Issuu

The

Boomerang February 2020

Do Climate Change by Maarten Diederix

However I have also seen other ‘systems’ needing energy during my time in Africa. At the end of the sixties, myself and my three brothers needed a regular bath. This was achieved by burning wood beneath a barrel that was built in a chimney outside. The expanding hot water then reached our bathtub and two by two we achieved cleanliness. We also had two laundry sinks with scrub boards, in which the laundry of a family of six was done, and no air conditioning system in the 38 degree heat. During my military service we needed to charge the huge heavy batteries of our radios by cycling a dynamo using our feet, a long and arduous task that went on for hours. If you wanted

a little light on your bicycle you put the dynamo on the tyre and needed to cycle just a little more vigorously to achieve this. And here lies the reason for and solution to the issue: we have completely forgotten how much work making or creating energy, in whatever form, takes. Forgotten and/or ignored (even worse) what is needed to achieve a puddle of light, a cooled room or a hot shower. If we really want a change this is the way to go; remove these effortless “luxuries” and give them true value by “forcing” us all to remember the efforts needed to create energy.

Illustration © Sofie Ryan

I was asked by a much younger Boomerang writer to shed my thoughts on climate change in general. Of course I have my thoughts and mostly wrong assumptions, as it is a fluid dilemma that changes with time. But the main question is: what to do? As an almost 60 year old man I have almost, but not quite, seen the change from a pre-highway world, traveling by boat, to seeing the Concorde streaking by in Heathrow in the '70s.

So stop flying to meetings to talk about climate change and instead DO CLIMATE CHANGE. Wear that sweater and lower the heating, go for a day without electricity, stop buying products from far-far away that are completely off season: the list is endless. In short, we, the users of energy, the customers and consumers, have the solution in our hands. Becoming a member of any climate change club is unnecessary if we all just keep it simple and use energy sparingly and consciously.

Gender Balance on Campus: How Progressive is UCU?

by Reinier Derks

Two years ago, Menno Beekman, the UCSA Chair of 2017 to 2018, wrote an article investigating gender equality on campus by evaluating the gender ratio within committee boards. Back then, there were 127 female and 60* male board members across campus, which is quite balanced relative to the gender ratio of the UCU population. Of those boards, 21 of them had female chairs, while 17 of them had male chairs. While this seems to be balanced at first glance, comparing it to the general student gender ratio

suggests it is not. Of course this assumes, for the ease of comparison, that most UCU students identify as either woman or man. Let’s take a look at the gender ratio in current boards**. Regarding the chair position, there are currently 30 female and 9 male chairs. We can see that compared to two years ago, the number of male chairs has nearly halved. The ratio of chairs is currently 77% female to 23% male, which is more skewed in favour of women

compared to roughly 65% female to 35% male gender split on campus. Besides looking at committee boards, the UCSA board itself provides some interesting statistics. Since its founding, 22 years ago, there have been 65 female and 55 male board members. When looking at the chair position, the gender imbalThis article continues on page 3F

I Can Hear Music

Crisis in the Sahel

FOAM: Adorned

2019-nCoV

Brexit: Eras of Faillure

Independiente del Valle

The Boomerang | February 2020

BUBBLE

A University College Student Association Magazine

F This is a continuation of page 1

Seasonal Affective Disorder Amongst College Students

ance is significant. There have only been 6 female chairs, while there have been 16 male chairs. The secretary position is even more unbalanced. There have only been 4 male UCSA secretaries in total, compared to 18 female secretaries. For ASC***, there have been 8 female chairs to 14 male chairs.

by PsychologyCo Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of recurring depression dependent on seasonal patterns. Since it is especially frequent in the winter months (December - February) the disorder is also known as “winter blues”. Similar to depression, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the disorder and therefore it is often undetected. However, it seems that the shorter daylight hours prompt the biochemical imbalance associated with SAD. For example, the darkness stimulates an increased production of the hormone melatonin involved in the body’s sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin prepares the body for sleep, so as the winter days get shorter and the hormone increases, people with SAD often feel exhausted. Moreover, the lack of sunlight also lowers the production of serotonin. As this neurotransmitter plays a key role in mood regulation, appetite and sleep, lower levels can have a significant health impact. In particular, low serotonin levels are associated with feelings of depression such

as sadness and hopelessness. Therefore, mood changes of SAD are very similar to other types of depression, and common symptoms include difficulties concentrating, insomnia, hyperactivity, agitation and anxiety. Another potential consequence of SAD is carbohydrate craving and indulgence causing weight gain. The disorder is quite common in students, and may in fact be particularly prevalent in the UCU population, as the disorder is known to be more common in women. As symptoms are most likely to appear in the late teenage years or early twenties, college-aged people should be informed that depressive states can, among other reasons, be triggered by seasonal changes. Additionally, as college is an unfamiliar and potentially stressful environment for young adults, symptoms of SAD may be exacerbated by increased difficulties with adapting to the social life and workload of university as well as being away from home for the first time. It is also important to consider that some UCU students may not have previously lived in a region with seasonal changes as pronounced as

BUBBLE

those we see here in the Netherlands, and therefore not have previously experienced SAD-related symptoms despite being predisposed to the disorder.

been analysed. Yet, the statistics do show interesting developments on campus. After spring break, CAR, ASC and UCSA elections will start. I hope that after reading this, everyone thinking of running will leave the gender stigma behind them

From all this data, we can see that over the past few years, there have been increasingly more women becoming chairs and members of committees. That being said, this does not hold completely true for one of the most important boards on campus: the UCSA board. Currently, the ratio of UCSA board members is not representative of the overall student gender makeup and there is a strong division in two essential positions: chair and secretary. Seemingly, this falls into an old pattern of male chair and female secretary. Can we conclude that there is truly such a pattern, even on such a progressive campus? I’ll leave that up to you.

As a college student, it is important to remember that negative emotions may sometimes have a deeper root than just university related stressors. If you suspect you may have SAD specifically, you can try seeing if certain lifestyle changes improve your symptoms. Maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle is known to help in some cases; key factors being maintaining an active social life, eating healthily and exercising. In order to stabilize your circadian rhythm, letting more natural light into your room and sticking to a regular sleep schedule may be beneficial. Light therapy lamps and medication are also a potential treatment option for some individuals, but most of all it is important to find someone you trust to talk about your challenges - be it peers, support from UCU, or mental health professionals.

How can we evaluate the trends that have occurred in the previous years? After all, it’s only been two years since this topic has last

and run for a position that matches their skills and interests the most. *People in multiple boards were counted multiple times. ** Seeing as it is only the start of the semester, not all board positions have been filled, which prohibits us from making conclusions from that. *** Includes ASIC Disclaimer: This article has been written on a personal level and reflects my own opinion. The UCSA board does not necessarily share this opinion. Regarding the positions of Chair and Secretary, do not forget that there is no hierarchy within the board. Every position within the board is equal to one another.

Illustration © Tara Sitindjak

I Can Hear Music: A Conversation with How Was It For You

Harry’s Hotspots by Harry Mills

Moksi (and Tandoori) Surinamese Oudegracht 235, Utrecht Cost: € Price to Calorie Ratio: Moderate Low Just a stone’s throw away from the Transformer-esque monolith of the Dom Tower, nestled in a Dutch townhouse only two window widths wide, lies Moksi (and Tandoori). As you enter the shop, through the slim door with the tinkering bell, you are greeted by a modest interior bathed in sunlight that flows through the large front window. Just past the wooden stools and the fridge brimming with sugary drinks of every variety, lies the altar of this culinary chapel. Behind the glass facade of the counter are spread all the essentials of a Surinamese feast. Kip, check. Potatoes, check. Green

beans, check. “Ooh yeah,” you think to yourself, as your belly growls and you begin to salivate. After ordering the Roti from one of the cheerful people behind the counter, you sit down and stare quizzically at the cushions which line one wall of the restaurant. “Who thought it would be a good idea to print brightly coloured, highly saturated, yet slightly pixelated, photos of safari animals on these and then decorate a restaurant with them? Well, at least they give the place some character.” In a couple of minutes your food arrives, the plate loaded high with varying shades of brown, green, and yellow. Ripping off a piece of roti you dig in; tender chicken, crunchy green beans, and well spiced potatoes–with a bit of fresh sambal on the side–combining to form a symphony of

flavour in your mouth. “Finally,” you think after days of nothing but pasta supplemented by Indian chicken paninis, “some good fucking food.” After clearing your plate and downing your Fernandes, you can cycle the 10 minutes back to UCU. Although it is located on the Oudegracht, this cozy Surinemese joint’s prices match its diminutive stature. With roti, bami, and nasi from less than €10 and Surinaamse broodjes and baras for less than €4, Moksi is a student friendly place for a satisfying meal out. As well as having plenty of different meats to satisfy the rabid carnivores, Moksi also offers a range of vegetarian options. Would definitely recommend to a friend.

Illustration ©Sandra van der Meer

by Stanley Ward

The sound of raucous piano playing is emanating from Voltaire A. I’m sitting at the table in The Boomerang room, waiting to interview some UCU alumni about music and culture in Utrecht. As I message my interviewees, informing them of my arrival, I connect the dots, and realise that the piano playing is probably the sound of Paul, Kit, and Tom, the guys I’m here to interview. They happen to be in a band. This band happens to be called How Was It For You. HWIFY if you’re abbreviating. We adjourn to the Boomerang room to begin the interview. They are here to promote their upcoming EP and EKKO performance. I am here to write an article about the local music scene. We reach a compromise, and just have a nice chat instead. We sit around the the table which dominates the Boomerang room - it is a sacred object, as this is a sacred space. News is made here. The boys seem unfazed by the salience of this space, and continue to laugh and banter with each other as I set up my phone to record our conversation. Despite my best efforts to resist, their enthusiasm for life is infectious, and before long we start talking about music, friendship, dreams, and struggles. The boys speak wistfully about their humble beginnings as a musical unit, playing UCU open mics, and sharpening their chops by playing the same two songs (“Back to Black” & “Hallelujah”) at the request of an assortment of singers. This makes sense to me - what they see as a character building experience, I accurately recognise as a form of trauma. Instrumental musicians being forced to play songs at the behest of singers is

unethical, and the effects of this trauma can be seen in the current band’s lineup - How Was It For You do not have a singer. They instead employ a Rohaan, a vocalist/frontman who instead layers a mixture of slam-poetry and rap over the band’s hip-hop, funk, and rock inspired grooves. If you would like to hear such a combination, you can head over to EKKO on February the 27th, for the band’s EP release. This EP release is a big deal for the boys (as they will be known from here on out). The boys have played shows in Utrecht before, but this show at EKKO marks a milestone for the band. It’s a venue with a great reputation, and is known for hosting quirky club nights, but also has a knack for booking incredible international indie acts including Pinegrove and Natalie Prass. Check it out. Burst that bubble. Although if you’re going to a HWIFY show, the band laughingly admit that they take the bubble with them, as if you look into the audience, it’s often a ‘UCU reunion.’ The EP they are launching goes by the name ‘Whatever the Weather’ and they recorded it in an old farm in ‘fucking nowhere.’ The boys tell me about the two weekends they spent, living and recording in an old studio which was built into part of the farm. Their eyes glaze over lovingly as they reminisce about waking up in the studio and

making music, and they bring up the joy and struggle of working with vintage recording equipment. We then geek out about music gear for approximately 45 minutes in extreme detail (which I sadly can’t include here) and the interview is pretty much over. I just have time to ask the boys what’s next, and they hint at a change in direction towards a more electronic sound, and a second EP on the horizon. So overall, how was it for me? It was alright but I wish we’d used a condom.

The Boomerang | February 2020

BUBBLE

Angsty Musings

Agony Aunt

by Maya Homsy King Dear Agony Aunt, I've started having this one very weird dream where I somehow end up pregnant but only find out very late in the pregnancy, so I can't have an abortion. In the dream, I end up having the baby but it brings me so much distress that I see no way out other than killing it. I have become a little worried by this dream seen as it is recurring. What do you think this means? Should I be worried? I am genuinely considering taking a vow of abstinence because I am very scared of fulfilling the prophecy laid out by my dream. Dear Anon, The question of what our dreams actually mean is one that many people, including myself, find themselves thinking over constantly. Are they just meaningless memories of things that happened that day, or do they represent our deepest darkest desires? In any case, I think that there must be some kind of meaning behind them, even if it’s just that you probably shouldn’t have watched that alien sci-fi horror right before lights out. In terms of this pregnancy dream, I completely get why repeatedly going through such an upsetting situation, even if its not actually happening, could make you question real life. Although the likelihood that going to sleep suddenly turns you into a psychic that can predict the future is rather slim, popping to the local pharmacy and buying a pregnancy test might set you back €3, but may be worth it to ease your mind. Whilst going abstinent may be a bit extreme if only done because of the fear this dream has caused (If it is something you have fully thought through then I see no issue), making sure to always have sex safely and consensualy with a good level of protection is never a bad thing, and may also help to give you reassurance. Another thing to consider is that, like with a lot of dreams, the meaning behind them might not be so literal. For example, this particular dream may not actually be a sign that you are going to get pregnant, but could be a reflection of another area of your life. Perhaps you are going through a change and are anxious about how it could affect you, or that it won’t work out as planned but will be too late to go back? There are some really great websites that go into more detail about the hidden meanings behind dreams, so maybe having a look through those could help. Overall though, try not to read into it too much, because stressing about something when you are

awake won’t help in getting it out of your head when you try to sleep. Dear Agony Aunt, I find it very hard to approach guys! I’m naturally not that shy but I find it nearly impossible to just speak to a guy I find attractive, what can I do to stop my extreme shyness?? Xoxo Dear Anon, First off, this is completely natural. Put younger me in a room with a group of friends and I could have been the life of the (very small) party. Even in social situations where I hadn’t met half of the crowd, I would have found a way to survive quite easily. But the instant it was saying ‘hello’ to a semi-attractive male, all bodily functions would break down and it seemed like I had never held a normal conversation in my life. The first thing I would suggest to tackle this ‘extreme shyness’ is to work on building up your own self confidence. Start recognising all of the things you like about yourself, whether that be your kind smile or top sense of humour; If you begin to notice all the good parts, then you'll quickly understand that others will too. Another top tip that is often forgotten about is simply putting a little bit more effort into your appearance. This doesn’t mean that you have to go full glam every day, but putting on an outfit that you feel good in or spending an extra five minutes on your hair will give you an instant boost, making you feel ready to take on the world - or that hot guy in your 9am. Lastly, in the wise words of an instagram post I once scrolled past, ‘Act confident and no one will question you.’ Even if you are feeling shy, just whack on your favourite perfume, hype yourself up with a bit of Beyoncé, and fake it till you make it. All it takes is that first conversation to get you past the awkwardness hurdle for good. Dear Agony Aunt, Netflix original rom-coms are so bad and cringy but I LOVE THEM??? Dear Anon, Everyone has their own taste and a little bit of cringe never hurt anyone, so my only advice is to go forth and binge watch to your cheesy heart’s content. Unless you’re talking about ‘The Kissing Booth,’ in which case, you should seek medical help.

I sat at home for two weeks during the January part of the winter break, and told myself that in this time, I would decide what I was going to do for the rest of my life. Like it was no big deal. Needless to say, that was a somewhat idiotic and naïve way to go about this endeavor. It culminated in frustration, anxiety, procrastination, existential angst, and other pleasant emotions. My hyperactive brain kept coming back to this: how can we reconcile the possible perspectives we can take when looking at our lives? Do we look at our planet from the stars, and see the glaciers crashing into the rising oceans? The fires raging across continents and black smoke pluming into the sky? Do we come a little closer, and look at the crumbling shacks sitting across the street from the mansions standing glibly behind iron gates? The children begging barefoot on the roads, big eyes gazing into the darkened windows of cars? Perhaps we should focus on the inequalities we insist on perpetuating, the injustices women, people of color and countless other ethnic and religious groups still suffer? Or maybe, we should look at the cutthroat job markets, the housing crises, whether our degrees and GPAs and painstakingly written applications will carry us where we want to go? And maybe, we could zoom in even closer and look at whether we do enough exercise, whether we are drinking the correct amount of water per day, and are getting enough vitamin B12, B9, A, K et cetera in our diets. I made the mistake of trying to decide what was

the most important, unconsciously trying to place these issues in a hierarchy. But I realized that if I kept trying to do that, I would probably go insane. In the same vein, I also decided that the mantra of 'do what makes you happy' doesn't cut it anymore. Happiness and obligation are intertwined, because how can we be happy if we feel we are ignoring what we must do? Going to marches and donating to Greenpeace doesn’t feel like enough anymore. Unfortunately, I am unable to give a clear answer, or provide a satisfying mental breakthrough. I'm still confused, and bouncing back and forth trying to separate what I want to do from what I think I should do. What not to do though, is spiral into doubt and indecision (perhaps what can be aptly described as a black hole), because I have tried and tested that, and surprisingly enough, it's not helpful. The only survivable way to think about this is to focus on one thing at a time. Too often, everything becomes mixed up in an impossible web of what-ifs and I lose myself in my own mind. It is necessary to step back sometimes, take a breath and admit that you are nothing more than a human, and we humans are notoriously flawed. After all, we are the cause of the problems we now have the burden of solving. In our complex world of varying scopes and lenses, unique minds and blurry morals, each of us has to find our own eddy in the impossible societal river we have created.

A University College Student Association Magazine

BUBBLE

The Blissful Ridiculousness of NonNative English by Noor van Asseldonk Chen

The other day my friend, a non-native speaker of the English language, used the term ‘smash pens’ casually during a conversation about a concert she had gone to. It took us a moment to realize she was actually talking about a ‘mosh pit’. I absolutely love moments like these: happy accidents, as Bob Ross would say. Another happy accident happened over tea and biscuits: I had offered the same friend a gingernut, to which she replied that she had ‘never had a ginger with nut’. All this got me thinking about how seriously we seem to take the English language, sometimes perhaps too seriously, and how wonderful

it can be when it’s in the hands of someone who is unfamiliar with it. We often like to think of ourselves as intellectuals, young minds privileged enough to be on the path to becoming well-educated human beings. But with that often comes a certain vocabulary, something my grandfather refers to as ‘elite bullshit.’ Of course, in order to be taken seriously one must also sound serious... But fuck, something in my mind just doesn’t click with the endless string of clever sounding words often used by my peers. Whether it’s in class or on social media, I feel like whenever people want to make a Very Clever Point, the Big Words come out to play.

And I mean, I get it, academic writing and conversation equates thinking, the kind of scholarly thinking that requires logical reasoning, good argumentation, yada yada. I also see the irony in talking about big words using big words, but I really feel like there’s also something to be said for simplicity. Academia is full of smart people, so why haven’t we figured out a less boring way to convey interesting information? It all seems a little far fetched, but until we do, I’ll be basking in the little moments of joy I get from hearing the English language used in its most unadulterated form.

Important Opinions on Important Movies by Sam de Visser Oscar season has come and gone! You know, the super fun award ceremony that everyone says they don’t care about despite the numerous articles, viral videos and outrage over the nominations that it spawns. It’s funny how people (including me) seem to be fully aware that the Academy is ‘nothing but a group of corrupt/racist/ outdated/old/stupid white men that hate movies hurr durr’, yet also get unreasonably upset every time the nominations don’t align with their movie tastes. This exact scenario happened to me! My favourite movie of 2019 was barely nominated - so allow me to abuse this little piece of Boomerang to sing its praises in the next five hundred words.

Illustration ©Annelise van den Akker

I’m talking about The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers). For some reason the Academy has almost fully overlooked this in favour of a two-hour montage of a sad clown getting beaten up by sOciEtY, but it should’ve gotten as many nominations as that, if not more. The Lighthouse is a beautiful, trippy, funny, horrifying exploration of madness and isolation and I cannot recommend it enough. The premise of the movie is incredibly simple: it takes

place on a lonely island in the sea, where two lighthouse keepers, teacher and apprentice, are slowly driven insane by each other as they are stuck there together. It’s very much like The Shining; a horror story about isolation, how it can drive some people insane, and the repercussions of that insanity. Additionally, there are some spooky unexplained horror elements that lend the whole movie an eerie vibe, the final few scenes maybe being the best example. It’s also a little Lovecraftian, implying giant forces beyond anyone’s control or knowledge, which is exactly what makes it so unsettling. One of the most distinct aspects of The Lighthouse is its visual style. It’s shot in a nearly square aspect ratio, in black-and-white with a lens from the 1930s. It gives the whole thing a very old-timey feel, as if this is a true sailors’ folktale accidentally caught on film. The dialogue also contributes to this; the movie was written in dialect and language specific to the time it takes place in (nineteenth-century New England). Despite this, the dialogue never sounds outdated, largely due to the performances by the two main actors.

The two lighthouse keepers are played by Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, who are honestly nothing short of amazing. I’ve never been able to tell a great performance from a good one to be honest, but The Lighthouse made the distinction very clear. Both actors are absolutely stunning, but Dafoe is a stand-out as the older lighthouse keeper, basically a caricature of a peg-legged children’s story-pirate, yet he somehow makes it work. He delivers one terrifyingly impressive monologue halfway through the movie that is already one of my favourite scenes of all time and only seems to get better from there. The Lighthouse is a movie that really shouldn’t work, but somehow it does. It’s a horror story, but weirdly funny at times. It devolves into a mess of feverish visions and nightmarish symbolism in its second half, but never loses the audience. It’s better than the Sad Clown Movie would ever dream to be, and it’s once again living proof that the Academy are a bunch of outdated and corrupt boomers who will never learn to appreciate REAL cinema (except for Parasite, I loved Parasite).

CULTURE

The Boomerang | February 2020

A University College Student Association Magazine

CULTURE

Stan’s Sad Boy Songs :( Defending the Hong Kong Protests by Ivan Ryan

Questioning the Hong Kong Protests by Noor van Asseldonk Chen

The people of Hong Kong have suffered long enough seeing their freedoms being gradually eroded away. The people never chose to become part of China again in 1997, as Hong Kong’s decolonisation was only negotiated by the governments of China and the UK and not by those actually living there. As China became more communist and authoritarian, Hong Kong became more capitalist and democratic. The protests aren’t just against Beijing’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s politics, but also on its identity.

The Hong Kong (HK) protests have simply gone too far. They originally started as a response to the extradition bill, which in itself was not the issue, as most countries have extradition laws and bills in place as a standard of legal procedure. The problem was that HKers feared unfair trials and violent treatment post-extradition as well as activists and journalists being potentially targeted by China. So, many HK residents took to the streets, and after weeks of protests, the bill was suspended indefinitely. Weirdly enough, instead of changing the suspended bill into something more palatable, the protesters continued with increasing violence which ultimately resulted in the withdrawal of the bill. But it was not enough for the protesters, and the protests took on a new shape as the protesters continued to rally for their ‘Five Demands’:

Hong Kong’s people have been describing themselves more as “Hongkongers” than “Chinese” recently, showing how different they feel from their Mainland neighbours. Despite the majority of families tracing their origins to the Mainland, this change in identity can be explained by analysing China’s recent history. Millions of Hongkongers’ families fled persecution as refugees from the communists when they seized power in China, as well as during the disastrous Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward where at least thirty million people died. More recently in 1989, communist authorities responded to pro-democracy protests in Beijing by rolling out tanks and shooting at thousands of unarmed civilians. Despite massive attempts to censor any information relating to this in Mainland China, the Tiananmen Square Massacre has not been forgotten by Hongkongers and serves as a grave reminder for what could happen in the near future. The protests in Hong Kong began in response to the local government proposing a bill allowing the extradition of people to be tried in Mainland Chinese courts. Hong Kong’s independent judiciary is modelled on that of the UK’s, with the right to a fair trial enshrined in the territory’s Basic Law. China’s legal system is notorious for its show trials, arbitrary detentions and torture. Despite promising not to intervene in Hong Kong’s internal affairs until 2047, China has been increasing its control and influence in the region, much to the fear of ordinary Hongkongers. The protests have attracted significant controversy for how violent they’ve become, in a city previously known for its safety and stability. However, it is important to note that much of the violence associated with the protests was committed by the police. Policemen shooting at point-blank range at unarmed people and triads who attacked protesters on trains shocked many in the city. So far, there has not been an independent investigation on police brutality, despite extensive video evidence of their violent actions. Isn’t the purpose of the police force to protect people rather than harm them? Police shooting an 18-year-old for joining a peaceful march and then charging him for rioting is beyond absurd and cruel. Yes, there are a select few extremist protesters adopting more violent tactics, but this cannot be said for the majority.

by Stanley Ward Valentine’s season has come and gone, and no doubt created or uncovered some emotional scars. I can’t help you with these, but I can recommend some music. Christian Lee Hutson - ‘Lose This Number’ Sometimes we fall out of touch with people we were once close with - perhaps your regular hookup moved off-campus, and for the amount you see them, they may as well have emigrated to Australia. If so, this song is for you. Over his signature fingerpicked guitar, Christian Lee Hutson ruminates on trying to rekindle an old flame. Phoebe Bridges (as part of her own solo career, and half of Better Oblivion Community Centre) is on production, which feels like a nod to Elliot Smith with the intimate doubled vocals, combined with a sonic palette similar to her debut record ‘Stranger in the Alps’. The lyricism is sharp, combining an interplay of sensitivity and humour, and Hutson draws the conclusion that sometimes it is better to forget. The chorus gives an instruction - lose this number.

- For the protests not to be characterised as a "riot" - Amnesty for arrested protesters - An independent inquiry into alleged police brutality - Implementation of complete universal suffrage - (The fifth demand was the withdrawal of the extradition bill, which had already been met) These demands seem odd. How can the protests not be characterised as a ‘riot’ when the violence by the protesters is so extreme? A Pro-China lawmaker was stabbed, another resident set on fire, Mandarin speakers beat up for being ‘mainland sympathizers’, lootings across the city... The riotous nature of the protests hit a climax when the protesters stormed the parliament and vandalized the walls with slurs for Han Chinese (ironic considering most HKers themselves are Han Chinese)... How can the government provide full amnesty for the arrested protesters? Should they not be held accountable for the violence they inflicted? How can there be an effective inquiry into police brutality when in this case the police are there explicitly to be forceful in response to the violence from the protesters? The concept of a police force is inherently forceful. And finally, how can you offer complete universal suffrage when HK is a part of China? HK’s colonial past has left it more free than mainland China, a fact that China dealt with by making HK a special administrative region with its own legal and political system and the ability to enjoy more freedom of speech, press, and protest. But ultimately China still has sovereignty over HK and complete universal suffrage would go against that sovereignty.

Taylor Swift - Any Taylor Swift Song Enough said. I think Taylor Swift is a great breakup songwriter. Don’t believe me? Just pick any song, and be impressed.

after excellent verse, and the band’s sound has transitioned from their earlier combination of dance-rock towards the 70s aesthetic adopted by Turner for the ‘Last of the Shadow Puppets’ records, and the band’s divisive latest album. While Turner’s signature charm is still present, Jenny Lewis - ‘Rabbit Hole’ You cannot stay down forever. And not every there is still an innocence in his delivery which breakup song has to be such a fucking bummer. really benefits the tone of the song. Not many Enter Jenny Lewis, ready to carry you to safety frontmen could pull this one off, but he does. with this slightly psychedelic kitschy folk rock banger. The track itself is pretty simple, straight down the line, and fun - sometimes that’s what Lucy Dacus - ‘La Vie En Rose’ you need. The lyrics read as if Lewis is having the This classic tune has been covered to death, classic ‘it’s not you it’s me’ talk, but in this case, but never quite this well. Dacus swaps out the she makes it clear it’s you. The surreal backing timeless swing rhythms for a straight four to the vocals during the chorus are a production high- floor beat, and the pounding toms and tremolo light, but the real gem of the song is the middle guitars propel this ‘50s classic into the present eight which houses some perfect lyrical burns. If day. Combining the original French with English someone dumped me, but did it with a song like verses gives Dacus a longer runtime, in which the whole song essentially becomes one beauthis, I honestly would mind a whole lot less. tiful crescendo. If you had a rough time during this latest Hallmark Holiday, this song is sure to Arctic Monkeys- ‘Cornerstone’ This song (and it’s iconic video) is one of the fill your heart, as long as you let it. prettiest things to have ever come out of human civilisation. Alex Turner delivers excellent verse

What’s the Buzz with Bets

FOAM: Adorned - The Fashionable Show by Betsy Middleton

China has many faults: the harshness of its legal and political system and its unsophistication in diplomacy and foreign policy with the West… But HKers have not made it easy for themselves with how far the protests have gone. By demonizing China for a system already in place, HK has bitten the hand that feeds it, making it infinitely more difficult to get what it wants…

Illustration ©Doenja van der Veen

Hong Kong’s government is meant to be more democratic, but in reality Beijing is preventing this from happening. Instead of allowing for fully independent elections for the territory’s leader, China has relentlessly tried to interfere in Hong Kong’s politics, ensuring the city’s government will always remain pro-Beijing despite the wishes of its people. There is no other way but for the people of Hong Kong to show their views by taking to the streets to voice their unrest.

Heartbreak Beats: Your Post-Valentines Playlist

I’ve never considered myself a ‘fashionable’ person unless I’ve had to resort to the excuse of being fashionably late (as with the submission for this column - sorry Saskia). When I was 12, my (incredibly fashionable) little sister would insist on walking ten paces behind me up to school so she wouldn’t be seen with the nerd wearing blue polka dot corduroy flares. So, when I visited FOAM in Amsterdam this month, it was for the retrospective exhibition of Wright Morris’s photographs of rural America. After perusing the calm, monochrome pictures of old-timey farm buildings, picket fences and rickety chairs, I nearly didn’t bother climbing to the top floor for the current headline exhibition Adorned - The Fashionable Show. I’m glad I did, and you should too.

sity. Void of the same tired, starved-looking dolls of the fashion industry, the exhibition celebrates artists using fashion photography to empower minorities and challenge the status quo. The layout tempts visitors to explore the installations from around corners, in little siderooms, and through peep holes, centering around artists and subjects working within migrant, queer and POC communities in a vibrant display of how fashion can be used as a tool of self-expression, aspiration and rebellion.

missed is Mohamad Abdouni’s documentation of Queer culture in the Middle East. The exhibition finishes with an explosive collection by Hadar Pitchon, Family Work, in which he uses his elderly grandma as the subject for loud and gaudy fashion photography which screams playfulness and earns its spot as the poster-series.

By February, the novelty of New Year diets have long worn off and the relentless miserable weather has become unbearable. Entering a space of celebration, beauty and colourful chaos Just one of the outstanding contributions is is the perfect tonic. Adorned will lift your mood Frédéric Delangle’s and Ambroise Tézenas’ and make you wish you’d kept your blue polka Sneakers Like Jay-Z. The photo-series is a dot cords. succession of portraits of refugees who have attended a clothes bank in France wearing the garments that they picked out. It explores Adorned - The Fashionable Show is on display Curated in collaboration with three of the most the social function of fashion for refugees, forward thinking fashion magazines of today, “to merge in with the mass, to be on a ‘foot of at FOAM, Amsterdam, until the 11th of March the exhibition is an eclectic celebration of diver- equality’ or simply to be ‘swag’”. Also not to be 2020

HOW I UNDERSTAND ...

(during which Theresa May’s Brexit deal is rejected thrice) June 8th 2017: May’s snap general election actually results in a hung parliament (not a good sign for times to come).

January 15th 2019: lost 432 to 202 votes.

Key Issues that Deal needed (needs) to cover • Financial settlement with EU. • Rights of EU citizens in UK and vice versa. • Prevention of a hard border with Ireland.

1. March 12th 2019: lost 391 to 242 votes.

tra jec t or

yo f ho

ow nh ill )

March 29th 2019: lost 344 to 286 votes.

th in gs ar e go in g

June 7th 2019: May resigns as Prime Minister. Honestly, fair enough.

December 12th 2019: BoJo wins a large majority in the General Election, making it an ever more possible possibility that his Deal will get through Parliament.

December 20th 2019: BoJo’s Withdrawal Deal wins MP’s support by 358 to 234 votes. Most important change was removing the backstop. This means that now, a customs border will effectively be created between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

January 31st 2020: UK officially leaves the EU.

h t t p : / / w w w . b a y r a d i o . f m / j e r e m y - c o r b y n - s a y s - t h e - u k - n e e d s - a - g e n e r a l- e le c t i o n - d e s p i t e -

h t t p s : / / w w w . t h e n a t i o n . c o m / a r t i c le / a r c h i v e / b o r i s - b r e x i t - r a c e - t e le g r a p h - 1 9 9 7 /

w a r n i n g s - f r o m - t o n y - b la i r - t h a t - s u c h - a - v o t e - w o u ld - b e - a n - e le p h a n t - t r a p - f o r - la b o u r /

h t t p s : / / w w w . h ln . b e / p r i v a c y - w a ll/ a c c e p t ? r e d i r e c t U r i = / n i e u w s / b u i t e n la n d / - b r e x i t d e a l- v a n -

b o r i s - j o h n s o n - z o u - b r i t s e - e c o n o m i e - j a a r li j k s - m e e r - d a n - 8 0 - m i lj a r d -

k o s t e n ~ a 5 6 3 f a 9 c / & p w v = 1 & p w s = f u n c t i o n a l% 7 C a n a ly t i c s % 7 C c o n t e n t _ r e c o m m e n d a t i o n % 7 C t a r

Image sources:

•

g e t e d _ a d v e r t i s i n g % 7 C s o c i a l_ m e d i a & d a y s = 3 6 5 0 & r e f e r r e r = h t t p s % 3 A % 2 F % 2 F w w w . g o o g le . c o

m % 2F

h t t p s : / / m e t r o . c o . u k / 2 0 1 9 / 1 1 / 1 3 / n i g e l- f a r a g e - h i n t s - v o t i n g - t o r y - c o n s t i t u e n c y - 1 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 /

•

h t t p s : / / e n . w i k i p e d i a . o r g / w i k i / M i c h a e l_ G o v e # / m e d i a / F i le : O f f i c i a l_ p o r t r a i t _ o f _ R t _ H o n _ M i

•

c h a e l_ G o v e _ M P _ c r o p _ 2 . j p g

h t t p s : / / w w w . t h e g u a r d i a n . c o m / u k - n e w s / 2 0 1 8 / a p r / 1 3 / w i ll- b r e x i t - m u s e u m s - e x h i b i t - b u s - m a r k -

zu cke rb e rg

h t t p s : / / w w w . n e w s t a t e s m a n . c o m / p o li t i c s / u k / 2 0 1 8 / 0 6 / t h e r e s a - m a y - s - i m m i g r a t i o n - p o li c y -

f i n a lly - u n r a v e lli n g

h t t p s : / / w w w . b b c . c o m / n e w s / u k - p o li t i c s - 4 5 7 3 3 3 7 0

•

h t t p s : / / w w w . g e t t y i m a g e s . c o m / d e t a i l/ n e w s - p h o t o / m a y o r - o f - lo n d o n - b o r i s - j o h n s o n - g o t - s t u c k -

•

o n - a - z i p - li n e - n e w s - p h o t o / 5 4 2 9 1 8 1 1 2

•

Era of The Abyss (during which BoJo has 11 months to somehow create an entire trade deal with the EU)

July 24th 2019: Boris Johnson (henceforth BoJo) becomes Prime Minister after a Conservative Party vote.

Era of Happening

•

I personally came to Hong Kong in August, and to be honest I was extremely ignorant of what was happening. All I knew was that people had warned me to stay away from these things, and for a while I did. However, as I made friends from Hong Kong who informed me more about the movement, I started to become aware of its importance. It is impressive in not only what it is trying to achieve, but also in its sheer scope and complexity. It may seem extreme when we see people exclaiming harsh sentiments about police, even using violence and vandalism, but it is far easier to understand once you exit the Western perspective. How do you expect protestors to remain peaceful and calm when their city is threatened by a biased police force and a government that listens more to Beijing than its people? It is hard for us to imagine just how disrupted the lives of many young Hongkongers have become: forced to deflect tear gas canisters, risking their lives as medics, and getting arrested as student journalists. Many suffer from physical and psychological consequences, as even going to a doctor is a risk, let alone fleeing to Taiwan as some have been forced to do. It is an understatement that Hong Kong has had a troubled 2019. 2020 has started with protests being stilled by the threat of the coronavirus, yet the long-lasting effects of political division still remain. I don’t think people will easily forget or forgive what has happened between them and the government.

The movement started with large-scale marches, with numbers of up to 2 million (in a city of 7 million), and has affected nearly every sector of life. Even where you shop is now seen as a political act.

Brexit: Eras of Failure

Remain Camp

Tactic: Project Fear, a campaign based on the idea that the financial uncertainty of leaving the EU would prevent voters backing Leave. This tactic underestimated voters perceiving Brexit as an emotional, not financial, issue.

Brexit Camp

Tactic: lying quite a lot. See: the iconic NHS Bus, a character in itself, was used by the leave campaign to promise that the £350 million a week membership would be used to fund the NHS instead.

51.89%

Results of June 23rd 2016

Leave

Era of Rejection

by Saskia Vrensen & Stanley Ward

1992: Maastricht Treaty signed, meaning the UK officially joined the EU.

(Brexit referendum campaign)

•

Members of "protect the children'' facing riot police

A prominent feature of the police’s response has been their extreme use of teargas rounds (over 10,000 so far), rubber bullets (1,000), as well as beatings and arrests, which due to their indiscriminate use have led to consequences not just for the movement, but the city at large. Live rounds nearly took the lives of a few protestors, who were then immediately arrested once they recovered. Additionally, one student died while running from the police in a mall, and many suicides have been ruled inconspicuous when many civilians suspect involvement from the state. The police also actively take the sides of pro-government gangs (called triads) whenever they are involved in violence against the movement (including beating and even stabbing protesters). Incidents of police brutality are commemorated through graffiti listing the dates 7.21, 8.31 and 10.1, as well as laying down flowers, but even these small acts of solidarity are quickly removed by the government. Many call Hong Kong a “police state” now, as heavily armed riot police are often seen even at entirely peaceful events to intimidate people and arrest them seemingly at random. Court cases related to this are still ongoing, as foundations which collect legal aid have also recently been shut down by the government. Prominently featured in the news were also the sieges of the universities, notably the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Polytechnic University. I hope you search some of the terms I mentioned, as I cannot fully describe them in the detail they deserve here.

HOW I UNDERSTAND ...

Era of Deception

time goes on….

Riot police stationed above a protest

I’m not from Hong Kong, and am by no means an expert. Regardless of this, I want to try summarize the events of the last 7 months, some of which I experienced (and took pictures of) during my exchange there. The Anti-ELAB or democracy movement started in June to protest the Extradition bill, which would allow China to prosecute criminals from Hong Kong under Chinese law. This was seen as an infringement on Hong Kong’s rights as the Chinese legal system is not very transparent, as well as being an encroachment on Hong Kong’s status as an autonomous Special Administrative Region. Specifically, the concept of “one country, two systems” and the provisions agreed with Britain during the handover were threatened. However, because of government inaction and the police’s incompetence it morphed into a broader movement with 5 demands (as seen in the figure). Often listed as the 6th demand is the abolition of the Hong Kong Police Force, and for Carrie Lam to step down as Chief Executive. This demand was added due to the abuse of power by Lam, as well as the brutality committed by the police when they attempted to suppress the protests. There are countless examples of this, but I will briefly mention a few.

48.11%

The Boomerang Board

by Doenja van der Veen

Remain

We hope these summaries can work as foundations so as to better understand the topics covered, and also as encouragement to start reading up about the planet we inhabit and where we’re at in 2020.

How I Understand the Hong Kong Protests

Images ©Doenja van der Veen

We were discussing how to work against this privilege, because it is important to stay informed. And yet, we are by no means pillars of information and knowledge. So, we decided to outsource, and asked UCU students by way of trusty (ha ha) Facebook what issues they wanted to hear about and if anyone wanted to write about them. Below, you can find summaries of the most voted-for topics. The guideline we gave to the writers was to portray ‘How I understand…’, and so please consider that these pieces have a personal touch.

A University College Student Association Magazine

2015: referendum was promised by David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, in a last minute bid to assure Tory voters who had begun to lean towards UKIP.

It is a privilege to feel disillusioned by the news; to start reading and close the tab because it becomes too difficult and too much; to be able to turn it off and ignore it. It is also a very understandable response to this system in which we are constantly inundated with so much information, so much devastating or ridiculous or arbitrary information.

The Boomerang | February 2020

10 HOW I UNDERSTAND ...

The Boomerang | February 2020

Protests Sweep Across Latin America in ‘Latino Spring’: ¿Que Pasó? by Oscar Vaessen

Drinking my morning coffee on my balcony on a crisp November morning in Mexico City, I witnessed a small piece of Latin American history taking place: the arrival of the airplane carrying Bolivian persona non grata Evo Morales in Mexico. El Evo, a beloved man of the people and until recently President of Bolivia, had overplayed his hand during his country’s October elections, having most likely manipulated the results in order to eliminate the need for a run-off second round. The announcement of Morales’ landslide victory, granting him an arguably unconstitutional fourth presidential term, as well as the questionable circumstances surrounding the vote counting procedures, triggered a wave of protests in Bolivia during the weeks following the elections, and eventually forced Morales to flee the country and find political asylum abroad.

Further up north lies another country disturbed by political unrest, as it has been too many times: Colombia. The terms of the 2016 peace agreement between guerrilla group FARC and the government, which formally ended five decades of civil war, have turned out difficult to implement, leaving people disillusioned with the ruling administration. Protests are further fuelled by the unpopular right-wing president Iván Duque’s proposed tax reforms and pension cuts, and were catalysed by the death of an 18-year-old protester in November. He was shot in the head with a bean bag in Bogóta, infuriating protesters and sparking calls for a dismantling of the culpable Colombian riot police. While the use of bean bags as ammunition is now banned, and protesters and government officials are finally engaged in talks for an agreement, the situation in Colombia remains grim. Arguably the most successful of the protests in Latin America were those in Ecuador, where an agreement was made between the government and protesters in order to reverse austerity measures and combat overspending and public debt. President Lénin Moreno failed to continue his predecessor Rafael Correa’s legacy of poverty reduction and improving the standard of living, causing significant unrest. While Moreno enjoyed a

77% approval rating shortly after his election in 2017, by mid-2019 his approval rating dropped to under 30%. This culminated in October, where Quito was crippled by protests completely obstructing its transport network, causing Moreno to declare a state of national emergency before reaching an agreement with the protesters. Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador are only some examples of the Latin American countries which were caught up in political protest in 2019. There are several causes to be pointed to for this eruption of revolutionary fury; most importantly, the widespread anger with corruption, a seemingly unsolvable problem in Latin American institutions. Cases like Evo Morales’, a socialist leader who built himself a $34m 29-story private residence in central La Paz and ironically dubbed it Casa Grande del Pueblo, are all too common in the region, and highlight another major issue: economic inequality. According to the World Bank’s Gini coefficient index, eight out of ten of the world’s most economically unequal countries are in Latin America. When the leftist leaders of the 2000 decade’s Pink Tide attempted to alleviate these problems, while some were successful, most have either magnified them, as is the case in Venezuela, or have been replaced by neoliberals. Finally, common denominators between the protests might be fear of a destructive economic crisis such as in Venezuela, and cross-pollination between both global protests such as in Hong Kong and the Middle East and within the region itself. For now, with Chilean and Colombian protesters having planned protests in March, the unrest continues. Let us hope it is worthwhile.

HOW I UNDERSTAND ...

Crisis in the Sahel

by Annabelle Willeme

Burkina Faso is currently firmly in the red zone, and all travel websites advise ‘against all travel’. Despite this, I spent a lovely Christmas break at my parents’ house in Burkina’s capital of Ouagadougou. The lucky position of an expat or traveler is that you can spend time in a place, learn about the problems and situation there, make friends and integrate into the country as much as possible, while still knowing that at the end of the day if things really go south (quite literally in this case), you’re able to go somewhere else. Although I worry about the safety of my parents living in what The Volkskrant recently dubbed the ' new caliphate’, I know that they have the freedom to leave. Unfortunately, this is not the case for most people living in Burkina.

pastoralists to graze their cattle, creating interethnic conflict. Queue weapons into the mix and shit really starts to hit the fan.

While the Sahel region (the strip of territory under the Sahara Desert in West Africa) probably wasn’t at the top of your travel lists to start off with, during the past few years it’s really become a no- go zone. While you can (and should) read entire books on this, I’ll try to adjust the information to a concise summary suitable to the average Boomerang readers’ attention span.

Very roughly generalized, the fall of the Khaddaffi regime released many (French-sponsored) weapons into Western Africa, many of which landed in the hands of gangs, terrorist groups (such as AQIM and the Islamic State) or freedom fighters. Now you’ve got a situation where, in vast areas in Mali, gangs and terrorist groups can rape, murder and rob the population without any meaningful state interference. Although some of these groups have the overt mission of destabilizing the government in order to establish Sharia law, this overlaps with many economic, ethnic and political aims. The unrest started in northern Mali but has since crossed the border to Burkina Faso. Niger, Mauritania and Nigeria are facing similar unrest. Some say that West Africa has now become the new target for a caliphate (to tap into the lucrative traffic of people, weapons, gold and drugs through the Sahara) now that ISIS’ dream for this has all but failed in the Middle East.

The Sahel is a semi-arid zone south of the Sahara Desert and includes countries such as Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso. As you can imagine, near a desert, many of these countries are extremely dry, making it difficult to cultivate and make a living in certain zones. As if this wasn’t already bad enough, global warming is making it even hotter and harder to cultivate and survive there. Arbitrarily drawn up borders (courtesy of colonialism) also divide ethnicities among countries and make it challenging for

Although the French, Americans, and UN have armies fighting against these terrorist groups in Mali and Burkina, their motives are increasingly being questioned. Considering there are rather large gold and oil reserves in the areas where the terrorists and French troops are operating, many people accuse the French of playing neo-colonial exploitative games and other sketchy stuff (as ex-colonial powers do). A coalition consisting of Mauritania, Burkina, Mali, Chad and Niger called the G5 Sahel, also have military responses.

In conclusion, the situation is quite dire. In 2019 alone, about 4,000 people died due to attacks, and this is expected to keep increasing. In just the three weeks I was in Burkina in January, there was an attack where 30 women were brutally murdered, another where 40 people were shot during an attack on a marketplace, and these were just the main ‘newsworthy’ attacks. A couple weeks ago, another 20 civilians were killed in an attack in a northern province in Burkina. Despite the incredible scope of this conflict, it doesn’t often make headlines. Sadly, it seems not many people care about this region of the world, unless it is to ensure no migrants from the area arrive in Europe. I hope this little summary piqued your interest enough to change this, and that you have the chance to read up more about the topic.

Image ©Annabelle Willeme

Bolivia was not the only Latin country caught up in political turmoil in recent times. A wave of protests swept across Latin America in the latter half of 2019, dubbed the Primavera Latinoamericana by some. Due to a variety of causes, including spill-over between countries, protesters took to the streets in many of the continent’s capitals to express their dissatisfaction with their respective governments. Another example of this is in Chile, where protests erupted in October and have yet to cease entirely. The initial protests were fuelled by anger over inequality and the rise in cost of living, and still each week hundreds of Chileans take to the streets in Santiago. While a new constitution is in the making, granting government recognition of health care and education as basic human rights, it won’t be approved until at least the end of 2021. As such, the protests, which have left at

least 20 dead and provoked accusations of power abuse and torture by authorities, continue.

A University College Student Association Magazine

Café closed in remembrance of victims killed in one of the first terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou

How I Understand the Protests in India

Daniel’s Delectable Discussions by Daniel Kamenkovitch The election age should be changed to 21, or, as some say, even to 25. The reason: only with life experience through time, respective cognitive development and - ideally - acquisition of (enough) wisdom can people effectively cast their vote in a democracy. Although young people voting means that they are more directly represented, too many do not have enough understanding of, or interest in, the implications of the party/ideals voted for. Furthermore, the youth is more easily manipulated, thus more receptive to non-credible casting of votes. The worth of a democracy is only as great as the worth of the individually cast votes of the respective citizens. The Greeks and Romans knew. The right to vote comes with high responsibility. The youth are too immature. Challenge me (and/or your unit mates, friends, enemies, teachers, parents, …)!

Illustration ©Amu Endo

Illustration ©Viki Stojanov

by Tarana Kamdar

In December 2019, the government of India passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) coupled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The Act seeks to fast-track provision of citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring regions including J a i n s , Buddhists, Sikhs and Christians and specifically excludes Muslims. Moreover, under the NRC, all citizens of the country will have to provide proof of citizenship showing that they have lived in the country since at least 1971. Anyone who fails to do so is in danger of being sent to detention camps (like the ones in Assam) and declared stateless. The catch is, if you belong to the religions covered by CAA , you shall be granted citizenship. Since Muslims

are not covered by CAA, the whole thing seems to be targeting Muslims and taking a step towards having a Hinduonly India, the long-standing dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parent political party. It can also be viewed as an attempt to take the spotlight away from India’s economic issues. Since the announcement of the bill in the lower house of parliament, a lot has happened in the world’s largest democracy. In Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in the country, there has been a brutal crackdown against Muslims and implementation of the CAA has already started. On the other hand, there have been massive protests across the country led by students and young adults. These protests grew in number especially after the police attacked students at a Muslim university in Delhi for anti-CAA protests, and also after another case, where they stood outside doing nothing while alleged goons from the student organisation of Modi’s political party attacked

a prominent leftist university, vandalising the property and injuring students and professors on campus. Universities across the country and even abroad protested in solidarity with the students of the two universities. The uproar against CAA and NRC has been so tremendous that it is hard to believe that the frustration of the protestors stems only from the unconstitutional nature of these two Acts. It is more sensible to view this as the tipping point in a series of events. At the protests I personally attended in Mumbai during the winter break, the organisers repeatedly announced how the protests were not only against the CAA and the NRC but also against the internet shutdowns and atrocities committed in Kashmir, the detention camps in Assam, the lack of free press and other controversial things done by the Modi government. The protests in India challenge the antiMuslim and pro-Hindu propaganda that Modi’s party has been pushing for.

12 HOW I UNDERSTAND ...

The Boomerang | February 2020

A University College Student Association Magazine

WORLD

How I Understand Putin's Reforms by Alexeï Delanghe On the 15th of January, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on national television that he would no longer continue as the head of the Russian state beyond his final year in office in 2024. He also announced reforms to Russia’s constitution. In theory, these would democratise the government and diminish the power of the Presidential position, granting more power to the vote of the citizen than ever before. The entire Russian government has been dissolved and replaced. The new Prime Minister is a relatively unknown former tax official: Mikhail Mishustin. Watchers of the Kremlin were and are, shocked. What happened? Why is Putin stepping down? The idea of Putin relinquishing power is definitely bizarre. For the past twenty years, he has ruled the Russian Federation with an iron fist. Liquidation of political opponents, mass arrests at protests, and violence against protesters are but a few grievances against democracy under his tenure. Outside the Kremlin, Putin has demonstrated his ruthlessness in similar fashion. He has been accused of meddling in the 2016 United States Presidential elections, and military operations in Syria, Georgia, and Crimea show Putin’s willingness to eliminate any obstacles to his

ambition of restoring Russia’s status as a superpower. A superpower akin in influence (not structure) to the Soviet Union - the disintegration of which he dubbed a “geopolitical disaster” in a 2005 state of the nation address. One of the reforms suggested by Putin is to elevate the status of the State Council, an otherwise small advisory body, to that of a powerful government organisation. This in particular has set off alarm bells among political analysts. Viktor Olevich, a political correspondent for Al Jazeera in Moscow, said during an Al Jazeera broadcast that this reform will be used to extend Putin’s reign beyond the confines of direct government. In “Glued to the Throne”, an article published by the Economist, Alexander Baunov (a member of the Moscow-based think-tank Carnegie Moscow Center) stated that the State Council reforms will ensure the weakening of the existing government, and create Putin’s very own “mini-government”. Putin’s choices are reminiscent of Deng Xiaoping’s, who ruled the People’s Republic of China for years as the head of the National Bridge Association. So Putin is in control regardless, no question about it. But then why bother with reforms?

In his CNN-published opinion article “Why Putin is calling for constitutional change”, Dr. Daniel Triesman of UCLA states that many of the reforms aim to block exiled political opponents from running for office in 2024. According to Triesman, this will protect Putin; ensuring that what comes after him does not have the power to endanger him politically. In his article “Vladimir Putin’s New Orchestra”, published in the New York Times, Bulgarian political scientist Ivan Krastev states that dissatisfaction with the government has only increased, and with Western sanctions not likely to be lifted any time soon, Putin would be right to no longer desire being the face of a government infamous for corruption and stagnation. Taking on the role of an external figure would instead allow him to control the government implicitly, while tricking Russians into thinking the government is modernising. How I understand it, Putin has lost interest in being the star of his own show, but not in being its director - not for a long long time.

2019-nCoV: The Poorly Understood Pandemic by Julie Clar In late December 2019, a serious health emergency was declared in Wuhan, central China. By now, the deadly Wuhan novel coronavirus is considered a pandemic, as it has reached more than two continents. It owes its name to the surface proteins of the virus that protrude like tips of a crown (corona in latin) which facilitate cell invasion. The name refers to a cluster of viruses, of which some subtypes cause the common cold, while others are deadly diseases. Back in 2003, a subtype called the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) infected around 3000 and killed around 700 people. The Wuhan novel coronavirus has a similar genetic makeup and presents similar respiratory symptoms as the SARS. Coronaviruses are zoonoses, diseases that are initially transmitted to humans from animals. It is certain that this coronavirus strain originates from bats, however, human infection could have happened by means

of other animals infected by bats, including weasels, snakes, or camels. Scientists insist that it is of paramount importance to locate the origin of the virus considering that it could still be raging infection on a farm somewhere. Although strong evidence suggests that the wild animal and seafood market in Wuhan was the transmission point to humans, the exact origin of the outbreak remains uncertain. Because there is indeed an exceptionally high demand for rapid access to information about this new virus, inaccurate scientific data has spread like wildfire. Scientific journals have committed to making all peer-reviewed research publications relevant to the outbreak immediately available to the general public. As such, many articles focus on debunking previous illegitimate findings, which contributes to inconsistent, often contradictory, information about the pandemic. Certain sources predicted 65 million deaths to the virus and

others testified to the sickening eating habits of the Chinese being the root of the outbreak, claims that have since been refuted, yet still widely shared on social media. This phenomenon has fueled excessive hypochondria in addition to accentuating racism. Despite the large gaps in our understanding of this rapidly changing pandemic, Chinese public health authorities are under a lot of pressure to take radical measures to protect its citizens. There are indeed antiviral drugs currently being prescribed in China that have also been used against H.I.V. and Ebola, but their effectiveness is questionable as it differs per person and depends on the stage of the disease. Nonetheless, all sources agree that in order to work towards preventing and curing the Wuhan novel coronavirus, researchers simply and unfortunately need more time as they are only beginning to understand its complex genetic makeup.

Dearest Campus, Rejoice! It is a new year, a new decade! That fresh start we were all desperately searching for can now be symbolically concrete! Why should the start of a decade feel like a call to rejuvenate? What is it with all of this ‘new year, new me’ crap? What is wrong with the old me? And most importantly, why did I welcome this new year with open arms, heralding it as a fresh start, totally unironically? Perhaps I was lacking motivation to set my mind back into gear, and flicking the calendar through to the big two-oh-two-oh was somehow the push I needed. If that sounds like a feeling you have felt, then let us, indeed, rejoice; let us celebrate the way in which new years motivate us. If, however, new years mean little to you, you are not alone in this sentiment. For some they are a motivator, and for others they are a source of pressure. How do I become a ‘new me’? Why does the date January 1st imply that I have to, and who would I be doing that for? If these are questions you have asked, perhaps you should ignore the new year altogether. Really, it is only another date in the calendar, and when so many calendars exist and have existed in this world, why would you base the motivation to improve on an arbitrary date in the middle of winter? Whether you place such symbolic value on a new year, I hope you congratulated the Earth for another turn on its axis by surrounding yourself with happiness and sufficient intoxicating substances. Or, if you are like me, by falling asleep one minute past midnight, blissfully aware that 2020 me will probably be just like 2019 me, and that that is totally fine. Even if 2020 will remain a drab continuation of 2019, at least we can welcome a fresh new editor to the Boomerang board! A round of reserved applause for Stanley Ward is called for, who is already an invaluable addition to the board, if only for his oddly intense motivation to collect Quad Queries. We also welcome a dapper young man with an appetite for writing columns, who goes by the name of Harry Mills, so look out for his restaurant reviews. And last but not least, as if your beloved Boomerang didn’t spark enough discussion, check out the Challenge Me thought-provokers by Daniel Kamenkovitch. So, in the end, 2020 doesn’t look too drab for The Boomerang! Yours always, Saskia Vrensen Illustration ©Doenja van der Veen

14 WORLD

The Boomerang | February 2020

A University College Student Association Magazine

Independiente del Valle: The Story Behind the Newest Copa Sudamericana Champions

“What is the New Year’s Resolution to ly e k li t s o m e 'r u o y break?”

by Ivan Rzonzew

For those of us who follow football in the new continent, it is no surprise to read headlines about the successes of clubs like Boca Juniors, Santos, and River Plate, all teams which -for decades- have proven themselves to be among the “greats” of South America. A headline that did take many by surprise, however, was the recent proclamation that the Ecuadorian team Independiente del Valle were the champions of the Copa Sudamericana. The small team from the working class suburb of Sangolqui in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, only reached the first division of Ecuadorian football in 2010. Until 2014, the team went through troubled years of adaptation in the Ecuadorian first tie, barely managing to avoid relegation. Ever since 2015, however, they consistently battled for the national championship in the Liga Pro Ecuador. Finally, last November the team achieved their most remarkable feat in their short period of existence as a first division team, when they won the Copa Sudamericana and became the second Ecuadorian team to ever win a continental tournament. But what makes Independiente an exceptional club, beyond its athletic success, is its work as a social project. Life for those who train at the team’s complex in Sangolqui -for many of whom it is the only way out of povertyis not all about football. Every year, following try-outs for the youth divisions, all new players are registered to the team’s very own school, where as a condition for their continuation in the club, they have to finish their studies.

In their school, the club works with the guidance of qualified professionals who have been specially prepared to push players to finish their education. Every year the team promotes some of its best athletic talents to their first team, and those who don’t make it go on into the adult world with a high school degree in hand and the possibility of entering higher education in the country. Moreover, those who do make it into professional football, and particularly those who take the big step towards European football, are more prepared to succeed in a football industry that involves institutional frameworks, transactions and agents today more than ever. At Independiente, they have understood many things. One of them is that education comes before football. Another is the reality of the country they work in, including the fact that many aspiring players have to leave their families at a young age to try to make it in the big leagues. This is why they also provide housing, uniforms, medical and psychological services to all their players. “It’s a big effort for me, not only because I have to train hard and fight for a position with good players, but also because I miss my family.” These are the words of Roberto Cabezas, a 13 year old boy of Independiente’s U-14 division who comes from the crime-ridden region of Esmeraldas. Roberto’s reality is not an excep-

tion in most formative divisions in Ecuador and most of Latin America. Unfortunately, few teams until now have made an effort to smoothen the transition of their young talents into the difficult world of high-performance sports. Independiente, however, as its motto states, is “un equipo diferente” (a different team), something that is reflected in the words of its founder and honorary president, Michel Deller: “I've always had a lot of passion for football. We were in a very privileged situation when with a group of friends we decided to take on Independiente… We saw the possibility of having a greater structure, mainly formative, and having a club that worked in the social part, in the intellectual and human development of the players… while transmitting different values to the community... We decided that that was our role and we saw that there was room for … A club that proposed something different.”

“New Yea

r's resoluti ons are bullshit”

– Ann-Ma

myself” “Respecting e – Arn

“Stop being a mar

ble statue ”

y” uar r b Fe rijn

– August

y a “Dr nne-M A –

January ” “No dicks in – Max

The last years have shown that Independiente is surely to have a big impact in South American football and an even bigger one in the lives of many young Ecuadorians. In the dining hall where all the young players have breakfast together every morning, next to photos of the first team stars, a big poster displays the words: “Independiente, more than a team, a family.” They certainly are. “Not

–

”

e EU in th tan g n i “Stay etsy & S –B

ed” smoking we – Simon

“Do well in my th – Sabine

s”

emic

ad on ac

using Malaika

“Foc

Congratulations Rayados!

Political Diversity on Campus

QUAD QUERIES

esis”

by Michiel van Schagen

Are universities leftist bastions? According to some politicians, the answer is yes. The US Secretary of Education, Betsy de Vos, remarked that university teachers are telling students “what to do, what to say and, more ominously, what to think''. In the Netherlands, Forum voor Democratie politician Thierry Baudet complained that “we are being undermined by our universities”and opened a website where students can report leftist indoctrination by their teachers. More recently, fellow party member Paul Cliteur coined the idea of a quota for right wing social scientists, during a discussion on political diversity at the University of Amsterdam. However, despite all these political claims of leftist bias and even indoctrination in our universities, “the evidence suggests otherwise”. Students’ political views apparently do not become more leftist during their time at American universities. And even though a recent study found that university professors are “more liberal and left-leaning than other

professionals”, that conclusion was nuanced by the finding that there is a similar diversity of opinions amongst them as was found in other occupations. This does not mean that political diversity in university classrooms is not an important topic to discuss. If one fundamental goal of university education is to develop students’ capabilities of critical and reflexive thinking, then creating an atmosphere of open and free debate between opposing views is a key element of that education. Only then can students challenge each other’s assumptions and test their firmly held convictions and their arguments. This is something that both teachers and students have to remain aware of. According to some students at the University of Amsterdam, students with opinions that diverge from the liberal a-little-bit-left-of-the-middle mainstream at social sciences, more specifically students with conservative or right wing

beliefs, sometimes find it difficult to speak out. Not so much because they think their teachers are trying to indoctrinate them with leftist propaganda, but rather because they experience peer pressure and ridicule from other students that ostracize them. If this is true, it has several implications. Teachers, who are already very much occupied with ‘safe spaces’ and ‘positive learning environments’, might need to check if there is a silent, disgruntled student in their group that finally wants to discuss the dangers of mass immigration to the nation state for once. Leftist students on the other hand could ask themselves the question: who is that student that is always (secretly) reading Ayn Rand, and ask them (politely please!) about their political ideas. Finally, right wing students should maybe not listen to their favorite politicians when they claim that their university is trying to indoctrinate them, but rather demand from their teachers and peers that their voices also be heard.

“A con dom – Fin ”

k”

in my sin “Not peeing – Marco

ine red w

t from eoffrey

hif “To s

é”

to ros

–G

Boomerang uses wind energy printers The Boomerang is a periodical newspaper. It comes out eight times a year.

16 2020 HOROSCOPES

The Boomerang | February 2020

From your Campus Mystic

Capricorn

Taurus

Ah Capi, you’re likely to stir up some shit today. If this happens it might be best to just pull out of the situation. I know it's tempting to passive aggressively tag people in shady Confessions, but it's really not worth the headache.

You must feel like some sort of inventor who has wild ideas that could help to revolutionize the future. Or some idiot who accidentally slept with their introweek parent on the first day. But today, Venus is in retrograde. Take your time to focus on activities that make you happy. Take the day to recharge and feel in touch.

Libra

You’ve been on the fence about a lot of things lately. Don’t be afraid of making a mistake; remember the lie that the Dean told you on day one saying that you are here to fail? Well, maybe it’s time to find out. Better than missing out entirely, don’t you think?

Sagittarius

A renewed sense of values and integrity may be present for you today. All of the embarrassing things you’ve done drunk at the bar have finally run their course and have been forgotten. Connecting with this can be extremely uplifting for you! You have a strong work ethic, which is a good thing, but can make you forget things that are important to you. Make the day your bitch and try to get in touch with yourself.

Aries

Stop feeling sad about that one person you met at the bar who gave you chlamydia and ghosted you. It’s time to take charge of your life and own it. Focus on your goals! Take this day to look to the future; plan new experiences that you can enjoy with all the people you cherish in your life.

Pisces

You’re going to undergo some dramatic changes soon, which is going to make it difficult for you to focus on things that make your life pretty nice. Take time to appreciate the campus cat or that one person you’ve never talked to but still smile at every time you see them. Because at the end of the day, it’s about all the small things that you’ve never really thought of. When you emphasize things they will multiply and grow. Try it and see what rewards it’ll reap.

Cancer

Cancer, you beautiful, no, gorgeous soul. Your creative energy is at a peak. Staying focused on one thing can be tough for you. But today's energy is giving you the concentration you need to get a creative project completed. Last time you took an edible it went iffy, you ate too many and saw god and the devil himself in the form of a lighthouse embodied by two lonely men. But today is the day, try it again; finish a project you’ve already started or start a new one! Have fun expressing yourself and be creative!!

Virgo

It’s a good time to look at your financial situation. Spending all your money on drugs and beer might seem fun in the moment, but look at your spending and ask yourself; are you where you want to be? Have you got plans in place for down the road? Do you have sufficient cash flow? Can you really afford to be charged another 70 euros for the microwave? Just take the day to think and see areas where you might want to improve.

Leo

Oh Leo, today your head is the clouds. Make an impression on the person you talked to at the bar once and you somehow convinced yourself is the love of your life. You can either make yourself out to be someone you're not, or you can be exactly who you are, which is difficult because you still don’t really know who you are. But ultimately you must feel comfortable and accepting of the fact that you should only really be around people who feel at ease with your natural way of expression.

Scorpio

Your thoughts are not clear today. You’ve spent the whole day surviving solely off of coffee. Time to drink some tea and get some rest. It’s not productive to stay in Voltaire the whole day, scrolling through Facebook. If you can’t concentrate, there is a reason for it. Take a break for an hour or two and then try to get back on the grind with a clear mind.

Gemini

It’s time to get up and get moving! It’s been two weeks since you've left campus (going for groceries doesn't count). It’s gotten to the point where Pip has become the only thing you can cuddle with. Staying in the bubble not only affects your mental well-being but also your physical well-being! Go for a walk in the forest, go wander around in the city center or go extreme and leave Utrecht! Try something that breaks your daily routine, and take time to breathe in the air.

Aquarius

You’re feeling energetic today! It could be the day to get some cleaning done! Finally, clean the dishes that have been in the sink for a week, or the bathroom that hasn't been cleaned since the start of the year. Make the most of this energy by doing the most you can.