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No. 858 Friday 18th January 2019 Arts   varsity.co.uk

Cambridge’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1947

‘We’ll lose Fitzwilliam overrules our edge’: JCR election of academics intermitting express fears student

Stephanie Stacey over Brexit Deputy Editor Matt won a JCR election, but his College of Cambridge’s total research income. overruled the result on the grounds – un- Kiran Khanom Professor Gerard Evan, Head of the known to the students involved – that Senior News Editor Department of Biochemistry, described intermitting students, even those living the European Research Council (ERC) as in College, cannot be members of their “All faculties are concerned about fund- “one of the great achievements of the College’s political body. ing,” said Professor Catherine Barnard. EU”, saying that it has “allowed scien- According to Matt, who requested that “Brexit doesn’t just take us down a tists to build an independent research he be referred to by his  rst name only, dead-end, it takes us into the danger council” that isn’t “run by politics”. He the decision was a case of “not allowing zone”, said Dr Victoria Bateman. said that ERC grants “have become very intermitting students to participate in In light of the current uncertainties much part of the woodwork of what we the political life of the University or Col- surrounding Brexit, Varsity has spoken do”. lege”, with senior members “intervening to several academics at Cambridge about  e ERC is part of the Horizon 2020 in the otherwise healthy functioning of their opinions on the UK’s departure funding programme.  e UK government the JCR”. from the EU and its e ects on the Uni- has given assurances that it will fund any Although he intermitted early in versity and higher education. programmes enrolled in the programme Michaelmas Term, Matt, who is an Research was a primary point of con- up until 2020, but no framework has yet HSPS student at Fitzwilliam College, cern for many, with both funding and been con rmed for future funding part- continues to live in Cambridge, in part collaboration across Europe potentially nerships. due to his lack of permanent address. a ected. ERC grants account for nearly 60% When, midway through term, JCR elec- Barnard, Professor of European Un- of the University’s EU research funding, tions opened up, he was persuaded to ion and Employment Law, said: “Clearly and therefore around 10% of Cambridge’s put himself forward for the role of Male [Brexit] will be serious in that we will total research income. According to Welfare O cer. lose access to EU funding, although cur- the University, Cambridge and Oxford, Matt was “really excited” for the JCR rent EU funds will be underwritten by which receive equal levels of funding, position, noting that he has “a lot of ex- the UK government.” have more ERC grants than any other periences which would have been very Cambridge is likely to be particularly university in Europe. informative”, having gone through many a ected by any changes in funding from Wolfson fellow and chief scienti c College and University support systems the EU. According to the University, EU research grants account for almost 18% Full story Page 7 ▶ ▲ Europe Day in May saw a pro-EU rally in Cambridge LOUIS ASHWORTH Continued on Page 9 ▶

Inside ● Uptick in use of Cambridge foodbanks Pg.6 ● Doubts over Cambridge carbon reduction targets Pg.8 2 F  18 J  2019 News

FEATURES Rejection from Oxbridge Fitzbillies only makes you stronger Page 14 ▶ co-owner Tim

OPINION Less meat in hall is just the Hayward on start Page 17 ▶ taking over FEATURES Conversations with college bedders a Cambridge Page 12 ▶

vulture institution Instagram in uencer: e restaurateur and food writer talks to Todd Fashion’s most Gillespie about pretentious food, learning from powerful American diners – and where he likes to eat in player? Cambridge Page 25 ▶

hen a pair of former sists Fitzbillies is not leaving Cambridge, foodie rat-racers though he doesn’t rule out a third branch  Catherine Lally & Vivienne Hopley-Jones [email protected]   Maia Wyn Davies & Stephanie Stacey [email protected] slogged up to Cam- in the town.   Isobel Bickersteth (Senior) & James Dickinson (Deputy) bridge from Camden As I darted out of my room to head [email protected] for a meeting about to this interview, I bumped into Elaine,   Joe Cook [email protected]   Mark Curtis [email protected] Wa restaurant in 2011, they hadn’t quite the formidable housekeeper on my col-    Jess Ma & Kiran Khanom (Senior); Elizabeth Haigh & Oliver predicted what would happen. As the lege staircase. She recalled how in the Rhodes (Deputy) [email protected]     Belle George, Katy Bennett, Charlotte landlord of an ailing Fitzbillies, the aus- early 1960s she’d leave school and walk Lillywhite, Victor Jack, Chloe Bayliss, Molly Killeen, Kyoka Hadano, Hannah tere then-master of Pembroke College to work as a window dresser, stopping Bowen, Nesta Smith & Diana Stoyanova led Tim Hayward and his wife Alison – o at Fitzbillies to pick up some famous    Amy Batley & Sarah Orsborne investigations@ varsity.co.uk raised in the town with birthday cakes Chelsea buns for her colleagues for six-   Nicholas Harris, Eve Lynch & Cait Findlay (Senior); Charley from the shop she feared would shut pence each. ( e secret Chelsea bun Barnard & Bethan McGinley (Deputy) [email protected] forever – for a stroll around the Pem- syrup, by the way, comes from a small     Zak Lakota-Baldwin & Marco Oechsner [email protected]   Marcus McCabe & Sophie Zhang [email protected] broke quads. company in Croydon which also sells it   Lois Wright [email protected] “It felt like Lord So-and-so interview- to  eakston for its ale.)  &   Lillian Crawford & Madeleine Pulman-Jones lmandtv@ ing me to marry his daughter,” Hayward Fitzbillies is not Hayward’s  rst ex- varsity.co.uk   Miles Ricketts & Alex Spencer [email protected] recalls, perched on a window seat at the perience of making good grub. Ater art    Helena Baron & Cie Jen Wong [email protected] Bridge Street branch, which he opened college in Bournemouth he ventured    Alex Jacob & Jess Beaumont [email protected] in 2016. “Or, I thought, this must be what across the Atlantic and met his  rst    Emily Blatchford [email protected]   William Ross (Senior) & William Robinson (Deputy) it’s like getting tapped to join MI6. It wife in North Carolina (“she’s now a pi- [email protected] turned out, of course, that he had been lates instructor to Madonna”), escaping   Edwin Boadu & Steven Edwards [email protected] head of MI6.” shortly ater her father took one look ❝     & SWITCHBOARD   Daniella Adeluwoye & Fancy Raphael Korber Ho man [email protected] Almost eight years since he was hand- interviewing at Hayward’s Volkswagen Rabbit and    Lucy Fairweather & Iris Pearson [email protected] ed the keys to the cake shop ater lengthy made him buy a truck.  e duo worked I thought    Zébulon Goriely [email protected] interesting scrutiny, a lot has changed for Hayward, illegally in diners across the country to - Hannah Kossowska-Peck (Chief); Alex Parnham-Cope, Hania people in this must Bar, Poppy Kemp, Beth Noble,  ea Trollope-Metcalfe, Esmee Wright, Georgia 55, bald, bearded and garrulous. As well Cambridge? pay their way. “I would sling hash and Burns, Pia Engelbrecht-Bogdanov, Ruth Moss, Aimee Wragg, Daniel Maghsoudi as opening a new branch, the former Email us at she would roll around on roller skates be what it’s & Edwin Bahrani Balani [email protected]     Sarika Datta [email protected] advertising executive has published interviews@ dishing it out.” like getting   Alisa Santikarn [email protected] three food books and become widely varsity.co.uk Hayward worked as a fashion photog-    Edwin Bahrami Balani [email protected] followed as a restaurant critic for the rapher on the side. “I was going to gallery   Caitlin Smith [email protected] tapped to    Noella Chye, Rosie Bradbury, Merlyn  omas & Devarshi Financial Times. openings and surviving o canapés.  en Lodhia [email protected] “We’re probably the youngest institu- I got a job as a bouncer in a Tex-Mex join MI6   Dr Michael Franklin (Chairman), Prof Peter Robinson, Dr Tim tion in Cambridge at nearly 100 years old,” restaurant called Break for the Border, Harris, Michael Derringer, Caitlin Smith, Noella Chye, Louis Ashworth, Anna ❞ Jennings, Anna Menin, Daniel Gayne, Ellie Howcrot Hayward says, sipping a very modern  at which should’ve been called Break for white. “But we’re acknowledged in enough the Bathroom – it was that bad.”

© VARSITY PUBLICATIONS LTD, . All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be people’s PhDs as where they wrote it that He learnt lessons from the experience reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher. we’ve got our place in history.” and tries to make Fitzbillies emulate the Varsity, 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX. Telephone 01223 337575. He has rejected circling investors role of the American diner. “People think Varsity is published by Varsity Publications Ltd. Varsity Publications also publishes e Mays. begging to open franchises in Oxford, diners are rock-and-roll and jukeboxes – Printed at Ili e Print Cambridge – Winship Road, Milton, Cambridge CB24 6PP on 42.5gsm newsprint. Registered as a newspaper at the Post O ce. ISSN 1758-4442. Singapore and Saudi Arabia. Hayward in- they’re not,” he explains. “ ey’re proper Friday 18th January 2019 3 news

community restaurants which work by the sauce because the time it can [le- Hayward rarely eats at high-end places ▲ Hayward is with front windows as steamed as its understanding the community they’re gally] be held is so tiny. here’s a tight set when he’s not reviewing them. Restau- considering dumplings, which he is comparing to in.” of rules for how long you can hold a hol- ❝ rant 22, Trinity, and the rest of them? opening a din Tai Fung, an international michelin- But is he pricing it right at Fitzbillies? landaise for. or you can buy a premade hey’re just not his thing. “out here, third branch starred chain which has just opened in I doubt many students are ecstatic to hollandaise that’s been sterilised and If you really there’s an element of local audience, in Cambridge Covent Garden. pay nine quid for an eggs benedict or you can squirt it out of a plastic tube.” know why led by TV programmes, who think that (domInInkAS ŽAlyS) “It was a local farmer who tweeted seven-ifty for avocado on toast. Picking at my truly sticky but very if you’re going to spunk £70-a-head on me and told me to go to noodles Plus+,” Hayward umms and ahhs, before scrumptious three-quid Chelsea bun, it costs so a restaurant, you want to see 14 courses Hayward says, adding it’s now probably mumbling something about free range I worry I have betrayed my (probably much for and you want to see it piled high,” he his favourite restaurant in Cambridge. eggs. His is far from the cheapest break- far more savvy) student audience by says, calling it “little-blobs-of-stuf plate He adds that many people at the Uni- fast spot in town. Scrolling through its insisting on paying my own way in the an eggs painting”. versity have a sceptical attitude towards TripAdvisor reviews, the two words name of journalistic integrity when Hay- Rather, he loves Parker’s Tavern mill Road due to its distance, which he which jump out frequently are “deli- ward kindly ofered me his goods for benedict, (“smashing” though not cheap), Steak does not share. cious” and “pricey”. (He ignores Tri- free. While he gets a generous splurge it’s the and Honour (“amazing burgers”) and meanwhile the enduring Fitzbillies pAdvisor religiously because, he says, allowance from the FT to “write about nanna mexico (“their burritos are the represents all that is safely ‘Cam- it is “poisonously warped towards nega- what rich people have for tea”, Varsity has number size of a fucking baby”). on pubs, he has bridge’. no roller skates in sight, it tivity”.) But it’s hard to call Fitzbillies not given me a penny for my cofee and of times soft spots for he Cambridge Blue and is conservative in a way, but heart- overpriced. he expert staf, who seem Chelsea bun. young and bitter, I bite hard he Punter. warming. genuinely to adore Hayward, are paid into another syrupy sultana and chide you’ve got Conlict of interest means he gener- you can leave with a smile, fat- well and trained properly, and they stick myself for thinking squirty hollandaise ally never reviews Cambridge restau- tened up and a iver down, and you assiduously to proper food regulations. wouldn’t be all that bad if it improved to remake rants for the FT. his week, however, he don’t even have to write a Phd there “If you really know why it costs my fraught relationship with Student the sauce has made an exception. He has snuck – any old essay crisis will do. so much for an eggs benedict, it’s the Finance England. in a review of noodles Plus+, a plain- he original Fitzbillies is reopening number of times you’ve got to remake Perhaps surprisingly for a food writer, ❞ looking joint on multicultural mill Road on 18th January after a renovation. 4 F  18 J  2019 News

Uphill battle On Tuesday, over 60 cycling protestors took to the streets as part of the Extinction Rebellion Group. ey cycled as slowly as possible through Cambridge to protest climate change on “Earth Strike” day.

JOE COOK

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HANDY TECHNOLOGY RE’VOTE’LUTIONARY ART Cambridge designs Original su rage pianist robot hand banners recreated

Scientists at Cambridge University have Artist Annabel O’Docherty, a former Gir- designed a 3D-printed robot hand which ton student, has recreated two replicas can play Jingle Bells on the piano among of a banner used in women’s marches in other tunes. e hand cannot move its London in 1908. e original banner was  ngers individually, but it can play music made and carried by students of the two by moving its wrist. e robot hand was colleges. It features the slogan, “Better is “taught” to play simple musical phrases wisdom than weapons of war” to re ect in order to test its dexterity and show the non-violent approach of female suf- how intricate human movement can be. fragists at the time. e original banner Researchers, funded by the Engineering is now in protective conditions due to its and Physical Sciences Research Council, fragile state, however, the replicas made will continue developing the hand . by Docherty can be found on display in Newnham and Girton.

IS IT WHEELY OVER? CHILLING NEWS Ofo bikes rumoured Cambridge expecting to pull out of city “big freeze”

Ofo, the Chinese bikeshare company, has Experts are warning of a signi cant chill announced their decision to pull out of throughout the upcoming week due to London. e company has allegedly de- the cold arctic winds. e temperature cided to curtail their operations in the drop, is meant to be more severe than rest of the UK. Cambridge MP Daniel any in the past 30 years. In Cambridge, Zeichner has slammed the overall lack temperatures are expected to fall more of regulation and planning of Ofo’s op- than 10 degrees below their current sta- eration, such as missing bikes and bikes tus. Weather forecaster John Hammond found in unsuitable places such as rail- believes that the cold front will continue ings. He is also worried that the pullout until the end of January, possibly the will also impact Cambridge soon. beginning of February.

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o ind out more and apply, visit www.gchq-careers.co.uk 6 Friday 18th January 2019 News Last year saw soaring use of Cambridge foodbanks

Kiran Khanom Senior News Editor

Last december saw around 1,050 people receive food parcels from foodbanks in Cambridge, according to estimates from Cambridge City Foodbank, an organisa- tion which has eight Foodbank distribu- tion Centre locations across Cambridge. his was an increase of 17% from de- cember 2017, when 896 people visited Cambridge foodbanks. he average number of people visiting foodbanks between January and october in 2018 was 680, with November seeing a rise to 837 users. “We generally see a peak in visits dur- ing december as cold weather sets in and people are worried about having no food during the holiday time when little other support is available,” said Jon edney, foodbank coordinator for Cam- bridge City Foodbank. Foodbank use in Cambridge has grown every year since 2015, with about 8,600 people using foodbanks in 2018 com- pared to 6,458 in 2017 – a 34% increase. his increase is signiicantly higher than the increase in national foodbank use, which was 13%. Mr edney linked increases in food- bank use to the erosion of beneits in real terms, but added that: “a major factor is ▲ The proposals low income and insecure employment.”, are now being explaining that “the most frequent rea- considered by son now given for people needing the around 190 Trini- foodbank is low income.” ty College fellows He added that the Cambridge-speciic (Rosie BRadBuRy) increase in foodbank use is “probably linked to the high cost of housing in Cambridge and poor growth in wages.” “People in low-income situations live on a clif edge so a small negative impact on their inancial situation can result he increase in in a disproportionately high increase in 34% foodbank use foodbank use.” in Cambridge in he introduction of universal Credit 2018 last october saw concerns about the increasing use of foodbanks. Mr edney commented that “the foodbank is seeing a lot of people who are facing issues with universal Credit”, which was introduced he increase in in Cambridge last october but that it was 13% foodbank use “too early to assess the overall impact”. nationally in he Cambridge university Foodbank 2018 society, which aims to increase foodbank donations from Cambridge students and the university and reduce food waste, commented: “it is a tragedy that, in one he estimated of the richest cities in the uK, so many number of families have had to rely on foodbanks 8,600 people who this Christmas.” used Cambridge “hese stories are often invisible to foodbanks in use in the student bubble, but they play 2018 out all year round.” Foodbank donations are encouraged by Cambridge City Foodbank, although Mr edney was keen to point out that the long-term consequence of the callous “we do ask students not to empty the welfare policies that have been pursued contents of their food cupboards into the by this Government and the Coalition foodbank bin at the end of term without Government since 2010, and the cutting checking expiry dates and the suitabil- ▲ Cambridge said the most important way for Cam- ▲ Cambridge also demand action from local and na- of many key preventative and support ity of the items for regular families who City Foodbank bridge students to help is “by raising City Foodbanks tional politicians to tackle problems like services.” need nutritious food”. distributes to awareness of poverty as a long term and CU chronic poverty, high rents and inad- He added: “Governments are meant to He added that the most needed eight locations issue that needs to be addressed both Foodbank equate social security.” devise policies that support people when items are listed on the organisation’s around by government and the private sector Society daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge, times get tough, not create a situation website. Cambridge – especially in supporting fair wage ini- encourage said: “he recent sharp increase in food- where working people have to rely on Whilst Mr edney said that the in- (CaMBRidGe CiTy tiatives.” donations of bank demand is worrying, especially as the generosity of their local communi- creasing demand for foodbank parcels FoodBaNK) he Cu Foodbank society echoed food (aNNa it cannot be explained simply by the ties to be able to feed their families. it is has “place[d] signiicant strain on [food- this sentiment, stating that “most of the LaWReNCe/Cu usual rise in use at Christmas… Cam- simply unacceptable. his Government bank] volunteers”, he noted that most underlying issues around foodbank use FoodBaNK soCieTy) bridge is an expensive city in which to needs to take a hard look at their obses- Cambridge students would not be able require political solutions.” live and wages have been stagnant in sion to cut welfare support and realise it to consistently volunteer at Cambridge “student support for the foodbank recent years, but i believe that the un- is them causing misery for communities foodbanks throughout the year, and so and other charities is vital, but we should derlying cause of rising foodbank use is up and down this country.” F  18 J  2019 7 News

remain at the scienti c frontier, pushing ment of Pathology, was concise: “It is a it ever forwards.” disaster, and certainly will not be good Cambridge  e University has sought to mitigate for the Department, or the University.” this: Vice Chancellor Stephen Toope has In May the University released a re- said that the University has signed stra- port on possible strategic responses to tegic partnerships with the Max Planck four Brexit scenarios, covering the issues academics on Society, the Ludwig Maximilian Univer- of funding, people, collaboration, com- sity of Munich and Sciences Po in Paris, mercial operations and infrastructure and “will continue to seek out collabora- and buildings. tions with organisations that share our Stephen Toope said in October: “We the possible aspirations.” draw ever closer to the enactment of a “I think the greatest concern to the decision that could dramatically change University is the future immigration the UK’s place in the world. But there impacts of policy,” said Professor Barnard, adding should be no doubt about Cambridge’s that “the cost and associated bureauc- place in the world. We are and will re- racy are vast.” main a global university.” Whilst the details of immigration Brexit plans ater Brexit have yet to be deter- ▶ An EU ag waving on Europe Day mined, freedom of movement is one of in May LOUIS ASHWORTH Prime Minister  eresa May’s ‘red lines’, meaning that she intends any future re- lationship with the EU to at least par- ▶ Continued from front page tially restrict immigration between the UK and the EU. adviser to the Prime Minister in the 20.3% of Cambridge sta (2,459) are Czech Republic Professor Rudolf Hanka, from non-UK EU/EEA countries and 24% is less concerned about EU funding, see- of its postgraduate students (2,462) are ing Brexit as an opportunity to get rid of non-UK EU/EEA nationals. bureaucracy. He said: “From my experi- Silke Mentchen, a Senior Language ence it is usually hardly worth having Teaching O cer at the MML Faculty, ADVERTISE EU funding because of the excessive acknowledged that the e ect of Brexit administration that acceptance of any on the recruitment of academics to the EU grant requires.” MML Faculty is “impossible to predict”, Professor Hanka, alongside Profes- but warned that “not knowing how a sor Robert Tombs, Emeritus professor country will be governed is not neces- WITH US. of French history at St John’s, both ad- sarily conducive to academics wanting vocate a no-deal Brexit.  ey recently, to work in that country”. To advertise in any of our print publications or alongside 13 other academics, co-wrote Although the number of undergradu- a letter in e Guardian criticising what ates from the EU at Russell Group uni- online, please contact our Business Manager: they view as the scaremongering of cer- versities increased marginally, by 1%, tain higher education bodies, including in the past academic year, the number the Russell Group, about the e ects of of taught postgraduate students fell by tel : 01223 33 75 75 Brexit. 5%, and the number of postgraduate re- email: [email protected] Professor Tombs is con dent in the search students, on whom many science web: varsitypublications.co.uk ability of Cambridge academics to con- departments rely, saw a 9% decrease. tinue to have access to EU funding. “Six- Professor Tombs, however, is con - teen non-EU countries take part in [Ho- dent that this is only a temporary drop: rizon 2020] programmes, and Britain “postgraduate students come to British will doubtless continue to do so ater universities from all over the world, as Brexit.” well as from the EU.” , However, according to the UK govern- He added that “this basic fact will not ment, “third country participation does be changed by Brexit, even if present Looking for paid work in not extend to some Horizon 2020 calls”, uncertainty may cause a blip.” including ERC grants and some MCSA Professor Evan, however, is a critic grants. “ e government is seeking dis- of lax attitudes to student recruitment Cambridge this summer? cussions with the European Commission that place con dence on the University’s to agree the details of our continued par- standing. ticipation as a third country.” “It won’t be places like Cambridge Professor Barnard said: “ e trouble is that su er immediately”, he said, but Cambridge Student Assistants a lot of these programmes are connected raised concerns that damage would be An opportunity to work for the University’s with having free movement.” ❝ done throughout the UK’s higher educa- Professor Evan, meanwhile, has “no tion sector, eventually harming every world-renowned International Summer Programmes. con dence whatsoever in the fact the I think the institution. British government will make up the “ is is my greatest fear – compla- Rewarding customer-facing work assisting academics money.” greatest cency.” He is concerned that the UK govern- concern to However, both Professor Tombs and and adult students from over 60 countries. ment will focus on “worth-generating Professor Hanka emphasised the demo- projects”, and that it will not properly the Univer- cratic e ects of Brexit. understand the nature of innovative Professor Hanka remarked that, even • 5 - 7 weeks’ employment, starting 2 July 2019 research. sity is the if the UK leaves the EU, “we can par- “Most people out there who don’t do future im- ticipate in EU programmes [and] mutual • Includes four days of training research think it’s a process rather than academic exchanges without surrender- a discovery... Discovery is not something migration ing sovereignty or accepting destructive • 36.5 hour working week on a rota basis that our political masters like because policy conditions.” • Free single-room College accommodation it’s not predictable and it relies on smart “We should not primarily be ap- people doing weird stu and support- ❞ proaching this issue in terms of par- • Up to four free College dinners each week ing them.” ticular interests,” said Professor Tombs “Cambridge should be a bastion of a when asked about the positive e ects of • Valuable transferable skills to enhance your CV place where smart people are supported Brexit on higher education, “but in terms to do weird out-of-the-box stu … and of the general welfare of democracy and I think if that dies, then we’ll lose our society, both in Britain and in other parts For details, including how to apply, email: edge as the pre-eminent university in of Europe.” the world.” Dr Bateman was, however, more pes- [email protected] (closing date 25 February) Dr Bateman – an Economics Fellow at simistic: “What society has upped the Gonville and Caius, who has frequently volume on anti-immigration rhetoric – as criticised Brexit, most recently in a talk well as leaving the most basic freedoms delivered on Monday entitled ‘Brexit: of millions hanging in the balance and the Naked Truth’ – said that the possi- – gone on to be a happy and successful ble e ects of Brexit on research go way one? I can’t think of one.” beyond funding. “Collaboration across Explaining his view on Brexit, Profes- borders is central to Europe’s ability to sor Geo rey Smith, Head of the Depart- 8 Friday 18th January 2019 News ANALYSIS Cambridge and the national media: an uneasy relationship

mals for calming purposes is common ment received death threats on social Elizabeth Haigh and Oliver Rhodes across universities, with puppy petting media, prompting the University to issue Deputy News Editors days available in many UK universities. a statement on Twitter: “We understand However, certain media outlets chose issues like these provoke strong views Cambridge’s place in the national imagi- this speciic case to discuss their per- but we condemn the extreme online nation has often put the University under ception of societal ills and ‘snowlake’ abuse of our students.” the spotlight of the national media. In culture, perhaps capitalising on the Cam- hen in december, hundreds of aca- the past year, students and academics at bridge name to add weight. Perhaps it demics and students signed an open let- Cambridge have found themselves at the was also to heighten outrage due to the ter calling for an investigation into the centre of some of Britain’s most divisive stereotypical perception of Oxbridge appointment of Noah Carl, a research fel- national debates, exposing sharp fault as a serious place, which has produced low at St. Edmund’s with a background lines in our national conversation. disproportionately many of inluential in eugenics work. At the time, Varsity Oxbridge access investigations and igures in our society, past and present, reported that students at Eddie’s had commentaries frequently feature in the ranging from government igures to cor- raised concerns at Carl’s research inter- pages of the UK’s newspapers, often used porate magnates. ests, including his attendance at the Lon- in general commentaries on social mo- National press coverage of Cambridge don Conference on Intelligence, which bility, or the lack thereof, and elitism is not always, however, so seemingly has previously hosted academics associ- throughout the country. he past year, frivolous. he handling of certain inci- ated with discredited “race-science”. as always, has seen many varied pieces dents by the national press has led to National coverage of the story landed revealing diferent statistics about the targeted harassment of students. the University in the centre of a debate state of access to the University, almost In October, students attracted me- over academic free speech which has always providing further evidence to dia attention when CUSU Council re- gripped commentators on both sides of support the same conclusion: Oxbridge, jected a proposal to actively support the Atlantic. Although some news outlets despite the eforts of the universities the commemoration of Remembrance supported the open letter, many right- and their students, continues to be un- day. he original motion, proposed and wing publications used the situation to representative of society at large, with seconded by members of CUCA, sought fuel their narrative. disproportionately high numbers of stu- ❝ made the national headlines. In Easter ▲ Cambridge to commemorate British war veterans, Frequently, debates within the Uni- dents from aluent backgrounds and term, Lucy Cavendish College obtained has appeared but some members of the student union versity have been spun into incidents of independent schools. Debates guinea pigs to help ease its students frequently in desired a more internationally-oriented national, and even international, signii- he access conversation is often rather within the stress levels during exam term. his be- national media proposal, amending the original motion cance, and have been employed by some narrow in its focus on Oxbridge, while University came the following headline in the Daily coverage (ROSIE to include “all those whose lives have commentators, often in the right-wing many other major universities across Mail: “Snowlake Students at Cambridge BRAdBURy) been afected by the war”. media, as emblematic of things they con- the UK continue to face similar issues. have been University are being given GUINEA PIGS Irresponsible journalism saw news- sider to be societal problems. Although the disproportionate inluence spun into to help ease their stress levels including papers distort the facts of the event in In an age of increasingly polarised Oxbridge graduates have been proven to three named after feminist icons”. order to provoke outrage, undermin- public discourse, exacerbated by the have on the country cannot be denied, incidents of Concerned by the apparently new ing student safety and even invading propensity of media, particularly online, considering the small proportion of the national, lows of moral dependency among mil- student privacy. he Daily Mail ran the to create echo chambers, Cambridge is total number of UK students that do in and even in- lennials, some readers expressed suit- headline: “Mayor slams Cambridge Uni- unlikely to cease to be examined and fact attend these universities, a broader able exasperation. “Frightening to think versity students after they turn down questioned by media any time soon. conversation is required. ternational that these snowlakes could be our next call to promote Remembrance day and Whether this examination will seek to While access remains a serious issue significance world leaders”, one commented, with to encourage people to buy poppies”. improve the accessibility of the Uni- for the University, often rightly called to another asking, “Where’s the calming he Times argued that Cambridge was versity, or rather simply to fuel certain attention by the national press, at times, ❞ goat? Seriously, how will these students “rejecting Remembrance day”. Students prejudices and stereotypes, remains to even the most innocuous of stories have get on in the real world?”. he use of ani- who supported the proposed amend- be seen.

University’s total carbon emissions Council, accepted recommendations to from energy and fuel use reached 74,489 change this goal to carbon neutrality by Cambridge lags tonnes in 2016/17, down from 80,788 in 2040. he Council also agreed last June 2014/15 and 77,586 in 2015/2016. 28% to establish a Centre for a Carbon Neu- he carbon emissions targets them- tral Future, to bring together strands of behind on original selves have also been criticised by CUSU research on sustainability taking place Ethical Afairs Oicers Jake Simms and Al- across the University, which a spokesper- ice Gilderdale as “inadequate and mislead- Diference son described as “promot[ing] a global ing”, as they exclude the carbon emissions between move to a carbon-neutral future”. carbon emission of individual colleges and other organisa- original carbon CUSU President Evie Aspinall criti- tions associated with the University, such emissions cised Cambridge’s target as “weak” in reduction target as Cambridge University Press. having too narrow a scope and lacking set in 2010, and he targets also only take into account coordination across colleges, arguing reduction targets Cambridge’s ‘Scope 1’ and ‘Scope 2’ emissions – di- the current goals “amount to a failure revised goal set rect emissions and those produced by in 2017 of leadership on the most pressing purchased electricity – and do not in- ethical issue of our time”. Simms and by 2050. In the University’s 2017 Environ- ❝ clude indirect ‘Scope 3’ emissions, such Gilderdale further demanded that “[t]he Katy Bennett mental Sustainability Report, it found as investments and staf travel. Scope University must commit to immediate Senior News Correspondent that emissions had in fact increased by [The targets] 3 emissions accounted for 28% of the radical action” on their carbon emissions 3% since 2005, and the ESSC’s original are University’s total energy use in 2016/17, reduction. he University of Cambridge is on track target of a 34% reduction by 2020/21 was inadequate and had increased by 37% compared to University Councillor Marcel Llavero to miss by a wide margin its original subsequently lowered to 6%. the previous year, though the University Pasquina argued, “Cambridge is part of ten-year environmental sustainability A Cambridge spokesperson said, and has noted Scope 3 emissions are diicult the social elite that has contributed most target set in 2010, of a 34% reduction in “experts have been working [on] how misleading to accurately measure, due to “a lack of to the problem, [and] it is now our duty its carbon emissions by 2020/21 against we can bring the University’s target robust data”. to show respect and pay our debts to a baseline year of 2005/06. date for carbon neutrality forward by a ❞ he University’s 2017 report also noted the people most impacted by climate Ahead of a meeting of the University’s decade in recognition of these issues”, that the University’s water consumption injustice”, calling for the University to Environmental Sustainability Strategy to be presented in a report to Council has increased 10.8% from 2005/06 and cut emissions to zero before 2030 and Committee (ESSC) set to take place lat- later this year. hey described the origi- is expected to just exceed 2005 levels by divest from fossil fuels “within the next er this month, the CUSU Ethical Afairs nal targets set in 2010 as “arbitrary and 2020/21. he University’s waste has also 5 years”. A petition calling for Cambridge Campaign has criticised the signiicant unrealistic”, and that they are planning increased since its base year, due to high to bring its goal for carbon neutrality curbing of the University’s carbon emis- a move to science-based targets, which levels of construction waste. forward to 2030 has received over 240 sions reduction goals last year, and has are institutional targets recommended In the longer term, although the Uni- signatures, while CUSU Ethical Afairs called for Cambridge to set a goal of car- by an initiative led in part by the UN versity is currently committed to reach- campaign has said it plans to “build pres- bon neutrality by 2030 – the University is Global Compact. ing carbon neutrality by 2050, its execu- sure on the ESSC and University Council currently committed to carbon neutrality he 2017 report calculated that the tive decision-making body, University ahead of upcoming meetings”. F  18 J  2019 9 News Fitz barred intermitting student from JCR position

information, suggesting that the Col- or considered much, hence the surprise ▶ Continued from front page lege made “no e ort” to make this clear. and extreme reaction.” Furthermore, he noted that he was in Senior Tutor Paul Chirico, said: “Fit- and processes himself. He was unsure, fact permitted to vote in the same JCR zwilliam College values all students however, of the implications of his in- election that he stood in, and his vote equally, and works hard to provide sup- termission, but he and the then-JCR went towards the  nal result for those port before, during and ater a period of President checked the constitution of the elections: “My voting ability wasn’t chal- intermission.” Junior Member’s Association (JMA), the lenged in any way. Matt added that overruling of the elec- overall union representing the views of “It’s weird to deny someone a vote or a tion result was not student-led, and, in those in the College, of which the JCR is a position due to health reasons”, he added. his view, the negative reaction largely constituent association, and could  nd no  e Fitzwilliam College Junior Mem- came from a small group of fellows on regulation forbidding his candidacy. bers’ Association constitution, approved the College’s JMA. “ e student commu-  e former JCR President, whose role in 2013, states that “all junior members of nity at Fitz is a very friendly and support- was also up for election, then reached Fitzwilliam College in residence shall be ive one and [...] the problem lies with the out to the sta and fellows of the JMA deemed, on payment of the appropriate JMA, and the JMA alone,” he said. to con rm whether those in Matt’s situ- subscription, to be members of the Asso- Ellie Brain, the current Fitzwilliam ation are able to take up JCR positions. ciation”, rendering them entitled to use JCR President, reached out to CUSU  ey had, according to Matt, “a very its facilities and to vote in elections. for advice, remarking that both CUSU weirdly negative response to the whole Matt was, and is, in residence at the President Evie Aspinall and CUSU Disa- thing”, but did not make any  rm deci- College during the course of his inter- bled Students’ O cer Emrys Travis were sion, or update the students. mission, therefore the only apparent “very helpful” in attempting to challenge “ ey didn’t explicitly say to me that constitutional reason for a student in- the College’s ruling, but did not succeed I couldn’t stand,” Matt said, so in the end ❝ candidate, who has now taken up the ▲ Matt studies termitting under these circumstances in altering the decision. She said that he chose to run for the JCR position any- JCR position, is “great”, Matt was disap- HSPS at to be excluded from the JMA is this both sabbatical o cers and College JCR way, trusting the decision on whether Intermitting pointed to be denied a position to which Fitzwilliam unde ned “payment of the appropriate members “did everything they could”. to elect an intermitting student to the students he had been elected. College subscription”. Matt also emphasised that, despite voting members of the JCR. shouldn’t be Paul Chirico, Fitzwilliam’s Senior Tu- VIVIENNE HOPLEY “Intermitting students shouldn’t be this incident, Fitzwilliam, and speci - However, ater voting closed – with tor, told Varsity: “Intermitting students JONES silenced,” Matt said, suggesting that this cally the JCR Access Team, have been Matt’s winning vote count then visible silenced are not formally members of the JMA incident, and the JMA’s reasoning behind making wide reaching e orts to increase to all students of the College – the JCR ❞ (Junior Members’ Association) during it, amount to “disenfranchising a partic- access to the University. He remains un- President was prevented from announc- the period of their intermission, and so ular group of people”. He noted that his certain of why the College seemed so ing him as Male Welfare O cer, despite are not eligible to vote in elections or situation – intermitting while living in opposed to his decision to stand for elec- his majority in the election. “I won the hold committee positions.” college – is unusual and, speaking about tion, but remarked: “I do feel that at least vote, but they overruled it”, said Matt. Matt, however, con rmed that he the JMA’s reaction, said: “It’s obviously part of it was a wish to not publicise or Although he noted that the other was not, at any stage, informed of this not something they’ve thought about encourage intermitting.” 10 Friday 18th January 2019 FEATURESNews A government- comissioned review is considering tuition fee changes. Here’s what that could mean.

sive teaching, which compared to sci- Rosie Bradbury ence subjects, generally use less equip- Associate Editor ment and have fewer teaching hours. Opponents to the system, however, Recent leaks have revealed that a govern- foresee arts and humanities degrees ment-commissioned review is consider- struggling to retain funding, and argue ing plans for a tiered system of tuition that the plan could be socially exclusion- fee rates, in what is said would cast a aryregressive: that higher tuition for sci- blow to budget sheets for universities ences could drive poorer students away across the country. from medicine and sciences. he review he Augar review, commissioned last is also rumoured as having plans to pre- year by Prime Minister heresa May and vent students who get fewer than three led by inancial services expert Philip Ds at A-level from qualifying for student Augar, is expected to publish its recom- loans, which has raised similar concerns ▲ Cambridge a worsened quality of education, cuts to statements, which noted that expected mendations for the sector next month. of limiting social mobility. graduates in the funding of mental health support serv- income gains in tuition fees from greater It remains unclear, however, whether CUSU Education Oicer Matt Kite has procession to ices, and a narrower range of subject postgraduate numbers may be “some- the review will translate into concrete criticised a perspective with which the Senate House choice at some universities. what ofset by... the awaited outcome of government policy, given present uncer- review was commissioned, describing (lOUIS AShWORth) One Russell Group vice-chancellor the government’s post-18 review”. tainty around Brexit and current political ❝ a “relentless focus on student choice, indicated that university administra- priorities. as consumers in a market”, arguing that tors would need to “make some tough Where do EU students it in? A relent- the ‘value for money’ priority is “often decisions” on teaching certain subjects, he UK government already announced What is the review rumoured framed in very reductive economic where enrolment numbers would need last July that EU students beginning their to propose? less focus ways”. to increase on the courses “to make them course in 2019 will pay equivalent fees Included in the review are rumoured viable”. as UK students for the duration of their plans to cut tuition fees for arts and hu- on student How have universities he future of certain humanities degree. however, no long term decision manities subjects to £6,500 and raise choice, as responded so far? courses has already come under ques- on tuition fees for EU students after 2019 science and engineering fees to up to he rumoured tuition fee cuts have al- tion at some universities in the UK, while has been decided. £13,500 for UK students, in a tiered sys- consumers ready witnessed apprehensive responses some have warned of future job cuts as a In Cambridge’s 2016-2017 Big Cam- tem where students studying subjects in a market from senior university igures, amid fears result of worsening budget deicits, due bridge Survey, 39% of EU students agreed perceived as yielding higher earnings that the lowering of the current £9,250 in part to lowered tuition fees, uncertain- with the statement, “without inancial would be charged higher rates. ❞ tuition fee cap may not be made up for ty over the Brexit outcome, and lower support I could not aford to continue Proponents of a tiered system argue by the UK government. Speaking to forecasts for student recruitment. with my studies”. that the lower tuition rates for arts and he Guardian, several vice-chancellors Potential outcomes of the review And in 2017, Cambridge saw its irst humanities degrees would correspond warned that a lowering of institutions’ was also listed as a future “risk area” drop in applicants from the EU since the with subjects which require less expen- fee incomes could leave students with in Cambridge’s most recent inancial 2011 tuition fee hike. Minimum access spending requirement removed by Oice for Students OfS, told Varsity that OfS is still expecting ❝ far out of line with those it should rep- Charlotte Lillywhite universities to spend money on improv- resent.” Senior News Correspondent ing access, and to invest enough to show The OfS Amatey Doku, former CUSU President that their plans are credible. and now Vice-President for higher Edu- he Oice for Students (OfS), the inde- Chris Millward, Director for Fair Ac- has no real cation at the NUS supported the move, pendent regulator of higher education cess and Participation at the OfS, said in a engage- said “we do not believe that requiring a in England, announced in early January press statement that their new approach minimum level of spend would neces- a decision to scrap its minimum spend “reduces red tape for universities that are ment with sarily be the best way of achieving sig- rule for higher education access. he rule doing well in improving access and par- the student niicant progress in closing access gaps”. required higher education institutions ticipation”, but OfS “will not hesitate to he furthered that the best way to ensure with tuition fees above £6,000 to create intervene” where they see “low ambition, body, espe- programmes are impactful is through “an an access agreement with the former slow progress, or poor practice”. evidenced-based, collaborative approach Oice for Fair Access (Ofa), to provide In response to this decision, CUSU Ac- cially with with students”, though he agreed that support for students from under-repre- cess and Funding Oicer Shadab Ahmed those in it is “unlikely” that persistent gaps for sented or disadvantaged groups. From told Varsity that with the Augar review, disadvantaged students can be closed 2019-20, colleges and universities will no it will “nearing impossible” to predict most need “without signiicant investment”. longer have to dedicate a set amount of access eforts as funding structures may of it On the point of student engagement, money from this tuition fee income to “change radically as a result of the in- Keogh pointed out that the proposal support such groups. vestigation”. he added that the removal ❞ went through their student panel and he report said: “We will not set a of minimum spend will be “incredibly board, which included a student rep- minimum expected level of expenditure. harmful”, as money is vital in outreach resentative, and a public consultation Our focus will be on the outcomes that work and supporting students whilst at exercise. providers achieve and the level of ambi- university, and growth is already slow. She assured that OfS’ priority will be tion they set, rather than inputs in the “he OfS has no real engagement with to “ensure fair access to higher educa- form of investment.” ▲ Amatey Doku, the 2016/2017 CUSU president, is NUS the student body, especially with those tion for students from all backgrounds” Aislinn Keogh, Senior Press Oicer of vice-president for higher education (lOUIS AShWORth) in most need of it, and its decisions are in face of the Augar review. Friday 18th January 2019 11 News

“It is always a diicult choice to with- issues to be taken seriously”, he argued draw one’s labour and disrupt one’s stu- that “we have no alternative but to ballot UCU dents’ studies”, said James, who is also a our members”. J.H. Plumb College Lecturer at Christ’s, Last year’s staf strikes saw 40,000 “but the driving down of working con- members of staf across 64 higher educa- ditions for those who make university tion institutions go on strike for 14 days, members education possible presents a deeper beginning in February to combat what threat to students’ long-term welfare was perceived as an assault on academic and educational prospects.” He added pensions. balloted for that “it is a threat that staf have a duty Over the course of the strike dispute as well as a right to resist.” during Lent term, the membership of UCU wrote to vice-chancellors and the Cambridge branch grew from 900 principals in July requesting their inter- to almost 1,700, according to Cambridge strike action vention in the annual negotiations, call- UCU. ing on the UCEA to return with an ofer At the end of November, Cambridge that better relected UCU demands. declared its support for universities tak- over pay and UCU head of policy Mark Wadup said ing on higher levels of risk in the national that “universities have failed to engage staf pensions scheme, endorsing recom- with us in these negotiations”. Empha- mendations made by the Joint Expert conditions sising how “staf want these important ▲ Last year’s strikes saw several rallies (LOUIS ASHWOrtH) Panel set up in the wake of the strikes.

Kyoka Hadano Senior News Correspondent he national University and College Union (UCU) announced on Friday that 70,000 of its members across 143 UK uni- versities are being balloted for strike ac- tion, which will see increased campaign- ing among Cambridge UCU members for a new wave of staf strikes. he dispute rests on issues of staf pay, gender pay gap, increasing casualisation of employment in higher education and unsustainable workload demands. An- nual pay negotiations between employ- ers and employees last May resulted in a 2% pay rise ofered by the Universi- ties and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). UCU argues that this ofer fails to address the falling value of staf pay in higher education, which has declined in real terms by 21% since 2009. hey demand a revised pay ofer, as well as guarantees of tackling the gender pay gap, insecure contracts and excessive workloads. he previous ballot last October con- cluded with insuicient turnout lead- ing to no actual strikes taking place. In Cambridge speciically, turnout fell short of the threshold by 26 votes, although 79.6% of those who voted supported ❝ industrial action. Nonetheless, last October saw the It is always highest turnout in UCU history for a national pay ballot. a difficult Dr Sam James, Cambridge UCU presi- dent, locates last October’s turnout issue choice to alongside unhelpful timing. He noted withdraw that ballots arrived outside of term, at a time when many staf were away, with one’s labour the short window for efective organis- and disrupt ing at the start of the academic year co- inciding with the time when they were one’s Where are solutions at their busiest. studies James is optimistic about this term’s before they’re found? ballot: “We believe it will be possible in ❞ this ballot to replicate the result achieved in October while increasing turnout suf- Welcome to the home of the curious. iciently to meet the 50% threshold”. A place for those who know that imagination, “We are optimistic that a more ex- ingenuity and solution fi nding are what tended campaign, in term, to get the humans are made of. We off er life-changing vote out between now and the closure of careers and professional qualifi cations, the ballot on February 22nd will ensure across all industries, to those who are true that this time it is how UCU members to themselves. Those who set no limits to vote, and not merely whether enough of them vote, that will determine the their dreams and ambitions. outcome.” James continued that Cambridge deloitte.co.uk/careersExplore our opportunities in Cambridge UCU seeks to improve turnout by run- What impact will you make? ning an active campaign over the next deloitte.co.uk/careers ive weeks, with collaboration between What impact will you make? members to ensure that all are duly in- formed of both the ballot itself and the issues at stake. Features12 Friday 18th January 2019

Conversations with college bedders

by no means were they all were happy Corpus Christi to guess what percent- along the lines of ‘posh pissheads’. And Louis van-Boxel- about it. Cleaning comes under the job age of students across the university disappointing news for CUSU and CULC: description, but they told me that bed- knew their bedders’ names, and they not a single bedder I spoke to had heard Woolf inds out ders soon learn to monitor students’ responded: “30%, which is sad really”. ❝ of the student-led campaign to force the more about what health, with self-harm and alcohol is- Others I asked went as low as ten. Ri- Everyone University and all its colleges to pay the sues mentioned fairly frequently. Almost chard, the student I spoke to at Christ’s, mentioned living wage. Money was a very big is- all the bedders I spoke to said they were was more optimistic, saying half. Even sue amongst all the bedders contacted. it’s like to work as happy to look out for students, but the this, however, was lower than any of the how much here is considerable variation across a bedder point raised by Nadine at Emmanuel – bedders’ answers to the same question. kind notes, the colleges in terms of workload and “it’s not a bedder’s job” – is surely under- Still, many bedders said they think that Christmas pay. An Emmanuel bedder told me she Content Note: this article contains men- standable. Certain warning signs can be they are often overlooked. Suzy put this is now paid £10 extra for cleaning up tion of self-harm unpleasant to say the least: Leona at St down to a “stigma attached to clean- gifts and vomit, when Homerton had paid £50. eing a surrogate mum to the Catharine’s said the most obvious was ing”. Nadine was blunter: “some students simply chat- But living in Cambridge is so expensive politicians of the future sounds a lot of blood in the bathroom. look down on you”. Jill suggested that ting with that Leona, a migrant worker, told me like an odd job. But that’s how A spokesperson for St Catharine’s Emmanuel students might organise a that she was in fact worse of here than BAmy*, an experienced bedder College told Varsity:“We know what an Christmas party or something similar students she had been at home. With generous at Christ’s, describes her work. he oth- important role our cleaning and main- to show their appreciation. brightened travel grants and scholarships generally er students and bedders that I spoke to tenance staf play in the welfare of our So, surrogate mums and their kids up their day available for students, it’s easy to see often seem to agree. Richard, studying students.” hey recognised that “because have their problems. And we are, by the why Jill told me that colleges ‘invest in physics at the same college, describes their jobs mean they have to enter our way, talking about mums. Male bedders ❞ the wrong things’. his bedder as “a second parent”. His students’ rooms, these members of staf were almost unheard of at Emmanuel In many ways, the experience of bed- bedder, Suzy, broadens out the picture can be the ones to notice signs of dis- ❝ and rare everywhere else. One problem ders parallels that of academics who are from politicians. She recognises former tress”, noting that “when appropriate, is the name ‘bedder’. Bedders at Corpus living through the ongoing marketisation medics now working at Addenbrooke’s our staf refer concerns about individual hey come Christi alone explained that it was part of higher education. here is a consen- Hospital and keeps in touch with a stu- students to the College Nurse, Tutors closer of “tradition and college life” and left it at sus that work has been getting steadily dent from years back who is currently and Senior Tutor” and that the College than any that, but most wanted it changed, seeing more intense. Increasingly, the end of living in South Africa. She inds her work “ensure that appropriate support and the name as old-fashioned and patronis- term means the start of harder work, as “quite rewarding”, saying that students training is ofered to members of staf supervisor ing. Betty, an old-timer at Emmanuel, most students leave their colleges and are “a breath of fresh air” who keep her who deal with these situations.” ❞ said, half-jokingly, that people at irst paying guests come in. But the work is by “young at heart”. Emmanuel College did not respond to take her for a call girl when she says she’s no means bad. Every bedder I spoke to Not that being a second mum is al- Varsity’s request for comment. a bedder. Cue repeated reminders that much preferred working with students ways easy, or at all wanted. Jill, at Em- Bedders are, in one sense, close to bedders don’t actually make beds. than with conference guests, and every- manuel, recalls an engineer who always students. hey come closer than any Class, always an issue at Cambridge, one mentioned how much kind notes, left the kitchen in an extremely untidy supervisor by seeing the inside of our is a factor. I asked bedders how they Christmas gifts and simply chatting with state. She says she told him that cleaning rooms, the contents of our rubbish bins would describe Cambridge students. students brightened up their day. “On a it felt like building a machine only to see and sometimes even our half-naked bod- Most explained that students were stu- personal level, you see them everyday”, someone else smash it up. And though ies if we’re still in bed or on the way to dents wherever they went to university, ▲Illustration by said Suzy. “I miss them when they go.” many bedders I spoke to described them- the shower. But in another sense they mostly respectful, quite industrious and Emily Whitting- *he names of the people who spoke to selves as a surrogate mum of some sort, are quite distant. I asked a student at often fond of drinking. Some responded ham for Varsity Varsity have been changed. Friday 18th January 2019 13 Exploring freedom through clothing and culture Khadija Tahir discusses her changing views of freedom, moving from Pakistan to Cambridge

aving just turned eighteen, I spent an afternoon at one of the markets in Lahore called H‘Liberty Market’. hat day, I realised the irony of circumstances I was faced with. ▶ Markets in La- he environment of ‘Liberty Market’ hore, similiar to completely opposed what its name im- ‘Liberty Market’, plied; it wasn’t a space of freedom or photographed by liberty at all. Rather, it was a place where the writer’s friend women’s ‘liberty’ consisted only of their (AEMAN KHAN) bargaining power and shopping bags. Covered with my dupatta and ‘mod- I was inally able to wear my skirts and estly dressed’, I tried my best to avoid shorts without fear of judgement, my the stares of men working in the ban- reservations came in other forms and gle stalls. It was, and always had been, from other places. my own responsibility to protect myself It became clear that my struggles from the judgemental, intrusive looks I’d took a diferent form when I had to re- receive if I was in clothes that weren’t strict myself in many other ways. Being socially acceptable. asked questions about terrorists caught his led me to spiral into a state of in Pakistan encouraged me to dissoci- self-pity, imprisoned in yards of cloth ate myself from my country, and my- that made me feel as though my libera- self, even further. I feared scaring other tion was solely attached to what I wore. people. With these many reservations I felt as though once I could wear shorts, and hesitations in mind, I began to ilter skirts and dresses, I’d be completely what I said, trying not to voice my own ‘free’ and ‘empowered’. isolation to make sure I didn’t exhaust My medium of self-expression – or at ❝ the company of my new friends. least that’s what I labelled my clothes at hus, the battle of self-expression the time – was being restricted not by the I began to continued, and it was only by constantly religious associations of the state, but by confront the reminding myself of the rights and the the distorted version of Islam propagated absence of freedom I deserved that I begun to feel by various fundamentalist groups. hey comfortable discussing my own per- had made the poorly educated major- freedom I sonal experiences. ity believe that the way to get closer to felt abroad Pakistan deinitely had a long way God was through extreme social segre- as well to go in terms of female empowerment, gation: men and women weren’t meant independence and liberty, and was not to interact, and shouldn’t unless they ❞ the only country struggling to give its were family. residents all that they desired. But in Confusingly, Pakistani society also England, I felt the same as I did in Pa- idolised the West and Western culture. kistan: uncomfortable with who I am. Hollywood, fair-skinned models, and Not being able to freely express my opin- even the English language dominated ions, and forcing myself to ignore the the country, constantly clashing with micro-aggression and the isolation that  the ‘religious’ morals and views irmly comes with being a brown girl was an held by those very citizens. herefore, indication that the clothes on my body  it was no surprise that my idea of free- changed very little for me. dom was muddled with Western ideas of With time, courage and a reassurance  freedom, communicated to me through that those who truly mattered would the remnants of colonialism and their try to understand the diiculties of a  monopoly over media, art, literature and Pakistani girl living in England, I began education. to confront the absence of freedom I It was only by coming to Cambridge, a felt abroad as well. It made me realise  place where I was able to wear whatever that societies were built upon commo- I pleased, that I inally dissociated my nalities and in turn, isolated those who  self-expression from the length of my weren’t able to conform. It took some skirt. My ability to inally ‘express my- relection to realise that the shorts and  self ’ upon leaving Pakistan, surprisingly, skirts I had been waging my own per- did not allow me to escape from social sonal war for wasn’t truly ‘freedom’, but restrictions. Being Pakistani and trying merely an idea of what freedom should  to be secure in my nationality meant that be propagated by the west, conveniently my means of expression were never go- forgetting the social, religious and cul- ing to be the same as most of my peers. tural diferences of the many who had  I cared about things that had directly partitioned from their rule. afected me or my country, which were With my blurry vision of Western  diferent from the problems discussed freedom cleared up, it became clear to  in Cambridge, and thus, my self-expres- me that within each and every society, sion, fuelled by my unique experiences, social conventions may always clash was also going to be diferent. Although with what we believe is ‘our freedom’. 14 F  18 J  2019 FeaturesFEATURES Rejection from Oxbridge only makes you stronger

As prospective Oxbridge students open their decision letters this week, Natasha Schmittzehe suggests that rejection can be an opportunity to grow

ll of us probably remember the exact time, location and surge of emotions as we opened that Aletter, that email, or UCAS Track and found out the news that for some of us proved life-changing: the of- fer and acceptance to the University of ❝ Cambridge. Yet for a signi cant number of us, this had not been a fairy-tale proc- Although ess, an easy success story. Rather, it had some do been the triumph of a second shot, a win apply to ater having felt defeated the rst time around. Not only am I both an Oxford Oxbridge reject and a Cambridge student, I would on a whim, go so far as to say that being rejected by for me, like Oxford was what made me a successful Cambridge applicant – and more impor- many oth- tantly, a happier one. ers, it was Although some do apply to Oxbridge a romantic on a whim, for me, like many others, it was a romantic dream I had set my heart dream on years ago. When you’re 5 years old, ❞ you hope to one day become a superhero, yet all I desperately wanted was to one day reach the dizzy heights of Oxford. I realise now how ludicrous this really was – yet growing up in a household where my father, grandfather and uncle all bore the title of ‘Oxford undergraduates’ and then going to a highly-academic, pushy all-girls school, it was the cultural norm to pursue the ideal of being a gowned scholar studying a subject you pretend to love far more than you actually do. Coming from a bubble where Ox- bridge is a ‘normal goal’ to aspire to is an exceedingly privileged position to be in, yet on my mother’s side of the family I faced a di erent sort of pressure. With my grandfather having grown up in the slums in India and my grandmother hav- inconsequential, but it made me feel like ▲ Natasha poses Having placed Oxford on a pedestal, process with a far healthier mindset. If ing gone to work at 14 in a biscuit fac- an absolute failure. on the steps of the my 17-year-old, angst-ridden self was I didn’t get into Cambridge, I had the tory, Oxbridge was a big deal to them. I Was I now worthless? Were those who Oxford College she expecting a godlike, formidable inter- security and con dence in myself to be- wanted to make them proud. Oxbridge had been admitted better human beings will apply to 10 viewer. And yet in trying to be liked, I lieve that it would be no indication of my was therefore synonymous with per- ❝ than me? years later NATA completely broke down. With his refusal worth and I would still have something sonal success right from the start. Of Facing an Oxford rejection was a SHA SCHMITTZEHE to shake my hand and his pointed state- meaningful to o er. Ater all, the appli- course, I was clueless at the time, but a You will feel cold slap in the face but ultimately, a ment, “I think people like you tend to cation process is a lottery and I knew I photo of me taken at 7 years old, pulling less bitter much-needed reality check. By forc- overanalyse literature”, I felt complete- would be content going someplace else. a face on an Oxford college’s steps, would ing myself to come to terms with that ly powerless and confused. What had In a similar vein, I now feel like whatever turn out to be the same college I would and more deeply uncomfortable feeling of rejec- I done wrong to turn him against me? life throws at me or when I doubt myself, apply to 10 years later. grateful for tion, I was put in a position where I had Except I had done nothing wrong – I just I am well acquainted with that feeling  e expectation of being ‘Oxbridge the lessons to re-evaluate what my priorities were hadn’t yet learnt that, like everyone else, of rejection such that the worst possible material’ and then being rejected is a and how I de ned being accomplished prestigious professors are  awed, biased outcome doesn’t feel scary anymore. common experience. Having always felt you have and ful lled. human beings too and that, despite one’s For anyone reading this facing any like a bit of an outsider, the ‘swotty one’ learnt Would going to a place where profes- best e orts, you just can’t make every- form of rejection – you may think that who only gained approbation from those ❞ sors dedicated their time to burrowing one like you. you have lost something, but in fact you around me for my exam results, Oxbridge away reading dusty books really make I can now see that rejection from are in the process of gaining far more. felt like the way in which I would nally me a happier, more ful lled person? Was Oxford for what it was: a painful but And I promise you will look back on be- gain the respect and validation I craved it worth striving for academic success at necessary opportunity for growth and ing rejected and you will feel less bitter from others. Not getting into Oxford was the expense of my own mental health self-con dence. With a newfound self- and more grateful for the lessons you something that in the grand scheme of and making meaningful human con- assurance, positivity and rationality, I have learnt and the more empowered life and all its knocks should have been nections? approached the Cambridge application person you have become. F  18 J  2019 15 FEATURES Features A man with(out) a graduation plan

choice. Cool. what I (roughly) wanted to do for the hamster wheel-y in a company which Recent Cambridge graduate Truth be told, I chose to walk down next three years. I would work in jobs thinks scummily of those folks who don’t King’s Parade on what my grandma which were personally and profession- have time to  ll in an application until Mark Robinson o ers termed “cap and gown day” with little ally valuable. And I would travel. June. e smaller the  rm, the more real in the way of a plan. e big takeaways e Milk Round threatened to stymie responsibility you get assigned. some reassuring advice for from my stint as an internship applicant my approach. is excellent piece of so- So if you’re even vaguely thinking in  nancial services were that apply- cial engineering posits that most of the about taking a gap year for even vaguely  nalists, speaking from ing for jobs takes a long time. Preparing major employers a white collar Cantab the same reasons as me, here’s my ad- for interviews takes a long time. Sitting ❝ might aim to impress conclude their ap- vice: neglect the Milk Round. Not be- beyond the bubble assessment centres takes a very. Long. plication processes by February. cause I want you to fail, but because I Time. Plus, eight-week stretches of in- I needed Finding the self-restraint to resist this know your timetable. You have disserta- aybe it’s the rose-tinted tense term-time fed my personal di cul- space to temptation required an uneasy psycho- tion proposals to prepare, coursework to specs that come with be- ties and encouraged their neglection. I reflect, plan logical adjustment. I’d once told myself plan out, and all of that alongside your ing half a year on the other had work to do, and an impression that and think. ‘you will be a City boy,’ and ignoring regular supervision work. If you’re des- Mside of graduation, but I my functional time was too precious to these overtures from big business meant perate to bag that three year training think fondly of my time in Cambridge. waste on applying to employers whose So I kicked turning away from that clear-cut path. contract, miscellaneous GigantaCorps I remember sun-drenched brunches in company websites don’t even tell you the can With hindsight, I’m still glad that I only stand a good chance of being around the college courtyard, thinking Formal what your day-to-day work involves. I panic-applied to one grad scheme and next September. Logic was God’s git to Undergrads, and needed space to re ect, plan and think. down the didn’t qualify for the lack of a full UK e chance to milk the last out of a supercut of everyone who weathered So I kicked the can down the road. road. Driver’s License - I didn’t have to extend this Bubble World we live in will not. In it alongside me. e scales fall from my Add that I’d always wanted to travel. ❞ a single essay deadline for the sake of the purgatorial No Man’s Land between eyes as we pan to  nalist Mark submit- Not in the ‘I want to wear baggy hand- an interview. watching your last May Week sunrise ting his coursework at the end of Lent. woven elephant-print trousers and med- See, as a student intern at Gigan- and walking down the aisle of the Sen- 6am, eight cups of co ee (and one can itate in Bali’ kind of way (although I’d tAccounting Ltd (real name withheld), ate House, a brief look on CamCareers of cider) down, imploding. at wasn’t take being insu erable over being home I wasn’t exactly a human photocopier may reveal to you, as it did to me, that atypical for him. e ups and downs any day), so much as I wanted to chase but I did have to dig in hard to pick up the world doesn’t begin and end with were roughly 50/50. some interests. I’d been very fortunate any impactful work. A purely anecdotal businesses under the monikers of Bulge In most of those moments, gradua- to spend 5 weeks travelling by bus and rule of thumb is that Bracket or Magic Circle. tion was just an ominous glow in the train around Europe, and I missed hav- you’re likely You don’t need to do it all when distance. If you’re much like my friends, ing the privilege to spend my days hik- to feel a bit you’re still half a year away from get- it’s probably felt far away to you too. But ing through foreign mountain ranges on more ting started. this is the penultimate term for some of inadequate prior experience. I wanted to Make a plan. It’s okay if that plan is you. With each casual reminder that it’s do these things alone while vague and just three bullet points of your last time doing x, y and z in Cam- I was still at a stage in things that you want scribbled in a note- bridge, things start to get real. my life where I want- book. ey might not help you throw It’s hard to plan for. If you’ve man- ed to do those things together a deposit and a month’s rent in aged to get it sorted in a way that works alone. advance for SpareRoom.com, but they’ll for you, then my kudos. You might have You can probably give you a direction to go in. Graduation gone to a school which prepared you for see why I chose a Gap is the great leveller, coming for BNOCs, spring weeks, internships, and cushy Year ater I graduated. scholars and Turf gremlins alike. grad jobs in the City. Even then, things And it’s not entirely Most of us go through it, and most might not have worked out - you’ve true that I had no plan. of us are okay. changed a lot in the interceding time. For Two years of studying most of us, a lifetime of academic excel- Philosophy taught me lence builds up to a very similar climax. that if you stick to a Vacantly scanning CamCareers; living o ▼ Graduation day few guiding principles, Careers Fair merch; bending your degree or ‘cap and gown they will entail certain subject to align with the values day’CANTAB things. My Gap Year of your prospective Principles were these: employer of I would  gure out 16 Friday 18th January 2019 Opinion

Moments of peace are not moments wasted

While listening ver the last year, I have found friends who would notice my ‘peppery hints at a melody fragmented and the ▲ University can catching up on TV (though I do still feel to Peace Piece, that Cambridge has an inimi- disposition’ and coniscate my laptop. I harmonic decisions somewhat ‘colour- feel intense, but somewhat guilty about Made In Chelsea). Oliver Moodie table ability to make me feel would begrudgingly ‘sacriice’ work to ful’ (fortunately, jazz is very forgiving you must allow hese aren’t hours wasted – these are the relects on how guilty for not doing work. catch up on Made In Chelsea or spend an in this respect) and yet somehow - it yourself time of invaluable moments of calm, brimming O (LOuIS AShWORTh) invaluable Why is that? Why won’t my brain allow evening enjoying the Footlights. works. he undulating Cmaj7 to G9sus4 with a peace of mind, that are so often respites are so me to savour the moments of downtime Despite institutional pressures borne, two chord progression has the uncanny overlooked in the context of prominent often taken with friends without worrying about it may be more useful to be introspective efect of incompleteness throughout; academic or social pressures. guiltily due to my essays? Why can’t I enjoy a simple about our relationship with productivity. even the inal resolution somehow feels So, there’s my observation on Bill the pressures of brunch with college-mates for too long, Years of conditioning by the education uninished – and this is why it works. Evan’s Peace Piece; a composition so Cambridge life for fear of the limited hours I have to in- system has driven us to always expect he piece isn’t trying to go anywhere – unencumbered by afectation and ex- ish my work? It becomes an issue when hard work to equate future happiness. it’s unfettered and nomadic. Imagine, if pectation that it can feel somewhat assignments that don’t even exist yet his lawed equation, coupled with you will, a sea voyage, but not one with anachronistic in our fast-paced lives. start popping into my head like a pre- quantitative evaluations at university, a ravenous hunger for the exploratory While I still maintain that time is the monition of the boulder of deadlines that may drive our obsequious nature to- unknown, rather a wide-eyed yearning most precious commodity, our leeting are to be hurled on my shoulders at the wards work. Media peer pressure is sadly for the immensity of the vast ield of stock of it should not be rationed so start of the new week. I feel my current an occupational hazard of our digitised azure itself. Peace Piece sees the journey stringently that we forget the intrinsic mindset is a product of my environment. society. Social media is but a blurb to not as a means to an end, rather, an end ❝ beauty of nature, and of friendships, Improving the situation could lie not just the novel of one’s life and while it’s easy in and of itself. and of simply being. In today’s society, in improving this environment, but also to verbally acknowledge the oversim- As a classical musician, ordinarily, I You can where social media lamboyance has improving how we perceive it and our pliication; truly accepting that all that would be searching for some deep ar- been accustomed to represent success, expectations of it. glitters is not gold is much more diicult, tistic meaning in every note. But when often feel success itself seems incompatible with Cambridge is hawkishly competitive and too often we ind ourselves compar- listening to this piece, I found myself pressured relaxation. Perhaps it’s time to consider at times. With many students admirably ing our lives to the façades presented entranced by its candour – its scattered, that, for the contentment it begets, the pursuing lofty heights in our society, you online. almost unpredictable twinkling treble to make time to relax is, incidentally, when you can often feel pressured to make every It was only after hearing Bill Evan’s accompanied by a steadfast, gentle every mil- feel you don’t have time for it most. he millisecond in Cambridge worthy of Tol- Peace Piece for the irst time one evening, buoyant bass. Instead of considering the intense academic nature of Cambridge is stoy’s quill. A useful analogy is that of the and being moved to relect on my at- 6minutes and 44 seconds I sacriiced to lisecond in unlikely to change any time soon, but if Red Queen hypothesis, which describes titude to time spent not working, that I listen to Peace Piece as wasted, I truly we can change our perspective of what a situation in which one feels they must truly learned to not just gratuitously take appreciated the piece for just being. Cambridge it means to have a fulilling life at uni- constantly grow and adapt just to keep breaks but appreciate the simplicity of his piece was a major catalyst in shift- worthy of versity as a student body – Cambridge up with the pace of Cambridge life. A feel- ephemeral respites that Cambridge af- ing my thinking away from assuming will be all the better for it. ing of ‘unproductivity’ develops when a forded, in whatever form they take. time not being productive is misspent. Tolstoy’s few hours are dedicated to cooking in Peace Piece is a pastoral jazz improvi- Instead, I now cherish every brief cor- quill (Accompanying piece: Bill Evans – Peace the gyp. I treated breaks as a weakness: sation based on a two chord ostinato (a ridor run-in with my latmates or walk Piece)

Oliver Moodie Oliver downtime was often forced on me by repeated motif). he phrasing is sparse, to lectures with friends or evening spent ❞ Friday 18th January 2019 17 Opinion Less meat in hall is just the start in shifting our dietary habits

Turning to a ow do you know if someone as a consequence of the meat and dairy future. A small step you may argue, but irony that someone who complains so meat-free diet is a vegan...? Don’t worry, industries. And yet while 83% of all farm- the impact produced will be far from much about ‘snowlakes’ is himself so is a simple they’ll let you know! Some- land is used for livestock, these foods small. outraged about the sale of a simple meat- positive change Htimes the old jokes aren’t the produce just 18% of worldwide calorie To make things easier, the university alternative (God forbid!), this ordeal is against climate best, but one thing I don’t ind amusing intake and 37% of protein intake. and college serveries are increasingly evidence of the continual pressure upon change at all is climate change. Yes, another self- he arguments for a plant-based diet making eforts to ditch the worst ofend- all individuals (vegan, vegetarian or oth- righteous plant-eater banging on about are steeped in scientiic evidence and ing foods, as a direct result of student de- erwise) to continue to eat meat. While climate change and animal welfare, reason. hey are undeniable, and freely mand. Leading the charge is Magdalene, it is clear that businesses are starting to that’s great. But, the fact is that though available. where just one portion of beef or lamb realise the proitability of plant-based di- the vegetarian movement is rapidly It is completely understandable to will be served once a week from the ets as a direct result of consumer power, growing, too few of us have truly con- have concerns about cutting out such a start of Lent Term. Magdalene’s cater- pressure on vegans remains. sidered the damage of meat consump- large part of one’s diet. But, going veg- ing manager, Vincent Howard, says that Anyone who has visited the Sidney tion on the planet. etarian should by no means be hard, this change is a direct result of students Street Sainsbury’s over the past few he evidence is pretty overwhelm- given just a bit of personal research and demanding action. months cannot fail to notice the bur- ing, and nearly ineluctable. Since few a genuine commitment. Elsewhere, in a move that has seen geoning section of plant-based alter- meat and dairy companies publish or For all those unconvinced, I barely noticeable success, some colleges and natives, an encouraging expansion of even bother to calculate their carbon ❝ noticed the change given the right in- non-college serveries now place meat- consumer choice. emissions, igures vary, but those that formation and a little added expense, to free options irst, giving priority to veg- Yet, back home, in my native Kent, it we have conclusively demonstrate their Apathy the point that I started to wonder why I etarian dishes. hese are small, almost is a very diferent story. he supermarket role in global warming. never did it earlier. Increasing numbers imperceptible changes, which grant a chain store in which I worked during the One recent study has predicted that towards of my friends who have also made the vegetarian diet the normalisation al- Christmas holiday has a meagre selection by 2050, these two industries will be re- vegetarian- change say the same thing. ready given to meat. In a sense, apathy of fewer than 15 products, hidden away sponsible for 81% of global emissions, But even if a vegetarian or vegan diet towards vegetarianism can be shifted at the end of the store’s meat aisle. while the global top ive meat and dairy ism can be isn’t for you, cutting down meat con- to an apathy towards meat, with only a Although we are moving in the right companies produce more annual green- sumption is a great start. few modiications. direction, we must ensure we continue house gas emissions than ExxonMobil, shifted to And in the setting of Cambridge, there Despite this, the pressure to eat meat on the right course – that is, removing Shell, or BP already. an apathy is plenty of opportunity, especially when is still more noticeable outside of more the remaining pressure on vegans and his doesn’t even touch upon the is- it is as simple as choosing the vegetarian progressive areas such as Cambridge. vegetarians to eat meat, and shifting the sue of how these industries contribute towards option at hall. Genuinely struck by the he recent controversy surrounding Piers media spotlight onto destructive habits to the destruction of worldwide natural meat facts (or maybe just to shut me up), three Morgan and Greggs’ new ‘vegan sausage concerning meat and dairy. habitats, for land to rear livestock. It is of my closest friends have pledged to cut roll’ is testament to the scale of the uphill Never has it been easier to make such

Owen Robinson estimated that 80% of deforestation is ❞ out all meat in hall for the foreseeable struggle in wider society. Besides the a positive change. How Cambridge’s bragging culture feeds into imposter syndrome he ‘humble t is no surprise that Cambridge stu- More frequently, I’ve seen students writing a lengthy dissertation, which can ❝ he more we engage with others in brag’ and dents are insecure, but in my time adopt the ‘humble brag’: a casual in- come to exacerbate any sense of fragility. social situations, where people tend to imposter as a postgraduate here, I have too sertion, tangentially connected to the he Graduate Union eforts to minimise A portion be more relaxed, the more likely this syndrome Ioften witnessed a style of showing conversation, and prefaced with a mi- stress and isolation, through free yoga of bragging cycle will break. College MCRs need to are linked, of, where people casually lob their ac- nor complaint, about how hot it was and ilm nights, are evidence of this. make every efort to create those casual especiallly complishments back and forth between Hong Kong last summer, which segues his is why those intimate moments students spaces in which it would be odd to set in the swigs of wine in a tiring game of conver- smoothly into a boast. Many don’t even in which people admit insecurity, over are simply about proving your intelligence, where postgraduate sational badminton. his phenomenon realise they do it. A portion of bragging a cofee or in the college bar, are so en- being accomplished is not important, world is symptomatic of “imposter syndrome”, students are simply privileged, but many dearing and important. If they happened privileged, and postgraduates aren’t hampered by particularly within the postgraduate are insecure. more often, we would waste less time the pressure to “get ahead”. It’s more im- community. Half of us grow quieter his happens among undergraduates and energy fabricating a perfectly ac- but many portant, in a social environment, that when insecure, while the other half and postgraduates alike, but where the complished self. he person who you feel are someone baked cookies for welfare tea grow louder, missing the line between latter are concerned, the situation is knows everything thinks that you do. he or voted for Borat on movie night. Other acknowledging one’s accomplishments diferent. By the time you’re doing an eye of the beholder is often faulty in this insecure students aren’t your competitors, but and boasting about them. MPhil or PhD, people have achieved a lot environment, where incredibly studious ❞ your allies, especially when you’ve spent hose who sufer most aren’t swag- more. hey’ve worked as research assist- people are tightly clustered. It’s easy to the day alone with your laptop. gering Etonians reclining on punts, but ants, done a few impressive internships, feel we’re falling short of the mark when So if you come across someone at- those most insecure about their calibre travelled a little further and are possibly we constantly witness diligence. tempting to bedazzle you with their in comparison with their peers. It perpet- after one of a scarce number of academic So where do we go from here? I speak summer internships and coursework uates a cycle wherein a subset of those positions you aim to secure. Essentially, to both subsets, braggarts and quiet folk averages, like a watch vendor lashing sufering imposter syndrome latch onto there’s more fodder, and confronted with alike. Find evidence that no one is truly the wares in his coat, take care not to bragging as a coping mechanism, sow- the fear of imminently free-falling into perfect and develop a quiet conidence let it chip away at your self-conidence. ing the seeds of imposter syndrome in an appalling job market, people are all in your own abilities. Reach out to that Importantly, it’s okay to walk away from others. In the end, you sufer from an the more insecure about their capabili- person you think is doing so well and a braggart if reaching out to them doesn’t inlated sense of someone else’s achieve- ties and whether or not they’ve done get to know them. See past their ideal- work. Your conidence is worth protect- ments at the expense of the worth of enough. Time, they feel, is running out. ised projection, if they let you. Break the ing and your own accomplishments your own. People exhaust themselves What’s the point of doing a UN intern- cycle. Remember that the best you can worth acknowledging. Bear in mind reciting hyperbolised feat after feat, ship now when so-and-so did it at 19, do in an environment of intelligent and Salvador Dali’s sobering, yet liberating, like a bard narrating an epic poem, and and is luent in French? Postgraduates accomplished people is to learn from quote: “Have no fear of perfection - you’ll listeners wonder how they could have are also less mollycoddled and more iso- them, as they learn from you, in whole- never reach it” - even if you are a post-

Karishma Patel Karishma done so little in comparison. lated, spending hours alone in the lab or some symbiosis. graduate student at Cambridge. 18 Friday 18th January 2019 Opinion Family presence is not always representative of parental love he assumption he beginning of a new term ❝ access. It’s no secret that, despite valu- Cambridge. In stark contrast, out of the and work lexibility needed to take the that family always sees Cambridge full of able eforts to make Cambridge a more oicial regions for admissions to the day to come to Cambridge. can visit at returning students unloading Neither diverse place, Cambridge students con- University, Scotland and Wales have Although distance and inances are Cambridge Teight weeks’ worth of belong- bank tinue to hail disproportionately from consistently low acceptance rates. critical factors when it comes to stu- ings from their parents’ cars. Full parking wealthy constituencies, largely in the Another dimension to this issue, un- dents’ relationships with their families, is also spaces, inundated, porters and college balance nor south of the UK. surprisingly, is money. he lack of inan- these are by no means all-encompassing. symptomatic of hallways bustling with parents and sib- Undergraduate admissions statistics cial diversity amongst students can be Students’ home situations span from access issues lings lugging suitcases mark the start of postcode from 2016 revealed that a quarter of the seen to intersect with the apparent lack domestic students who are estranged Lent Term. should be incoming year of students came from of regional diversity in Cambridge. he or homeless to international students It’s easy to forget that not everyone Greater London, and over a ifth from assumption that parents have the inan- whose families cannot feasibly pop back has families who can aford the money or any sort of South East England – making them the cial lexibility to drive to and from Cam- and forth each term. hese examples the time that a visit to Cambridge takes. two most successful of England’s nine bridge highlights the lack of diversity in only scratch the surface of the variety Reaching the halfway point in my de- a measure oicial regions for admissions to the economic backgrounds at Cambridge. of students's home situations. Failing gree has made me acutely aware that of familial University. he geographical proximity Another Varsity investigation in 2018 to recognise the diversity of students’ parental love is often assumed to take of these constituencies, in conjunction stated that “according to the most recent experiences in this way serves only to very speciic forms at university. his love with their comparative wealth, means data from the Student Loans Company, make university tougher for students assumption can be toxic for students ❞ parents of students from these areas are 93.4% of all English-domiciled univer- who perhaps feel that they don’t it whose parents or guardians - for what- more likely to be able to come to Cam- sity students received student loans, the ‘Cambridge’ archetype of having a ever reason - can’t or don’t support them bridge with relative ease. which is signiicantly greater than the wealthy and loving family a few hours’ by regularly coming to Cambridge. Ox- A day trip to Cambridge from these 83.0% of home students on a loan at drive away. bridge’s college system, which for many areas is more feasible than a visit from Cambridge.” Let’s stop assuming parental love students entails a termly room contract, areas of the UK which can take a day- he considerably high number of takes the form of regular presence in exacerbates these emotions at the start long drive and a night’s accommodation. Cambridge students who don’t take out Cambridge. As the new year brings and end of each term for those whose A 2018 Varsity investigation revealed that student loans compared to their peers discussions regarding access, imposter families aren’t there to help them shuttle of the schools with the highest number at other universities is demonstrative syndrome, and inequalities amongst stu- their belongings to and fro'. of acceptances to Oxbridge in the last of the inancial situations of their fami- dents, keep in mind that neither bank his attitude exposes one of the great- ten years, the top four are all within a lies and afects whether their parents or balance nor postcode should be any sort

Belle George Belle est “invisible” issues: post-admissions two hours’ drive from both Oxford and guardians have the disposable income of a measure of familial love.

Seater Single Deckers Up to Seater Doub Up to 61

84 le Deckers 32

for 32 years.

Email: [email protected] vulture

▶ LIFESTYLE CatChing sunsets∙ 21 ▶ THEATRE sYsteMatiC snOBBeRY ∙ 22 ▶ ARTS THE INSTAPOETRY EXPERIMENT ∙ 24 Illustration by Alisa Santikarn 20 vulture    

All the self care tips I cannot give you

herbal tea.  is wasn’t because I was story of struggling through Cambridge has to Is upholding all of Cambridge’s toxic logic in Herbal tea, bath some prodigy who breeze through. As you end that way to be successful and valid, and I your judgements of yourself and your peers, may have noticed, being an undergrad at didn’t get there without a lot of support from but then going to buy yourself a bath bomb, bombs and face masks Cambridge can be pretty tough on your family and friends. But getting that degree really self-care?  e poet Adebe Derango- physical and mental health, and I was was a certain con rmation that yes, my way Adem writes that the current culture of self- cannot cure everything certainly no exception and felt like I was of doing things was valid, and I didn’t have care has become so distorted that “we should struggling pretty much all of the time. By to defend it. So now I don’t. Having a much shi t from discussing self-care to talking about says Emily Bailey-Page Lent of second year I realised I had to guard more distant relationship with my college, self-love.” every ounce of my emotional and physical changing departments, and the generally dif- As Jordan Kisner for the New Yorker energy if I was going to get through it. ferent culture surrounding postgraduate study wrote about the rise of #selfcare a ter the But ‘getting through it’ at that point meant has made the environment feel a hell of a lot great political and cultural garbage  re of literally surviving. I was not con dent that less toxic (thank God). I treat my degree like 2016: “When you endorse yourself as both prioritising my own time o or my sleep was a full time job. I don’t always manage to keep vulnerable and worthy, especially when that going to result in any kind of academic suc- the evenings free but I take the weekends o . endorsement feels hard, you can grant that cess.  ere is an insistent logic in Cambridge, Occasionally people still make jibes, but I’ve same complex subjectivity to others, even to from Facebook groups conversations in hall noticed it’s only on days when they’ve missed people whose needs and desires are di er- over dinner, that dictates you must be work- their alarm, or are struggling with their prob- ent from your own. At its best, the #selfcare ing basically all the time in order to do it at lem sheets, or have a job interview coming up. movement o ers opportunities to see and all. People at dinner would be suspicious or I’ve realised it was never really about me at care about vulnerability that’s unlike yours.” incredulous if ever I confessed that no, I would all. Working more isn’t necessarily working Outside of insecurity is a way to connect with not be in the library that evening—not be- better, especially when pushed to an extreme. others more genuinely, a quality desperately cause I was chairing some CV-boosting com- Working more than 40 hours a week doesn’t lacking in the isolating and insular tendencies mittee or doing sports training, but because I mean you’re working harder. It just means of Cambridge student life.Perhaps perversely was going to be resting. you’re working more than 40 hours a week. for a “New Year, New You”, self-care themed People are di erent, and everyone has dif- And for those handling poor physical or men- article, I’m not going to give you any tips. I can ferent rhythms and ways of doing Cambridge tal health, or the burden of being an outsider extol the bene ts of sleep and of cooking your that work for them. Some people need to stay to a system that is not in your favour, that own meals until the cows come home, and busy. For some, it really might work best liv- workload is even less accessible. contrary to some indications I may have given ing from all-nighter to all-nighter, throwing It’s worth remembering that the origins of during the course of this piece, I am actually in a night out every now and then. I just work modern self-care lie not in marketing ploys partial to a good face mask (hyaluronic acid is better when I take time o in between. If I but in black feminist thought, particularly that very hydrating, just so you know). But that’s protect my ‘down time’ and adhere to a regu- of Audre Lorde, who certainly wasn’t talking not what good self-care is actually about. hen it came to self-care as an lar schedule of hard work and clear breaks, about papaya face masks when she wrote Good self-care is about identifying what your Wundergrad, I could never fully I’m way more productive over the long term “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is needs are, and setting your boundaries  rmly, back myself. To be fair, I rarely than if I just were to sit in the library 24/7 to self-preservation, and that is an act of politi- and reminding yourself that the judgement did work a ter dinner, and I took every make it seem like I’m working just as much as cal warfare.” or surprise of others says a lot more about Saturday o . I watched Net ix with my everyone else. e moral of the story? Reader, it However, it has since been co-opted as a them. I can’t give you any tips. I don’t know best friend in the evenings and drank worked. I graduated, and I did it well enough tool for marketing and Instagram in uencing, what you need. But if I can wish well on your I was to come back this year for the masters self-care becomes a tool for self-centredness journey to  guring that out, I think that’s the ▲ ILLUSTRATIONS BY BEN BROWN FOR VARSITY I could only dream of before. Not everyone’s and empty consumerist notions of ‘wellness’. best thing I can give you. How to be palm oil concious in 2019

their impact on the planet, with Waitrose, Maryland cookies, Nairns, Lotus and Wagon Let Maddie Paige M & S and most importantly Sainsbury’s be- Wheels are all using sustainably sauced palm ing RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm ❝ oil. educate you on how Oil) certi ed. I have compiled a helpful list of Palm oil 5) CRISPS Replace your Kettle Chips, to save orangutans by palm-oil free or sustainable palm-oil products! is in Doritos (I know, I’m sorry) and Pringles with Help the planet without even trying; lazies of nearly French Fries, Walkers, Sainsbury’s Own Brand, the world unite. Tesco Own Brand, Waitrose own brand or shopping for palm oil 1) BREAD Skip over the Kingsmill and own every Tyrell’s. free products brand bread- get yourself buying Warburtons product 6) SWEETS AND CHOCOLATE Skittles, or Hovis; a change so simple you’ll probably we Starburst and Mentos are COMPLETELY PALM forget you’re helping the planet. consume OIL FREE. Sweet! Whilst Ferrero Roche, Lindt, ’m sure with the uproar from Iceland’s 2) SPREADS I’ve got a butter idea: replace ❞  orntons, Terry’s Chocolate Orange, A ter Irecent ‘palm oil free’ campaign, that your regular butter with Yeo Valley! All prod- Eight, Divine, Celebrations, Barratt’s, Galaxy, questions have been raised over what ucts using sustainably sourced palm oil. Kinder and Haribo are following a no-defor- palm oil actually is and why the hell it is in Believe it or nut, Whole Earth, Meridian and estation policy. all consumer products imaginable? Do not Tesco own brand are all palm oil free. Nutella! 7) ICE CREAM Unfortunately, our clas- fear for I am here to explain what it is, why  ank your stars you can still binge it with a sic favourites of Haagen-Dazs, Magnum and it’s so bad, and to show you just how easy it ❝ spoon guilt free. Well, nearly. Cornetto are not in the good books. But DO is to avoid! In recent years, 3) FASTFOOD A big misconception is that NOT FEAR! If you didn’t already have enough Palm oil is a natural oil found within palm demands for palm oil eating when being environmentally aware excuses to buy a big ole tub of Ben and Jerrys fruits; nothing harmful with that, right? have sky rocketed due means living of carrots and lettuce, so you’ll be to yourself, there is another. Ben and Jerry’s Wrong! Because in recent years, demands for pleased to know that some of your favourite being completely palm oil free. Nice one. palm oil have sky rocketed due to our snack- to our snacking chains are doing their part! As you can see, Palm oil is in nearly every ing culture, and so palm oil is being used as a culture Go to Kabuto noodles: for all your noodley product we consume- but by boycotting and replacement for trans fats in these products. ❞ needs! Although Pizza Hut and Starbucks are replacing with sustainable or oil-free prod- Leading to immense deforestation, render- o the cards, Maccies, Subways and Krispy ucts you can help lead the way to changing ing people homeless and making that cute Kreme are certainly not! All claiming to use the ways of global companies. You can still orangutan treeless. sustainable palm oil. eat a variety of foods.Just don’t trash that But it’s not all doom and gloom! Luckily, 4) BISCUITS Your brew will not be sad, I cute orangutans’ home from the infamous some supermarkets are looking to improve promise you. Fox’s biscuits, Jammie Dodgers, Iceland advert. Friday 18th January 2019 vulture 21

▲ Use the sunset to resolve negative feelings that pile up during the day. (TEGAN LouIS-PuTTICk) Catching sunsets

back to college twenty minutes earlier than hink about it as a way to feed that im- They happen every ❝ usual. I arrived in time to see the sun sink measurable, intangible part of you that needs below the trees, leaving trails of tangerine and more than a 2:1 to thrive. day, but when was A series of shockingly grapefruit pink to frame the day with a gentle Time out, but also a sense of time. With- the last time you beautiful canvases set caress. Instead of feeling worried that I could out seeing the natural ways that the world over moors and cliffs be - should be - working, or exercising, or hav- shows the passing of hours, days, and seasons, appreciated a sunset? and sea had become ing a pint with mates, I felt content. Taking the time runs away with you. here never seems something I’d almost time to watch the transition between light and to be enough of it. Tegan Louis-Puttick dark requires only a simple choice, and gives By physically watching the day wind down, taken for granted the simplest and purest of pleasure. time becomes more palpable, and less of a asks ❞ Since then, I’ve tried to catch sunset when- hostile foe to be fought with revision sched- ever I can. Sometimes dragging friends along ules and alarm clocks. the way, sometimes alone; sometimes the Also, every sunset you watch brings you t’s winter. Daylight hours are few, and skies are stunning, iery tributes to the day one step closer to summer, and you truly ex- Imost of them are spent inside because gone by, and others are aesthetically average perience the excitement of days getting longer we’re all somewhere on a scale of pretty grey-scales. and air getting warmer. busy to I’m-one-spilt-coffee-away-from- You come to realise that there’s a myriad of Use the sunset to resolve negative feel- meltdown-busy. reasons why catching sunset is a good idea, ings that pile up during the day. If that means Not to mention, most ingers and toes and not just because it’s pretty and might look sending a message to the person who left you would rather be somewhere with central heat- good on your Instagram story. feeling less than peachy earlier, then do it. ing instead of out enduring the harsh winds Sunsets are never the same. Even if you Gather up the stresses of the day - those that cut straight through your new Pufa. see them from the one spot every single day, lecture notes you spilt cofee on, or the fact How many times have you made your way you will never see two alike. In a world where that you left your laundry in the washing through an afternoon and suddenly, without mundanity risks becoming a dominating force, ❝ machine and will inevitably lose three socks you noticing, the skies have gone dark? You this reminds you that change is always hap- a cheeky - and imagine them sinking over the horizon walk back from the library wondering where pening, and there’s so much beauty in that. streak of alongside the sun. the day went, and unthinkingly slip straight Maybe you’ll start noticing the little dif- pink in a I love letting myself feel tiny as I am re- into night. ferences and unique moments in daily life, minded how big and beautiful the natural After my irst few weeks following this too. dusky sky world is; it gives you a sense of perspective pattern, a cheeky streak of pink in a dusky sky It’s a way to take time out, and just caught and suddenly your worries don’t seem quite caught my attention through a window and breathe. When you have 1001 things to do, my so pressing. I suddenly realisedI hadn’t watched a sunset the idea of stopping for twenty minutes to attention Finally - go with a friend. Share that mo- since arriving in Cambridge. do something that has no measurable value ment with them (instead of a pint or lecture Living an outdoorsy life at home, I frequent- seems absurd. ❞ notes) and pass on the advice – catch as many ly catch sunset just by chance. A series of But how much work would you really have sunsets as you can. You always have time, shockingly beautiful canvases set over moors done in twenty minutes? Give yourself time even if you think you don’t. and clifs and sea had become something I’d to enjoy a moment purely for the sake of it, Top tip: If you have a pal in Churchill, ask almost taken for granted. Determined to catch without thinking about what it might bring them to take you up the Moler at sunset. Best a Cambridge sunset for the irst time, I cycled for your future. spot in town without a doubt! 22 vulture Friday 18th January 2019 A spotlight on systematic snobbery in Cambridge theatre

same people are being cast, Alice Murray relects but also because fresh fac- on the audition and es lose conidence in their ability to be cast. he talent pitching process pool shrinks. in Cambridge, and Is directing culture at Cambridge even more of a the way in which it closed shop? You’re more disadvantages those likely to be ofered a slot for your pitch if you have unexposed to theatre seen that play in live pro- duction. his presents a ‘hesp’ is a loaded word. It connotes elitism. stumbling block for bud- Whether we want it to be or not, Cambridge ding directors who can’t heatre is often still viewed as a discrimina- aford to see professional tory and exclusive institution. Why do most performances and don’t of our practices continue to favour the privi- live near theatres. Do you leged? What can we do to change this? really stand a chance of be- Students from less aluent social back- ing able to direct that won- grounds are generally those more susceptible derful Tennessee Williams to Cambridge imposter syndrome. For these play you’ve only read when students it’s already a tall order to gather the there could be another per- determination to seek admittance into the son pitching it who lives university theatre scene. his preinstated opposite the Barbican and struggle for the socially disadvantaged to is on a irst-name-basis achieve integration is only reinforced by our with the Cat and the Hot immoderate focus on selectivity. Tin Roof? Auditions have always been a necessary Certain students’ lack way of judging acting talent. To act in a high of exposure to theatre pre- calibre show, you should have had to suc- cludes them from a viable cessfully audition for it. he problem is that passage into Cambridge at Cambridge it seems that you have to suc- direction, thereby reduc- cessfully audition in order to act all. Auditions ing the number of people don’t tend to pose the most welcoming mode involved and the imagi- of initiation into the world of student theatre. native scope of direction. hey don’t exactly scream ‘We’re kind and And so, the talent pool lovely. Come join us!’. here’s a reason why the shrinks once more. As our Christian Union distributes toasties instead of talent pool shrinks, we are insisting on 10-minute practical demonstra- barred from progression. It tions of people’s suitability as believers in becomes harder for theatre the Almighty. Being propelled straight into to resemble anything even an audition room can feel like being thrown vaguely experimental or in- in at the deep end, especially if you’re trying novative. he same tropes it for the irst time. are recycled. We never gain Granted, the only way actors survive in the new social perspectives professional sphere is by consistently audi- beyond our limited crea- tioning, but this isn’t the professional sphere. tive palate. his is a training ground. his is where the he natural corollary to Ian McKellens and Olivia Colmans of the uni- all this is ‘Well, how do we versity practised before they made anything ix it?’. I’m certainly not the of themselves. his is still amateur dramat- irst to identify that Cam- ics, even if it is drama at a world-renowned bridge heatre doesn’t in- place of learning. Let’s not forget the ‘AD’ in vest enough energy in ac- ‘ADC’. Most of us don’t know what it’s like cess. In the past, students to operate in the big wide world yet. We’re have made some fantastic not actors. We’re students without degrees. attempts to improve out- Some of us still haven’t worked out how to reach, such as running open- ▲ This is where the Ian McKellens and Olivia Colmans of the university practised. (jAKOB WeRBROUCK) use a tumble dryer. invitation workshops and the At Cambridge, you can only improve your formation of the Relaxed heatre Company in ADC bar. badges that inform everyone which schools acting ability through practising in rehearsals 2016. However, exclusivity persists; our work hey could take the form of weekend skill- we went to, where we live and how much or on stage. his is dependent on being given a here isn’t done until we’ve re-opened the dis- share workshops where students can develop money our families possess. But just because role in the irst place. If you have a lot of train- cussion. I’m not going to pretend I can provide technique and participate in university drama you might not be smacked in the face by ing and have performed in numerous plays a perfect ix to all this, but as far as I can tell, without bagging themselves show roles. something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, or already, you immediately have an upper hand; past access ventures often failed in the longer It would be possible to engage students in that there aren’t other people who do feel an you’re more capable of whacking out a smash- term because they posed as unique, one-of sociable screenings of recordings of the live impact. If we truly see ourselves as theatri- ing audition, and, hey presto, landing yourself opportunities. To normalise widespread social productions that some wouldn’t have been cal practitioners of the future then we must opportunities to mature as an actor. participation, it needs to happen habitually. able to view in the lesh, followed by discus- also see ourselves as agents of that change. Would-be thesps who don’t have these We’d all beneit from knowing that all-inclu- sion. he scene might beneit by prioritising We need to dismantle our elitism and the advantages and never acquire audition tech- sive events were going to occur at the same the recruitment of assistant directors who superiority complex on which we construct nique get turned down. he cycle repeats itself time and place, where people could meet like- have never been involved in direction before our identity. until these students lose conidence and give minded theatre enthusiasts in the light of day, and can learn from established university di- It’s time to become hospitable to students up auditioning altogether. We see the same instead of after hours during the skirmish rectors. Some considerations? from disadvantaged backgrounds. It’s time to faces starring in plays not just because the of questionably-named-cocktails that is the Cultural capital isn’t visible. We don’t wear stop turning the blind eye.     vulture 23 Solitudes and Seasons: Exhibition review about point: the landscape is a curiosity, a out the exhibition was brought to the forefront the unconventional space in which it is held. Nathaniel Tye gives us an commodity able to be relegated to a box in in exhibition curator Ben Walker’s paintings  e Alison Richard Building, home of the De- overview of the paintings the lot.  is portrayal of uninhabited hills and Adam Scovell’s short  lms.  e earthy partment of Politics and International Studies introduces what seems to be the exhibition’s tones of Walker’s works give them the appear- is a working building and there are, under- and lms that make up main, almost apocalyptic, theme; the aban- ance of having been found in an old country standably, academics and students wandering this intriguing exhibtion donment of the countryside. house, only recently rediscovered ater years around the area. In my mind Rhys Trussler’s work tied with of neglect. e Beginning is Also the End, pos- Overall, Solitudes and Seasons presents a Douglas’ for the best on show; very di erent sibly, my favourite painting of Walker’s, is thought-provoking perspective on an oten rom John Constable’s ghostly Netley in style, Trussler’s works seemed the “eeri- reminiscent of e Wicker Man; a policeman forgotten aspect of the English landscape. Cer- Abbey by Moonlight to the country est”, with the provocatively titled Pastoral surveys a rolling rural landscape, whilst his tainly succeeding in its mission to explore the Fhomes of M. R. James’ ghost stories, Menace and Every Inch of England is a Grave dog stares intently to the side.  e tension in eerie in the rural, the exhibition does so with rural England and its landscape have long being standout pieces. By depicting seemingly the dog’s leash seems to capture this style of a multi-faceted approach and wide-ranging provided a source of fear and wonder in art. abandoned houses and landscaped gardens horror perfectly, the threat is never shown focus, exploring both the macro and micro With more recent art forms, film especially, Trussler takes the idea of rural abandonment and is instead hinted at, lingering just out of elements that make up the owing  elds and visibly maintaining a fascination with the even further, suggesting that even the emula- shot until the crucial moment. endless hills of the famed English country- darker side of the countryside. The film tion of it is lost to a void of urban modernity.  e  lms of Scovell explore several themes side. world’s slightly ghoulish fascination with Landscape gardens are the bonsai country- within the context of the genre. No Diggin landscape related terrors is particularly side, a tamed, de-fanged miniature of roll- Here acts a response to James’ A Warning evident in the “folk horror” genre, typified ing hills and gushing rivers.  at even this To e Curious, exploring the landscapes of by 1973’s The Wicker Man or the more recent domestication of nature has been abandoned Aldeburgh that inspired the original story. Kill List (2011). Solitudes and Seasons, curated indicates the rural is no longer an object of Whereas, e Attempt focuses on the suicide by Ben Walker, promises to offer a snapshot fear, but of revulsion. attempt of writer and poet Edward  omas of the art world’s current attitudes towards A certain science was brought to the aban- during a countryside walk.  e  nal of the this green and perhaps not-so-pleasant doned landscape by Mandy Hudson and Robin three, Holloway, is an adaptation of a book by land. Dixon; Hudson takes on the role of the bota- Robert Macfarlane, Stanley Donwood and Dan Opening up the exhibition is Chambered nist in her works, most of which, like Single Richards, narrated by Macfarlane, it investi- Cairn by Sam Douglas. Very much in the tradi- Clover are close-up studies of plants. Flora in gates the sunken forest paths of the titular tion of landscape painting and with in uences landscape art oten appears as an amorphous Holloways, of Dorset. Frustratingly, the  lms from  omas Gainsborough to Samuel Palmer mass of green, so Hudson’s investigations into were shown on a television by the building’s to Graham Sutherland, Douglas’ works are the smallest components of this mass present main staircase, with a pair of uncomfortable among my favourites exhibited in Solitudes an exploration of the oten-neglected con- headphones provided for sound. With a total and Seasons. One of the most striking things stitution of “the landscape”. Dixon brings a runtime of around 17 minutes for the three about Douglas’ works are their size. Not much di erent kind of science to the countryside,  lms, this did not make for ideal viewing. larger than a postcard his paintings form a with several pieces showing empty labs in Fortunately, all three are available on Scovell’s stark comparison to the large dominating shades of red and purple with a view to a YouTube channel and watching them at home canvases frequently associated with land- vibrant green forest. made for a much better experience. ▲ "Chambered Cairn" SAM DOUGLAS THE ALISON scape painting and present a little thought  e theme of folk horror running through- My only real gripe with the exhibition is RICHARD BUILDING 24 vulture Friday 18th January 2019 The Instapoet experiment

▲ "As I went about the experiment I wrote 'poems' that were dashed out in moments" (LOIS WRIGHT)

– I was ready to hate vacuous instapoetry here are several reasons that instapoetry to post some poetry I’d written to process Cecily Fasham guides without a second thought. However, my New started to revive my disconnect with the my experience, I discovered that the square- us through the social- Year’s resolution for 2019 is to try to suppress world of poetry. photo format makes it impossible to post that judgemental instinct, and so, resolving he irst is the narcissism of the platform, multi-stanza long-form poetry. media section of the to give it a fair trial, I decided to start with it really did feel like it was all about gain- Contrary to the idea of “radical democra- Instagram poetry. ing likes, and the messages of self-love often tisation” I found that Instagram leads to a poetry scene My short-lived instapoet alter-ego, “Olym- seemed like empty cries made out of a desire certain type of poetry being the only kind that pias” was born. for “relatability”. Over and over, I kept inding lourishes. An Instagram audience is gained ately, I’ve been thinking a lot about As I went about the experiment I wrote poems that untruthfully told me that no-one by cultivating likes, and so poets on the plat- Instagram as an artistic platform, “poems” that were dashed out in moments. could ever love me unless I loved myself – a form are encouraged to play to the tastes of Lespecially with regards to poetry. I hey were highly formulaic, cliché-illed, message that I worried may reinforce ideas their audience which usually involves con- started thinking about it when it came up and conforming to the stylistic and seman- of worthlessness in people sufering low self- forming to the aphoristic minimalist pastel- in conversation with a friend. We moved tic tropes of “instapoetry”. My feed became esteem. Alongside that came the realisation background style of poetry. on from the topic quickly, but it got stuck a careful curation of simple sentences split that a lot of the most successful poets were Instagram’s ininite scrolling plays into in my mind; I began reading articles about up with a line-break or two, presented neatly young women who interspersed their poetry a culture of instant gratiication, in which the writings of these so-called “instapoets” centred in a square with carefully curated with glamour shots of themselves; I saw all poems are read, digested, liked, and moved – poets like Rupi Kaur, Nayyirah Waheed, backgrounds and fonts, covering the familiar the usual issues with self-image and the prob- on from in a matter of moments. Ultimately, and Atticus, who post short-form poems on topics of instapoetry (romance, heartbreak, lems of relentless positivity (or negativity) this favours poetry that is easily understood Instagram. didactic messages of self-love), and using the that are brought out by social media recreated rather than challenging and often values the he articles I read tended to veer between common imagery – moon, stars, ocean, wild- in Instagram poetry, which I had somehow aesthetic of the text and background over two polar opinions; either Instagram poetry lowers, honey etc. expected to avoid. content. was lazy, formulaic and a little trashy; or, it Olympias only lasted ten days and a hun- he need for constant airmation and likes Some of the best poetry comes from con- was the voice of a generation. In other words: dred followers. has also led to blatant commercialism. I had straint. he constraints of the sonnet form, for it was ruining poetry or it was saving it. One It wasn’t that I planned to give up so quick- several accounts comment on my poetry com- example, have been an outlet for ingenuity, article described a poem by Rupi Kaur as hav- ly, it was that I couldn’t go on any longer. I plimenting it, telling me to check them out for which is required to keep the poetry novel and ing “the air of the slurred advice you might wasn’t exactly disillusioned since I hadn’t potential promotion – when I did, I discovered interesting. he limits of Instagram could have overhear at the back of a Wetherspoons.”, yet gone in as an idealist. Instead, the word that the exposure was ofered in exchange for buy- this same efect, of concentrating creativity, another hailed the instapoets for “deining springs to mind to describe my experience is ing their products. It was money for likes, and hopefully, Instagram’s poets will realise the genre for the millennial generation with a “disheartening”. Poetry is an art form that I success due not to talent but to wealth. their potential given time – it’s a new form radical democratisation and push for diversity came to hate when at school; however, dur- Yet, despite my moral issues with the world after all. It’s all to play for, but so far, from in the poetry world”. ing my irst term here at Cambridge I have of instapoetry, I was most upset by the con- what I’ve seen, Instagram poetry has created a As a person who takes against things quite begun learning to love it. Instapoetry started straints that Instagram as a platform places poetic movement focused on bite-size clichés easily – lecturers, critics, literary movements to reverse that process. on poetry. On a practical note, when I tried rather than originality. Friday 18th January 2019 vulture 25 The Instagram inluencer: Fashion's most powerful player? As Instagram continues to conquer the world, Helena Baron looks at how its presence has forced the fashion industry to reconigure the trend-setting power dynamic

ack in 2007, a certain Kim Kardashian bated one of the biggest questions hanging may have been known only as Paris on the industry’s lips over the past few years, BHilton’s BFF. Fast forward to 2019 namely the power struggle between street- and her traumatic rise to fame is but a style and runway fashion: Which of the two distant memory associated with probably really dictates trends? Do designers still in- the first influencer, often seen rubbing luence street-style stars? Or have the tables shoulders with the likes of Balmain’s Olivier turned? Could street-style stars really hold Rousteing, Virgil Abloh of Off-White fame, trend-setting power over the brands them- Karl Lagerfeld from Chanel and of course selves? her husband Kanye West, the founder of Something of a chicken-and-egg conun- Yeezy. drum, a diferent journalist will present you Her very particular style, at times some- with a diferent opinion, a street-style star what derided by fashion die-hards, is one will rave about the latest brand to pay them, of the most emulated across the globe, with and a designer will wax lyrical on the impor- countless online outlets producing cheaper tance of fashion’s artistic purpose not being knock-ofs of beige peddle-pushers overnight lost in its commercial value. Now, however, for an avidly-awaiting millennial customer we must once again take stock of the power base. he phenomenal transformation from behind trendsetting, with the Instagram inlu- reality television casualty to fashion darling encer entering the game as a third and much was aided in no small part to an almost si- more mysterious, not to mention powerful, multaneous rise of fashion’s beloved social player. media platform: Instagram. In recent years we have seen igures such as As Instagram and the Kardashian fame Virgil Abloh at Balenciaga and Of-White and grew, a template was set for what we now Demna Gvasalia at Vetements bring a certain call ‘inluencers’. With the Kardashian clan anti-fashion, street-inspired sensibility to their inally embraced by the fashion community, collections. Even brands such as Céline have the door was opened to anyone who garnered brought out items such as the now-infamous a large enough audience to grab the attention £425 plastic bag, a thinly-veiled appropriation, (and of course lucrative endorsements) of the it seems, of the normcore-come-expensively- heretofore secretive and exclusive fashion normal turn that fashion trends have recently ▲ Influencers carefully construct every facade of their online presence (ALISA SANTIKARN) industry. Whilst in the past brands counted on been taking. So why has this genre of street- supermodels and celebrities to promote their style become such a game-changer? Why does as well as the often hushed-up lucrative po- success and creative credibility has long been goods, today, the fashion world is inundated it hold such power? tential for these style inluencers. Ultimately, a struggle for labels, classically setting the with inluencers ranging from fashionable To- he idealist in me likes to think that the an inluencer is at the whim of, or at least creative intentions of their creative direction kyo kids and those simply famous-for-being- millennial consumers of platforms such as susceptible to, the highest bidder, invariably against the inancial goals of their owners. famous. he coveted title of ‘Inluencer’ does Instagram represent a more politically-en- one of the already well-established and recog- But for those who regard the industry as a not come without reason: with millions of gaged, socially-curious and culturally-aware nisable brands. So where does that leave the much-needed cradle of creative innovation, followers (Kim herself has 124 million, model audience than ever before. Some of the big- lesser-known, new faces of fashion? the newly-found inancial investment poten- Gigi Hadid has 45 million and blogger Chi- gest style Inluencers such as Adwoa Aboah, One of the most attractive things about tial of the street-style inluencer may well ara Ferragni has 15.8 million), this modern, Ashley Graham, Halima Aden and even Sinéad street-style was always the unknown, unex- pose a threat of lattening creative diversity internet-driven celebrity has a previously Burke are emulated not only for their unique pected labels and designers you might come into celebrity blandness. hat said, the viral unimaginable reach, touching and relecting styles but also, if not more so, for their voice, across, as well as the novel and organic way potential of social media is perhaps just as a largely young generation. which they use to promote equality and di- in which people put their outits together. But enticing as it is threatening; never before have And it’s not just conined to the super rich, versity within the industry. In turn, it would with the rise of endorsements, and the very labels had the chance to grow their fan base famous-for-being-famous clan; street-style appear that slowly but surely, brands are re- lucrative price tag they entail (Hopper HQ's so quickly. Jaquemus, for instance, almost stars previously conined to the streets and sponding in kind. Designers such as Maria Instagram rich list 2018 reports that Camila completely grew his brand and image via articles curated by glossy bibles now have an Grazia Chiuri at Dior have taken on quite ex- Coelho earns up to $10,750 per post, Kylie Jen- Instagram, dressing his friends and now ce- unprecedented, immediate and open platform plicitly political tones in their runway shows ner up to $1,000,000), is creativity slowly slip- lebrities in his sun-kissed designs. He is now to share their #OOTD, their #fashionweek and (sure enough followed by vast social media ping through the commercial cracks? Is the a much-anticipated slot in the Paris Fashion of course #streetstyle or perhaps more aptly coverage and engagement); designers across obsession with celebrity constraining creative Week calendar. #instastyle. With these hashtags and the plat- the board supported Oscar-attendees in their freedom? Are the dismissals of the likes of It appears the industry has not yet decided form’s capacity for ‘going viral’, street-style all-black dress code as a show of solidarity Raf Simons at Calvin Klein and appointments whether the social media star really could stars are able to directly and immediately with the #MeToo movement; more and more such as Hedi Slimane at Céline indicative of a pose a threat, instead choosing to reap its inspire their followers, if not come to dictate brands have renounced the use of real fur in pressure for brands to streamline their image many rewards. We can but hope, then, that the day-to-day changes in mass trends, something their collections. into a more digestible, accessible package that platform’s potential to promote individuality previously reserved for editors of glossy mags, he cynic in me, however, is all too aware a maximum of inluencers will wear, and thus and creativity and to create a space for mar- and a select few brands. that with the newly young customer base also a maximum of potential clients will see? ginalised voices to be heard is not trumped his new-found domination has exacer- brings with it a hunger for celebrity status, Finding the balance between commercial by its commercial promise. 26 vulture Friday 18th January 2019

manded of her by Tony McNamara and Debo- rah Davis’s intricate script, and Emma Stone, a welcome source of energy throughout, is The Favourite unable to make a complete departure from Almost her self-consciously comedic performance style. Madeleine Pulman-Jones conidante and secret lover Sarah Churchill modern England, costumed by the wonderful Ultimately, neither Colman nor Stone, a (Rachel Weisz), and Sarah’s ruthlessly ambi- Sandy Powell, who also worked on Orlando, misjudged casting choice despite a lawless is largely impressed by tious cousin, Abigail Hill (Emma Stone). Set men wear wigs and makeup to “be pretty,” and English accent, manage to plausibly and af- in 1708 when Britain was at war with the women go bare-faced without a hint of self- fectingly exist in Lanthimos’s bizarre universe. Lanthimos' saga of love French, Sarah is apparently ruling the king- consciousness. In one scene, Anne presents hat said, the romances, particularly between and power in the court of dom through Anne, making decisions for the her makeup to Sarah before meeting the Rus- Anne and Sarah, never lose credibility. But sickly and weak-willed monarch, who would sian ambassador – “Do you like it?” she asks, where Colman and Stone stumble at the last Queen Anne rather sit around eating cake and playing with to which Sarah replies with equal measures hurdle, Weisz jumps triumphantly up and over her rabbits than concerning herself with af- of pity and irritation, “you look like a badger,” into a rarely explored mode of performance, Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos Starring Olivia fairs of state. his already tumultuous rela- before adding afectionately, “I will manage combining tonal nuance with dry delivery, Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz Released tionship is threatened when Sarah’s cousin this”. playing against her naturally soft demeanour 1 January Abigail, penniless and fallen from grace, ar- hough the look of Lanthimos’s ilm has, as just enough to frighten you when she sug- Controversial auteur Yorgos Lanthimos al- rives at court in search of employment. After his ilms often do, a tendency to seem demon- gests, “let’s shoot something”. ways wants to make an impression, and his discovering the Queen's secret afair with Sa- stratively auteur, his motion-sickness induc- I was surprised to ind that the audience latest, absurdist comedy drama might be his rah, Abigail works her way up from scullery ing use of cross-fades and sweeping wide- found such dry humour far less funny than most impressive yet. he Favourite’s impres- maid to Sarah's lady-in-waiting, and turns her angle shots are entirely afecting, giving the the sillier lewd jokes that pepper the ilm – sions range from the abstract to the viscer- attentions to wooing the queen away from viewer the feeling that they too are Rachel apparently, the fact that people in the past ally physical. Its soundtrack pulsates with her cousin, and winning back the coveted Weisz being lung around at a ball, or Colman were just as bawdy as we think we are is still violently lamboyant string crescendos, and title of ‘Lady’. and Stone rolling around on the loor in hys- a novelty. he Favourite is disquietingly funny, neither Emma Stone nor Rachel Weisz’s face Shot in Lanthimos’s trademark deadpan terics. Pacing, always a challenge for directors unsettlingly out of control, and impressively makes it through the ilm without battle scars. style, he Favourite is rightly gaining traction who are insistent on unnatural line delivery, is nuanced. Whether Lanthimos has made the impression for its groundbreaking portrayal of female patchy, with some scenes, particularly those Even if Lanthimos’s ambition is what he intended is doubtful. But even if the ilm sexuality, both in an historical and contem- of Stone and Colman, falling lat after several causes the ilm to inally fall short, better fails to pack the desired punch, it doesn’t stop porary context. Yet what is more striking minutes. However, the relentless drive of both that he made the leap in the irst place than you leaving the cinema lushed and aching than the ilm’s queer love scenes, which are Lanthimos’s vision and a stunning supporting add yet another cookie-cutter period ilm to – perhaps not bruised, but feeling as though numerous and steamy, is its subtle yet total performance from Rachel Weisz ultimately the already bursting shelves of British period someone on the street had bumped into you subversion of gender dominance in narra- prevent the ilm from running out of steam. cinema. While perhaps not a irm ‘favourite’, hard, and run of without saying sorry. tive. he Favourite does away almost entirely he Favourite is Weisz’s second Lanthimos Lanthimos’s drama is a deserving heir to ilms A subversive queer period piece with with male characters, pushing them to the feature, returning to the avant-garde roots she such as All About Eve and he Bitter Tears of echoes of Sally Potter’s Orlando and Rouben side-lines, with doormen and subservient cultivated at Cambridge, where she founded Petra Von Kant, and hopefully constitutes a Mamoulian’s Queen Christina, he Favourite politicians frequently waiting in porticos or the experimental theatre company Talking move toward ilms about lawed women as centres on the love triangle and power strug- at the side of women, robbed of their social Tongues. While Colman is unusually tender lawed people, and away from lazily drawn gle between Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), her and cinematic agency. In Lanthimos’s early as Queen Anne, she lacks the complexity de- caricatures of womanhood. he Mays Anthology On sale now in all good book Book Sale! stores and online from Waterstones & Amazon he news can be overwhelming, with reports on Post Brexit food shortages, the underfunded NHS, and international trade wars, but local news is illed with many other serious matters

People across the UK are sufering the horrors of naked neighbours, large potholes, and parking ines. Packed with the On Friday 18th January he Mays will be holding a sale of past editions. best that regional journalism has he Mays has been publishing the best of Oxbridge students’ art and writing since 1992 – this is a great opportunity to pick up some exciting to ofer, there are chapters on work from students past! All books will be sold at half the marked antisocial behaviour, transport price and you can pay with cash or by card. hell and fast-food nightmares.

Local issues may not be worthy Purchasers, browsers and the simply curious - come along! We’d love to meet you. of national headlines but they certainly make people very, very English Faculty Foyer 10am - 2pm. angry… Sigdwick Site, 9 West Rd, Cambridge CB3 9DP

For more information visit www.themaysanthology.co.uk his is the irst book from the award-winning or email: [email protected] blog Angry People in Local Newspapers. facebook.com/heMaysAnthology twitter.com/MaysAnthology https://aplin.co.uk/ Friday 18th January 2019 vulture 27 Screens are alive with the sound of music

As part of her column on music in the visual arts, Lottie Reeder brings soundtracks to the forefront of award- winning ilms ne of the most important things for me in film is a good soundtrack. OWhether it is to convey emotion or demonstrate the passing of time, the choice of music is vital to my enjoyment and appreciation of the film as a whole. In terms of music, the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAS only reward scores and original songs in ilm, leaving only the Grammys to acknowledge ‘compilation soundtracks’, where the music is not entirely original. While original music compliments the purpose of the ilm directly, often a choice ▲Emma Watson in the 'We Are Infinite' scene from Perks of Being a Wallflower (youTuBE/movIECLIpS) of a pre-existing song gives the ilm an au- thenticity, particularly if a recognisable song bodies the Shakespearean tragic irony, central Finally, while not Academy level, Perks of is chosen – as if the characters are living like to Romeo and Juliet, as ‘Everybody’s Free/to Being a Walllower has a wide range of acco- us through the music we listen to. feel good’ is far from the reality of the story. lades. It is a favourite of mine, signiicantly his irony is heightened as the choir lower for the soundtrack, which uses songs con- Between the Bars - Elliott Smith their voices, layering Friar Lawrence’s ‘hese temporary to its '90s setting. 'Heroes', by Good Will Hunting violent delights/have violent ends’ over the David Bowie, appears twice in the ilm, both his is particularly the case of my irst top, the two contrasting messages creating the to signify social breakthroughs for introverted choice, 'Between the Bars', from the Acad- absurd tension that the ilm is revered for. Charlie (Logan Lerman). he scene is meant emy Award Winning Good Will Hunting. he to embody feeling ‘ininite’, and coupled with song plays in its entirety, with the characters Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers 'Heroes', it achieves the euphoric sensation interacting naturally, as if it had been put on Notting Hill described in the book. he song makes the in the bedroom. It is the perfect song to com- Also a BAFTA winning ilm, Notting Hill was ambiguous ending appear a happy one, as pliment an intimate scene; we see a snapshot recognised for its soundtrack with a Brit ▼Carey Mulligan in The the freedom and hopefulness of the song are of life and humanity from the characters- the award. he use of 'Ain’t No Sunshine' compli- Great Gatsby (youTuBE/LAuREN a warming accompaniment to the scene. simplicity of the acoustic guitar and single vo- ments the hollow heartache experienced as NICoLE) cal are haunting and melancholic. While the time passes by Grant’s character. As he walks music is atmospheric, the lyrics embody the through the market, the scene is dynamic: the intimacy of the interaction and the purpose of seasons change and the people move forward. the relationship for Damon’s character : to es- While this takes place, the stagnation of his cape reality, “forget all about/ he pressure of feelings is emphasised by the continuation of days/ I'll make you okay and drive them away/ the song. It is the perfect showcase of how the he images stuck in your head”. 'Between the world moves on even when we are grieving. Bars' is one of six songs by Elliott Smith in the he deep bass notes create a heaving lulling soundtrack, but stands out the most, as it is sensation, as he moves rhythmically through most relective of the ilm. What makes the the changing scene. ilm a favourite of mine is its presentation of human life and human issues. 'Between the Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey Bars' mirrors the futile human attempt to ind he Great Gatsby salvation in someone else. ❝ Lana Del Rey's track is an example of a par- ticularly efective original song. Working with Everybody's Free - Rozalla The song the director, Baz Luhrmann, the desperation in Romeo and Juliet is the the lyrics and the value of the supericial is the In this multi-BAFTA winning ilm, the perfect perfect accompaniment to the adaptation of iction of the universe that Baz Luhrmann showcase F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. he lyrics assert the creates is heightened, when 'Everybody’s of how characters’ material fulilment, yet the empha- Free', "one of the biggest dance anthems of sis is on the fear of rejection in the '20s culture. the 1990s", becomes a gospel wedding song. the world he song its into Lana Del Rey’s discography Quindon Tarver leads the choir in a beautiful moves on perfectly and her persona projects through cover of the song, as Romeo and Juliet are whilst we the song, as well as her haunting voice. he married. he use of this song is very efective grieve loss song accompanies a happy reunion, but the in the ilm. Firstly, as the wedding scene be- ❞ foreboding foreshadowing is evident, much gins with the choir singing, the source of the like the use of 'Everybody’s Free' in Romeo music shown, and as they sing in an opulent and Juliet. church, the beauty of the wedding scene is heightened by the echoing vibrato of the choir Heroes - David Bowie and smooth runs of Tarver. Secondly, it em- he Perks of Being a Walllower 28 Friday 18th January 2019 Science Looking back on a year of groundbreaking research in Cambridge

Cambridge's scientiic achieve the assembly of these cells into community saw many an artiicial embryo capable of gastru- lation. landmark events in 2018. hea his will allow her group, and other Elvin, Marco Oechsner and scientists, to investigate the crucial early Zak Lakota-Baldwin share events in the development of the em- bryo, what has long been thought of as some of the most notable a ‘black box’. Professor Zernicka-Goetz moments and developments of came to Cambridge in 1995 as a postdoc the past year. in Prof. Martin Evan’s group, and has been leading her own research group Professor Klenerman is probably best since 1997. known for developing next-generation A signiicant breakthrough came from sequencing (NGS) together with Prof. a group of Cambridge scientists in the Shankar Balasubramanian, for which form of the world’s irst artiicial pla- they were awarded a Royal Medal this centa. his 3D “organoid”, derived from year. hey follow in the footsteps of the the placental cells of aborted foetuses, great legacy Cambridge has in genetics gives researchers a tool with which to research. By using luorescent labeling of study developmental abnormalities and nucleotides, Klenerman and Balasubra- complications during pregnancy. Miscar- manian were able to develop a method riages or pre-eclampsia have remained allowing rapid sequencing of the whole medical mysteries, as scientists were genome, and has been extended into limited by the lack of an adequate ex- such applications as RNA-Seq, Ribo-Seq, perimental model. and single-cell sequencing, now labora- hough only a millimetre in diame- tory staples. hey both founded Solexa ter, this mini-placenta acts as a suitable in 1998, a company which was then ac- stand-in, producing proteins that give a quired by Illumina in 2007, the major positive result on a pregnancy test. It can provider of NGS equipment. therefore be used to further investigate For this work he has been honoured the interactions between the various as a Knight Bachelor in the 2019 New maternal and foetal cells. It is hoped ▲ Hawking's be able to form in ininite numbers, ▼ Iranian story to a happy conclusion. Year Honours for “services to Science that this study will lay the foundations inal paper deals however these ininite quantities cause mathematician he Fields Medal is the most prestig- and the Development of High Speed DNA for further understanding and progress with the idea of mathematical problems. Hawking’s Caucher Birkar ious honour in mathematics, equivalent Sequencing Technology.” Previously, he towards preventing complications in the multiverse highly theoretical inal paper proposes receiving his to a Nobel Prize in terms of standing. was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society pregnancy. (NASA) ways in which boundaries on these ini- Fields medal Birkar, who came to the UK as a refu- in 2012, and a Fellow of the Academy In March 2018, Cambridge made inter- nite universes could be deined, paving (TâNIA RêGO/ gee from the Kurdistan Province of Iran of Medical Sciences in 2015. Professor national headlines following the death of the way for future work in the area - a AGêNCIA BRASIL) two decades ago, noted in his acceptance Klenerman was an undergraduate at arguably its most famous alumnus. Pro- itting legacy for the acclaimed theoreti- speech how unlikely a place his war- Christ’s, and earned his PhD in chemis- fessor Stephen Hawking, famed for his cal physicist. torn homeland was for a young person try at Churchill. work on black holes and the discovery of Recognition for another Cambridge to develop an interest in mathematics. Professor Zernicka-Goetz made head- Hawking radiation, passed away at the alumnus came in the form of the Nobel Of his Kurdish compatriots, he said “I’m lines in 2016 when her group was able age of 76. he month after his death his Prize in Chemistry, which was awarded hoping this news will put a smile on the to grow human embryos in vitro for up inal paper, “A Smooth Exit from Eternal to Sir Greg Winter in October. he cur- faces of those 40 million people”. to 13 days (nearly double what was pos- Inlation?”, was published in the Journal rent master of Trinity College was award- sible before). In 2018, they built on this of High Energy Physics, and deals with ed the prize for his pioneering work in major breakthrough, by creating murine the idea of the multiverse. directed evolution of antibodies. embryo-like structures from embryonic Eternal inlation, in which inlation Winter’s research is centred around and extra-embryonic stem cells. For the caused by the Big Bang is hypothesized using protein engineering techniques irst time, the necessary environment for to carry on forever, leads to the idea of similar to the process of natural selec- the embryo to develop is formed by the an ininite number of universes. hese tion. “Phage display” uses viruses like extra-embryonic stem cells in culture, universes form in patches where this ish hooks to select antibodies attached not requiring any other scafolding to inlating space slows down and should to target proteins, in an iterative process that eventually evolves antibodies adept at tackling a certain disease. his led to the production of the irst pharmaceuti- cal product based on antibodies, adali- mumab (trade name Humira), which was initially used to treat arthritis. Using a directed evolution approach, a new generation of pharmaceuticals is being produced with hopes that one day they might be able to help cure diseases such ◀ he artiicial as Alzheimer’s. embryo’s stem August 2018 saw some ups and downs cells (left) in quick succession for Cambridge Pro- look almost fessor of Mathematics Caucher Birkar, identical to who received a Fields Medal at the Inter- those of a real, national Congress of Mathematicians for four-day old his contributions to algebraic geometry, mouse embryo only to have it stolen less than an hour (ZERNICKA-GOETZ later. Fortunately, a replacement was ar- LAB) ranged shortly afterwards, bringing the F  18 J  2019 29 Science Only universal healthcare can avert the dystopian future of uncontrolled gene editing

Gianmarco Raddi We sport an abysmal track record when too little both about our targets, and the our most devastating weapon; the lat- argues that ❝ without universal health care it comes to equitable access to biotech- unintended side-e ects of gene modi - ter, the promise of unlimited energy. e nological products and drugs. For ex- cations. Once hailed as the perfect edit- We must ability to unleash the power of stars to and international regulation, ample, the TRIPS agreement from 1995 ing tool, new research suggests CRISPR destroy, or to create. We were not ready genetic treatments risk onwards forced all WTO countries to ac- modi cations can have unintended, not allow for nuclear power during the Cold War, deepening social inequalities cept lengthy patents on pharmaceutical negative consequences called “o -target economic and we are not ready for genetic editing products, reducing access to medicines e ects” disrupting vital, physiological now. Dr. He Jiankui should be stripped of What was Dr. He Jiankui thinking as he in the developing world. Can genes. We simply do not yet have the inequali- his ability to perform research on human walked onto the stage of the Second In- we expect the situation knowledge to tamper with ties to gene editing. International laws must be ternational Summit on Human Genome to be any dif- our germline, that enacted and future transgressors banned Editing in Hong Kong? He is the Chinese ferent for which is passed become from scienti c research – public or pri- scientist responsible for Lulu and Nana, highly com- on to future gen- enshrined vate. e United Nations, governments the CRISPR-edited twin baby girls. e plex biotech- erations. “Pre- in biology and the WHO need to come together, purported goal of this controversial clini- ▶ CCR5 nologies for mature” – that write a treaty, ban human germline cal trial? To decrease the likelihood of receptor in years mired is how Dr. Eric ❞ modi cations (scientists have been HIV infection by mutating CCR5, a gene cell membrane, in patent Topol, Head of clamouring for years for a moratorium), encoding a receptor used by the virus modelled disputes? the Scripps Re- and coordinate the world’s e orts to- as a gateway into our cells. A ba ing THOMAS SPLETTS Compa- search Transla- wards the eradication of deadly genetic choice: CCR5 mutations provide only TOESSER nies will tional Institute in disorders. incomplete protection, and the babies want to California, charac- Until universal healthcare and inter- were not in any great danger of contract- cash in terised He Jiankui’s national legislation on gene editing be- ing the disease anyhow, as the mothers with wealthy experiment. come a reality for all people worldwide, were healthy. Besides, cheaper and more patients, leaving the Human germline editing is a point of we cannot accept the wealthy to further e ective ways of preventing HIV infec- rest behind. Either we o er no return. We will be taking evolution entrench their supremacy through ge- tion already exist. to modify all individuals a ected by a into our hands. netics. A 21st century de ned by arti - Did he expect our sages to adorn genetic disease, and are capable to do at is not necessarily evil, but it must cial “genetic inequities” is a dystopian him with laurel wreaths? Instead, his ❝ it safely, or the technology should not be performed in a careful and regulated nightmare: we must not allow economic work was called disturbing, horrifying, be employed. Feasibility alone is not manner. Genetic modi cation is merely inequalities to become enshrined in bi- monstrous. It appears that he never ful- Will hu- su cient: we must support the CRISPR a tool – it is morally agnostic. eoreti- ology. Just this once, let us leave the ly explored the morality of the project. manity founders’ call for a moratorium on hu- cal physics o ers a parallel: hydrogen Pandora’s box closed; at least, for a lit- When confronted with the ethical im- man experiments. bombs and fusion energy. e former, tle while longer. plications of “designer babies” his reply splinter A sensible approach? e public seems was: “I don’t know how to answer this along to disagree. A recent online opinion poll question.” by Sun Yat-Sen University in China found e promise of human genetic engi- artificial that over 60% of the 4,700 adult Chi- neering is not in dispute. And the ex- genetic nese sampled favoured legalizing edited periments of a rogue scientist should not lines? children to treat or prevent diseases. In blind us to the life-saving opportunities the US too, polls by the Pew Research of CRISPR: think of devastating genetic ❞ Centre uncovered similar opinions. illnesses such as Huntington’s disease. As more understanding about the ex- CAMBRIDGE STUDENT LIFE Former Dartmouth College bioethi- periment percolates to the public, polls THE OFFICAL FOOD OF cist Ronald Green says: “If we could use might shit. Still, one cannot help but gene editing to remove the sequences in wonder: does a “Gattaca” future await? an embryo that cause sickle cell disease Are we destined to jobs, social standing, or cystic  brosis, I would say not only economic status, lives purely based on that we may do so, but . . . we have a our genetic makeup, in turn determined moral obligation to do so.” Indeed, while by our wealth? Will humanity splinter most genetic diseases are rare, when along arti cial genetic lines? combined the burden is shocking. Over at is the future that could await us 5% of newborns will su er from a genet- without some form of universal health ic disorder. With 131 million estimated care and careful regulation. Not only EVERY SINGLE DAY births last year, that is an excess of 6.5 within the UK, but indeed worldwide, million individuals. Clearly, the poten- we need an NHS able to o er ethical ge- tial for genetic engineering to do good netic treatments to all, combined with VALID ON MEDIUM OR LARGE PIZZA ONLY is boundless. Decent medicine however adequate legislation to prevent abuses. demands accounting for risks. Is it fair for some people to avoid debili- In the 21st century, inequality is tating conditions when others cannot? unavoidably one of the main concerns. ▼ Addenbrooke's, Do we want a world whose societies are Leaving the availability of genetic treat- part of the NHS, is split by genetic advantages? How much ment to geographic or economic chance Cambridge's main divide will it create? — making it a privilege accessible only to hospital JOHN Regardless, we are technically far from some – would be exceedingly unethical. SUTTON ready to alter our genetic line. We know

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Outside the Old Building friday 23rd november 2018 31 Sport

New to a Blue: Hitting it of with the Boat Races, BUCS and Bumps: The Cambridge University Polo Club Varsity Lent sport preview

Will Robinson Deputy Sport Editor

Lent Term is set to be an exciting term in sport for Blues and college players alike. he Boat races will headline a packed Lent sporting calendar. On 7th April, Ox- ford University Boat Club and Cambridge University Boat Club will battle it out in front of almost 250,000 spectators lining the river hames in an event broadcast worldwide. Cambridge heads into the contest on the back of last year’s clean sweep, win- ning both the men’s and women’s races, as well as the reserve contests, and will look to retain its historical advantage over a recently resurgent Oxford. he football Varsity match not only sees two familiar rivals meet, but also remains an historically signiicant ix- ture. Cambridge University Association Football Club has recently laid claim to being the world’s oldest football club, with records dating back to 1856. However, it is more recent history that ◀ Polo is one Oxford will look to, with Oxford Uni- of the oldest versity Association Football Club hav- known team ing won both the men’s and women’s sports (CAMBrIDGE ixtures last year. CUAFC men’s captain UNIVErSITY POLO Oscar Melbourne was unlucky to see his CLUB) side fall to a 1-0 defeat earlier this season, and with the Blues separated by just a ting the ball while riding your horse.” point in BUCS, another close match is on William Ross a hard-fought tournament involving four “We also practice team drills and play the cards. Having sufered penalty shoot- of the world’s top academic institutions. constructional chukkas (the name for a out heartbreak in last season’s Varsity discusses all things he 2017 tournament, held in the UK, ❝ period of match play). We practice hit- game, the women’s side will hope that polo with Robyn involved 32 polo players from around he ting technique using a wooden horse their 5-1 thrashing of Oxford earlier this the world and was watched by over 500 and have classroom rules and tactic season will be a sign of things to come Macrae, secretary spectators. Club sessions.” for this year’s contest. of the Cambridge he sport, requiring the ability to counts he club also holds a vibrant and busy On 3rd March, Cambridge University ride a horse, has long been beset by social calendar, contributing to a friendly Netball Club will host Oxford in their University Polo Club accusations of elitism, even being de- Prince environment of the pitch. In Michael- Varsity ixture. Sitting a division above scribed by the Telegraph as the “sport Charles mas 2018, for example, the social term Oxford in BUCS, Cambridge goes in as olo is a unique and exciting of princes”. he Cambridge University card included formal dinners at Clare the favourite, and will hope to match the sport, providing a rare oppor- Polo club, counting Prince Charles (cur- and Prince College, Wolfson College, and St. John’s heroics of the national team last year in tunity to play as part of a team rent President of the club), Prince Henry Henry, College, as well as wine and cheese tast- sealing victory. Pwhile riding a horse. Nothing (Duke of Gloucester), and the 3rd Earl ing at the Hawk’s Club, Christmas Dinner Southgate Hockey Club will host the beats the thrill of galloping down a pitch of Kimberley among its alumni, has and the and the Hawks’ and Ospreys’ Charity Hockey Varsity on 4th March, in a match (which is the size of 5 football pitches) not been immune to such comments. 3rd Earl of Ball. he showpiece social event, how- which has historically been a breeding chasing a ball, racing the opposition! Macrae, however, assures readers that ever, is undoubtedly the annual white tie ground for future international players. Polo, an ancient form of which was “our members come from a wide range Kimberley polo ball in summer term which last year First held in 1890, Cambridge holds the irst played as long ago as 200BC in parts of backgrounds”. among its was held at Madingley Hall, the former edge over Oxford in terms of all-time of ancient Iran and Iraq, is one of the “Some have played lots of polo before residence of King Edward VII. So, if you victories, but Oxford comes in as the cur- oldest known team sports, though the but most only start when they come to alumni fancy joining one of the world’s most ▼ Light Blue polo rent champions, having won both the current form of the game originated in Cambridge, with many of them having ❞ historic sports clubs, galloping across a players take on men’s and women’s games last year. India and was introduced to the UK in never been on a horse before. We have ield on a horse at breakneck speed and their dark blue Dating back to 1878, the Golf Varsity 1834. a mix of undergraduates, Masters and being part of a thriving social scene, look rivals (CAMBrIDGE remains the oldest amateur event in the Indeed, the Cambridge University PhD students.” Indeed, the club has an no further than the Cambridge Univer- UNIVErSITY POLO sport, and will once again take place at Polo Club itself is steeped in tradition extensive development program that sity Polo Club. CLUB) rye Golf Club in mid-March. and is certainly one of Cambridge’s more takes on those who have never tried here’s no shortage of college action, illustrious sports clubs. Founded in 1873, polo, a program which has been highly with football cuppers coming to a head it is the oldest polo club in Europe and successful in recent years: in both 2017 this term. reigning men’s champions the La Martina Varsity match (played and 2018, over half of the club’s members Fitzwilliam face Christ’s in the pick of the against Oxford University Polo Club) is had never played polo before coming to quarter-inal ties, before the semi-inals the second oldest continuing polo match Cambridge. on 16th February. Meanwhile, rugby cup- in the world, having been played almost Players beneit from the tuition of pers will get underway in February, and every year since 1878. he match is cur- professional coaches Mark Holmes and Division 4 Queens’ heroic journey to last rently played at the prestigious Guards Francis Molyuneux and new players year’s inal shows that, again, anything Polo Club in Windsor, whose members learn the ropes through lessons and dur- can happen. include Prince Phillip as President and ing training sessions and relaxed Cup- he term will of course culminate in Queen Elizabeth II as patron. pers tournaments held in both Summer Lent Bumps, as Lady Margaret Boat Club, More recently, the establishment of and Winter. Macrae is keen to stress the of St. John’s, looks to retain head of the the bi-annual Atlantic Cup in 2002 has fun and variety in polo training: “Train- river status for a third year running in been an exciting development. he tour- ing for polo has a number of diferent the men’s division, whilst Jesus looks nament involves Cambridge University elements. ‘Stick and ball’ is one of the to do the same in the women’s. Bumps Polo Club, Oxford University Polo Club, main elements, which is exactly what it take place from Tuesday 5th to Saturday Yale Polo Club and Harvard Polo Club in sounds like – practicing on your own, hit- 9th March. 32 F  23   2018

More than a one-trick pony? William Ross speaks to the Cambridge University Polo Club 31 Sport Sport

Queens’ 4

Downing 1

Penguins prevail despite late CURUFC surge

weekend. start immediately handed the momen- ▲ CURFC saw a tioning. As their opposition tired, their Oliver Little In conditions that favoured the boot, the tum to the Penguins, and they took full late comeback in  tness shone through as they  nished Sports Reporter crowd was treated to an incredibly fast advantage: Cambridge managed to hold the second half the much stronger side. ey re-gathered start to the game. e Penguins com- a Penguins winger up in one corner, but NICHOLAS FOONG o a cleverly worked restart, and drove On a bitter Wednesday evening, Cam- bined  repower and  air, using both di- were caught napping as a quick-tap led towards the opposition line. Ater forc- bridge started their year with a 38-26 loss rect running and audacious o oading. to a try in the other corner. Extras were ing the penalty, the work was let to the to a strong Penguins side, falling short Cambridge saw very little possession duly added, and at 33-0 it seemed that forwards as Sam Schusman rumbled despite a late comeback in the second and territory in the early stages, as they the game was lost. over from a driving maul. Shortly af- half. A minute’s applause marked the ▼ The game was found runners isolated and turned over However, as the pitch dried from the terwards, Elliot Baines broke loose o a start of CURUFC’s 2019, in memory of fast-paced from whenever they gained attacking mo- day’s rain, Cambridge  nally clicked into lineout play, and as had worked so well long-serving colleague Nigel Pett, who the beginning mentum. A well-worked driving maul gear. A fantastically worked try gave for Cambridge all evening, they kept it sadly lost his battle with cancer this NICHOLAS FOONG put the visitors up, and as Cambridge Cambridge hope: a great line up the mid- tight in the opposition 22, before Rowan started to fall o tackles, a scintillating dle from Stephen Leonard followed by Beckett eventually bundled his way over break o a centre- eld scrum set up the an o oad exchange between Bell and to further reduce the arrears. Penguins centre to barge over from close- Jake Hennessey let King to touch down At 38-26, all of a sudden a tall order range. e Penguins’ 10’s unorthodox out wide. seemed much more doable. Alas, on this but e ective kicking routine took the Cambridge were all of a sudden in occasion, the full-time whistle came too score up to 14-0. the ascendancy, and ater a short period soon for Cambridge. Nevertheless, the e Penguins continued this momen- of time in Penguins territory with no what-could-have-beens of the  rst half tum, sending their carriers up the 10 luck, the Penguins were penalized for and the second-half  ghtback suggest channel to drive Cambridge back, and slowing the ball down and were reduced that with some  ne-tuning, the team will with the Cambridge defence stretched, to 14. Cambridge very quickly pro ted only go onwards and upwards. a neat grubber kick allowed their winger from the numbers advantage, as Char- to slide over in the corner. Soon ater, lie MacCallum crossed under the posts, Cambridge: Gatus; Baines, King, Hen- an unfortunate interception sent the im- and Hennessey’s conversion closed the nessey, Story; Cameron, Bell; MacCal- pressive Penguins 14 under the posts, gap to 33-14. lum, Hupputz, Dean, Beckett, Eriksen, and Cambridge were let staring at a Another handling error o the restart Leonard, McMahon, Koster Replace- 26-0 de cit. handed the Penguins possession deep ments: Schusman, Campbell, Kasem, Towards the end of the half they into Cambridge territory, and, as had Could you be Montesino-Jones, Saunders, Gnodde, did begin to enjoy more possession, as been the case all evening, they were a match for Triniman scrum half Chris Bell tried to inject pace ruthless in punishing Cambridge for their Varsity? Email into the Cambridge attack with a series mistakes; slick hands let the Cambridge our sport team Penguins: Ban eld, Drew, Saulo, Rus- of quick-taps. However, it was their ex- defence outnumbered as they crossed at sport@varsity. sell, Signorini, Selwood, Kenningham, ecution that proved the di erence, as in the corner to go 38-14 up, with the co.uk to get Marley, Flinn, Lewis, Stileman, Herbert, Henry King and Sean McMahon both conversion falling just short. involved Barlow, Nalaga, Lawton Replacements: came close to crossing, but the last pass However, the ticking clock and Harris, Waldren, Bagwell, Everton, Poz- failed to  nd its target. 24-point gap seemed to breathe new life niak, McGagh, Calvert, Jones, Wiltshire, e second half started like the  rst into Cambridge, and their resurgence Brighouse  nished – a handling error o the re- typi ed their spirit and superior condi-