved up for a free 11th hot chocolate. What this also means is that you never have to boil water again, since hot water costs 5 cents, and your discount is exactly that amount: free hot water! Spill the tea to your friends and let’s make this campus yellow paper-cup free.

For the teachers who don’t have to worry about the price of machine coffee: set a good example and bring your own mug, too!

Illustrations © Lise Derksen

2

Buy a drying rack

Everybody has to wash clothes in the washing machine, of course (unless you wash them in the Kromme Rijn where hippies wash their asscracks).

BUT, nature will dry them for you. Just hang stuff up in an orderly fashion, and you’ll be right on track to saving energy on the most energy-intensive appliance on campus (assuming nobody has an A/C unit). Just for comparison, a dryer uses the same amount of energy as a washing machine, refrigerator and dishwasher combined. And no, by dishwasher we don’t mean that first-year in your unit who you bully.

4

3

How many times do you run a half-empty washing machine? Too often. Get a laundry basket together with the unitmates you trust, and reduce the total number of times you run the washing machine. This also increases the general availability of the appliance if you live with a large number of people!

5

Plastic packaging: Boycott now!

Turn off your lights!

We can illustrate this with a numbers game. A 60W light bulb left on for one hour a day will use about €4 per year. So the 2 bulbs in your room left on unnecessarily waste €8 per year. If 400 students on campus are reckless with their lights, that’s €3200 per year. That’s 75% of an EU student’s tuition, or 10 pairs of golden Gucci slides, whatever. Point is, turn off your light.

Just walk through Albert Heijn or Jumbo (or Plus if you’re weird) and pay attention to how much single-use plastic is floating around. Packaging fresh veggies, plastic straws, carrier bags and more. All this stuff has a simple alternative. Bring your own bag.

Get some metal straws. Buy in bulk.

And if you do end up with packaging, recycle.

6

Do your laundry together

Conscious cleaning

Use cleaning products that are environmentally friendly. All those blind squirrels, deaf moles, stunted birds and cross-eyed fish would be grateful if you didn’t use liquid toxins to clean your shower.

A University College Student Association Magazine

7

SUSTAINABILITY

7

Communal rice stash

At Jumbo, you can buy HUGE bags of rice.

Like, they’ll feed the entire unit for a year.

So stop buying small cardboard boxes with only two portions of rice that use ridiculous amounts of packaging, and just get one big bag that you share with everyone (or not). You’ll save money and waste.

8

Have a couple of veggie nights every week

Who are you kidding? You’re no bodybuilder who needs insane quantities of testosterone and meat. Producing one pound of meat uses over 2,400 gallons of water. Not showering for 6 months saves the equivalent of one steak worth of water.

So if you want a clear conscience while showering for an hour every day, you can have it! Just cut out meat 2 to 3 times a week, and voilà, it’s an improvement.

And guys, research shows that veggie diets make you last longer. Just sayin’.

We’re eating, drinking and breathing our own clothes

by Lotte Schuengel

I

t’s always nice to get new clothes. It’s even nicer if they’re cheap. Zara, H&M, Pull&Bear, Forever 21, Primark and a bunch of online stores all sell up-todate fashion items for a fascinatingly low price. And yes, they’re made by people who are paid practically nothing for high-intensity labour. And yes again, fast fashion wastes a lot of paint and materials and the majority is eventually thrown away or burned by the company that produced it. But that’s not new information.

It’s so old that images of hollow-eyed toddlers stitching jeans and containers full of brand-new clothes shipped off to the fashion crematorium now have only a numbing effect. That happens.

The common argument is that the laws of the manufacturing countries allow and sustain this, not our own behaviour. It’s a bad argument, but it’s nevertheless true. Still, most people are unwilling to change their consuming behaviour when confronted with a problem that doesn’t affect them directly. So I’ll introduce a problem that affects especially the people buying cheap clothes from multinational chains just as much as the people who are willing to pay more for

9

Embrace the metal bottle

Why are you spending €2 on plastic bottles of water? Seems like you think you’re #Ballin’. Well we aren’t (despite the size of our... budget). And neither is the environment. We all know what happens to those plastic bottles; dolphins and octopi and stuff end up trying to mate with them in the ocean. Buy a metal bottle and reuse it. Save money, and look stylish while doing it.

‘ethical’ brands, and even the people that try to do good by shopping only second hand.

There is no escaping the polyester atmosphere.

There’s an annoying label on the inside of your shirt, your trousers, your underwear, your coat.

Perhaps you took a pair of scissors and cut it out already. But if you haven’t, check it to see what your clothes are made of. I took a random sample from my own closet, and here’s what came out: • • • • • •

Hema shorts - 100% viscose Benetton winter coat - 40% wool, 10% nylon, 35% acetate, 15% viscose H&M pants - 67% cotton, 31% polyester, 2% elastane Zara dress - 86% lyocell, 14% polyester H&M sweater - 50% cotton, 50% acrylic Boomerang Fall 2018 Board Sweater - 80% cotton, 18% polyester, 2% viscose

Not all, but some of these materials contain what are called ‘nanoplastics’ or, if they’re a bit larger, ‘microplastics’. Wool, cotton, acetate, viscose, lyocell, silk and other nature-based materials do not contain these. But any kind of synthetic textile does: nylon, polyester, elastane, acryl.

Tiny threads, or fibers, from synthetic materials are released into the air while we wear the garment, and millions of them end up in tap water when the garment is washed. These particles are so small that they cannot be filtered from the air or water. They have infiltrated the ecosystem, and along with that, the food chain.

This means that our food, especially that which comes from the sea, is full of plastic. There is, as of yet, little research on the effects of being exposed to all these microplastics, but speculative consequences range from cancer, heart

failure and Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s, arthritis and infertility.

That’s bleak. And it begs the question: what can we do? What can a student do? Considering how many clothes there are, and how many of them contain synthetic fiber, it’s a discouraging

“

Tiny threads of plastic are released into the air while we wear synthetic clothing, and millions of them end up in the water we drink

situation to try and solve. But as with any hyperproblem, it’s a good start to not contribute to it yourself. Check your labels. Don’t buy anything that has polyester or nylon in it. You vote with your money, so vote against this. There are stores in which you’re not going to find anything without synthetic materials (Primark, for instance), but that doesn’t mean you have to spend 100 euros on a shirt that’s made of knitted bamboo. Even H&M and Zara do have clothes that are 100% cotton or wool, but you’ll have to turn every piece of clothing inside-out. Some chains have started to sell clothes with ‘green’ or ‘conscious’ labels. That’s a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t mean everything. You will still have to check the label and be critical. Like someone with a nut-allergy checking the ingredients of each supermarket product, you can make a habit out of this and become more sustainable without even noticing.

WORLD

Illustration © Qingfeng Chai

8

The Boomerang | November 2018

Milk bars make a comeback

by Vedika Luthra

What comes to mind with the term milk bar? Perhaps it’s the stylish American bakery chain that serves concoctions like cereal milk ice cream and birthday cake shake. Or you might be thinking about the Korova Milk Bar, a fictional destination that appears in Anthony Burgess’s novel A Clockwork Orange (also present in Stanley Kubrick’s more famous 1962 film adaptation), where milk laced with various drugs is served to minors.

A

n actual milk bar is more like the latter, minus the drugs. Set in a futuristic Britain with heavy Soviet influences, A Clockwork Orange gives rise to multiple Communist undertakings – one of which is of course, a milk bar. Whether or not Burgess intended this symbolism is questionable, seeing as it is a book of ideas rather than an intricate work of art.

But if you grow up in Poland it’s impossible not to draw parallels between the milk bar in the novel and the milk bars that were popularized in the country after World War II, lasting up until the 90’s.

A milk bar, like in Burgess’s novel, is a type of diner or café, but not quite the dairy paradise the name might suggest. In Poland, milk bars, decorated with flowery patterns and lacey curtains,

run by babcias (grandmothers) who prepare food in large quantities, offered a three-course meal for 2-3 euros. This usually consisted of soup, some sort of main course, often meat and potatoes or pierogi (dumplings- with meat, mushrooms, or cheese and, surprise, potatoes) and if you’re lucky paczki or jam-filled doughnuts for dessert. There is little choice: the menu is set daily, somewhat replicating a canteen or cafeteria. Although they existed before the war, milk bars became ubiquitous once Poland became a Satellite state under Soviet occupation.

Milk bars were subsidized to provide cheap meals to the population (the majority of the country was impoverished at the time). Then, during the period of Martial Law in the 1980’s to suppress political opposition, basic food was rationed. Consequently, over 40,000 milk bars dominated the food scene (or lack thereof).

When the Iron Curtain fell, people tried to distance themselves as much as possible from the

nation’s bleak past. Milk bars declined, competed away by modern dining and fast food chains like Burger King and KFC, which symbolized globalization and capitalism- the dawn of a new era. The food scene that has since followed is now lauded around Europe (a piece was recently published in The Economist highlighting Poland’s growing vegan movement, quite the contrast compared to its meat-centered past).

But more recently, milk bars are making a comeback, an aspect of gentrification in which deteriorating urban scenes are reinvigorated.

Milk bars have become popular, particularly among the younger generation: the food is tasty, cheap and the whole experience of dining at a milk bar is a way for nationals to connect with their cultural heritage. It is often the case that patriotism is associated with nationalism. Especially now, Poland has come under scrutiny for such tendencies. But sometimes patriotism can be a good thing, and this is one such occasion.

Brazil in upheaval: A call for clarity

by Julius Hulsthof

The recent election of Brazil’s first conservative president since the return of democracy in 1985 has caught global attention. Through the course of an unprecedented campaigning process, former army captain Jair Bolsonaro emerged as the strongest candidate in an electoral run-off against Fernando Haddad, winning fifty five percent of the vote.

For some, Bolsonaro embodies the change necessary to salvage Brazil’s politically, economically and socially deprived landscape.

For others, Bolsonaro’s scathing rhetoric— expressing dismissal of liberal values and praise for the dictatorial regime—sparks fear for the future of Brazilian safety and democracy.

Now, given the rifeness of international media contextualizing the Brazilian elections in global trends (e.g. likening Jair Bolsonaro to Donald Trump), the reader easily loses sight of what is

happening. In addition, such media only fosters stigmatization and divergence of voters and spectators. In prevention of this, one should first and foremost try to understand the conditions under which Jair Bolsonaro was elected president. Only then can value judgements be made.

“

Given the rifeness of international media contextualizing the Brazilian elections in global trends, the reader easily loses sight of what is happening.

It might help to remember that for many years, Brazilian politics have been in complete disarray amidst numerous high-level corruption scandals. The investigation into what is considered the biggest corruption scandal ever detected—colloquially referred to as Operation

Car Wash—brought to light the complicity of the Brazilian elite. Along with the impeachment of presidents and the imprisonment of the nation’s most favored candidate Lula, trust in Brazilian establishment politicians has eroded.

All this comes at a time when violent crime is feared more than ever before, affecting Brazilians from all segments of society. The yearly homicide count has risen to 64,000 people in 2017. By comparison, an estimated 17,000 people died in homicide cases in the United States last year.

Furthermore, about twelve percent of Brazilians are jobless and employment prospects for young graduates are bleak at best.

It is under these dire conditions that Bolsonaro emerged as a ‘clean-slate’ political outsider who taps into the Brazilians’ fundamental fears of economy and security. As a former army official, he pledged to hard-handedly address violence with violence by militarizing the police and allowing more freedom to kill criminal offenders. Furthermore, Brazil is home to the largest Catholic community in the world. Thus, u

This article continues on the next page

A University College Student Association Magazine

Keeping it lightheart-ed

by Edward Barber WAR MEMORIES ARE NUMEROUS…

THAT’S IMPORTANT! Each year, on the 11th day of the 11th month, we are reminded of the sorrow and sacrifice of the world’s first truly global war. In Britain and France especially, the armistice anniversary is a sombre affair. For both, the War was at once a domestic and an international struggle. Images of the War’s carnage and bloodshed have been burnt into the countries’ collective memories and the vivid physical scars still mar the northeastern French countryside.

For several other European nations, 1918 does not mark an end. In fact, for Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, 1918 brought the renewal of nationhood and so the year is remembered in an overtly positive light as a new beginning. For Russia there was simply no end or beginning. Civil war raged on for another three years and 1917, the year of revolution and withdrawal from the War, is understandably the year that is fixed in Russian memories. For them, 1918 is a mere sideshow.

In the Hungarian imagination, the War’s end is associated with the 1920 Treaty of Trianon that stripped the country of two-thirds of its territory and more than half of its population.

Of course, this past November was particularly important as it marked the centenary of the multilateral ceasefire that signalled the War’s end. A pyrrhic victory for the Allies who vowed that it was the war to end all wars. On the 11th of November, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted dozens of world leaders at a ‘Peace Forum’ in Paris. It went ahead with decorum and in a traditionally Western European vain. Its aim was to honour the fallen from all sides on this momentous anniversary, and to embrace the legacy of international mediation and the hopes of lasting peace that 1918 engendered. Clearly these are worthy topics upon which to focus, but they are not the only ones.

Much of the bloodiest fighting took place on French soil, so it is fair that France should play host for this international commemorative event. Still, this was a global war with far reaching ramifications; other nations’ memories of the conflict, even other European nations, seem to get lost somewhat in our Western European bubble. Contrary to the beliefs of many in Britain and France, there is no one uniform collective memory of the War. Rather, there is a host of complex and at times greatly contrasting memories that ought to be talked about publicly and in equal measure. It is natural and good that each country involved has its own unique remembrance traditions and emphases. But perhaps the lack of supra-national discourse about our different interpretations of 1918 can partly explain the acute divisions we see across Europe today. Our leaders must address this.

But we too can take the valuable lesson that conversation is the key to progress. We may disagree and differ in terms of experience, but no harm can come from engaging with intent to listen.

WORLD

conservative Christian values on family, gender and sexuality penetrate Brazilian society. This might explain why his voters are not deflected by his discriminatory remarks about race, gender and sexual orientation.

In fact, it appears that Brazil’s brutal recession has left some of its citizens suspicious of liberal values. The disinterest in democracy is foreseeable if one is unable to feed one’s child, get a job, walk on the street safely, while not getting any form of government support for the high amount of taxes paid. In 1976, political scientist S. Huntington wrote that liberty, democracy and society come at the expense of power and authority. Embracing the

9

latter, Huntington emphasized the necessity of developing countries to foster political stability while (temporarily) putting secondary political key values aside. This might be the exact consideration Brazil’s majority made in voting for Bolsonaro–pleading for societal order.

Nonetheless, a significant portion of Brazil still forcefully resists the new president holding office on grounds that are valid, bountiful, and found in most newspapers. Most worrying about this is the opposition between the voters supporting and the voters resisting Bolsonaro.

These politically charged times highlight dichotomy, blurring the fact that all Brazilians hope for a more prosperous nation.

Why TEDx videos suck

by Jamie March

Back in 2014, at the tender age of 16, I was complicit in the crime of providing a platform for people to espouse and legitimize their pseudo-intellectual bullshit. In other words, I helped organize a TEDx conference.

invitations alongside regulations of content and form they would have to follow.

After they accepted the invitation I became the only point of liaison between them and the organizing committee, so I can safely say, the vetting process is abhorrent. The speakers would call me and talk to me about their topic. For instance, “the sharing economy.”

“Ok great” I told him, “what is that?” “We can be more sustainable through peer-to-peer ED does not hand out the licenses sharing of goods.” “Alright, how would you to organize these conferences to like to be introduced?” “Just my name is fine, anyone, but my teacher had gone I’ll leave the rest up to you.” End of conversathrough the laborious process tion. Unless they had any questions I would of getting one. Once you have not speak with any of the speakers until the permission, the list of day of the event. regulations is endless.

The subject matter of I’m not saying that the talks ranged from Everything from the content, which has to be working at refugee all TEDx talks are apolitical, to the size of camps to a 15 year-old bullshit. I’m saying talking about following the TEDx logo is strictly regulated. TED makes all of them could be your passions. A speech sure you emphasize the filled to the brim with ‘x,’ as it distinguishes platitudes. Some of the event as independently organized, so they them, were aren’t liable for what the speakers say. insightful, I commend TED for their attempt to keep and I’m not pseudoscience off their platform. But, the saying that matter of the fact is, they don’t vet TEDx all TEDx speakers, only the licensee. There is no guartalks are antee that the speaker knows what bullshit. they’re talking about, so you have I’m saying to put your faith in the organizer. all of them We were a group of 11 students could be (I with 3 teachers chapercall it the oning us.

Ratatouille We found distinction). speakers There is no by asking system in place e a c h to make sure that other: “Do what your speaker you know tells you is the entire anyone who picture, or even the truth. knows anyone Look, maybe TEDx talks who has an are universally amazing, and interesting story it’s completely on me that this one to tell?” We was a flop. Or maybe, the human ended up with 7 errors present in my conferspeakers, and we filled ence are a sign of a 2 more spots by asking systematic fault and a few students if they we should think wanted to speak (it was twice when consida youth event after all). ering them as reliMy colleague then sent out able sources.

T

“

Illustration © Lotte Schuengel

10

The Boomerang | November 2018

ARTS&CULTURE

On bookstores

by Lotte Schuengel

twenty-two pounds for instead of accessing them for free within the public domain. The rest was bundles: poetry about cats, dogs, hills, the moon, castles, caves, Stonehenge, meteorological circumstances and agriculture. Watching the transactions over the counter take place, I could not silence the thought, they won’t ever finish it, they won’t even make it halfway. As someone who’s been reading the same book for two years, and little else, I may not be in a position to judge all these people for their purchasing behaviour.

But still, I was gravely disappointed and left.

You don’t have to write books to sell books, I thought on my way out of Stirling (it’s so small that no matter which direction you walk, you’re always leaving the place), you can just publish Wuthering Heights over and over again each year in a new guise. *** Before entering any foreign place by flight, you go through at least two airports. There’s a lot that can be written about the diabolic architecture of airports - how the blueprints determine your entrapment in a maze of consumption and delayed departure information, and how the only escape for each passenger is to buy their way out of it. The waiting seats are so uncomfortable that you cannot sit in them for longer than maybe ten minutes, so you start exploring the slippery

O

Illustration © Idalina Lehtonen

n a solemn grey morning in Stirling, Scotland, I wandered around in search for a pen. The simple reason was that I had forgotten my own back home, and urgently wanted to write something down - most likely a meaningful thought of profound importance.

I can’t remember what it was, because nowhere in the entire village was there a place that sold anything like writing utensils. The last place I tried my luck at was a Waterstones tucked away at the back of a desolate shopping center the size of the town itself. No pens. They had pencils, though, that you had to sharpen before use. But no pencil sharpeners.

Having given up, I decided to leaf through some of the place’s literary commodities instead.

I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, not anymore, and didn’t find anything in particular either. All they had was rather dull. For one, eighty percent of the store’s offerings were pre-twentieth century novels with redesigned hardback covers that you could decide to pay

“

You don’t have to write books to sell any, you can just publish Wuthering Heights over and over again each year in a new guise.

and shining labyrinth of coffee to-go and duty free, only to arrive at the bookstore with its reassurance that it eases the killing of time.

It does, in a way.

No Wuthering Heights in the airport library.

Instead, you will find the literature of the light traveller, the time-deficient, the iPad-owner, the Nine-to-Five Male (on a holiday). Some titles in this genre are: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck. Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind. The sequel to the previous title. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Fire and Fury, and countless other revealing nonfiction works on the current U.S. president. If any of these books are on your shelf, I am not blaming you. You were simply a victim of false promises made to you by the bestseller table. This promise being, that if you are to waste your time on reading anyway, you might as well gain something from it. This is the essence of nonfiction marketing: reading has a merit. And so you automatically

assume that spending money on a self-help book makes you a more productive person. Consider it productive to write your own self-help book on how to become a successful businessman in five easy steps. If you make lots of money from it which you will - you’ll have become a successful businessman. And you never even had to read.

A different section in the airport bookstore, further in the back, offers the antidote to the 21st century idea of 24-hour productivity: Stephen King novels. Not all Stephen King novels are written by Stephen King. Most of them are actually written by other authors, but they’re Stephen King novels regardless, because they are presented among the novels of Stephen King, and share similar aesthetics when it comes to the graphic design of their covers, and the story’s premise and characters.

They’re for women, who have to pass time next to their absent-minded husbands reading up on eighty-two ways to redesign his office into a collective farm. They’re not good, either, but I’d rather read ten of those than one piece of businessman self-help literature. *** Quite recently, I set foot in the large bookstore in the Utrecht city center. I had been there many times before, but never on a dreary day, nor in a dreary mood. This time I was, however, and had an awful time trying to find a gift for my friend whose birthday was coming up. All I wanted was something cute, something I could be assured of was good, something that would make me look like a thoughtful person. But the store made it hardly possible for me.

There’s the bestseller table again, and here it’s riddled with ghostwritten autobiographies of people we’ve seen on television, on soccer fields, or in parliament. Next to it is the Instagrammable bathroom poetry: Rupi Kaur, in translation even, and next to her Tim Hofman, who should never write again. At least one half of the store is dedicated to books about cooking, diet, and growing your own watermelons in a plastic bucket on your fourth-story balcony. As I was about to hold my lighter to The Sun and Her Flowers, Revisited, I came to a realisation. I understood why they’re there, these books. They’re gifts for distant relatives, hollow appendices to ten-euro bottles of wine. Their raison d’etre is to be wrapped in paper, unwrapped, flipped through and kept on a shelf, eventually passed on to charity and purchased anew for someone else. Perhaps this cycle has become the fate of all books in print.

Music Roundup Live Review:

Car Seat Headrest + Naked Giants at Tivoli by Stanley Ward Having recently re-recorded Twin Fantasy, the homemade lo-fi album that landed him a record deal, former bandcamp prodigy Will Toledo enlisted the help of the Seattle indie trio Naked Giants alongside his backing band to expand Car Seat Headrest to an incredible 6 piece to perform the album’s complex arrangements. Car Seat Headrest is the biggest it’s ever been, and

marks quite a journey from the project’s beginnings: a teenage Toledo recording albums alone, tracking the vocals from the back seat of his car (the origin of the name Car Seat Headrest).

Naked Giants have been serving as support for the tour, offering a set full of quirky songs from their debut LP Sluff, tight harmonies and insanely energetic and entertaining drumming,

courtesy of Henry LaVallee. After some goofy, hip-swingin’ dancing from bass player and vocalist Gianni Aiello, and Neil Young-esque wild solos from guitarist and vocalist Grant Mullen, the energetic trio stepped out of the spotlight to add guitars, auxiliary percussion, and keys to the Car Seat Headrest ensemble.

The full 6 piece, minus Toledo, entered the

A University College Student Association Magazine

stage and began to build up a slow, ambient drone, as soft blue lights illuminated the cheering audience. To cheers from the crowd, the slight figure of Will Toledo, dressed unassumingly in all black, walked onstage to begin singing the slow philosophical musing of “Cosmic Hero”, from 2016’s Teens of Denial. For a band that hits pretty hard, it could be seen as unusual to start with such a low-key number, but it served perfectly to introduce the new iteration of Car Seat Headrest. As he has for the whole of the Twin Fantasy Tour, Toledo played no guitar, leaving the instrumentation in the hands of his backing band, freeing him to drastically improve his vocal performance, and embrace the role of frontman in his own deliberately geeky fashion.

Toledo seems to embrace the dichotomy of his songwriting, a mixture of shyness and emotional outpouring, and by the end of the slow burning crescendo of “Cosmic Hero”, the audience is fully onboard with this new improved version of the band.

As soon as the crowd hears the first beat of Twin Fantasy’s standout “Bodys”, the mass of people at the front seem to explode, and shit gets wild. Andrew Katz carries the number with tight grooves, as a mosh pit emerges with people throwing themselves around as they wildly scream the lyrics at each other. With a song this good, it’s hard not to.

The song’s meta aspects really come forward, as Toldeo asks the crowd “Is it the chorus yet?”, answering himself with “no, it’s just the building of the verse, so when the chorus does come, it’ll be more rewarding” - and believe me, he’s right, as he plays the audience in his own subtle way.

A brief moment later, the band

ARTS&CULTURE

jumps into a re-worked, equally energetic “Fill in the Blank” which saved the song’s blistering riff until the end. This, again, sent the audience into a craze. Thankfully for me (as there’s only so long I can manically jump around, physical prowess not being my strong suit) the band slows things down with mellower cut “Joe Gets Kicked Out of School”, offering me brief respite before they up the tempo again for “Cute Thing”, a lovely punk jam where Toledo begins by asking God for “Frank Ocean’s voice and James Brown’s stage presence”, highlighting the song’s sense of humour. Perfectly executed vocal harmony breaks create a texture that does justice to the originality of the record. The band follows with another Twin Fantasy track, the mid-paced “Sober to Death”, ending with the whole crowd belting the refrain “don’t worry, you and me won’t be alone no more” for a solid two minutes, bringing a sense of unity to the song’s theme of isolation and longing.

Things slow down with the most cathartic performance of the night, the gut-wrenching rendition of “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”, a beautifully melancholy song, which builds from soft keys and Toledo’s shaky falsetto to crushing guitars and intense wailing of “it doesn’t have to be like this” from both Toledo and the crowd.

After another hard-hitting cut “Destroyed by Hippie Powers”, the band deviates from the setlist with Toledo telling us they only had one song left, but because they loved us so much, they’d play two. Surprising me with a back catalogue fan favourite “Something Soon” (my personal favourite of the night) with its Beach Boys-style harmonies and emotionally charged chorus, the band again built the crowd back up

11

before launching into a more classic sounding indie rocker “Vincent” to close the set.

At this point a sea of chanting began, asking for just one more. Whereas the encore is pretty much a mainstay of a rock act nowadays, the band waited so long it felt like if we stopped making noise, they really wouldn’t come back out for another song. Of course they did, finishing the night with Twin Fantasy’s multi-section 13 minute long chronicle of “Beach Life-In-Death” which jumps from the struggle of coming out to your friends to the monotony of buying groceries. This finale was thoroughly enjoyed by the incredibly diverse (age-wise) crowd, emphasising that nobody really leaves their angsty teen side behind.

My final takeaway from the show is a defiance that, despite the popular trope from critics, good old rock’n’roll isn’t dead yet. Car Seat Headrest embodies all the best things about the genre catharsis, energy, great songwriting and musicianship - while disregarding the fake masculinity and excess that makes some rock seem so dated. CSH is progressive, not only due to Toledo’s embrace of emotional vulnerability and difficult topics in his songs, but that they maintain their sense of authenticity without being stuck in rock’s past (like newly emerged Led-Zeppelin copycats Greta Van Fleet.) Despite Will’s new found confidence and stage presence, there was no ego in the band’s show, and this allowed everyone in that room to connect and live in the moment in a way only a great show can provide. Long live Car Seat Headrest, and long live Rock’n’Roll.

sweet svensationsby Sven Bosma FORM IS TEMPORARY, CLASS IS PERMANENT I was in Bordeaux over the weekend with my girlfriend for her sister’s 18th birthday, a momentous occasion of course. This meant that I spent most of the weekend as Sven the Mute Boy, since I am about 75% capable of understanding what everyone else is saying in French.

By the time I think of and formulate my response, the moment has passed, and I’m left with a pathetic non-sequitur that I keep to myself.

However, as Skipper, the lead penguin of Madagascar, says, “Just smile and wave boys, smile and wave”.

Of course, it’s fun to be there, and answering in English is fine with everyone. To make matters even more jovial, the uncle and aunt were also present for the birthday and all events surrounding. Now the uncle, Savé, is someone who would fall in my dictionary straight under the definition of “the cool uncle”. In a family of almost exclusively girls, a fellow ‘bro’ is a welcome sight, especially since there was a big football match going on over the weekend, the Manchester derby (We lost, don’t @ me, OK?).

But I only really appreciated Savé’s presence, and developed a profound respect for the generation above me, when it came time to play some table football (foosball for the Yankees, babyfoot for the French). The table this game was played on was no ordinary table; it stretched 2 metres in length, and had eight lines of players, rather than the customary four. I only ever had the regular version, and was an aficionado at school, so I approached the table with some - in my estimate - justified confidence.

My confidence turned to ash once this man hopped on the sticks though. Damn, he was good. I’ll say it again: Mais putain, il était bon.

(I guess I do speak some French) While I had opted for the tactic of spinning the players around in the direction of the opponent’s goal, hoping for a clean shot, this tableguru had perfectly mimicked the tiki-taka playstyle of Pep Guardiola’s 2008-2012 FC Barcelona. I have never seen anyone pass the ball in table football, from line to line as well as from player to player. I have never seen anyone aim their shots at the goal. I’m sure he could have shot the ball straight between my eyes, should he have desired to do so.

After picking up my jaw and dignity from the floor, all I could muster was a lame “Wait ‘till we play FIFA sometime”. That’s when it hit me.

This isn’t a valid comparison. The simple mashing of buttons can be learned in a couple of hours, and then once a new iteration of FIFA is out, you spend another couple of hours learning the new mechanics, and then it’s same story until yet another version of the game is brought out. The small adaptations remove some depth to the game.

Savé on the other hand, had spent probably decades (though not too many, he’s a young, cool uncle after all) practising this artistic expression of table football. This precision is something ingrained in muscle memory for ages, not with the intention of dominating classmates, but with the intrinsic goal of becoming lord and master over the physical domain. I have absolutely no clue how he does it. It’s the distinction between his era of kids playing to learn and master, and my era, where kids play to pass time. That’s why form is temporary, but class truly is permanent.

I just hope my FIFA isn’t too rusty.

12

The Boomerang | November 2018

QUAD QUERIES e”

m o t m is in m e f in la “Exp

“Equality” – Lukas

ould be k women sh “I don’t thin should er men. They preferred ov Victor be equal.”–

“All men are trash. ” –Jarne

“Ucu is w el heel erg extreem e Allemaal n radicaa gelijk zijn l. . Fuck me t de bullsh it.”

– Jasper

“We shou ldn’t this queshtiave to ask on” – Ja mie

nounce *tries to pro AAAH” – “A * Feminism

“Men and women should be equal, but that doesn’t mean that they’re the same.”– Peter-Jort

Zohar

“Cann Feminismibalism? Oh ! I love wo m – Jari

“Some pe ople females, b say it’s only about ut it’s abo ut equality ” – Marco

en.”

ould have and men sh n that women ics, social tio om no e on th ec , ur “It’s terms of labo in s ht rig l equa se.” – Ivan everything el systems and

“Feminism is equality among gender s” – Alex

THE BOOMERANG BOARD Meike Eijsberg | Editor-in-Chief Maya Homsy King | Managing Editor Thomas Scassellati Sforzolini | Executive Editor Sven Bosma | Executive Editor Lotte Schuengel | Creative Director – Layout & Design Lise Derksen | Creative Director – Art Saskia Vrensen | PR Manager

Powered by !

Town & Gown 23 November @ Begane Grond: Clay workshop, Personal and active clay workshop with the theme meeting the other for the first time. Be sure to sign up via Facebook as only 15 spots are available.

27 November @ Academiegebouw (Aula): SG lecture: Etched into our memory, As the end of the year approaches we look back on the year that has passed, what will we take with us from 2018? With amongst others literary scholar Dr. Susanne Knittel and neurobiologist dr. Angela Sarabdjitsingh.

28 November @ Cultureel Centrum Moira: Open Mic and Potluck, Moira Unplugged organizes an Open mic every month with space for 6 acts, they provide a piano and microphones. It’s a very relaxed

environment to meet people and perform or listen to music.

1 December @ ACU: Bellies not Bins Dinner, Taste Before You Waste Utrecht organizes dinners every Saturday made from food which otherwise would have been thrown away! The costs are donation based and the food is vegan. There are also spots to volunteer.

2 December @ Podium Oost: Interdisciplinary Symposium: Black Mirror, I/O co and Town & Gown present a lecture series inspired by the themes in the popular Netflix series Black Mirror, lecturers will present their related areas of studies followed by a discussion. Entrance is free.

With support from Boomerang uses wind energy printers