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Features  Features 16

No. 850 Friday 5th October 2018 Arts   varsity.co.uk

Cambridge’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1947

‘You don’t expect Analysis people like this What’s next for Breaking to be hired at the Silence?

Cambridge’ Anna Yakovleva News Correspondent

In the most recent survey, Revolt Sexual ● Four LGBT+ mathmos spoke to Assault and  e Student Room reported that across 153 di erent UK universities, Varsity about the hiring of Aron Wall 62% of all students and recent gradu- ates have experienced sexual violence, ● He has previously come under the majority of whom identify as either female, non-binary, or as having a dis-  re for homophobic blog posts ability. Only 2% of those experiencing sexual violence felt both able to report chance,” said Jonny Tsang, a PhD student it to their university and satis ed with Stephanie Stacey, Elizabeth Haigh & in  uid mechanics. the reporting process. Alexandra Giannidi Earlier this year, ater news of Wall’s In Cambridge, the Breaking the Si- homophobic comments emerged, Tsang lence campaign’s  agship project was “It’s disappointing,” said one gay math- created an LGBT+ mathmos mailing list. its ‘Intervention Initiative’, a series of ematician on his department’s appoint- Around 70 students have joined the list, workshops to equip students in how to ment of Aron Wall, an academic who has for which the mathematics faculty has safely intervene in situations involving made openly homophobic comments on expressed its support. Meetings for all sexual harassment or assault.  e initia- his blog. “I’d like to give him a chance,” interested students have been planned tive, which was introduced in October another student said, “but I would feel for later this term, which organisers have 2017, has been raised recently by Sen- uncomfortable.” said they hope will create a more uni ed ior Tutors (in a discussion) of a debate Aron Wall’s appointment by the and supportive environment. within Cambridge “highlighting the need University has been widely publicised Tsang told Varsity that Wall was in- for both College and Departmental in- since his comments emerged. Earlier this formed of the mailing list over email, tervention”, where Dr Mark Wormald, year, Varsity reported that Wall wrote saying, “I’ve invited him to take a look Secretary of the Senior Tutor “continued on his blog in 2015 that same-sex cou- at our mailing list, to join up and to get momentum in the work” of Breaking the ples engage in “unnatural sexual acts”, to know the people here.” Silence was emphasised. and same sex marriage “hurts only the  ey said that as far as lectures are Gender and Policy Insights (GenPol), couple themselves”. Wall is due to join concerned, “as long as he sticks to the a Cambridge-based think tank, recently the university’s mathematics faculty in topic of the lectures, I don’t think his published a new report on sexual con- January 2019. personal views are that troubling.” sent education at British universities Varsity spoke to LGBT+ mathemati- However, Tsang remarked that the entitled, ‘Consent training and sexual cians about their reactions to Wall’s prospect of being supervised by Wall violence prevention in UK universities’. comments, and their feelings about was “di erent”: “I’ve certainly had su- as part of a larger research project on the potentially having to work with him in pervisors with strong views on things question: ‘Can Education Stop Abuse?’. the future. “I’d like to give him a little bit of a Full story Page 6 ▶ Fashionably (matricu)late: story on page 5 ▶ JESS MA Continued on page 9 ▶

Inside ● Students re ect on the Stormzy scholarship Pg.12 ● When should you get your co ee  x? Pg.30 2 F  5 O 2018 News

INTERVIEW Hong Kong’s Dalia Leinarte “father of democracy” talks abortion Page 11 ▶ rights as

FEATURES human rights Don’t romanticise Britain’s past Oliver Rhodes talks to the chair of the Convention on the Elimination of all Page 16 ▶ Forms of Discrimination Against Women SCIENCE about her work on Soviet women’s history

Women in seminars two and meet Professor Dalia Leinarte “we didn’t experience the second wave a half times less likely to ask in the spacious precincts of of feminism.” She added: “that changed the Law Faculty just minutes [Western European] societies forever be- questions than men ater her keynote speech at cause it completely changed attitudes the recent conference, ‘ e towards women and their role in society Page 33 ▶ IDevelopment of Abortion Rights in a and the family – but it also changed how Changing Europe’. A Lithuanian histo- men treated women. So the mentality rian specialising in women and fami- of both genders has been completely lies in Imperial Russia and the former changed.” vulture Soviet Union, Leinarte had been given Re ecting on recent policy changes Magazine the responsibility of opening the  rst in the United States, Lienarte remarked: conference of its kind at the University, “America is one of maybe two or three organised by undergraduate students. countries that still doesn’t ratify the I watch, Leinarte’s address comes at an impor- CEDAW convention. It allows them, therefore I tant crossroads in the development of without any meaningful punishment, to abortion rights. In May, one of Western be more conservative regarding women’s am: the rise of Europe’s most institutionally conserva- rights.” philosohical tive nations, Ireland, voted to overturn  e Convention on the Elimination the Eighth Amendment, which had of all Forms of Discrimination Against TV banned abortion in cases of rape, incest, Women (CEDAW) was adopted in 1979 or fatal foetal abnormality. by the UN General Assembly. Leinarte is Page 30 ▶ Conversely, the photograph of Presi- well-known for her role on its commit- dent Trump reinstating the ‘Mexico City tee, consisting of “23 experts on women’s Policy’ – denying US federal funding to rights”, acting as its chairperson.  e international non-governmental organi- committee studies the implementation sations that advocate abortion rights or of the convention, and seeks to enforce  Noella Chye [email protected] perform abortions – inside a male-only it.    Merlyn  omas & Catherine Lally [email protected] Oval O ce has become, for some, sym- Since becoming a CEDAW member in   Vivienne Hopley-Jones [email protected]   Joe Cook [email protected] bolic of the spirit of the administration. 2012, Leinarte has worked to promote     Mark Curtis [email protected] A similar backlash is occurring across the women’s rights in the constitutions of    Rosie Bradbury & Stephanie Stacey (Senior); Isobel Gri ths & Atlantic: Poland’s far-right government those countries that have rati ed the Millie Kiel (Deputy) [email protected]        Jess Ma, Alexandra Giannidi, Sarah attempted to restrict abortion to only the convention. “As someone who was born Orsborne, Kiran Khanom, Elizabeth Haigh, Amy Batley, Maria Stragapede most extreme cases, while tens of thou- in the Soviet Union, I understand the    Jack Conway [email protected] sands marched again earlier this year to value and the importance of having   Maia Wyn Davies (Senior); Dan Wright, Nick Harris, Priya Bryant, Tom Nixon (Deputy) [email protected] protest the “Stop Abortion” bill, which many voices that come from di erent     Joseph Krol & Gesa Sophia Borgeest [email protected] would prevent abortion even in cases of religious and cultural backgrounds.” She    Isobel Bickersteth & Jess Tan [email protected]   Nick Collin [email protected] extreme foetal abnormalities. says, “that is what I learned and that is  &   James Dickinson [email protected] I ask Leinarte about these develop- what should be treasured: It’s not that   Miles Ricketts & Alice French [email protected] ments. In Eastern Europe, she argues, you should avoid all diversity of opinion    Julia Davies [email protected]    Iris Pearson & Niamh Curran [email protected] – you should take them on board and    Ella Jones [email protected] then  nd consensus.”   Marcus McCabe (Senior) & William Ross (Deputy) ▼ A banner displayed in a protest Yet with member states from eve- [email protected]    Devarshi Lodhia [email protected] against changes to Poland’s abortion ry continent, I am curious as to how document”, Leinarte argues. “So far we      Belle George & Oliver Rhodes [email protected] laws in April 2016. It reads: ‘We want CEDAW manages to reach consensus have reached the consensus that abor-     Jamie Hancock & Nick Chevis [email protected] doctors not policemen’. ZORRO on such a sensitive issue. “It’s a living tions should be allowed at least in four     Cordelia Lam [email protected] -  Vivi Way (Chief); Aimee Wragg, Gabby Handberg, Helen Grant, cases: of rape, incest, health and life of Helena Mackie, Emily Kilner, Imogen Childs, Jasmine Phull, Naomi Hayes, a pregnant woman, and the malforma- Poppy Kemp, Ruth Moss, Allison O’Malley-Graham, Phoebe Harris, Shannon tion of foetus.” Phillips [email protected]     Abdullah Shah It’s a surprisingly liberal consensus,       Raphael Korber Ho man given the membership. Many of its signa-      Edwin Bahrami Balani [email protected]     Caitlin Smith [email protected] 1979 tories have constitutions which are heav-    Reuben Andrews, Felix Peckham, Anna Hollingsworth ily in uenced by religious conservatism. [email protected] But one need not look so far for variation   Dr Michael Franklin (Chairman), Prof Peter Robinson, Dr Tim Harris, Michael Derringer, Caitlin Smith, Noella Chye on the issue. Northern Ireland contin- ues to recognise abortion only when the mother’s life is at risk. It therefore fails to meet the criteria of the convention of which the UK is a rati ed member.

© VARSITY PUBLICATIONS LTD, . All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be But Leinarte has faith that through 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. persistent political pressure, national Varsity, 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX. Telephone 01223 337575. governments take the convention seri- Varsity is published by Varsity Publications Ltd. Varsity Publications also publishes e Mays. ously. Leinarte also stresses the impor- 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. tance of regional conventions, which F  5 O 2018 3 News

◀ Professor Linearte shortly a ter her address at the Abortion Rights Conference

❝ Of course we cannot say that women’s rights have been imple- mented fully in any, but the fact is that globally in 165 con- stitutions, they have this notion of gender equality and women’s rights ❞

propose recommendations for the con- tion.” is inverse relationship between able to them. It’s not true. It was part ingly incremental. It is in the relation- stitution. “If you ask me whether the ❝ abortion and prostitution law, she ar- of modernisation and openisation, but ship between constitutional change and CEDAW convention has made an impact It’s not that gues, re ects the relative importance partially it was because the Soviet cultural attitudes, however, where the in fostering human and women’s rights of cultural beliefs. “ e more cultures government needed their hands to real struggle lies. In countries with cor- globally, I would say yes. Of course we you should are patriarchal, the more they divide work.” rupt or weak legal systems, large rural cannot say that women’s rights have avoid all their women into good and bad. So e Iron Curtain, she argues, insulated populations, and social and economic been implemented fully in any country. diversity of good women should produce children, Eastern Europe from the cultural chang- structures centred on traditional models ere is no such country. But the fact is no matter what, and bad women should es happening in liberal democracies. e of the household, how far can ‘top-down’ that globally in 165 constitutions, they opinion – be always available.” entrenchment of traditional gender roles activism hope to change practices? By have this notion of gender equality and you should Leinarte criticises those who point means that political activism can only making abortion rights a human as well women’s rights.” to the Soviet Union, where legal abor- go so far. “Now these countries have as a legal matter, Leinarte is attempting It is not in the legalities, however, take them tions were readily available, as a femi- been accepted into the European Union, to bridge that gap. where Leinarte’s passions lie. She sees on board nist success story. She stresses that it women’s rights and gender equality have this as part of a broader commitment then nd is relations between the genders that been implemented in these countries to liberate women. “When I was ana- really determine the rights of women in only in the form of directives, of change lysing national laws regarding prosti- consensus any particular society. “A lot of Western in the laws.” Got a story for tution, I found that the more national ❞ academics and historians say there was Changing the law is di cult. But us? Email our jurisprudence has restrictive laws re- real gender equality in the Soviet Union. changing the culture is even harder. news team at garding abortion – full or partial ban on ey brought 100% literacy, they brought is realisation has put Leinarte in a news@varsity. access to legal abortion – the more they women into labour, brought them educa- challenging yet vital position. Consti- co.uk have liberalised laws regarding prostitu- tion and so forth; everything was avail- tutional change can oten be frustrat- 4 Friday 5th October 2018 News

CAIUS TO THE KINGDOM UBER WEIRD Caius appoints its Homerton warns of irst female master fake taxi drivers Gown-ing Gonville & Caius College has installed the Homerton College has sent an email to up irst female master in its 670-year his- its students this week to alert them to tory.Dr Pippa Rogerson, who became the incidents of fake taxi drivers in Cam- 43rd Master of Gonville and Caius College bridge, citing a recent case of someone on Monday, graduated from Newnham pretending to be an Uber driver. Students Freshers’ College in 1983 with a degree in Econom- were given advice on how to avoid be- ics and Law. She became a Caius fellow ing scammed and how to corroborate Week in 1989, going on to become a Director the identity of their Uber driver using entered full of Studies in Law and a tutor. She said the website. 75,000 people had used swing as that she was “delighted and daunted in the app in Cambridge as of December equal parts” to be appointed as master. 2017, when its license was renewed for the newest he number of female college masters ive years amid disapproval among local cohort of in Cambridge is now 12 – almost 40% of taxi cab companies and concerns around Cambridge Cambridge colleges. Uber safety. students experienced THYME TO SAVE Up SLICE OF THE ACTION Cindie’s, St John’s plant sale Shipping container punting, goes ‘viral’ pizza place opens and formal for the irst time hose f(r)ond of plants, rejoice – St John’s he Cambridge Leisure Park has seen College is hosting a plant sale on hurs- the arrival of a new pizza take-away res- day 11th October, ofering Cambridge stu- taurant, Pizza1889 – a restaurant which dents the opportunity to green up their comes in the form of a shipping con- (JESS Ma/ZOE Matt- rooms with plants from Cambridge’s tainer. he restaurant’s founder Daniel WiLLiaMS/ROSiE Scotsdale Garden Centre. Eager plant Southwell has said “there really is noth- BRaDBURY) buyers will have to hurry, however, as ing quite like Pizza1889”: with pizza over 1,000 people have clicked ‘inter- made before your eyes by professional ested’ on Facebook, with almost 200 pizza chefs, those disappointed by the students ‘going’ to the event. he college end of free Domino’s from the Freshers’ JCR have said that the “viral” event will Fair may make the shipping container provide “oxygen producing goodness!” their next stop. Friday 5th October 2018 5 News 6 Friday 5th October 2018 News lGbT+ mathmos speak out over hiring of lecturer in light of homophobic views

● aron Wall, who will join Cambridge’s mathematics faculty in 2019, wrote in 2015 that the lGbT+ community has an “obscene lifestyle” ● Varsity spoke to lGbT+ students about their reactions to Wall’s controversial comments, and their feelings on working with him in future

Wall noted his intention to work as a ▶ Continued from front page college supervisor in a blog post earlier this year where he announced his ap- i disagree with, but then again it’s not pointment to the faculty, saying: “my been quite as personal as this. Nothing talents shine best in a one-on-one set- that hits at my identity.” ting, where i can adapt my approach Tsang added that for supervisions, it to each student”, adding: “i’ll deinitely ❝ is “very important” that there is a “re- apply to join a college, but i don’t know spectful relationship”, both academic which one yet.” and personal, between a student and When asked about the line between A lot of their Phd supervisor. the faculty’s commitment to freedom steven edwards, a second-year lGbT+ and their commitment to diversity, maths student, also said that he would ethan redmond, a second year math- us felt feel “uncomfortable” being supervised ematician, said: “i don’t think the faculty by Wall. does have a commitment to freedom of although edwards acknowledged expression.” betrayed that personal conversations were un- redmond explained, “i think the likely to arise in maths supervisions and faculty has a commitment to making he wouldn’t anticipate any discussion sure everyone can do the best work they ❞ which would cause him to feel “per- can, which means, in my opinion, no sonally attacked”, the issue would lie in discrimination.” “knowing that in that person’s head they he faculty of mathematics also re- have those homophobic thoughts.” leased a statement when news of Wall’s asked whether Wall’s appointment comments became known in July, saying: has afected how supported he feels as “We take the concerns of our staf and an lGbT+ student, edwards replied, “yes, students very seriously.” hey airmed of course”. He explained: “you don’t ex- their commitment to supporting current wards way of thinking which does not ▲ Steven many of the views openly expressed by pect people like this to exist any more, and prospective lGbT+ staf, students belong at any educational institution.” Edwards, a Wall deeply ofend and distress him. and especially not to be hired at Cam- and visitors, and promised to work to in his 2015 blog posts, Wall expressed second year He argued that Wall does not “deserve bridge.” support any concerned students. his belief that members of the “gay com- mathematician any pastoral role unless he gives a full When contacted for comment on he statement emphasised that the munity” live a “notoriously promiscuous, at Selwyn (emily statement apologising and retracting his lGbT+ students’ discomfort with his faculty does not accept any form of dis- reckless, and obscene lifestyle”. brailsford) previous views”. employment, Wall directed Varsity to crimination and “will remain vigilant in a diferent post, written in march he student did praise the University the University’s communications de- and act decisively when issues arise.” 2015, Wall openly criticised the gender for the equality and diversity work that partment. although redmond warned that ir- transitioning process, and said, “i think they have done, saying: “i don’t think i on Wednesday in an introductory lec- ing Wall based on his views might set the wholesome and psychologically-in- can speak for everyone – but in my per- ture, second year mathematicians were a “dangerous precedent”, he said that tegrated thing to do is accept the body sonal experience the University has good reminded of the University’s commit- other options should be ofered to stu- which God actually gave us”, and that intentions when it comes to striving for ment to equality and diversity, and urged dents who would feel uncomfortable be- “trying to be somebody completely dif- equality,” although “this episode shows to call out any unprofessional behaviour ing taught by him. He said, “i think we ferent is not the right way to ix body it is not perfect.” by staf. Guidance on how best to raise have the right to not be supervised by image problems”. Tsang similarly praised the faculty’s concerns was ofered to the students, people who we would feel uncomfort- He added, “it’s not politically correct work on diversity, but argued that the along with examples of previous inci- able with, and i would deinitely feel to ind this procedure disgusting, but faculty should expand its eforts to re- dences of faculty action following stu- uncomfortable in this case.” again on any objective standard i think cruit transgender and non-binary stu- dent concerns. redmond praised this. another math- it really is”. dents and establish a maths-speciic When asked if he would attend lec- ematics undergraduate, who chose to re- specialising in black hole thermo- lGbT+ society. tures by Wall, edwards replied that he main anonymous, considered the expla- dynamics and quantum gravity, he has CUsU lGbT+ Campaign President “wouldn’t have any other choice”, add- nation and support to be “inadequate” in been employed by the stanford institute alistair Hyde said he found the prospect ing: “you could not go in protest but the face of Wall’s appointment. for heoretical Physics since 2017. after that Wall could be “involved directly in that’s just hindering yourself more than he anonymous student said, “i be- coverage of his blog posts, Wall deleted welfare roles” concerning, as it “could helping any cause.” lieve that the right to religious views the controversial comments. have an exceedingly negative efect on He noted that lectures, especially is of the utmost importance, however like other students contacted by the welfare of lGbT+ students”. in a large maths lectures, allow little space that simply does not excuse hate speech Varsity, the anonymous student said bid to reassure students, however, he for personal views to be expressed, say- dressed up as religious views.” he would attend lectures and classes added his belief that “any issues will be ing, “for all i know i could’ve been lec- He described the homophobic atti- given by Wall in order to avoid damag- swiftly dealt with by his college or his tured by massive homophobes before, tudes displayed on Wall’s blog as “a back- ing his education, but emphasised that department, and concerns will be taken and i never knew about it.” seriously.” although edwards said, with “regards in a statement released in July, CUsU to the University hiring the best person ❝ You don’t expect ❝ The right to ❝ You could not go said called for “a public apology from dr. for the job, i respect that completely”, he Wall, and a statement from the damTP noted that he was still disappointed. people like this religious views... [to his lectures] in ensuring that the utmost care would be edwards raised concerns about any paid to ensuring the safety and wellbeing role Wall may take on in terms of per- to exist anymore, simply does not protest, but that’s of any students or staf dr. Wall super- sonal and pastoral care within the Uni- and especially excuse hate speech just hindering vises or otherwise works with”, adding: versity: “Can he really take himself out “there is a clear distinction between free of the situation of being homophobic not to be hired by dressed up as yourself more than speech and hate speech, and dr. Wall’s and actually give someone real advice? comments fall squarely into the latter i don’t think he can.” Cambridge” religious views” helping any cause” category.” F  5 O 2018 7 News

pay as a “critical” issue if the University ing “ nancial wellness” schemes “as a is to recruit and retain “the very best solution to low pay.” Criticising these Open letter people.” proposals, he said, “the suggestion that For these reasons, Toope said, “the better domestic budgeting is the way for- University recommended to UCEA that ward is frankly insulting to overworked urges Toope it should o er a higher uplit in basic pay and underpaid sta .” than 2%”, emphasising that Cambridge e recent open letter addresses high- “remains committed to this” even if the er education concerns nationally, as well to support national o er changes. as within Cambridge. It asks Toope to e open letter praised these “com- “show leadership in reversing the trend mendable words,” but stressed the need of sacri cing sta pay and conditions in better pay for them to be “backed by actions.” higher education budgeting.” Similarly, in response to Toope’s email, Speaking about Toope’s role in in u- Ivan Williams, the chair of Cambridge’s encing national policy, Williams added in higher UNISON branch, told Varsity that while that he believes the Vice-chancellor has he was “happy to hear” the remarks, “it the ability to “steer Cambridge Universi- is easy to say nice things, what is a lot ty” into a position where it is the bench- education harder is to make a di erence.” mark “for other Universities to strive to Yaqoob told Varsity that the Univer- when it comes to pay and conditions.” sity is currently proposing extending ◀ Escalating strike action from the performance-related pay and introduc- UCU MATHIAS GJESDAL HAMMER Millie Kiel Deputy News Editor

e Cambridge branch committees of the University and College Union (UCU) and UNISON, the UK’s largest trade un- ❝ ion, have sent an open letter calling on Vice-chancellor Stephen Toope to sup- [Toope] port their campaign for better pay in the should higher education sector. e open letter, sent earlier this week, come out marks the latest development in an on- clearly and going campaign for higher pay for aca- demic sta across the UK, which was publicly among the issues highlighted in the in- dustrial action earlier this year. against this e letter asserts that across the high- wholly er education sector nationally, accord- ing to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), inadequate “real-terms pay has dropped more than offer 12% since 2009.” In order to allow sta to recover from this, the UCU has called ❞ for a pay increase of 7.5%, along with £1,500 for all sta .

e pay increase 2% proposed by UCEA

e pay increase 7.5% called for by UCU

e University Council for Education- al Administration (UCEA), however, pro- posed a 2% increase, which the open let- ter claims represents “another pay cut” due to the in ation of living costs in the UK. Cambridge UCU secretary Waseem Yaqoob told Varsity that Toope “should come out clearly and publicly against ❝ this wholly inadequate o er.” UCU and UNISON’s open letter asks It is easy Toope to support “action to address the to say nice spread of precarious contracts and pay inequality.” things, it is e letter asserts that “it is a sign of sta anger” at UCEA’s o er, that the Cam- a lot harder bridge branches of UCU and UNISON, to make a representing more than 2,000 members between them, are currently balloting difference for strike action. ❞ e current ballot, which opened on the 30th August, will close in mid- October. It is primarily concerned with four key issues in the HE sector: low pay, the gender pay-gap, the casualisation of employment, and high workload. According to a Cambridge UCU survey in 2016, sta at the University have a longer working week than the nation- ally agreed higher education hours, with an average of 52.8 hours work per week due to teaching and collegiate commit- ments. In an email to sta in September, Toope said that he is concerned about the “low remuneration of UK academ- ics and professional sta ”, citing sta 8 F  5 O 2018 News Toope re ects on ‘eventful’ year in annual address

touches on people’s livelihoods”. He ar- coordinate approaches across collegiate Sarah Orsborne gued that the dispute required “complex Cambridge”. Senior News Correspondent thinking”, mentioning his “genuine dis- Earlier this year, Varsity revealed in- satisfaction at not being able to deliver consistencies in di erent colleges’ inter- “As rituals of initiation go, I hope this easy answers to questions that trouble pretations and implementations of the one has run its course”, Cambridge Vice- the entire system”. Prevent duty, with at least two colleges chancellor Stephen Toope said of the  e vice-chancellor expanded on sta having intervened in speaker events. past 12 months in his annual address at frustration beyond the issue of pensions, Toope reiterated Cambridge’s com- Senate House on Monday. touching on concerns that the Univer- In his 20-minute address, Toope sity has lost its sense of being a “self- touched on the “divisive” issues facing governing community of scholars”. He Cambridge’s Cambridge: sta pension strikes, divest- acknowledged the “appetite” to simplify latest ment, the Prevent legislation, and, more the University’s decision-making proc- £500m fundraising goal broadly, University democratic decision- esses”, to “ensure that each [University] for reforms to making. committee is clear about its role… with- student support In one of his more public acknowl- out reducing democratic oversight of edgements of the frustration felt within policy decisions”. mitment to a ‘light-touch’ approach on the University community amid an unre- Recently Cambridge’s committee- Prevent, a thread in University rhetoric solved dispute over sta pensions, Toope based governance system came under which came under scrutiny following said, “I deeply regret the erosion of trust scrutiny by former CUSU President Daisy University intervention in a panel dis- between those who have voiced their Eyre, rendering University Council, Cam- cussion run by the Cambridge University concern about the proposed changes, bridge’s principal policy-making com- Palestine Society (PalSoc) in November and those of us whose job is to keep the mittee, a “rubber-stamping body”, where 2017.  e University requested replace- university running and to focus on the “decisions have been made long before ment of the panel’s chair, Dr Ruba Salih, long term”. they make it to the Council.” with a “neutral” sta member – a move Frustrations mounted earlier this year Toope’s address also indicated a shit the University apologised for earlier this as sta took to the picket lines in protest ❝ and in introducing a Cambridge-speci c ▲ Vice-chancellor in the University’s approach on the Pre- year. of proposed changes to sta pensions by pensions scheme if negotiations failed to Stephen Toope vent duty, a counterterrorism policy Toope also announced several new employer advocacy group Universities I deeply reach a resolution – had followed months gave his second introduced by the UK government in University initiatives in his address, in- UK (UUK), which had initially received of criticism of the University’s lack of annual address 2015 and rolled out in 2016 across the cluding commitments to reimburse EU support from the University in its indi- regret the sympathy for sta concerns. at Senate House collegiate University. Toope’s address sta for settlement application costs, vidualisation of risk on employees. erosion of Toope acknowledged in his annual on Monday o ered his  rst public acknowledgement and Cambridge’s pledge to raise £500m Toope’s concessions during the strike address the personal impact of the UNIVERSITY OF of collegiate di erences in the rollout of for student support initiatives. action – in calling on Cambridge to as- trust❞ pensions crisis for sta , that the situ- CAMBRIDGE the Prevent legislation, and announced sume higher pension contribution costs, ation was “fraught – because it directly that the University would “work to better

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on deeper inequality issues within gen- dered power systems, we can continue Cambridge study nd- to develop understanding of the bene ts of a less violent world, whilst also main- taining the motivation to change at the ings on sexual violence individual level. Number of complaints o er vision for ‘Break- 173 submitted between May 2017 and January ing the Silence’ 2018  e sum that Cambridge was alone is not su cient.  e ‘Breaking the given in 2017 ◀ Continued from the front page £87k Silence’ campaign followed a sustained to invest in campaign by CUSU Women’s Campaign anti-harassment  e think tank, made up of both students (WomCam) and women’s activists for initiatives and academics, investigated good train- Cambridge to introduce o cial sexual ing practises, highlighted challenges and assault policies across colleges to sup- Finally, consent learning should not weaknesses in current education initia- port and protect its students. Former end ater the initial training is o ered. tives, and provided recommendations for Women’s O cer Lola Olufemi, who over- By combining multiple training formats, those committed to ending gender-based saw the launch, said it was “a step in covering more topics in depth and at abuse. Research found that in order to the right direction”. She has urged, how- a more personal level, individuals can signi cantly reduce abuse cases, sexual ever, that campaign e orts must address be further encouraged to actively par- violence training alone is not su cient. questions of whether the University is ticipate in shaping a world free of vio-  e call for implementation of adequate “willing to fund the support services lence. policies at the institutional level along- that are being outsourced”, of whether Women’s movements have fought side convincing leadership commitment formal and informal disciplinary pro- to pioneer a critical shit in our under- to the cause, was cited as essential to the cedures are adequately responsive to standing of sexual violence as a human prevention of violence. students’ complaints, and how to push rights violation whilst also re-de ning GenPol’s research revealed a need colleges to “have someone that students lence. ▲ CUSU sexual assault as not restricted just to for institutions to address changes in can access, that works speci cally on GenPol recommends approaching Women’s physical coercion.  is classi cation, as disciplinary procedures and report- sexual violence and assault”. the rejection of consent education by O cer Claire well as initiatives to raising awareness ing mechanisms, whilst also re ecting GenPol points out that the congrega- male participants through positive Sosienski Smith of consent and campaigns working to commitment to change by high pro le tion of rape culture within the climate masculinity practises, such as encour- addressed last empower people of all genders to express university members – in order to sig- of UK universities campus housing aging the importance of male-allyship year’s Reclaim consent safely, is now beginning to be ni cantly reduce abuse cases, the data structures is especially dangerous and and denouncement of toxic masculinity the Night rally adopted by organisations and legisla- indicates that sexual violence training is linked to higher rates of sexual vio- traits. By incorporating a broader focus EVELINA GUMILEVA tives across the world.

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o ind out more and apply, visit www.gchq-careers.co.uk 10 F  5 O 2018 News Martin Lee: Hong Kong must grow its own “fruits of democracy”

Hong Kong’s “father of democracy” talks to Bethan McGinley about press freedom, protest, and British silence

artin Lee, Hong China decided that the political and legal Kong’s interna- system of the PRC would not be practised tionally-recog- in Hong Kong, and that Hong Kong’s way nised politician of life would remain unchanged until and barrister, is 2047. Lee puts it candidly: “since one Mcalm and unassuming as he smiles and country, two systems is China’s own shakes my hand. Lee had just spoken at basic policy put into writing ... and en- a Cambridge Union panel, along with shrined in our constitution of basic law; other pro-democracy campaigners from that is still the only way forward.” Yet in Hong Kong – including Benny Tai, Evan 2014, Ni Jian, China’s deputy ambassador Fowler and Nathan Law. No doubt tired to Britain, was said to have told Richard a ter a day of travelling, Lee remains at- Ottoway, the chairman of British House tentive and waves away my apologies of Commons’ Foreign A airs Committee, for asking yet more questions so late in that to Chinese o cials the Joint Decla- the evening. He tells me, “you are only ration “is now void and only covered the tired if you say you’re tired; I say I am period from the signing in 1984 until the awake so I am.” It is exactly this strength handover in 1997.” Lee echoes this, as he of mind which has characterised Lee’s lists the fruits of democracy he believes long campaign for democracy. Hong Kong enjoyed under British rule, Having been directly involved in the which are being gradually eroded by the dra ting of the mini-constitution of the government in Beijing. “We don’t  nd post-1997 Hong Kong in 1985, and in the a democratic tree [in Beijing]. In Hong discussions surrounding the sovereignty Kong we must grow our own. We are of Hong Kong a ter 1997, Lee’s struggle unable to look to Beijing for fruits of for Hong Kong’s autonomy has spanned democracy.” over three decades. He is the founding Such “fruits of democracy” include chairman of the United Democrats of the free press, which is under threat from Hong Kong, the  rst major political party China’s authoritarian government. It is in Hong Kong and later the Democratic on this topic, more than any other, that Party, the current pro-democracy party. Lee does not hold back. “We don’t have It is no wonder then, that he is known an independent press anymore” he says as Hong Kong’s “father of democracy”, a sadly. “ ere are so many of them which title which he corrects to “grandfather” are entirely pro-Beijing”, he adds. Ac- with a wry smile. cording to Lee, since the Alibaba Group  e 2014 Umbrella Revolution, which – China’s largest online commerce com- saw pro-democracy sit-in street protests pany – bought the South China Morning in Hong Kong, captured the world’s at- Post, there is now no English-language tention. Lee was 76 at the time, and independent paper in Hong Kong. “ e while on the frontlines with student ac- South China Morning Post,” he says with tivists, police  red tear gas on the crowd. a shake of his head, “used to be inde- Indeed, four years on he claims in mock- pendent and used to be very good… now seriousness that “tear gas keeps the mind Alibaba has bought it of course it loses sharp”. Such light-hearted humour puts its independence”. those around him immediately at ease, For Lee, there is no question that the with the exception, I would imagine, of government in Beijing is leaning heavily the Beijing government whom he calmly on the press to construct a pro-China condemns. While China had pledged an propaganda narrative. In this, alongside election of Hong Kong’s chief executive other infringements on Hong Kong’s by universal su rage in 2017, this has autonomy, he speaks unapologetically, failed to materialise. Twenty-one years never breaking eye contact as he de- post-handover, Lee states that “one scribes how Beijing is “emboldened by ▲ Lee a ter speaking in the ‘Democracy in Hong Kong’ panel BETHAN MCGINLEYCATHERINE LALLY country, two systems is fast becoming the silence of the British government one country, one system”. and the rest of the world”. ❝ with a resounding “yes” that he did truly It is this desire, for promises to be Whilst Lee primarily blames the Brit- believe that Hong Kong would achieve ful lled and democracy to be achieved ish government’s silence on a desire to Freedom of democracy in the next  ty years. in Hong Kong, that has driven Lee’s long maintain Chinese trade relations, he also the press … For Lee, the goal is a democratic Hong career. From the outset, he states that notes that, given the “the lack of accurate Kong, “nothing more, nothing less,” as in the writing of the constitution he reporting in English”, as British citizens, it is up to was promised, and the free press is both “wanted to give as much power to the “you may not even know what’s hap- you, if you needed to fuel the struggle, but also to legislator over the government”, in order pening in Hong Kong”. It is this which are brave act as a cornerstone of a truly democratic to preserve Hong Kong’s autonomy. And he voices with a degree of frustration, society. For Lee, press freedom is price- whilst Lee acknowledges that the “one communicating just how important a enough to less and the opportunity a orded to stu- country two systems” policy is “very dif- free press is to sparking activism; “if report it dents in Cambridge to learn, debate and  cult to work”, he says that the onus lies you feel strongly about Hong Kong,” he report freely is one to be cherished and with Beijing. It is just like a seesaw, he tells me “you might go to see your lo- ❜❜ upheld. In his  nal words he tells me, explains: “the larger system must move cal MP, write letters, protest… thereby “freedom of the press … it is up to you, if towards the centre”, while “the mainland [putting] some pressure on the British you are brave enough to report it”. is much bigger, heavier – but it is still government”. using its might”. However, Lee is not disheartened. He ▶ A street sit-in during the 2014 Indeed, the Joint Declaration agreed speaks strongly and with passion, and Umbrella Revolution in Admiralty, by the UK and the People’s Republic of in addressing the panel, he answered Hong Kong DOCTOR HO

12 F  5 O 2018 News Students re ect on Stormzy and the state of black access

In the scholarship’s announcement, re ected on how their experience at Rosie Bradbury Cambridge ACS members appeared in a Cambridge has in part been shaped Senior News Editor photoshoot with Stormzy, with the aim by being from an underrepresented Noella Chye of improving visibility of Cambridge’s background, and on how implicit ra- Editor black student population to minorities cial biases has a ected them: “To be and prospective applicants: to “[show] black at Cambridge is to disrupt”, said  is week, two black students matricu- that… this University can be for you, and Fola-Alade. lating at Cambridge received the Stormzy it can be accessible”, said Odumade. “Anything we do to promote the Scholarship, which will fully fund their Several photographs of Cambridge welfare of our students to help more tuition fees and provide a maintenance ACS members – including one in 2017 deserving black students get in, to en- grant for the duration of their under- of 14 male students in St John’s college, sure that our cultures are celebrated graduate study, to an estimated value and a photo taken earlier this year of over and that other members of the student of £18,000 for the 2018-2019 academic 50 female students commemorating 70 body get the access to both our cultural year. years since the  rst black female student and intellectual capital as black people,  e scholarship, announced in July by graduated from the University – have is disruptive”, he added. Brit-award-winning grime artist Stormzy, gone viral on social media. Rashidat Animashaun, facilitator for was launched in an e ort to improve Cambridge ACS President Toni Fola- FLY, a network for women and non-bi- black access to the University, and to Alade argued that the announcement of nary students of colour in Cambridge, remove the  nancial burden of attending the Stormzy scholarship, alongside vid- commented that she’s noticed many Cambridge for four black students. eoed interviews with black Cambridge students of colour “have [a] feeling Earlier this year, Varsity spoke to stu- students, “puts a positive message about of guilt because they know that back dents who have worked on BME access ▲ e Stormzy having a “di erent type of impact” than the black Oxbridge experience on a na- home there are issues of  nances that e orts during their time at Cambridge, scholarship messages from teachers or parents, and tional scale on a way that no one else their families have to deal with... and on their predictions of the impact of the will support that it was part of an e ort of “levelling really can”. they recognise that they might be Stormzy scholarship. four Cambridge the playing  eld” for underrepresented “In your head, you think that there’s spending money that at home, with “People don’t realise that [race] can be students for the groups at Cambridge. a certain type of person that Cambridge family situations, wouldn’t be possi- a factor way, way, way before you even duration of their Cambridge has faced recent scrutiny ❝ looks for…. a posh, privately-educated ble.” get to applying to university in terms of degrees STORMZY over the state of access for disadvan- To be black white student who speaks a certain way She added that the term “women of not going to good enough schools, sub- YOUTUBE taged students. In its latest admissions and acts in a certain way, does certain colour”, is a “very broad church… What jects being cut”, said Oyinkan Odumade, round, black students had application at Cam- things, and that almost kind of puts you you  nd with many of the BME com- a Cambridge African and Caribbean So- success rates seven percentage points o of applying because you just think, munities in Cambridge is that many of ciety (ACS) member who appeared in lower than average rates, and in the 2016 bridge is to ‘even if I am good enough, they’ll choose them are familially or personally quite the videoshoot announcement of the admissions round, Cambridge accepted disrupt this student over me’”, said ACS Vice- wealthy, so what may be one woman of scholarship with the artist. more black students than Etonians for president Timi Sotire. colour’s struggle is not another woman Odumade saw the scholarship as the  rst time on record. ❞ Sotire, Odumade, and Fola-Alade all of colour’s struggle.”

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www.twitter.com/mrccbu www.facebook.com/mrccbu 14 Friday 5th October 2018 Features Rethinking the canon with Leonard Yip

Jonathan Chan sits down with several English students to examine the personal implications of a decolonised English curriculum in a Varsity features column

student like Leonard Yip (hird academic engagements, but it is also Year, Wolfson) is a rarity in the the language that he uses to unpack his English Faculty. An interna- identity. Perhaps this is unsurprising A tional student, Leonard hails given that English is one of the oicial from Singapore, a country known for languages of Singapore as enshrined in producing pragmatically-minded stu- government policy. Singapore’s decision dents. One only needs to walk by the to adopt English as an administrative Law or Economics faculties to hear the language is emblematic of a broader phe- intonations of Singaporean English. Yet, nomenon: that English is no longer the Leonard’s choice of academic discipline domain of the English. A distinct ofshoot has yielded intellectual fruit, particularly of colonisation, the avalanche of people in thinking through the reconstitution of who speak, write, and think about their the English language within Singapore’s country’s heritage and history in English context. brings particular credence to the fact To Leonard, the approach to rethink- that much of the Anglophone world has ing the canon of works that undergradu- never stepped foot in England. ates are exposed to on the English Tripos In thinking through the reclama- ▶ Leonard Yip is demands some nuance. He opines that tion of the English language, Leonard one of a handful we should not preclude the opportunity points to Chinua Achebe’s seminal novel of Singaporean to engage with cultures– in literature hings Fall Apart as a powerful exam- students study- we ind ourselves instantaneously trans- ple. “We were 13-years old in school ing English in ported across kilometres and oceans, and when we studied it,” Leonard notes Cambridge the act of reading broadly often serves to with a laugh. “Nobody expected us to (jONATHAN CHAN) emphasise our collective similarities, not be thinking about postcolonial theory”. diferences. Having grown up reading Yet, his teachers chose to emphasise how he stringing of sentences always seeks It is with a tinge of irony that we rec- the tales of King Arthur, Leonard men- Achebe’s novel was crafted as a response to drive a point or express a perspective. ognise that when the English language tions that we should not excoriate our- to colonial literature and the English lan- Writing does not operate in a vacuum.” irst arrived in Singapore, it was used selves for loving things that are not our guage was used as a vehicle for African In recognising that language cannot be to deine and colour the land through own. Yet, he also notes that there exists languages, traditions, and ways of life. disentangled from its context, Leonard a foreign perspective, ultimately lead- a iner point of distinction between be- Leonard remarks that Achebe details and believes that theoretical readings of texts ing to a colonial enterprise that lasted ing an international student and a BME recomposes Igbo idioms, stories, and often provide an ungainly way of de- ❝ English 123 years. student. Being of Chinese ethnicity, Le- songs often disregarded by colonialists. riving meaning. Rather, Leonard sees is the only “I felt that I owed it to myself as a onard had the privilege of being a part Looking back, Leonard identiies a recur- the study of English as the cultivation specialist in English to grapple with this,” of Singapore’s ethnic majority. Moreo- ring question that came up through the of a desire to strive for elegance in the language I Leonard notes. “I’m in a strange posi- ver, he had the luxury of engaging with study of the novel: How is Achebe re- way things are read. Leonard’s medita- can speak tion. English is the only language I can works of English literature as cultural claiming language from the mouth of the tion on the polemic nature of language fluently, speak luently, but it is not spoken by imports. To that extent, his experiences coloniser? Leonard argues that Achebe manifested in an essay he worked on for my grandparents and is not indigenous bear sharp diferences from being a mi- acts as a linguistic ventriloquist, mak- the long 18th century, a period spanning but it is not to the land I grew up in.” In poring over nority in Britain. ing the language say what he wants it 1660 to 1870. Leonard analysed the irst spoken by the writing of early travellers, including “English is the language I’ve grown to say, making the language his own to travel writing created about Singapore Stamford Rales, the governor-general up speaking and the only language I’m engage with the heritage and history of and the Malayan Peninsula, and in doing my grand- often regarded as the founder of mod- fully proicient in”, Leonard remarks. his own country. so addressed the rhetorical domination parents ern Singapore, Leonard recognises cer- Not only is it the language that he uses “I think many people often overlook that lead to the commodiication of the ❞ tain distinctions from the Eurocentric to express his thoughts and address his the fact that language is always political. island and the ‘othering’ of the natives. travel writing of the time. hese ventures F  5 O 2018 15 Don’t romanticise Britain’s past Daniella Adeluwoye of the nation’s past, we have been led to believe that racism was never our explores what problem and all we did was innocently sip cups of tea. decolonisation means I’m sorry to disappoint, but Britain’s ❝ Our cur- tradition of tea was built on exploitative for the liberation of imperialism. Britain illegally drugged up riculum the entire nation of China, dragging it our own minds offers us a through two Opium Wars, forcing the palatable cession of Hong Kong as colonial terri- When I was young, I always used to look tory, to maintain this country’s cultur- forward to the crunch of autumn leaves version of ally appropriative aternoon drinking ❝ Being because October meant Black History Britain’s his- habits. So, stop teaching me about how dyspraxic Month. irty-one sacred days to  nally Isambard Kingdom Brunel was one of deviate from the myopic and Eurocentric tory, con- the greatest  gures of the Industrial can some- lens that is our curriculum and indulge celing the Revolution. Instead, teach me how the times feel myself within the rich tapestry of black blood stains Industrial Revolution was built on slav- like living history. ery and sustained systems of capitalistic But year ater year, Black History and cracks domination throughout the world that in a world Month was spent celebrating Britain’s of its colo- feeds into neo-colonial economic rela- that wasn’t role in ending the slave trade. Did we tionships today. ever critically engage in Britain’s role in nial past ❞ Britain has repeatedly failed to come proofed the slave trade in the  rst place? No. Did to terms with its colonial past, but the against you we ever learn that the e ects of the slave rise of decolonisation-related activism of ❞ trade transcend its abolition? No. Our na- Cambridge students gives me hope that tional curriculum fails to teach us about we can have critical discussions about the deprivation characterising the lives who gets to tell what version of Britain’s of former slaves as they were let illiter- story. e curriculum must go beyond ate and unskilled and how this created middle-class white men and adding a an intentionally orchestrated drawback few BME writers will not harm sacred that remains intergenerational. western philosophers; but at the same Who tells what version of Britain’s time, this does not necessarily require story? My younger self would have been the removal of all white people from delighted to have learnt about black the existing syllabus. It means contex- abolitionists such as Olaudah Equiano tualising white people in their colonial rather than hearing about our conven- context or o ering postcolonial read- ient national hero, William Wilberforce. ings on existing texts. Take e Tempest History is not an objective narrative, it for example, we can engage in a post- is always told by the winners: declin- colonial analysis of the play and allow ing sugar prices and over-competition ourselves to challenge more traditional contributed to the anti-slavery policies interpretations. that enabled Wilberforce’s glori cation; To liberate our curriculum is to ask the myth that Wilberforce represents the ourselves who holds hegemony over moral righteousness of Britain fails to narratives and recognising that these consider how the abolition movement, supposedly authoritative voices are not in many ways, just followed existing formed in vacuums. ey are re ections market trends of the time. of our geo-political institutions and ones Rather than continually deify Wilber- that we must not passively consume. force, I would have been awe-struck to e real danger is that the meaningful hear that Britain also had a black power issues at stake become obscured in our movement, that we too had our events Varsity, now attempts to diversify our national cur- featuring you to mirror the Montgomery Bus boycott, riculum. We need fundamental change Pitch an idea at beyond Europe facilitated the develop- transform beyond the ‘domestic context’ such as the Bristol Bus boycott. It is frus- to our education system because when ❝ varsity.co.uk/ ment of an orientalism that would lead of the British Isles. He cites the meticu- trating in retrospect to uncover that we Caribbean girls and black schoolboys get-involved to the subjugation of entire countries. I feel like lous attention paid in lectures to regional have our own history on our door steps, are disproportionately at the bottom of In analysing the language of such travel I have variations in the language of the medi- yet our national curriculum sweeps it the education system, making Chinua writing, Leonard identi ed the domi- one foot eval text Gawain and the Green Knight, under the carpet, because even during Achebe a compulsory author to study nating frameworks that were  rst used but the comparative lack of focus given Black History Month, it is white people is not going to be enough. We must also to control Singapore and the Malayan on the to the varieties of English from around who celebrate the story of white Britain address issues of unconscious bias and Peninsula. However, by speaking and shores of the world. “It is a disservice to all English to the rest of us. low expectations amongst teachers and thinking in the same language that was Singapore speakers to overlook geography-bound Growing up as a mixed-race person, what e ects this has on their students, once used to dominate his country, Le- narratives”, Leonard argues, for one only I would oten pester my teachers with but a more liberated curriculum would onard remarks with a measure of dis- and the needs to examine idioms, phrases, and my observations about how Eurocentric undoubtedly be the  rst step to helping comfort, “I feel like I have one foot on other on creoles to recognise the shits that have the national curriculum was: the British students feel included and ensuring that the shores of Singapore and the other the deck been induced by the particularities of monarchy, the Great Fire of London, the there is a personal connection with what on the deck of Ra es’ ship. My academic of Raffles’ context. abolitionist movement in Britain. Our they study. Because as inquisitive young work was an attempt to reconcile the As Leonard asserts, “You cannot call curriculum o ers us a palatable version students who want to explore their own two positions”. ship yourself a student of English without of Britain’s history, concealing the blood identities during a crucial period of their It is amidst this that Leonard asserts ❞ paying heed to stories and Englishes stains and the cracks of its colonial past lives, Henry VII may not be the best his- that not only is it crucial to study how from around the world”. Maybe this is such as the devastating e ects the Brit- torical  gure to do so and there is only the English language came to be, but the least we can hope to see re ected in ish Empire had on India. is version so much we can explore within those also how it has continued to change and a transformed English curriculum. of British history is a romanticisation  eeting 31 days of the year. 16 F  5 O 2018 Features Let’s talk about dyspraxia

Mimi Robson and Kitya Mark talk about what having dyspraxia, a rarely publicised and frequently misunderstood speci c learning di culty, can mean for the self- perception of young adults minds

Accidentally throwing a partner out of bed (twice, in under 15 minutes) because it was di cult to adjust to the con nes of a single mattress is just the beginning of a  oodgate of memories of mishaps and minor calamities. Forgotten names, turning up 50 minutes late ater a bitter feud with Google Maps, struggling with items of clothing: the list goes on.  ere are ways to tell all of these sto- ries as light and entertaining anecdotes.  ere is something inherently funny about being a ‘klutz’, and at times it can be tempting to play up to this persona. We ful l the classic ‘arts student’ stere- otype, yet this is a stereotype informed by the ingrained sexist view that arts students are generally female, and con- sequently ‘ditzy’  gures. We want to use this space to re ect on how, although dyspraxics may choose to make a joke out of their experiences, dyspraxia can lead to considerable personal and aca- demic di culties. When discussing the e ects of dys- praxia, our conversation quickly moved to the kind of intimate scenes of clumsi- ness in the bedroom — mostly because of the prominence that these instances can have in terms of self-perception, rather than that we’re both sex-obsessed over-sharers (give us the bene t of the doubt). While sexuality doesn’t have to be an important part of anyone’s life, for us and for some others there can be ▶Illustration by a sense that, feeling like a competent Lisha Zhong for sexual being matters. Varsity Bedroom contexts can be di cult for most people to navigate, but these and mental health has started to receive in dissertations and their performance ibly isolating:  nding each other to contexts become more di cult when more consideration: a recent study in in the exams than is the case for their write this article triggered something navigation is not your strong point. Dys-  e Developmental Medicine and Child non-SpLd peers.  is includes students in between a rant and a therapy ses- praxia can mean that your limbs don’t Neurology journal suggested that late with dyspraxia, dyslexia, ADHD, and sion. It can feel challenging if you are always perform ‘the limb thing’ in the adolescents with moderate-to-severe dyscalculia. All students on average the only person you know who cannot way that you hoped that they would. It DCD were 78% more likely to experi- performed better in dissertations than work when the library fans are turned can make you feel persistently uncoor- ence mental health di culties.  ese exams, but the di erence is greater for on, who loses hours of the day trying dinated, inelegant, and frankly lost in di culties were associated with chal- SpLD students, which suggests that they to remember where your folders are, or most places.  is means that you don’t lenges in social communication and low might underperform in exams. While even what chapters you have read re- just feel subtly embarrassed but you also self-esteem, and the risk was found to be this isn’t the be-all-and-end-all, it is easy cently. On the whole, there is not only feel undesirable if you struggle to move even higher for female participants. to see how these discrepancies might little consideration of these experiences, in a ‘sexy’ way. Nothing makes you feel  ese psychological conditions are feel undermining. but raising them comes with the dis- sexier than being gently told that you also associated with the less conspicu- What complicates dyspraxia is that it missive accusation that “you’re blaming look like a foal that can’t walk properly, ous e ects that dyspraxia can have on perhaps only deserves a certain level of everything on dyspraxia”. or being asked how you manage to get mental processes. While dyspraxia does sympathy. For all our complaining, there ▼ Illustration by Being dyspraxic can sometimes feel dressed in the morning. ❝ not have an impact on overall IQ, di cul- is nothing inherently life-threatening Kitya Mark like living in a world that wasn’t proofed In Virginia Woolf’s e Waves, Neville ties with things like working memory about it. Having a disability which is against you, where no matter how you re ects, “I lack bodily grace and the cour- Being (the use and retention of short-term largely invisible is also a form do in your  nal exams, you’ll still age that comes with it”, and this state- dyspraxic information), issues with planning and of privilege. But manage to pour co ee ment has a surprising capacity to speak structuring words and ideas, as well as because of this down the front of your to the public and private e ects that can some- increased di culties with organisation, lack of visibil- blouse on graduation dyspraxia can have. What is undermin- times feel can generate anxiety and low self-worth ity, dyspraxia day. Laughing along ing about having dyspraxia is not only like living if the right support is not in place.  ese can feel in- with a nosy onlooker the movement, but all of the things that di culties might be particularly felt cred-c r e d - about your hand- do (or do not) come with it. For example in a world during a dyspraxic person’s education. writing is under- the di culties that accompany feeling as that wasn’t Studies carried out by the Cambridge mining in a world though you’re always sat in the wrong Disability Resource Centre have so far where the chal- place in the room, or that every intimate proofed shown that students at Cambridge lenges beneath moment comes with the threat that you against you University with speci c learning dif- the humour are might spoil it with your clumsiness. ❞  culties (SpLD) have much greater dis- consistently ig-  e connection between dyspraxia crepancies between their performance nored. OCTOBER 10TH

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Artwork by Alisa Santikarn Friday 5th October 2018 19 Opinion Varsity Editorial

I didn’t have a freshers’ week. I remem- head the details of the most painful mo- with herself and so the world around her ber the morning of my matriculation ❝ ments, and feel the fear, the self-hatred. too, I feel this immense sadness. I’ve — so cold and lightheaded I thought I It doesn’t feel like it’s really happened to I think fragments of all of these past would faint. I’m writing me. I can’t believe I’ve been, and still am, selves I’m writing to lie in every one of I arrived in Cambridge with an eat- in this much denial. us – insecurity, self-doubt, shame. So I’m ing disorder I’ve had since I was around this to my Going into my inal year, I realised writing to you all too. spent 10. Up until today I’ve never really told that someone else will arrive in Cam- We have a long way to go in Cam- anyone everything. Just two months nine-year- bridge this year dealing with deep- bridge in recognising the insecurities we ago, over the summer, I admitted it to old self, seated insecurities of their own, scared all face – to making this a place where the past myself. or ashamed of them; who, like me two fear is no longer the norm. Lately I’ve thought a lot about when when the years ago, hasn’t heard about the insecu- his disorder has shaped my life in I irst arrived. I spent my irst term in irst hints rities that people face in Cambridge and ways I haven’t fully confronted. I still Cambridge feeling strange and ashamed. how it can shape your time here; who ind myself in denial; the only way I can ten I remember looking for people in Cam- of insecu- suspects they may be alone. I felt I had get through each day is by trying not to bridge who were writing about it and not to say something. think too hard about having an appear- inding anyone. When I went home for rity began I’m writing this editorial because ance. Sometimes I’ll catch my relection years in Christmas, I didn’t want to come back, creeping it’s exactly what I would’ve wanted to in a glass window and still feel my heart to return to a place where I’d spend days hear. I’m writing to my fresher self, say- drop. Photos and videos are hard; I can’t on end alone, in a rigid daily routine that up ing: you’re carrying so much on your really bear to look at them and realise allowed me to last until the evening ❞ shoulders, and I wish I could take it of each time that I’m nowhere near liking denial without food, saying no to everything of you. how I look or feeling like that’s me. – meals, formals, drinks – so I’d never I’m writing this to my nine-year-old ❝ Today Varsity releases a video where have to deviate from it. I knew then I self, before it all started, when the irst four students talk about their experi- wasn’t happy, but I didn’t let the weight hints of insecurity began creeping up. I his dis- ences with body image. hroughout this of what was happening truly sink in. I have a distinct image in my head of one week I’ve been thinking about what it was so embarrassed about it. particular moment at school. I’m with order has would’ve been like watching it two he summer before I came to Cam- a group of friends just about to climb shaped my years ago when I irst arrived — how bridge I was forced to see a doctor. He a blue staircase, looking around at the I would’ve felt being told that what I told me I looked frail, and haggard. I people around me and thinking about life in ways was going through wasn’t some sort of couldn’t see it. When he said I had to take how much prettier, and more normal, wound. hat these people have been a blood test to check if I had deiciencies, and less oddly-shaped they are. I think I haven’t there. hat it’s okay to feel lonely and I cried. I didn’t want the people around I remember that moment so clearly be- fully con- out of place. hat I didn’t have to hide me to have evidence that something was cause it stands out as one of the irst mo- something that was consuming me. gravely wrong, that they could use to ments I felt I had to do something about fronted hat it’s not my fault for feeling the make me change the way I was living. that insecurity. In my mind I’m writing ❞ way I did, that there’s nothing to be If I close my eyes and think about the to that girl, in that moment. When I think ashamed of. hat it’s part of the culture past ten years, I can still picture in my about her, and how uncomfortable she is here. No more. Privilege has an iron grip on the extracurriculars at Cambridge

rom Toope’s plans to raise £500m ally on our doorstep, the appeal of these straints is the clear social privilege which demic playing ield, as this would be im- to support lower-income stu- activities as goldmines of socialising, exists within Cambridge and afects possible. Yes, participating in activities Attitudes dents inancially to Stormzy’s networking, and future prospects is not extra-curricular participation. A Maths outside of your degree can push you out towards clubs Fdecision to fund two black stu- so achievable for students from lower so- Doctor 2014 report found that the aver- of your comfort zone, and is likely to cost and societies dents’ Cambridge education, inancial cioeconomic backgrounds, with hidden age spend on after-school activities for some money for most students. However, ignore their access to university has spearheaded costs – concealed by the upfront mem- parents in the UK was £109.34, standing ❝ when these costs regularly dip into the hidden inan- recent debate and discussion of Cam- bership fees many require – revealing at £148.17 in London. extortionate with no regard to the range cial inequali- bridge access. his is vitally important themselves as the year progresses. Evidently, extracurricular activities Elitism of students’ inancial situations, and ties and we would do well to maintain such his elitism and exclusivity pervades are less accessible to children form lower and when students on the lowest incomes a focus, but why aren’t we also talking extra-curricular life at Cambridge, and is income households, and many more are expected to pay as much as those on about inance and access within the Uni- encapsulated by the inancial pressures privileged students arrive at Cambridge exlcusivity the highest, it becomes unacceptable. In versity? of Cambridge theatre. Could this become with an immediate sense of entitlement pervades these cases, there should be more sup- Last week, I discussed the broader any more obvious than during the Edin- to its clubs and societies, having been so port from the University, supporting those pressures and misinformation surround- burgh Festival Fringe, upon which Cam- accustomed to extracurricular participa- extracur- whose parents are unable to fund their ing student inance, especially in institu- bridge thesps descend in droves each tion growing up. Others may take longer child’s extra-curricular ventures. tions like Cambridge. And it is precisely August for an impossible-to-turn-down to adjust, and ind these harder to access ricular life Ultimately, student inance is a com- these pressures which continue to afect opportunity for those wishing to pursue with little experience. his is deinitely at Cam- plex and nuanced issue. he privilege university life even after becoming a full theatre post-university, which requires relevant here, with the 2016/7 Big Cam- which monopolises not only Cambridge’s member of the University, applicable to students pay hundreds of pounds? bridge Survey reporting that 18.39% of bridge academic life, but its extra-curricular op- our higher education system in general What is the point in Toope claiming students felt their social background has ❞ portunities, stagnates and assimilates and pertaining to the privilege implicit in he wants Cambridge “to be genuinely negatively impacted their university ex- university life and undermines the Cam- extra-curricular accessibility here. open to all who have the talent to lour- perience. With more privileged students bridge experience which should be open his week, hordes of new students ish” here, if such talent can only be coming therefore to dominate extracur- to all with the ability, not the money, to across the University signed up to the exercised when students have enough ricular activities, inancial consideration lourish here. We would do well to re- hundreds of extracurricular clubs and money to enable it? his is a barrier to becomes skewed. member that Cambridge has the funding societies present in the CUSU Freshers’ progress and inhibits the full potential hat’s not to say that we must all be- available to truly change this and pave Fair. While we are undoubtedly fortunate the institution has to ofer. gin university with the same experience the way for greater, more equal student

Charlotte Lillywhite Charlotte to have these opportunities quite liter- Contributing to these inancial con- and inancial status to level the non-aca- participation and future prospects. 20 F  5 O 2018 Opinion

◀Students rallied on ‘D-Day’ to pressure University Councillors to support divestment LOUIS ASHWORTH

Facing up to the question of “what else?”

Stepping into ay Week is over, I have just isn’t determined by a rushed essay. Yet in joining members of the ANC for marches ▲ Illustration by My lack of action wasn’t symbolic activism can be about unpacked, and yet the face of alumni who monopolised on and meetings: he had always been a po- Lisa Zhong for of scepticism or apathy for the causes di cult, writes somehow it’s September. their time here so successfully, remain- litically active student but felt out of his Varsity themselves. I was certainly sympathetic, columnist Holly MTo my great trepidation, a ing rational is a challenge. depth amongst new, more knowledge- at times actively partaking. I managed Beveridge, but summer largely saturated by a heady Hugh Laurie was a member of Foot- able peers. the whole of Lent without crossing the that doesn’t mix of sti ing heat and boredom has lights and rowed for the Light Blues; he’s  e climate in which he wrote is picket line. But if somebody asked me at mean you morphed into autumn overnight. What now an award-winning actor, director worlds away from mine, but the sen- a rally why I was there, I wasn’t always shouldn’t try was once leisurely nonchalance is now and comedian. Zadie Smith’s submis- timent rings true. I believe in putting con dent that I would be able to explain a full-on rollercoaster hurtling towards sion to  e Mays Anthology attracted a my money where my mouth is. And the intricacies of the issue in detail. It the  nish line – except that the end point publisher’s attention and landed her a in the past year, when so many of the would be naïve to pretend that this fact is the starting blocks, and I don’t know contract for a novel. Emma  ompson big campaigns dominating student life ❝ didn’t play a part in my participation. if I’m ready to race. was the vice-President of Footlights and have been unfamiliar, it has oten felt In the face So the question of activism sits pro- As with most of my ‘back-to-school’ is the only person to have won an Acad- disingenuous to get involved without a tractedly amongst ‘packing’ and ‘read- endeavours comes the inevitable post- emy Award for both screen-writing and comprehensive understanding of every- of alumni ing’ on my pre-term to-do list. I’m not so mortem of the year before. New books acting.  e list goes on. thing at stake. foolish as to imagine I’ll turn into an eco and pens and notebooks are bought, all I should at this juncture assuage any Friends would send excited messages: who mo- warrior or a justice  ghter overnight. Nor geared towards the single pursuit of self- fears that I’m in the throes of an existen- “Bring pots and pans”, “Anything that nopolised are these titles I currently actively aspire betterment.  is pursuit exists so much tial crisis about the likelihood of future makes noise!”, “Who’s coming to the towards. But conscientious, considerate, more acutely in a place like this, where fame based on how many clubs I did march?”. Excuses were frequent – I was on their informed?  ose are labels I would be it oten seems like there’s pressure to or didn’t join in  rst year. Rather, I re- too busy, there was reading to be done, time here proud to wear.  is term, I’m ready to answer a looming ‘what else?’. It isn’t ect with a twinge of guilt, not about I had woken up too late. And while all work for them. enough to be clever, everyone is clever. the late nights or questionable liaisons, were inevitably true, none felt like par- so suc- What else have you to o er the table that but for the student that I feel I should ticularly valid arguments. Didn’t every- nobody else is bringing? What else do have been. body have work to do and people to see? cessfully, you do? It was a recent read of Long Walk A student in one of my compulsory class- remaining Opinionated? In theory, I know this isn’t true. To to Freedom for a piece of holiday work es was juggling the end of term reading Sign up at exist at Cambridge is not easy, to excel that prompted my own self-re ection while on hunger strike. Acquaintances rational is varsity.co.uk/ is even more di cult, and your worth on thoughts I had harboured all year went straight from lectures to rallies. a challenge get-involved is not determined by how many plays about the power of the student voice.  erein lay the Catch-22 of it all. If they

Holly Beveridge Holly you’ve been in this term as much as it Mandela writes of his initial concerns could do it, why couldn’t I? ❞ Friday 5th October 2018 21 Opinion Remember, admissions oices deal with eighteen years of educational inequality

We should nother week, another Oxbridge guided tendency to view Oxbridge ad- round of applications from over 30,000 ❝ graduates at any one time. I’ve come to look beyond access news story. his time, missions in isolation. While the shock candidates, it is dealing with 18 years of think that, among other reasons, it is Oxbridge to that Oxford has spent over igures are what really shape the news educational inequality. Oxbridge is because Oxbridge is believed to act as understand its A£100,000 for every extra stu- agenda, perhaps the most revealing part Who gets into Oxbridge is of course an believed to a proxy more widely for social mobil- access problem dent admitted from a low-income back- of Rusbridger’s essay was a quote from important story, but we should not only ity. Admissions statistics provide con- ground since 2009. In a piece for Prospect Danny Dorling, an Oxford academic and consider the immediate acceptances and act more crete evidence of racial, regional and magazine, former Guardian editor Alan inequality expert: “I think Oxford admis- rejections. We must remember that these educational disparities that apply more Rusbridger highlighted the abysmal sions relect the times. When the country are the product of a the state of educa- widely as broadly to society as a whole. We should progress made by Oxford since 2009, is very unequal in other ways, the ad- tion in a society where still only just over a proxy broaden our focus beyond an Oxbridge when it pledged to increase its propor- missions statistics around disadvantage half of British pupils obtain a pass in ive tion of students from the 20 percent of tend to be very poor.” GCSEs including English and Maths, but for social most deprived postcodes from 6.5 to In 1981, 52% of pupils entering Oxford some independent schools have over mobility What Oxford has nine percent of the overall cohort. De- were state educated, rising steadily from 90% of grades marked at an A* or A. A spent for every spite this representing only 23 extra stu- 43% a decade before. Today, more than system where some pupils are going to ❞ extra student dents - less than one per college - Oxford 30 years later, this had only increased to school hungry, while top schools charge £100,000 admitted from has failed to meet this target in six out 58%. Perhaps it is no coincidence that in over £30,000 a year in fees. a low-income of eight years. 1981 Britain’s Gini coeicient, a measure he best ways to combat this inequal- background since By now, that Oxbridge has an access of inequality, was just above 0.26, and ity is a conversation that must be had, 2009 problem is not news to anyone, with had risen to 0.34 by the end of the 1980s. but what is certain is that while 26.4% comprehensive reporting on the matter For the past 30 years, it has luctuated of all A levels awarded nationally are A* having become almost unavoidable - and around that mark. or A grades, while in some schools this rightly so. While I welcome the attention Oxbridge must shoulder its fair share rockets to 80%, Oxbridge will to continue ixation which leaves us blind to the the issue receives, I can’t help but feel of responsibility for admissions, but it to have to navigate the tricky waters of societal ills which colour the news sto- like nothing really has, or will, change is important to remember that it is not distinguishing polish from potential, and ries which saturate the media. Until we as a result of it. A few days of headlines operating in a vacuum. here is certainly in all likelihood the same news stories think more broadly, and more often, of are generated, and then life continues as a debate to be had over the merits and will reoccur. the inequalities entrenched in the British normal. In a few months’ time, the same problems with the way admissions are I often wonder why we as a nation education system, we will continue to stories will be run once more. conducted, but it is an undeniable fact seem so ixated on Oxbridge students see the same kinds of Oxbridge stories Part of the reason for this is a mis- that when Oxbridge receives its annual despite there being only 24,000 under- published every year. Lucy Fairweather Lucy

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Scan to follow us on 22 Friday 5th October 2018 Opinion Not all literature is ‘universal’, and it shouldn’t have to be

◀ Students ral- achieves this feat. lied in support I remember when my German teacher Columnist of the Decolo- played the German-Turkish ilm Almanya: Sophie Zhang nise the Curric- Welcome to Germany in class: one of the argues for ulum campaign few times at school I had been exposed the personal (LOUIS ASHWORTH) to stories about immigrants. Although it and political was a comedy, I was in tears by the end importance of the ilm - I couldn’t say whether this of art which was because of its bittersweet ending, centres the or because the ilm relected parts of my experiences of own experience as a child of immigrants. marginalised It spoke to me in the inest of details, in groups whispers from one diasporic group to another: I so clearly remember a scene in which the children tell their parents that they’re getting Christmas wrong. hough a minute detail in the ilm, this echoed my own experience of having to ❝ teach both myself and my parents about British culture while growing up, instead In glorify- of being able to rely on my parents to teach me about it. ing the Sometimes I have felt alone in that universal, world, that I was the only person who hen I have studied English opposite also necessarily exists – that their ability to assimilate as ‘good im- did what I had to do. But the ilm taught Literature in the past, the which is marginal. Within literature, the migrants’, by completely abandoning we neglect me that I wasn’t alone. Having to navi- curriculum has centred experiences of the marginalised – of peo- their previous identities, cultures, and the par- gate diferent cultures and the mishaps Waround texts which claim ple of colour, diaspora, LGBT+ people, and loyalties to become unquestioningly which might occur in doing so might not to explore supposedly ‘universal’ themes people with disabilities – are overlooked in devoted to their new state and its cul- ticular only be common for children of immi- and experiences. What such curricula the search for ‘universal’ experiences. ture. his conversation does not leave grants, but are also sometimes comedic. time and time again failed to recognise he problem here is twofold: curricula room to talk about the human struggles ❞ Literature which focus on margin- was that in glorifying the universal, we that neglect marginalised voices both faced by many: the loss of a community, alised voices is no less important than neglect the particular. Indeed, as the de- deny marginalised individuals the oppor- having to adapt to a completely new texts which focus on so-called ‘universal’ colonisation movement has identiied, tunity to understand their own experi- culture (potentially without receiving experiences. It is imperative that we sup- this deiciency exists within our own ences and have them be represented and much support), and the need to negoti- port initiatives such as the decolonisa- curricula here at Cambridge. expressed, but also fail to educate indi- ate changes in their identity. tion movement which seek to diversify By focusing on traditionally canoni- viduals in more privileged positions about he beauty of diasporic literature is the texts platformed in academia. Un- cal texts, curricula continue, as Howard struggles these individuals may face. that it attempts to bridge this gap be- derstanding other people’s experiences Chae and Faria Tabassum outlined in Take, for instance, diasporic litera- tween crude arguments about the eco- undeniably enriches the way in which their recent Varsity article, “to centre ture. Discourse about immigrants often nomic value of immigrants and the full we think about the world. Diversifying whiteness and continually place non- involves a dehumanising portrayal of complexity of the diverse lived experi- the curriculum would beneit everyone, white voices on the margins”. For if there their live. he debate revolves around ences of immigrants and their descend- both within and without marginalised

Sophie Zhang exists something that is ‘universal’, its the economic value of immigrants and ants. It is not literature alone which groups. You shouldn’t care about the college hierarchy

s with many state school stu- More bizarre to new students, per- leges seeped into the consciousness and ❝ ademic ability, maybe even for the irst dents, my choice of college haps, is the hierarchical ranking of col- every-day lives of the student body. Stu- This ar- time – and, truth be told, it is bound to College was effectively random. I leges. You freshers might be asking, “we dents who possess the almost God-like alienate any cohort of freshers. As a irst- rankings are Ahad visited Cambridge a cou- all got in to the same university, so why are status inherent in being a “Trinmo” – a chaic peck- year, rumour had it that someone in my enough to ple of times and, fondly remembering we still competing against one another?” Mathematician at Trinity – are so revered year had a number named after them. make fresher Selwyn’s ivy-covered Old Court, I ticked here’s the Tompkins Table, published by all Mathmos that people will often ing order Meanwhile, there I was, proud of get- feel uneasy: the relevant box on my UCAS form with- each year, which directly ranks colleges clutch at any proverbial straw to forge of col- ting into what I was made to feel was let’s take things out much more thought. I was one of based on undergraduate examination a claim to Trinity. “My Uncle’s friend was the skimmed milk of colleges – although a little less seri- the lucky ones, having been fortunate results. Less formally, but arguably more a Trinmo, but I thought I’d pick Churchill leges might certainly white, it wasn’t quite the rich- ously enough to be able to visit Cambridge prevalent, is the question of which col- because I liked the atmosphere,” someone make you est, thickest or, well, the best at maths. before applying; every day I thank God lege is ‘best’, a frequent topic of debate who got pooled from Trinity might say. You might be left to wonder whether for having had a chance to grasp what among students. his can have danger- Trinmos are as intelligent as they are insecure you, looking nothing like a member of it means to be cast away to Girton, or ous repercussions: While I was having mysterious. Midway through a lecture in the cast of he Big Bang heory, got in to know that going to Sidney Sussex this discussion with someone from early Michaelmas, every single Trinmo about your by mistake. means using a Nectar card more than Homerton, they came to realise in the stood up and left to complete the Great academic My advice to you, dear fresher, is that a CAMcard. middle of their well-rehearsed argument Court Run, a ridiculous tradition in ultimately, it doesn’t matter what other Many state-educated students aren’t about unique community feelings and which students attempt to run around ability ❞ people say about your college. Beyond always this lucky, which means that dreadfully-misunderstood avant-garde Trinity’s Great Court in the time it takes the walls of this university, who on earth when it comes to applying, many are sculptures that they had missed their for the college clock to strike twelve. he is going to care about what essentially more likely to simply apply to a college light back to college. lecturer was as perplexed as the rest of boils down to where you lived during whose name they recognise. When fresh- Of course, as per the cliche, now that us mere mortals, and the whole afair did university? It is important to remember ers’ week rolls around, whole swathes of I’m studying at Selwyn I couldn’t im- make me question whether Trinmos go that not only are you in charge of the students are too in-the-dark to know agine being anywhere else. However, to lectures because they want to learn (or direction of your learning, but that you that mention of “Clare” and her “Hall” when I irst arrived at Cambridge, I too because they need to in order to learn), are not what other people say about your is not a coded reference to a BNOC, or, was disappointed (but not surprised) or because they go for what they count college: if you love your subject you will as in my case, that “Tit Hall” isn’t in fact to ind that there exists an established as a social event. thrive. And if you don’t, then don’t worry part of an elaborate Georgia O’Keefe ex- intercollegiate hierarchy. I was struck by his archaic pecking order of colleges - just change to HSPS.

Steven Edwards Steven hibition. how much the academic ranking of col- might make you insecure about your ac- vulture

▶ fashion the autumnal beauty edit∙ 24 ▶ lifestyle a cambridge staycation - 25 ▶ arts toronto film diary∙ 26-7 ▶ music finding home in lyrics∙ 28

Artwork by Alisa Santikarn 24 vulture Friday 5th OctOber 2018

▼ Take inspiration from the runway and from the natural landscape of a Cambridge in autumn (sarika datta)

Fuscia lush

Explore the full autumnal beauty shoot on https://www.varsity.co.uk/fashion     vulture 25 Escapes and escapades without leaving the bubble e College Backs Sidgwick, it can seem hard to escape the city centre. Whether it’s a ten minute study If all else fails and you just need to get out break or an aternoon stroll, there are so many of college, it's possible to visit other colleges places to explore and recharge your batter- using your CamCard. Walking down Queen’s ies. Autumn is objectively the best season of Road, you can see the backs of Trinity and all, so make sure to pile on the scarves,  ll John’s, which – though at times quite busy – your thermos with herbal tea, feel the cool are oten home to copious numbers of swans, air on your cheeks and crunch some leaves! geese, and ducks that can be quite comical. You deserve it! ere are plenty of benches to sit on and en- joy the surrounding buildings and river, not to mention the cows!

If you live in a central college and can roll out of bed straight into Sainsbury’s or

◀ Green Street at sunrise VIVIENNE HOPLEYJONES

Discover the beauty of the city from a new angle with Chloe Bayliss

ambridge is a beautiful city. If you’re a fresher, you’ve undoubtedly already location o King’s Parade, very few Cwandered around the bustling market, people venture there, so it's a perfect or stood amongst the swarm of tourists in location for a few minutes' respite the shadow of King’s College Chapel. without having to walk for miles.

e more adventurous of you may have Grantchester Meadows already gone for a cheeky punt down the river to explore the college backs. If you’re not up for a walk to Grantchester However, as the weeks roll by and the village itself, the meadows are de nitely a frost sets in, the leaves will turn brown scenic alternative. You too can walk in the and start to carpet the paths, and you may footsteps of Pink Floyd, ambling along the  nd yourself wishing there was a way to riverside, completely at one with nature. At escape the chaos of the Cambridge bubble. various points in the year, you can encounter cows freely roaming as well as So, to encourage some autumn adventures, herons, squirrels and conkers… a world com- here are my favourite escapes in pletely alien to the madness of hectic cycle Cambridge that feel miles away from lanes and reckless bus drivers. ere is, of the world of supervisions, emails, and course, the obligatory stop for a glass of red lectures. at e Mill or e Granta, two incredibly cosy pubs close by. St Edward's Passage Castle Hill Nestled right in the heart of Cambridge Cambridge Castle gave Castle city centre is one of the Hill its most peaceful name in the Anglo-Saxon period; spots I've come across. all that ough not remains now is a grassy mound. You technically a spot of can natural signi cance,  nd it just o Castle Street near St Edward’s passage Magdalene and Murray Edwards. is home to St Ater a relatively short climb up the Edward’s churchyard, hill, a small grade II-listed you can enjoy panoramic views of building that oozes Cambridge's spires, with the myriad charm. ere's also church and chapel roofs poking up through the independent G. David’s bookshop, the trees. It’s the ideal spot to unwind when adding to the quintessential historic you’re overwhelmed, as it allows you to put Cambridge atmosphere. Shrubs and things into perspective and reminds you that trees cling to the fences surrounding studying at Cambridge gives you the the courtyard, and at golden hour the opportunity to live in a remarkable city. street's magic is tangible. Despite its Capturing culture

Flo Arden spent her summer in Toronto. She writes: “the focus of my work is less on the well-known locations in Toronto and more on the everyday views of the people who regularly navigate the city.”

A photo story on varsity.co.uk/arts Friday 5th OctOber 2018 vulture 31

he still waters of Lake Ontario

Trinity Street on the distillery district 28 vulture Friday 5th OctOber 2018

vulture A sonic youth: tunes: he best of music as home German pop Keeping with this week's theme, Anna Mochar we have your next exploratory musical journey all set. We begin Music Columnist with classic examples of the pow- er of cheesy German pop songs, then move into industrial metal, usic has a strange way of touching Tennis Court Lane at night, singing the lyr- To me, German music was not neces- electronica, folk and inally 'hom- Mus. Often it is a particular lyric that ics, “Du ziehst nervös an deiner Zigarette...” sarily a way of dealing with homesickness. age'... resonates with our experiences. from the song ‘Du trägst keine Liebe in dir’ Rather, it helped me to understand how Other times, a soundscape that we step by Echt, or crying together while watching formative years spent abroad didn’t have into, finding something in the melodies the music video to ‘Deine Nähe tut mir weh’ to create a breach with my ‘home identity’. and harmonies that strikes a note we can’t by Revolverheld opened up a whole new way Music was a stabilising force. In moments Du trägst keine Liebe in dir express; something we had been searching of experiencing music. Echt for without knowing what we hoped to find. Never before had these songs The language of a song’s lyrics, however, touched me so deeply or been so Deine Nähe tut mir weh important to me. I was gradually un- Revolverheld derstanding that this had to do Feuer Frei! not only with the Rammstein songs themselves, but also that they Der Kommissar were becoming a Falco way to reconcile my ‘home iden- tity’ with the life I Denken Sie Groß was living in Cam- Deichkind bridge. he distance between when I felt distant from myself, a text from home and university seemed my best friend with a song recommendation Rock You Like A Hurricane to grow smaller as friendships would help me ind my way back, back to a Scorpions g r e w base from which I could see how my sense of self was connected Ma Baker is rarely thought of as the emotionalising stronger; to a changed Boney M element of a track: language is there as a friendships understand- tool to convey the emotions carried by the that were, to ing of the hese Days lyrics or heighten the mood set by the music. a certain de- concept of Yet it was in the stress and emotional up- gree, formed ‘home’. At the Nico heaval of my irst term at Cambridge that by listening same time, I came to appreciate songs in my mother to German this new he Man-Machine tongue in a new way—one tied almost purely music. significance Kraftwerk to the fact that the lyrics were written in Ger- Sharing of music man. Cheesy German pop songs stood on a mother helped deep- Tom Waits a level with my favourite artists as they all tongue en my friend- became a way of remaining in touch with my with friends ships. Kommienezuspadt home country, Austria. meant There he transformation of the way I experi- more than a r e m a n y enced music coincided with the busy socialis- just being elements ing of Freshers’ Week and the rest of Michael- able to un- to form- mas. It was during this time that German and derstand how the ing friendships. Undeniably, shared Austrian music started to become a kind of other might be feeling as a fellow interna- interests rank among the most important. A glue to budding friendships. Walking down tional student. It also meant being able to shared taste in music is particularly fertile bond over shared ground for moving from the ‘acquaintance’ experiences tied status of Freshers’ Week towards forming the to media in our lifelong friendships we all hope to ind at uni- mother tongue: versity. When considering the deep lyrics and ilms, TV shows, artistic abilities often to be found in music, and, above all, this is hardly surprising. Talking about songs music. Songs were is a gateway into discussing profound themes; not just enjoyed or it makes it easy to spot kindred spirits. consumed, they While I was aware of this, I had not expect- became a way to ed that lyrics could prove to be an important acknowledge our element of my enjoyment of music. Distance backgrounds with- seems to make the heart grow fonder (of Ger- out having to dis- man music), and I am immensely grateful for cuss them openly. the way in which listening to songs of all gen- Music helped cre- res, all united by the language of their lyrics, ate a silent feeling has allowed me to settle into life abroad. And, of understanding of course, for the power of sad German songs and solidarity be- in helping me ind incredible friends. ▲ ILLUSTRATIONS: ALISA SANTIKARN tween us.     vulture 29 Filling in the silhouettes with Vita & Virginia

the people who move around them. Part of Iris Pearson the beauty of this play lies in the necessity of interpretation: these are the exact words Spend a summer reading the diaries of Vir- that these women wrote, but they are still ginia Woolf, and it’s impossible not to want to only words. ese literary silhouettes become meet her and the people who moved around  lled-in people through the course of this play: her. e words of her diaries and her letters they become more than genius words on a seethe with the intellectual, with perfectly- page. placed adjectives, as she navigates the light e presence of the letter in this play is an and dark of literary society in the 1920s. It enduring one. Taylor discussed the di culties is these letters, speci cally the ones written which the letter form poses in terms of move- between Virginia and her lover Vita Sackville- ment: the play straddles inner monologue West, which Eileen Atkins has adapted into and dialogue, some of the lines directed to the play ‘Vita & Virginia’, and which Sarah the audience, some to the audience, as each Taylor and her wonderful women are bringing of these women hide behind their writing, in to the Corpus stage next week. their own spaces, protected from the reality e words of this play tremble between of what they are saying and the emotions the intellectual and the erotic, interspersing they are expressing. Keeping it lively has been discussions about the latest publications and a challenge, but I have hope that this team criticism with expressions of tenderness, re- will succeed. And at times stillness is perfect. vealing a relationship fraught with paradox, Some questions are never answered, lost in tension and intensity. Emmeline Downie (Vir- the letters as they lurch from one topic to ginia) and Corinne Clark (Vita) have never ▲ When people think of Woolf, they think of suicide,  lling her pockets with stones and another, and the audience hang captivated acted together before, hadn’t even met before stepping into the river, but her letters are full of life and laced with excitement BELLA DALLISTON in this unful lled answering. the call-backs for this play, but there is some- is show should not be missed. e wom- thing so intuitive in their connection. ese the fact that the words they are speaking are surprising lightness of the letters. When peo- en involved – directors Taylor and Williams, two have studied their characters in exquisite words actually written by Virginia and Vita. ple think of Woolf, they think of her suicide, actors Clark and Downie – feel a passion for detail, reading biographies over the summer Even if it means that the loosely-structured  lling her pockets with stones and stepping the play and characters which the audience and realising how much they have in common sentences are very di cult to piece together into the river, but her letters are full of life, cannot help but feel. e relationship is one with their characters. ey seem to feel a real and speak on stage, there is something won- laced with excitement and the pleasure of which  ickers between tension and irony, de- a nity with Virginia and Vita. derful in following the trains of thought of living. e scenes are bursting with irony; scribed throughout in the words of these writ- e passion they feel is clear. Emmeline these two in uential  gures. What struck me Vita and Virginia smirk at each other as they ers, whose character analyses and over owing and Corinne tell me, is the authenticity of it, as I watched the two actors rehearse was the recount stories about their daily lives and sentences will leave you breathless.

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www.ymcatrinitygroup.org.uk 30 vulture    

wise man once wrote that you have to have a very high IQ to understand I watch, A Rick and Morty. For what matters (and nothing really does), the same holds for ‘The Good Place’, whose third season therefore is being released weekly on Netflix. With its direct references to Aristotle, Kantian ethics, and utilitarianism (yes, trolley dilemmas included), ‘The Good Place’ is I am: the just the most outspoken among a slew of recent TV series with a focus on philosophy. ‘BoJack Horseman’, another Net ix gem, rise of is a dark tale of self-discovery and self- destruction. Its characters struggle to  nd happiness, a sense of belonging, or just philosophy some meaning in life. A further case deal- ing with existential questions is ‘Rick and Morty’, probably the most polished piece in TV of epic  ction since Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel series ’ e Sandman’. Two absurdist anti-heroes travel across parallel universes  ghting against implausible creatures, y Michele Sanguanini humanoid bureaucrats, and POTUS, because why not? As lead Rick Sanchez says, ”Nobody

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exists on purpose; nobody belongs anywhere; Good Place’. Whereas the former two shows WITH US. everybody’s gonna die. Come watch TV?” are distinctly nihilistic, ‘ e Good Place’ main- Why is the rise of explicit philosophical tains an optimistic tone, despite being faced messages in TV series happening? Or is it tell- with the threat of being sentenced to eternal To advertise in any of our print publications or ing us something more profound about our su ering. Life might be devoid of purpose, online, please contact our Business Manager: society and the ‘millennial’ generation? existence might be pain, however, what the I like to think that we are living at the dawn main characters from ‘ e Good Place’ show of an era of disruptive creativity and deep us is that meaning can be found. It simply rediscussion of tradition, much like the end comes from caring from each other. Perhaps tel : 01223 33 75 75 email: [email protected] of the belle epoque. Rick Sanchez is the digital these shows, while portraying life as mean- web: varsitypublications.co.uk Man Without Qualities, BoJack our Leopold ingless and absurd, show us how to  nd a Bloom. Easy jokes are intertwined with sharp meaning in life ater all. and nihilistic statements on life and existence. In ‘ e Good Place’, the almighty Judge (Maya Rudolph) who determines whether someone should be doomed to ‘ e Bad Place’ for all of eternity is found binge watching NCIS, and getting excited over her burrito. It is attractive to explain it as the meme generation’s fondness of dark, self-deprecat- ing nihilistic humour with the perfect storm of environmental challenges, enormous global ◀ Without TV, and local inequalities, and political uncer- life would tainty inherited from past generations. be a mis- However, something is missing in this story. take GUSTAV In a sense, with tagging each other in content SCHULTZE or sharing how volatile our experiences and emotions are, we are forcing ourselves to face existence in its own chaos and fasci- nation. Hank Hill (‘King of the Hill’) would stick all feelings of existential angst in a pit deep down into his stomach. Instead, we expose ourselves to the nihilist content of dank memes or to the e ect of wholesome pics. A digital era re- purposing of the same feelings of sublime and connection with human misery that led to the  rst development of existentialism in the nine- teenth century.  ese two sides of mil- lennials’ behaviour of social media are well represented in the contrast between the dark and cynic view of existence in ‘Bo- jack Horseman’ and ‘Rick and Morty’ and the somewhat opti- mistic attitude of ‘ e

32 F  5 O 2018 Science When should you have your ca eine  x?

Sophia Borgeest Science Editor

You (probably) wouldn’t want to sit investigating one of the largest datasets drinks are especially problematic, since through a 9am without having one. is of almost 500,000 NHS patients, co ee people are oten unaware that they can article certainly couldn’t have been writ- drinkers were less likely to die from can- include four times as much ca eine as a ten without its help. We’re talking, of cer and cardiovascular disease. Prior to typical cup of co ee. Still more worrying course, about ca eine: the most con- this study, there had been concerns that is powdered ca eine, of which a single sumed drug in the world. 90% of adults while co ee might be good for many teaspoon, according to the American ❝ in the world drink it daily, whether people, it might be problematic for oth- Food and Drug Administration, is equiva- through tea, co ee, or other beverages. ers. Speci cally, some studies had sug- lent to a lethal dose. In order to minimise Have Despite its popularity, most of us know gested that people who have a genetic this risk, the FDA has recently banned little about what exactly ca eine is, or variation for the enzyme in charge of supplements containing concentrated you what it does to our bodies. How much ca eine metabolism might be in trouble. ca eine in powder or liquid form. co ee is too much, and are there any If your body breaks down ca eine more It turns out that how much ca eine ever health risks associated with it? slowly, they hypothesised, you might you have is not the only factor – drinking Raw ca eine tastes bitter and is be at higher risk for heart problems in ca eine at di erent times also alters its had classed as a crystallised purine – a meth- the long run. However, this new paper e ects. Ever had your co ee and felt like ylxanthine alkaloid, to be precise. Caf- found that the e ect of the speed of it just didn’t work? e reason for this your feine is a psychostimulant, which means ca eine metabolism is tiny, concluding phenomenon comes from chronophar- that it stimulates the central nervous that co ee drinkers, irrespective of their macology: the interaction of biological coffee system. As you’re sipping your  at white, genetic makeup, don’t have to worry. rhythms and drug actions. e supra- ca eine is binding to the adenosine re- Does this mean that everyone should chiasmatic nucleus (SCN), a part of the and ceptors in your brain. at means that it drink more co ee? No, said the lead au- brain, controls levels of cortisol – the blocks these receptors, not letting adeno- thor, Erikka Lot eld, a research fellow body’s stress hormone. makes you, when felt like sine in. Adenosine normally signals tired- at the National Cancer Institute in the present, feel alert. e SCN controls its ness to the brain, but if it can’t bind, an United States. “At this point, the study release following what chronopharma- it just arousal signal is sent out instead – giving provides reassurance to co ee drinkers, cologists call a zeitgeber (German for ‘time you a feeling of alertness. Feeling alert, not guidance. e results don’t indicate giver): the circadian rhythm. is rhythm didn’t however, does not necessarily mean that that people should begin drinking co ee di ers for di erent people. For someone you are actually sharper. Unfortunately, for its health bene ts.” who rises at 6:30am, cortisol levels peak work? the relevant studies have been largely While ‘normal’ ca eine consumption between 8am and 9am, again around inconclusive. Some studies suggest that of a few cups of co ee a day does not noon, and from 5:30pm to 6:30pm. If ❞ medium doses of ca eine can improve seem to be linked to health problems, you have co ee during these peaks, you memory retention and reaction time; high doses are. Drink too much, and you will, in time, develop ca eine tolerance, others show the opposite. can experience dizziness, diarrhoea, in- making it hard to get out of bed using A lot more research has gone into somnia, headaches and irritability. At only your cortisol. Rather than having whether or not ca eine is harmful to toxic levels – about 30 cups a day – symp- your co ee right ater you wake up, you your health. Drinking three or four cups toms become very severe, including hal- should wait until your cortisol levels of co ee a day is actually associated lucination, irregular heartbeat and, in are beginning to drop – so until around ◀Illustration by with health bene ts across a range of rare cases, death. According to a 2014 9:30am, and again ater lunch. Ben Brown conditions. According to a 2018 study editorial in the journal Addiction, energy

Joseph Krol been criticised for allowing Cambridge However, when hackers did that, they has potentially had their private content Science Editor Analytica to store masses of user data. discovered that when viewing one of the divulged. Facebook insisted that there’s So how did the hack work? It could seem automated birthday videos, it generated little that users can do; however, some Were you recently logged out of Face- almost ridiculous, but the hack was an ‘access token’ not for the viewer, but remain sceptical that the  rm is hiding ❝ book? You’re one of the 90 million us- based on the benign-seeming birthday for the user they were looking up, allow- the full details. While there have yet to ers a ected by precautions taken ater videos that are automatically generated ing direct access to the user’s Facebook be any data dumps, and the attackers’ The Ashley a major Facebook security breach. e on one’s pro le each year. We’ve all seen pro le without ever needing to know details are unknown, there’s certainly Madison attack, revealed by Facebook to have af- them – perhaps been slightly nostalgic – the password. (Access tokens include a chance that it could all implode. e fected up to 50 million accounts, could but it’s hard to believe that they spelled the security details corresponding to a Ashley Madison leak of a couple of years leak may soon prove catastrophic. Over the last doom for countless people’s data. Essen- Facebook session, including the user’s past, which leaked details of millions of few days, more information has come tially, it relied on a programming error details and abilities on the website.) As a airs, may soon seem like small fry. soon seem out suggesting that the hackers used the in the ‘View As’ function, which allows such, any user who has been ‘viewed as’ It’s worth noting that internally-en- like small accounts they harvested to log into vari- Facebook users to see their own pro le in the past year has been logged out. crypted secret messages can’t be leaked ous other services. It continues a year of as other users do, so as to check privacy For the sake of something this simple in this way. e little-known feature fry

Varsity Varsity explains bad news for the site, which has already settings and so on. a huge chunk of the website’s userbase might soon become more popular... ❞ F  5 O 2018 33 Science Women in seminars two and a half times less likely to ask questions than men

Zak Lakota-Baldwin While many men and women reported ▲Women placed Science Writer sometimes thinking of a question and more signi - not asking it, their reasoning tended to cance on factors A new study has found that women are di er. Women placed more signi cance such as not two and a half times less likely to ask on factors such as not feeling clever feeling clever a question in academic seminars than enough,  nding the speaker intimidat- enough men. e research, combining survey ing, or being unable to work up the NOELLA CHYE data with observations from almost nerve. Recommendations in the paper 250 seminars at 35 institutions across for improving the visibility of women in 10 di erent countries, reveals some of seminars focus on immediate changes the underlying factors behind this dis- that can be implemented during ques- parity, and o ers potential solutions for tion and answer sessions. ese include addressing them. allocating more time for questions, or The study joins a growing body keeping the questions short so more can of work seeking to tackle the lack of be asked (as more questions are asked, a women in academia, referred to as the greater proportion are asked by women), ‘leaky pipeline’ problem of representa- and prioritising a female- rst question, tion. Women account for 59% of under- to counter ‘gender stereotype activation’ graduate degrees, but only 47% of PhD and increase the likelihood that later graduates and just 21% of senior faculty questions will be asked by women. positions in Europe. Carter stresses that these are just sim- Dr Alecia Carter, the lead author of ple, initial steps that can be taken, rather the study and at the time a Junior Re- than an easy  x, and there is much still to search Fellow at Churchill College, told be done in order to permanently resolve Varsity how the idea for undertaking this the imbalance. “ is larger problem of research came to her from a chance ob- attrition can only be addressed by last- servation she and one of her co-authors, ing changes in the academic culture that ❝ Dr Dieter Lukas, made at a seminar. “We break gender stereotypes and provide attended a seminar about sex di erences an environment that everyone can feel This larger in cognitive tasks and I commented that a part of,” she said. it was ‘interesting’ that all of the ques- Although the lack of role models for problem tions were from male audience mem- women in academia is problematic, of attrition bers. Dieter pointed out that most of the research shows that women are the audience were women, which got not less likely to ask questions when can only be us wondering whether this phenomenon conditions are favourable. Carter hopes addressed was more general.” that the community will react well to e study, published last week in change: “I’ve been humbled by the posi- by lasting PLOS One, con rms that the issue is in- tive responses we’ve received about the deed much more widespread, with the work and the corroborating data and changes number of questions asked by women anecdotes from people’s personal ex- in the both absolutely and proportionally lower periences that have come up... overall, in the observed seminars. Survey results it feels like much of the scienti c com- academic from over 600 academics revealed an munity is on board and happy to have culture existing awareness of the imbalance, some data-driven recommendations for especially among female respondents. how to address the imbalance.” ❞

 5  2018 35 Sport New to a Blue: the Cambridge trampolining club otically for many years under what in- President Leo ternational coach Jack Kelly has called Jurascheck a ‘challenge culture where participants spoke to Marcus strove to outdo each other without the McCabe constraints of formal competition rules’. about It was a freestyle sport.” how trampolining Fun and a healthy dose of fearless- ness propelled daredevils higher and balances fun higher (trampolinists have been known freestyle spirit with to achieve heights of over 33 feet, or the length of a school bus!), turning more ▲ Two Cambridge University trampolinists captured in mid-air CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY TRAMPOLINE SOCIETY gentle guidelines and more di cult twists and somer- saults as they went. scribed as the highest sporting accolade Jurascheck emphasized: “ ere’s new heights in your sporting life and rampolining is trampolining For the sport to be taken seriously, Cantabs can hope to achieve: Blues sta- something about the atmosphere at the making plenty of friends in the process, right? “Go up, do cool thing, though, standardisation and some regu- tus. CUTC “tend to award two or three club that clicked with us straight away – “come along and try it out at the Uni- Tcome down, repeat with di er- lation was necessary. Now, in a formal Half Blues and one Full Blue per year, it’s a really friendly vibe. We do a lot of versity Sports Centre!” Jurascheck asks ent cool thing!”, as Cambridge competition setting, members of the taking into account performance at Var- stu on the social side, with regular post- those interested to check their “website University Trampoline Club President Cambridge University Trampolining Club sity, regional competitions and BUCS.” But session pub and lots of o cial and unof- for a live calendar with session times.” Leo Jurascheck succinctly summarised. can expect to “perform ten move routines, if you are hoping for a more casual bounce,  cial events, including LGBT nights.” Newcomers are welcome, “and you can Whether you’re on the trampoline either solo or with a synchronised partner, you’ll still be landing on your feet. So, if you are interested in reaching just show up on the night.” in your back garden trying to master doing shape jumps, body landings, somer- the ambitious and elusive star jump, or saults and more,” Varsity learned. at the Olympics pulling o your third Evidently, this gradual implementa- triple-twisting double Back Somersault tion of gentle guidelines has worked of a routine, the same principles apply: – trampolining was made an Olympic “trampolining is  rst and foremost for sport at the Sydney games in 2000 and fun, and it’s just amazing for that. Learn- it has been a favourite watch for Olympic ing new moves, perfecting old tricks, pull- audiences ever since. But, as Jurascheck ing o rogue skill combinations... there’s was keen to remind us that although “in a satisfaction and a rush you get from recent decades, the competitive aspect bouncing that’s hard to put into words.” of the sport has become formalised”, at Inspired by the dizzying fashion in “the core of the trampolining experience which particularly bold trapeze artistes will always be that uninhibited freestyle would use their safety nets to bounce spirit.” ❝ o and perform death-defying feats of Fortunately, readers seeking that acrobatics, the  rst trampolines were freestyle spirit for themselves are in the At the invented in the garage of American in- right place. Jurascheck reports that the ventor and gymnast, George Nissen. Nis- Trampolining Club boasts “probably the core of the sen designed them in 1934, but before best equipment and coaching team of trampolin- long they could be found all over the USA, any university trampolining club in the from school’s PE departments to astro- UK (or, for that matter, Europe) – eight ing experi- naut training programmes. Not long ater trampolines, of which  ve are Olympic ence will that, they were a staple of backyards and standard.” blissfully-spent aternoons worldwide. Running three training sessions and always be However, even more signi cant were one conditioning session a week for the sporting implications. Such was the around 30 years, this environment has that un- (elastic) potential of his invention, so nurtured countless national-standard inhibited spectacularly did it enhance the tricks trampolinists: “we’ve had quite a few that gymnasts were able to perform, that people absolutely smash the regional freestyle it was inevitable that trampolining would and national student circuits, with a lot spirit soon be a sport in its own right. As Leo of medals, and one of our ex-coaches has Jurascheck explained, it o ered the ideal just quali ed to be an Olympic trampo- ❜❜ springboard for acrobatic innovation. lining judge.” “Ater the  rst modern trampolines Vitally, these excellent sporting stand- DUBAI were designed, the sport evolved cha- ards translate into what can only be de- FUTURE CHAMPIONS FESTIVAL

FRIDAY 12TH & SATURDAY 13TH OCTOBER ◀ Cambridge For more information and to book your tickets, visit boasts some FREE STUDENT of the best NEWMARKETRACECOURSES.CO.UK ENTRY trampolining equipment of any European university CAMBRIDGE #HomeOfChampions UNIVERSITY TRAMPOLINE SOCIETY 36 Friday 5th october 2018

Trampolining: Varsity talks all things trampolining to CUTC president Leo Jurascheck 35 Sport

Cardif 4

CUHC 1

Blues fall to Cardif in dispiriting BUCS opener

he Blues kept knocking on the door he Cardif onslaught showed no sign ▲ The match occasions, with neither side able to make Will Robinson of the Cardif defence with three consec- of letting up, and fatigue was beginning took place on a use of their numerical advantage. Both Sports Reporter utive penalty corners, and had the ball to set in amongst the Cambridge players. crisp afternoon sides went close with half-chances, but in the net only for a minor infringement hree successive penalty corners were at Wilberforce Cardif ’s better irst-half performance Cambridge University Hockey Club to prevent the goal from standing. Car- desperately defended, but misplaced Road (WILL meant that any hope of a comeback for Women’s Blues’ BUCS struggles contin- dif ’s attacking threat was ever-present, passes and high Cardif pressing pre- ROBINSON) the Blues’ had long faded by the time the ued into the new season, as they slipped however, and winning the ball back from vented the Blues from escaping their umpires brought the game to a close. to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Cardif Cambridge’s penalty corner, they broke own half. With Cambridge penned in, a he result, whilst a disappointment University. upield at terriic speed, and came close buoyed Cardif midield began to control for Cambridge in their eforts to improve In what was a more even-sided game to snatching a second. possession, winning their ifty-ifty chal- on last season’s BUCS campaign, will not than the eventual scoreline suggests, As the half progressed the match lenges across the ield and forcing the deine the opening weeks of the new Cardif capitalised on the Blues’ early began to settle into a rhythm, with Blues’ midielders, led by captain Hattie season, with a 5-0 victory over Sudbury mistakes to condemn Cambridge to a Cambridge seeing a lot of the ball, but Bevan, to drop deeper in support of their in the East League Division 1 North, kick- 16th consecutive regular BUCS season struggling to contain Cardif ’s pace in defensive team-mates. starting their eforts to gain promotion game without a win: a run that stretches attack. he play was often scrappy, with ❝ he second half began much as the back to the East League Premier Divi- back to the beginning of February 2017. neither side wanting to make the mis- irst had ended, with the visitors netting ▼ Cambridge sion. Having lost to Cardif both home In crisp, autumn conditions at Wilber- take that would allow a chance to get a Cambridge from a penalty corner just four minutes fought on from and away last season, their next chance force Road, Cardif started the match at shot on goal. in. Left in acres of space on the far side early setbacks for revenge will come in Wales on 7th breakneck speed, going close from a Having contained the threat relatively were deter- of the D, the Cardif attacker was allowed (WILL ROBINSON) November. penalty corner after just three minutes; well since falling behind early on, a lapse mined to to shoot low to the goalie’s right-side, much of their warm-up had focussed on in concentration from the Cambridge making the score 4-0. penalty corner routines, and it would defence allowed a quick Cardif attack to maintain Rather than capitulate however, prove worthwhile as the game pro- enter the D. Despite the best eforts of the their pride Cambridge were determined to main- gressed. A minute later and they were Blues’ goalie, the chance was converted, to tain their pride, and their energy duly ahead, again from a penalty corner, with put the visitors two goals to the good. and their increased in response. Slicker passing a well-placed shot inding the bottom Cambridge were visibly rattled, and and higher pressing forced mistakes left-hand corner of the net. gave the ball away almost immediately energy in the Cardif side, and soon enough Cambridge refused to bow to the ear- from the push back. his allowed Car- duly in- brought its rewards, as a well worked ly setback, pressing Cardif on the ball dif to stay on the front foot. Having sur- move from a free hit just outside the D and forcing early errors, and they could vived the irst Cardif penalty corner, the creased in resulted in a consolation goal 25 min- have equalised soon after; a tremendous second was delected goalward by the response utes from full-time, tucked in by Blues’ interception and run from Lucia Corry Cardif attacker from barely a yard out, forward Olivia Shears. created the space she needed to try and leaving the Blues’ goalie with no chance. ❜❜ he inal third of the game was not pick out a teammate in the D, but the It increased the visitors’ lead to a three- lacking in intensity, but scrappy infringe- Cardif defence did enough to delect goal margin with almost 15 minutes of ments and fatigue on both sides saw the shot wide. the half remaining. both teams reduced to ten men on two