he Independent Student Newspaper

Number 787 Friday 30th January 2015

Published in Cambridge since 1947 www.varsity.co.uk

5 Election proile12 Interview: Finkelstein 27 heatre 28 Reviews Only half back reading week » 47 per cent of students either ‘undecided’, ‘don’t know’ or oppose a reading week » Majority unsure whether CDE’s overall impact in Cambridge positive or negative ANDREW CONNELL

Eleanor Deeley Helen Hoogewerf McComb argued Some, however, have another con- to me that there are few alternatives concern about the impact of the addi- Senior News Editor that a reading week would increase the cern. Second year James Sutton told which would have a genuine impact in tional costs for students that proposed quality of work submitted and would the same way that a proposed reading changes to term length could entail. halt the University from “rewarding week would.” Trinity College Student CDE are seeking to ensure that Only half of Cambridge students are the ability to work without sleep”. Union has oicially given its support a nine-week term would not result in favour of nine-week terms, with a She told Varsity: “It seems that a to the campaign, with many other in inancial hardship for students reading week in week ive, according majority of students do support the 53% JCRs and MCRs in the progress of dis- through consultation with individual to a Varsity survey. idea of a reading week and that many Students in favour of introducing cussing oicial ailiation. colleges and the university-wide bur- 35 per cent of students were against more might be in favour of the change, a reading week Despite the weak level of overall sup- sary scheme. However, the 281 par- the measure, while a further 12 per should key concerns be addressed. port revealed in the survey, planning is ticipants in Varsity’s survey revealed cent indicated that they did not know CUSU will be consulting with students Varsity: “I ind it indicative of the underway to develop the movement. a widespread ambivalence over CDE’s or were undecided. to identify these concerns and develop general problem that it is CDE, and CDE are preparing to launch a pe- overall impact; 53 per cent said they 53 per cent of students voted in a plan for the introduction of reading not CUSU, who are spearheading the tition outlining their proposals to the were either undecided or didn’t know support of a change in term length, weeks, which would address as many campaign.” university, with an accompanying FAQ as to whether CDE’s impact has been and 59 per cent “broadly agree” with of them as possible. #endweek5blues has cited mental for all potential signatories. CUSU largely positive or negative, and a fur- Cambridge Defend Education’s (CDE) “Expect to hear a lot more from us health and general student wellbeing have agreed to help design and pro- ther 14 per cent thought CDE’s impact #endweek5blues campaign, started at on this issue over the coming terms.” as driving factors behind the burgeon- mote the petition. CDE intend to hand had been negative. the beginning of this term. he cam- In response to this move by the ing movement. Outgoing Trinity JCR it to an oicial university representa- Only 33 per cent voted positively. paign to introduce a reading week has representatives of the student body, President homas Hughes-Mclure tive during a rally planned for the end his has been relected in the mixed also been backed by a vote in CUSU 54 per cent of those polled agreed told Varsity: “A reading week would of week 5 this term. attitudes regarding proposed protest Council. Speaking at the irst Council with CUSU’s decision to back meaningfully reduce stress without di- At CDE’s open meeting on Monday action. meeting of Lent term, CUSU President #endweek5blues. luting the Cambridge degree. It seems 26th January, members expressed Continued on page 3 2 Friday 30th January 2015 Editorial A campaign too many?

Whose University? he question has been at the Why, then, do only a narrow majority of As a collegiate university, a Cambridge-wide stu- forefront of student debate recently. A Varsity Cambridge students support it? dent union will always have to do more to en- survey, however, reveals a surprising indiference gage its students. However, this does not mean to the issue. Only 53 per cent of students are in he rise of organisations like Whose University? we should give up. We need a more integrated favour of a reading week, a campaign launched by seeking to reclaim Cambridge as a space for stu- central union, that works with JCRs (including CDE, backed by CUSU and with which WU? has dents and compile student testimonies is not only those that are disailiated) and advocates on stu- expressed solidarity – too many acronyms yet? a reaction to a university that won’t listen: it is a dents’ behalves, something other campaigns are reaction to a student voice that isn’t being articu- taking on in its absence. What we have instead he #endweek5blues Facebook page exclaims: lated. he issues WU? and CDE draw attention is a body with both little relevance to students “Enough is enough. We’re demanding a reading to – feeling safe in college spaces, putting student on a collegiate level and that doesn’t represent week.” But with 12 per cent of students unde- welfare at the forefront of university planning, a our collective interests to the university. A body cided or not knowing whether they support the reading week – fall exactly within the remit of which hasn’t even put the minutes for its reading measure, and a further 35 per cent opposing, this what a student union should be doing: represent- week open meeting online as this editorial goes ‘demand’ is less overwhelming than such a call to ing student interests on a university-wide scale. to press, despite it being three weeks into term. arms implies. Instead, the student voice is blurred: #endweek- A reading week is an important measure, and the And yet Varsity must come down with the 53 per 5blues, CDE, CUSU, WU?, TCS. 53 per cent of work of student campaigns like WU? and CDE is cent. A reading week is the most logical way to those surveyed were unsure whether CDE’s im- also important. It is unfortunate, however, that organise academic learning; Manchester, Bristol, pact was positive or negative. In this complicated these campaigns would be much more likely to UCL and many other top universities use them, patchwork of organisations, it’s no wonder that gain support and ultimately succeed if they were in addition to much longer terms – this is not half of students felt they couldn’t rally behind the being led by an engaging, convincing student un- EDITORIAL revolutionary. campaign – who do they rally behind? ion. Whose University? It’s certainly not CUSU’s.

NEWS Inside CUCA Varsity Writers’ Meeting Sarah Sheards asks whether this age-old breeding ground for modern conservatism has lost its fangs (page 4) INTERVIEW Come along on Monday 2nd Norman Finklestein February at 6.30pm to the Dr Finklestein questions whether anti-semitism still exists in Europe, in conversation with Joe Robinson (page 12) Varsity ofices if you’re inter- COMMENT On election fever ested in writing for us Millie Brierley scientiically proves that Nick Clegg will spontaneously combust in just 97 days (page 15) CULTURE Contact [email protected] he Oscars & diversity for more information Naomi Eva Obeng questions representation, the Academy and what we can do about it (page 19) FEATURES It’s a basic struggle Lucy Roxburgh says goodbye to M&S and hello to the Tune in to Radio Varsity Sainsbury’s Basics Range, for a whole week (page 23) THEATRE Sunday 6pm Show must come out Will Heilpern and Alex Rice on this week’s Richard Skipper explores LGBT+ issues in the Cambridge theatre scene (page 26) Varsity and more

E Talia Zybutz @.. D E Tom Freeman @.. B M Mark Curtis @.. O D Joe Whitwell P  D E Sareeka Linton, Sanjukta Sen, Phoebe Stone, Daniella Mae Brisco-Peaple, Harry Stockwell @.. N E Eleanor Deeley (Senior), Till Schöfer & Richard Nicholl (Deputy) @.. N F  I E Sarah Sheard @.. C E Tess Davidson & Georgia Turner @.. S E Harry Taylor @. .  E Elissa Foord & Leo Sands @.. C E Will Hutton & Ciara Nugent @.. T E Marthe Ogg de Ferrer & Gabriella Jeakins (Deputy) @.. F E Livs Galvin & Gayathiri Kamalakanthan @.. R E Matilda Ettedgui @.. S E Peter Rutzler @.. I E Ellie Olcott @.. O E Alex Izza & James Sutton V R Will Helipurn & Alex Rice @.. C S E Eliza Jones P Jess Franklin, Jonny Rowlands, Harriet Wakeman & Daniel Zhang @.. I Sophia Buck, Meggie Fairclough, Ben Waters, Hannah Taylor, Suraj Makwana, Chris Roebuck @.. V B Dr Michael Franklin (Chairman), Prof. Peter Robinson, Dr Tim Harris, Chris Wright, Michael Derringer, Michael Curtis (VarSoc President), Chloe Stopa-Hunt (he Mays), Amy Hawkins, Talia Zybutz

NEWSPAPERS SUPPORT Varsity, Old Examination Hall, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RF. Tel 01223 337575. Fax 01223 760949. Varsity is published by Varsity Publications Ltd. Varsity Publications also publishes the Mays. RECYCLING Recycled paper made ©2015 Varsity Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be 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. up 78.9% of the raw material for UK Printed at Iliffe Print Cambridge — Winship Road, Milton, Cambridge CB24 6PP on 42.5gsm newsprint. Registered as a newspaper at the Post Office. ISSN 1758-4442 newspapers in 2011 NEWSPAPERS SUPPORT News Friday 30th January 2015 3

Continued from page 1 intend to eff ect this change. CDE did not respond to Varsity’s re- e campaign has also received READING WEEK WHAT DOES CAMBRIDGE THINK? quests for comment. signifi cant support from Whose e original motion notes that “the University?. ‘End Week Five Blues’ initiative seeks ey told Varsity: “It is indicative of Are you in favour of a reading week? to draw attention to the unnecessary the widespread nature of the problem pressure [on] Cambridge students by that a majority have said they are in fa- encouraging students to refuse to hand vour of a reading week. in work during Week 5 Lent term”. “When dealing with statistics like McComb told Varsity that “While this people also need to be aware that CUSU is not advocating that students the voices of those students who are take part in the boycott, we are work- saying explicitly that they are facing ing to make sure that any student who problems need to carry signifi cant No: 35% Yes: 53% does take part does not experience un- weight as the needs of the most vul- due repercussions as a result of engag- nerable students should be taken as a ing in this peaceful form of protest. priority.” “CUSU will be briefi ng Senior Tutors Writing for Varsity, Amy Clark and on the initiative this week and asking Martha Perotto-Wills attacked the cur- them to communicate with DoSs and rent high-pressure environment of the supervisors about the likelihood of eight-week term as a process that “un- students not handing in work.” dermines people being able to enjoy However Sophie Buck, the Female education as a stand-alone process”. Welfare Offi cer for Emmanuel College, is is in line with the view of CDE claimed: “Firstly, this sort of resistance member Joscha that education is in – not handing work in – won’t hap- need of “more time for intellectual de- pen,” and went on to disparage the velopment and real learning”. Should CUSU support the Has CDE’s impact been very idea: “People need help managing Another aspect to the campaign, al- their work, not avoiding it.” though targeted primarily at disabled #endweek5blues campaign? positive or negative? is is only one of many scheduled students and those with mental health projects to raise awareness of the issue issues, is the desire to increase stu- and campaign: banner drops, wear- dent satisfaction of work submitted in P w o ing a blue felt square in order to show supervisions. o s i solidarity and fl y posting have all been It is proposed that a reading week n t i k suggested. will reduce the infamous ‘week fi ve Yes v t e Increased understanding of the spe- blues’, named as such because of the ’ cifi c methods CDE intends to imple- feeling of exhaustion that is said to hit n o

ment appears crucial if the campaign is during the middle of term. d

to sway the student population further Buck summarised the experience of /

in favour of a reading week. many students during term-time: d

Second year Amy Leach told Varsity “I feel as though term, for me, is like e

No d

that she had “no idea what CDE really a hurdle race with eight hurdles, and i c

N

even is”, let alone that the #endweek- once I’ve tripped over one (like, if I e e

d

g

5blues campaign was started by the had a particularly busy week), getting n a

U

t Don’t know i

group. to the fi nish line really is a struggle as 18% 28% 54% v CDE, although claiming at the open there is no time to catch up.” e meeting last Monday that “we are the A University representative did not impact”, have not confi rmed how they respond to our requests for comment. is data was collected through a Varsity surey with a controlled sample of 281 respodents.

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Application Deadline: Monday, February 2, 2015 4 Friday 30th January 2015 News Has CUCA lost its fangs? Supposedly the birth place of the modern Conservative party in 1921, Sarah Sheard explores whether CUCA has lost its political gravitas, unlike its polar opposite; the Marxist Discussion Group With additional reporting by Daniel Hepworth CREDIT: SARAH SHEARD CREDIT:

When the possibility of examining to their irst social. hovering around, making polite small reforming the NHS. At this point I will out that they campaigned alongside CUCA came up at our start of term Within the irst ten minutes I had talk and fetching drinks for people. happily pin my liberal colours to the Cambridge Mexico Solidarity for the meeting, I turned immediately to Fa- been greeted by the sight of over 20 One member conceded to me that he wall and say that, with an NHS pathol- release of 43 students and will shortly cebook – there had been a social ad- bottles of vintage cava, heard the thought more than a little recruiting ogist for a father and a medical histori- elect delegates to attend the Marxist vertised for that following weekend. I phrase “champagne for all”, and been was going on, and the economist cer- an for a mother, the NHS is a sensitive Student Federation conference to rep- couldn’t remember the exact details, invited for a “strawberries and cham- tainly seemed to lose interest when he topic for me. To CUCA’s credit, it was resent Cambridge. he group is not a but it deinitely had either ‘champagne’ pagne night-time punting party”. he found out I was a Classicist with abso- a lively and active debate, but I couldn’t unique, single entity, but part of a na- or ‘cava’ in the title. 2009 controversy, in which CUCA lutely no grasp of maths. understand the random pulling-of- tionwide group of student Marxists. In stereotypical Conservative style, I printed a freshers’ guide with the head- Undaunted, I felt some context was numbers from the air (apparently 90 Whilst CUCA vainly court new re- pencilled the event entitled ‘Cava and line “Save Water: Drink Champagne”, needed as to what a political society per cent of prescriptions are given out cruits with glitzy drinks events, whose Cake’ into my diary, and a few days lat- suddenly sprung to mind. in Cambridge actually is – or should for free – despite the oicial stats on attendance never quite translates into er walked, Iron Lady style, into a room Cava in hand, I approached a group be – these days, so I sent intrepid re- this being 60 per cent), and the con- membership, the Marxists are far from full of CUCA members and the afore- of chatting friends who turned out to porter Daniel Hepworth of to the stant comparisons to more privatised a closed group, actively recruiting with mentioned sparkling wine. be graduates, now City boys, who had Cambridge Marxist Discussion Group, healthcare in France and Germany. success, if their weekly discussions of CUCA, otherwise known as the popped back for the event. To them, he population’s general afection Marxist literature are any indication. Cambridge University Conservative CUCA was a social opportunity more for the NHS as a national institution On the other hand, when I asked Association, has enjoyed a long, in- than anything else. was something incomprehensible to when ‘Port and Policy’ would next triguing and controversial history in One of the City boys, dressed down in CUCA, whose inability to understand be running, I was told possibly next Cambridge since 1921. a t-shirt and jeans, even observed that the majority of the population was, in month – if, and only if, there was Its website boasts that it has “nur- CUCA could be a “hindrance” to any “IF YOU CUT YOUR POLITICAL turn, incomprehensible to me. Phrases enough interest. tured the talents of a great many men budding young politicians because of TEETH AT CUCA, YOU ARE like “we’d never pass any of these re- It would seem that CUCA has per- and women who have gone on to be- how the media could “dredge up” unsa- forms publicly…” and much swilling of haps lost its political fangs, orientating come leading igures in Conservative voury quotes and facts about a former LIABLE TO END UP SPORTING A ruby port in accompaniment did not itself more around a social sphere an- politics”; sure enough, CUCA proudly chairman’s university life. Perhaps he help dispel this out-of-touch image. chored by expensive drinks events than lists 22 former chairmen who were was thinking of the 2011 controversy, SHARP SET OF FANGS” In terms of running a political discus- a signiicant political goal. elected to Parliament since 1950, and in which outgoing chairman Callum sion group, however, CUCA has some- And I don’t think I’m alone in this since the 1970s four have gone on to Wood was accused of making homo- thing in common with the Marxists; as impression; former Conservative MP become MPs. phobic comments after claiming that whilst I attended CUCA’s ‘Port and Daniel reported, their term card fea- and gay rights campaigner Matthew Alumni like Kenneth Clarke (former “those with homosexual tendencies Policy’ evening (an apt counter point tures the quote from Lenin that “with- Home Secretary, Chancellor of the have a very burdensome cross to bear” to CULC’s ‘pint and policy’ nights). out revolutionary theory there can Exchequer, Lord Chancellor and and describing gay sex as “lustful and his event, I was assured at the social, be no revolutionary movement”. his Secretary of State for Justice) and unchaste sexual behaviour… without was deinitely more politically-minded seemed to sum up the society quite moral justiication”. – for the serious student Conservative. nicely. heir meetings, held at Kings Whilst Callum Wood is far too re- After all, now only half the title was College, consist of an hour dedicated “A DREADFUL SHOWER, cent a graduate to fully ascertain his dedicated to light refreshment. to the speaker on a chosen topic – last 22 parliamentary potential, it’s diicult to ‘Port and Policy’ was an uncomforta- week, Marxist economics. STRUTTING CAREERISTS OF Former CUCA Chairmen elected see him going far without this particu- ble afair for three reasons. he irst was After the main speech, discussion DISTINCTLY MIXED CALIBRE, lar shadow of his CUCA days hanging that I was the only woman in attend- to Parliament since 1950 was opened to the loor. Debate was over him. ance, except for CUCA’s loyal events ixed between obvious Marxist sup- FOREVER INFIGHTING, CUCA’s position as a social, rather manager Victoria Brown, creating the porters and a seemingly lone historian Andrew Mitchell (star of the 2012 than political, space seemed con- impression that I had slipped in some- whose interest was purely academic. NETWORKING AND ELBOWING” ‘Plebgate’ scandal) help establish irmed by the lack of much else to do. where that, as a woman, I shouldn’t. It was obvious that most in the room CUCA as the birthplace of the modern When asked about current campaigns, Secondly, it was a Saturday and I was were regular attendees and contribu- Conservative party. even the chairman of CUCA, Callum wearing jeans, a hoodie and a Sherlock tors to the meetings, and two of them Parris described CUCA in his 2002 In 1992 he Economist famously Campbell, admitted that there was t-shirt; but upon stepping into the ended the evening by selling copies of autobiography as “a dreadful shower, quipped that “competition to rise to the some general election campaigning in Green Room at Caius, I entered a sea socialist newspapers. strutting careerists of distinctly mixed top of CUCA is good preparation for the works, but that it was at a minimum of plaid, collared shirts and tweed jack- So far, so similar; both CUCA and calibre, forever inighting, network- a political career in the Conservative compared to other societies such as the ets. Despite the fact that the chairman, the Marxists feature discussion-based ing and elbowing their way through a Party... Ideology counts for nothing. Cambridge University Labour Club. Callum Campbell, was also wearing events, as would probably be expected scene which appeared more social than What matters is knowing how to make he reason for this seemed to be a de- a hoodie, I couldn’t help but wonder of a university political society. But the political.” Upon leaving their ‘Cava and friends and when to stab them in the sire to keep CUCA as ‘something for if this was a self-conscious choice of crucial diference is that the Marxists, Cake’ event, over a week ago now, back. If you cut your political teeth at everyone’, rather than a society active wardrobe to emulate the Boden-clad despite oicially acting only as a ‘dis- Parris’ quote rang in my ears. CUCA, you are liable to end up sport- enough to polarise members; instead, Conservative cabinet. More generally, cussion group’, seem much more active I had enjoyed my irst evening with ing a sharp set of fangs.” CUCA’s calendar seems to comprise a however, I was struck by how sparse than CUCA. hey have often taken CUCA more than I had ever intended Yet how far is CUCA still the deini- schedule of talks by Conservative poli- numbers were in comparison to the motions forward to CUSU and ran – possibly because, if I hadn’t known it tive inishing school for those who are ticians, the odd trip down to Parliament social; just 18 (including myself and a students for CUSU positions – most to be a CUCA event, I would have con- ‘young, bright and on the right’? Does and social events. sympathetic socialist, who came along notably ‘Marxist Mo’ Paechter who sidered it only a gathering of sparkling CUCA still have its fangs? In an at- Other people also seemed to be for moral support), as opposed to over ran for CUSU’s NUS delegate last year, wine enthusiasts. tempt to ind out (and risk seriously moving in to take full advantage of 70 for the latter. proposing free accommodation and If they ever do decide to scrap ‘Port being barred from returning to my these social occasions – an economist he third reason for my discomfort scrapping tuition fees for all. and Policy’, I might even end up a home town of Liverpool), I went along from the Adam Smith Institute was was that the discussion was centred on he Marxists are also quick to point member. News Friday 30th January 2015 5 Election Profi le: Daniel Zeichner

“ ere’s a huge change that’s gone “Labour has a responsibility not just R chard N choll on [since 2010]... If Labour doesn’t win to university cities, but to the poorer Deputy News Ed tor this seat, then it’s actually unlikely that communities too. In those places

Labour can win the government.” RICHARD NICHOLL we’ve got to be very careful about the It seemed the liberal stars had aligned: He says that the feeling on the door- message we’re sending out.” I met Daniel Zeichner, Labour’s parlia- step in 2010 was overwhelmingly “not In summary? “Be careful about the mentary candidate for Cambridge, on Conservative”, rather than expressing a changes you make, because it can lead BBC Democracy Day in the Union bar preference between the other parties. to unintended consequences.” (“ e home of free speech”, a black- “ en what happens? ey largely When Labour were last in gov- board reminds us, “since 1815”). plump for the Liberal Democrats, who ernment, the Home Secretary Alan Does fortune favour him? “I leave promptly do a U-turn and back the Johnson dismissed Professor David predictions to the pollsters,” he says Conservatives... Under the current Nutt over drugs policy, drawing ire airily. He’s a relaxed, softly-spoken voting system, there’s absolutely no over its attitude to scientifi c evidence. man of 58, a King’s alumnus and life- alternative to voting Labour, because Zeichner’s take on this is subtle. “It’s long Cambridge resident. if you don’t” —he pauses for dramatic foolish not to look at the evidence, but eff ect—“who knows?” politicians are elected to make judg- e mention of the voting system is ments, too, and that’s the point.” not an accident. I ask him about con- People are not always neatly ra- stitutional reform and he lights up. tional, he says. “Dealing with people is “In the AV referendum, obviously, to work far more collaboratively across sense,” he says. “In the period when I endlessly fascinating, but you can’t just Cambridge was one of the half-dozen party lines with [council] leaders in a went to university... it was very unfair reduce it down to ‘evidence’. It’s about constituencies in the country that sup- way that I’m afraid the current incum- that working-class people were paying empathy, it’s about communication, ✓ ported it... Personally, I’ve been very bent hasn’t.” out their taxes for a small part of the it’s about understanding.” Freeze energy involved in House of Lords reform “He basically just has squabbles with population to get a very good educa- is is why, he says, he is driven by bills until 2017 over many years.” After much wran- them,” Zeichner adds, with a hint of tion. I’ve actually long supported a social justice, as evidenced in his cam- gling, “we are now pledged to a demo- contempt. graduate tax, as has Ed Miliband.” paigns on the living wage. “Yes, there’s ✓ Guarantee GP cratically elected Senate, as we call it.” He accuses his rival of “cynicism” Labour’s policy on this still has had evidence, and we use it, but I don’t see appointment It’s not the sexiest political issue. over tuition fees: Huppert voted against no concrete announcement. “We’re why a rich university like Cambridge, “[W]hile I accept that it doesn’t neces- the fee increase in this Parliament and getting closer to an election now, and which raised a billion pounds in a within 48 hours sarily set people’s hearts on fi re on the tabled an unsuccessful amendment to there’s continuing debate within the couple of collections, still has almost doorstep, actually it’s part of changing abolish them entirely. front bench about exactly what the of- a thousand people earning below the ✓ Raise minimum Britain, moving into a 21st-century de- is doesn’t wash, says Zeichner. “It fer will be, but I’m very confi dent that living wage.” wage to £8/hour mocracy”, he says. made no diff erence at all, because he it will be downwards.” Zeichner is an intelligent man, with So constitutional reform is what an- was part of a party that was support- Students are not an average elector- genuine interests in streamlining the imates him? “No, that’s what animates ing the government. He knew per- ate, and so I ask Zeichner about an- constitution and in achieving what he ✓ Repeal the me today. What animates me is social fectly well they had the majority and other big issue: drugs. “I inhaled, inci- views as social justice. However, he ‘bedroom tax’ justice; the constitutional change is a that gave him the free pass to defend it dentally,” he says casually, ignoring my faces a formidable, highly visible in- way to get to a more just society.” here. It’s that kind of cynicism that... double-take. cumbent in an election that is increas- ✓ Introduce a It’s about leadership, Zeichner says, turns people off politics.” “I would just urge a little bit of cau- ingly certain to come down to the wire. and he accuses Julian Huppert of fail- What’s his position on this most tion. e drugs scene in a place like Much will be decided on the basis of mansion tax ing to speak for Cambridge. “One of emotive of issues? Cambridge is diff erent from the drugs Labour’s manifesto when it is pub- the things [I’ve done] in Cambridge is “I’m not an abolitionist in the full scene in some poorer communities. lished – and Julian Huppert’s record. Professor Jack Halberstam Centre for Gender Studies The Diane Middlebrook and Carl Djerassi Visiting Professor

For more details on this and all the Centre’s events, visit: www.gender.cam.ac.uk What do you want from your career in commercial law? To work on the most exciting and high-profile deals in a world-leading law firm? To receive top-class training from the brightest talent in the legal sector? To be generously rewarded throughout your career, including through global opportunities? Whatever your goal, we are committed to maximising the potential of our people. Join Linklaters to live your ambition. News Friday 30th January 2015 7 Cambridge unites at Holocaust Memorial

e 15th annual memorial was that “We thought a little extra se- a Muslim, Pervanic said he lived in a curity this year would be a good thing, perpetual “state of terror.” service chooses the theme to put people’s minds at rest.” He spoke of constant hunger and A University of Cambridge student, the removal of cell inmates for torture ‘Keeping the Memory Alive’ GEMMA MAITLAND who asked to remain anonymous, said or execution. Gemma Ma tland the widely reported rise in UK anti- Referring to the event’s theme, Semitism – including the defacing of Pervanic said, “no memory: no history. News Correspondent Holocaust Memorial Day posters in Without history we have nothing to London – had made her “concerned learn from, and we need to learn from Tuesday 27th January 2015 marked to attend Jewish dinners on Shabbat” our past.” the 70th anniversary of the liberation recently. Testimony was also given by Anita of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi con- She also expressed that the in- Lasker-Wallfi sch, who survived both centration camp in which more than creased security at the Corn Exchange Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen- one million people were murdered be- during the memorial did make her Belsen concentration camps. tween 1940 and 1945. “feel safer”. At Auschwitz, her ability to play Cambridge’s fi fteenth Holocaust Opening the event, the Mayor of the cello – which would later lead to Memorial Day, held on 25th January Cambridge, Councillor Gerri Bird, her co-founding, and playing in, the at the Corn Exchange, adopted the stressed the importance of recognis- English Chamber Orchestra – was es- theme ‘Keep the Memory Alive,’ which ing that several minority groups were sential to her survival. Councillor Richard Johnson stated persecuted during the Second World As part of the women’s camp or- “could not be more important in this War, with the murder of disabled peo- chestra, Lasker-Wallfi sch escaped ex- troubled world.” ple holding particular poignancy for ecution, but was forced to watch thou- Featuring testimony from two geno- the Mayor, herself a person living with sands enter the gas chambers. cide survivors, as well as contributions disability. As the Soviet Army approached, she from community groups and students Attendee Bet Alexander, discussing was among those ordered to undertake across Cambridge, the event explored the presence of school children at the a death march to Bergen-Belsen, where the theme through performance thea- event, said: “It is through education “there was no food at all. “People sim- tre, music, song, survivor testimony that children learn about these things, ply perished”, she went on. and the lighting of 70 candles. but they need to be able to relate to Lasker-Wallfi sch estimates that she Following the recent shootings in it too. A good teacher will help them was a week away from death, given that France, the event was held under tight fi nd ways to do that, and do that they “water had also become non-existent”, security, which included bag searches must.” when the British Army liberated the and a police presence outside the Bird additionally emphasised that camp on 15th April 1945. venue. Sunday’s event was intended to com- She ended with a plea to those gen- Lesley Ford, of Keystage Arts and memorate victims and survivors of all erations that would succeed her own: Heritage, was the producer of the genocides, an aim realised in the tes- “Try and rid yourself of prejudices Holocaust Memorial Day programme timony given by Kemal Pervanic, an when dealing with people who you for Cambridge City Council. Ford internee of a Bosnian concentration think are diff erent. Let us celebrate our stressed there had been no direct camp in 1992. diff erences.” threat to the event itself. Describing how former school After all, as a pupil from Arbury She confi rmed that the precautions friends and teachers became his Primary School succinctly put it, were “a response to recent events” glo- guards and interrogators following his “whatever our diff erences, we are all bally. However, the main motivation Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, Holocaust survivor, spoke at the event incarceration for the “crime” of being human beings.” ousands of students unable to vote

Changes in the electoral reg- inhabitants of the student-dominated According to a September Ashcroft wards of Cambridge is only 70 per poll in the city, Labour leads the Liberal istration system leave thou- cent. Democrat incumbent, Julian Huppert, sands without a vote Chief executive of the City Council, by one point. ALBERTELLA PAUL Antoinette Jackson, assures voters that Concerns have already been raised Bathsheba Wells-D on “we are doing a lot of work to register about the political disengagement of as many people as possible.” young people, and confusion regard- News Correspondent Some students have not experienced ing the registration process may exac- any problems with the system. Sophie erbate the problem. Almost 2,000 people in Cambridge are Bell from Selwyn said: “My MP sends no longer registered to vote, including letters out to under-21s, there are nor- many students. mally Facebook and TV adverts with Last year, voter registration in the links to the website, which is pretty UK switched to an individual-based easy to use.” system, where previously, the “head of However, CUSU Co-ordinator “THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY the household” had registered voters. Jemma Stewart says that more needs In Cambridge, this allowed colleges to to be done, as many students are una- REALISE THAT THEY HAVE TO register students collectively. ware of the change. Although 87 per cent of voters were “ ey do not necessarily realise that REGISTER, OR IF THEY ARE transferred to the new register using they have to register, or if they are reg- REGISTERED” government records of their perma- istered,” she said. nent address, many students living in e number of registered voters rented accommodation or frequently could make a crucial diff erence in the moving residence are no longer on upcoming election, as current polling “‘If we want politics to be relevant to the list. e registration fi gure for shows a close contest in Cambridge young people, politics has to adapt ac- cordingly,” said Roger Smith, Professor of Social Work at Durham University, in an interview at the Wilberforce Society’s recent conference on e Lost Generation. “Young people are communicating in new and diff erent ways... there is a disconnect between conventional po- Advertise with us litical structures.” Smith suggests that politicians need to better communicate with younger To advertise in any of our print publications or on our website, constituents in a more accessible lan- please contact our Business Manager guage and medium. Almost 2000 people no longer registered in Cambridge Telephone: 01223 337575 Professor Jonathan Tonge of the University of Liverpool has put for- Email: [email protected] ward a number of measures that poli- for young people, so they could bring In order to vote in May 2015, ticians could implement to engage their particular problems. e parties register by 20th April. It can be Website: www.varsitypublications.co.uk young voters. themselves could do more to attract done online at “ ey could have dedicated surgeries young people,” he argues. www.gov.uk/register-to-vote. 8 Friday 30th January 2015 News NEWS IN Oxford admits ‘Cambridge BRIEF is at least 20 years ahead’ 46,000 people are forced to commute e Economist rates Ox- into the city. ford business potential In comparison, the report praised Cambridge’s merits. Led by visionary as decades behind academics, the university has been DANIE VAN DER MERWE DANIE VAN successful in combining local govern- Feder ca Lombard ment, business and investors through eff ective mediation. ‘Freezpeachcactus 4 News Correspondent Decades ago, the university de- union president’ cided to combine its strengths in the e leader of Oxford City Council has sciences into wider regional prosper- A recent Facebook page states its been forced to admit that “Cambridge ity, generating what the article calls a plans to elect a “freezpeach cactus” is at least 20 years ahead of Oxford” in “whole ecosystem” of self-stimulating as president of the Cambridge Un- its business potential. prosperity. ion. e campaign seeks to satirise Bob Price was reacting to a re- Trinity College, in the 1970s, the debating society that off ers “free port in e Economist that claimed opened the Cambridge Science Park, speach” for “£110/year”. Talking to Cambridge far outstrips its rival in and the St John’s Innovation Centre Varsity, Freezpeach said: “I am the creating well-paid and high-skilled was fi nished in 1987. cactus for the job.” jobs, stimulating the city’s economy As Professor Jeremy K. M. and encouraging local business. Sanders, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor e article suggests that, to a certain for Institutional Aff airs, stated, these degree, Oxford’s failures are an inevi- projects “drive the fl ourishing local table consequence of geographic and hi-tech economy”. demographic circumstances. Unlike “ e University has had a promi- Cambridge, Oxford is surrounded nent role in generating scientifi c en- by four diff erent districts, each run terprise in Cambridge and in civic Cambridge lives the by the Conservative Party, and each life at least since the 1880s”, Sanders single life fi lled with what the article defi nes as continued, “when Horace Darwin “wealthy, powerful residents”. is (son of Charles) founded Cambridge Figures released by Match.com rank makes changing the status quo an Scientifi c Instruments, one of our ear- Cambridge and Huntingdon third in arduous task. 32,000 new houses are liest spin-out companies.” Trinity opened the Cambridge Science Park in 1970 the country for the highest propor- planned for completion by 2031, but Today, Cambridge continues to fol- the 29th January. Emily Wickham stressed the impor- tion of active singles. Speaking to there has been seemingly unanimous low this strategy. An ongoing project As defi ned by the architects them- tance of such a project. Cambridge News, the Managing Di- resistance to such a project among to channel Cambridge’s remarkable selves, the structure aims to “bring the “I think it’s fundamental for the rector of match.com, said: “Although wealthier residents. A drastic housing talents towards local socially desir- community of Cambridge together University to invest in creative big cities have more singles in total... shortage has led to the average Oxford able projects is the Department of through the senses of touch, sight and projects in areas of the city that would they are not as concentrated as in home in 2014 costing 11.3 times the Architecture’s installation at the sound.” otherwise easily be neglected,” she these smaller hotspots.” average local earnings. Consequently, Cambridge Junction, on display from First year architecture student said.

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041050-345x270-AD.indd 1 26/01/2015 16:10 10 Friday 30th January 2015 News University to found primary school

Bowden of Gonville and Caius said: New free school to focus “Everyone thinks they know about on research, openness best educational practice because STEVE DAY

they went to school, but there is so ANDREW GRIFFIN and inclusivity much real academic debate surround- ing pedagogy.” Despite this strong Rose Washbourn emphasis on research, the school’s News Correspondent headteacher, James Biddulph, told e Guardian that he is confi dent that it e University of Cambridge is to open will not become “a guinea pig school a primary school in September as part for new ideas”. of the North West Cambridge Devel- For the past three years, Mr opment project. Built on 150 hectares Biddulph has been the headteacher of of farmland, it will be the site of 3000 a Hindu Free School run by the Avanti new homes and 2000 postgraduate ac- Schools Trust in Essex. Although the commodation spaces. It is the univer- Cambridge school will have no spe- sity’s largest ever single capital devel- cifi c religious character or faith ethos, opment project. Biddulph plans to apply some of the e University of Cambridge methods used at his previous school in Primary School, a free school es- this new role, including the concept of tablished under the Department for ‘mindfulness’. Education, is a crucial part of the in- Designed by some of the architects vestment. According to its website, it will not only serve to provide educa- tion to 630 children but will be the University Training School, closely linked to the university’s Faculty of Education. It will become one of the “LEARNING SHOULDN’T BE A 180 schools partnered with the faculty that provides a PGCE programme, cur- COMPETITIVE SPORT THAT NOT rently graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. An on-site, purpose-built research EVERYONE CAN SUCCEED AT” faculty will explore student learn- ing, teaching and the relationship The Faculty of Education is offering a PGCE in partnership with the new primary school between the two. A clinical professor behind the London Eye, the building Policy foucsing on inclusivity. Biddulph the University of Cambridge Primary May found local support for it. e will oversee half the research, but lo- was conceived to embody an open told e Guardian that he believed School Trust, claims on the school main area of contention was its be- cal families and other local schools will ethos. Every classroom will have an “learning shouldn’t be a competitive website that “[o]ur ambition over time ing a free school, rather than a school also play an active role in shaping the outdoor learning space and there will sport that not everyone can succeed is to create a school that will be a bea- managed by the local authority. e investigations. be no doors, allowing everyone to a t ”. con of excellence having both national consultation, however, concludes that e research focus of the new school see each other teaching and learning. Professor John Rallison, Pro-Vice- and international infl uence”. “ e majority of feedback to the pro- has won praise from some quarters. e school will be co-educational and Chancellor for Education at the e school is due to open in posal to establish [the school] as a free Second-year Education student Kelly mixed ability, with the Admissions University of Cambridge and Chair of September, after a consultation last school has been positive.” Results from ‘Women in Work’ survey place. e ‘Women today, Women shown “how varied our women’s lives current wave of feminism that encour- is your issue too.” Murray Edwards tomorrow’ survey had almost 1000 are and how what they value most ages the inclusivity of men in address- ere is, however, room for op- releases fi ndings about respondents, aged between 20 and 70. changes over time. Our respondents ing gender equality. e HeforShe timism in the survey. 83 per cent Participants were asked about their say that the most diffi cult challenge campaign began in September 2014, of respondents said that they have women in workplace changing priorities and the challenges they have faced in their careers is the spearheaded by Emma Watson. In a achieved fulfi lment in their career, that they had faced in the workplace. non-supportive culture of their work- speech addressing an audience of UN whilst 89 per cent felt confi dent in the Sarah Baxter e most common problem, as place. Shockingly, this is just as true delegates, she extended a “formal in- role they had played in their career News Correspondent cited by 38 per cent of the women in for women aged 20-29 as for our older vitation” to all men: “gender equality and personal life. this group, was diffi culties faced in the aged group”. Dame Barbara Stocking, the Presi- workplace, with 22 per cent of women Of the women who cited an unsup- dent of Murray Edwards College, responding that their largest chal- portive workplace as their largest chal- has published the fi ndings of a study lenge was achieving balance between lenge, the reasons most mentioned conducted by her college concerning family and work. Speaking about for this included gender inequality, the experience of women in the work- the survey, Stocking said that it has non-supportive colleagues, under- appreciated work, and the feeling of needing to over-perform because of their gender. Indeed, their gender seems to be the source of the majority of problems experienced in the workplace and was

EAST LONDON MOSQUE Looking for work mentioned by all ages, including 31 per cent of the 20-29 age group. Yet Sarah Cooper-Lesad, a second this summer? year HSPS student, recognised that “legislation preventing gender dis- crimination is still relatively new, and The University of Cambridge International Summer so we shouldn’t expect the culture of Schools is ofering challenging paid work in July the workplace to change overnight, but for this to be a gradual change”. and August for Cambridge undergraduate and Stocking herself, writing in e Guardian last week, has said that the graduate students. As one of a team of Cambridge answer to this problem is a partner- Student Assistants you’ll need customer-care ship between both men and women. She writes that in her experience and administrative skills, initiative and tact. “there are a lot of men who are con- cerned about this situation too. ey Two Library Assistant posts are also available. may have seen their partner or daugh- ter treated unfairly. ere are also many men who would prefer a diff er- For full details and an application form, ent work environment, for example call network: 60850 or 01223 760850 where there is more emphasis on col- laboration instead of competition. We or email: [email protected] need these men on [our] side if we are to change cultures”. Dame Barbara Stocking speaks on challenges faced by women is echoes a movement in the News Friday 30th January 2015 11 Jesus installs female portraits What difference ree paintings of men replaced with women in dining hall will you make?

aesthetic meaning, as the three President, commented on the T ll Schoefer ‘Manet women’ will decorate signifi cance of the new art- Deputy News Ed tor the dining room, which, apart work, stating: from a tiny portrait of Mary, “We’re delighted that the Queen of Scots, does not have Works of Art committee has e dining room of Jesus Col- any women on its walls. facilitated this art exhibition lege has undergone major Dr. Rod Mengham, the cu- and it has had a very positive changes over the course of the rator of the project, stated: response from many students. last week, witnessing the re- “Placing the three female por- “We are especially pleased placement of three portraits traits in Hall is making quite with the fact that the portraits of men with a new piece of art a big statement about female of the women are in a place that depicts three women. self-defi nition in an institution frequented by many students, ‘You’, the piece of art in ques- which encourages women to staff , fellows and visitors to tion, is made up of three sepa- realise their true potential but the College for all to see and rate portraits, representing which – like other colleges – appreciate” emotion, seductiveness and surrounds them with images Jesus College, the new home intellectualism. ese three of male pre-eminence.” of ‘You’, did not admit female elements, according to the art- Amatey Doku, the Jesus JCR students until 1979. ist, Agnès urnauer, are the fundamental aspects compris- KAET44 ing female identity. e women pictured are from Manet’s ‘A Bar at the Folies-Bergère’, ‘ e Railway‘ and the portrait of Victorine Louise Meurent, and will be displayed in the Jesus din- ing room for the next seven weeks. e work of art is replac- We are looking for graduate economists who ing the portraits of three male will make a difference from day one at Oxera. alumni of the College, includ- Apply now at: ing a 17th century Archbishop of Canterbury. www.oxera.com/Working-for-Oxera/Join-Us is installation also carries with it a slightly deeper, non- Women have been admitted for 36 years 12 Friday 30th January 2015 News The Interview: Norman Finklestein

NO ANTI- SEMITISM IN EUROPE?

SURAJ MAKWANA Dr Finklestein talks to Joe Robinson about Israel and anti-semitism, and reveals why he accosts African-Americans on the subway

what happened on the Eastern Front. ting” in the major hostilities between tor, is the importance of combining he questions the cartoonists’ motiva- or over three decades, It’s just slightly insane not to invite Israel and Gaza, highlighting that “moral indignation with the most exi- tions. “hey seriously think that those Norman Finkelstein has Putin.” Finkelstein claims that this 2,200 Palestinians have been killed so gent intellectual standards”. Chomsky cartoons are going to make Muslims been a leading scholar of was “a very nervy thing to do”, arguing far, including over 500 children, and showed him how to reach people “you reconsider their convictions? he only the Israeli-Palestine conlict, that the liberation of Auschwitz is a “the entire Gaza Strip laid to waste”. want to convince, you want to per- point of the cartoon I can possibly unyielding in his criticisms “sacred date for the Russian people”. He is more optimistic, however, about suade. You’re not doing it to impress see is to mock. Not ‘mock’ to get ofF Israel’s human rights record and “[T]here’ll be a price paid for that”, he the prospects for mass nonviolent – it’s not about ego. It’s serious – it’s people to think, but mock to degrade, frequent violations of international adds ominously. resistance, which “makes use of the about human sufering.” demean, humiliate and insult people. I law. He is an unfaltering voice for the Finkelstein has long maintained Palestinians’ biggest assets and also So what does he think about the don’t see any virtue in that.” Palestinian people through their trials that his approach to the Israeli- focuses on Israel’s weakest link”, with rise of anti-Semitism in Europe today? We end on a less serious note: and tribulations, and a denouncer Palestine conlict is grounded in “the chink in Israel’s armour” being His response is decisive: “here’s no Finkelstein’s love of a certain 1980s of what he characterises as the international law and thus favours international law. It is, in his words, signiicant or serious anti-Semitism popstar. “I think I’m past my Whitney ‘Holocaust industry’: the hijacking of a two-state solution: 1967 borders “the thing they dread the most”. anywhere in Europe. his is com- Houston phase!” he explains. “here tragedy for private gain. His criticism and what he calls a “just resolution He is less positive about the pros- plete nonsense.” While he says he was something about her life and of Israeli policy has seen him branded of the refugee question”. How does pects for an International Criminal is “perfectly cognisant” of what he death that touched me. How could a raging ideologue, a dangerous radi- he envisage getting Israel to adhere Court investigation into what its characterises as “social stigmas” held somebody with so much money, cal and, perhaps worst, a self-hating chief prosecutor called “the situation against Jews – that they are “greedy, talent, and who touched so many peo- Jew. Having grown up in New York, in Palestine”, stating, “I’m a pes- money-hungry, pushy” – he asserts ple, how could she have died alone, in the son of Holocaust survivors, his simist on that.” He describes how that other social stigmas are far more a bathtub overdose? It seemed wrong. unrelenting pursuit of justice, which even if the Palestinians managed to powerful. “Do you know much you’re here was something so tragic. It per- began during his days as a doc- jump through the “many procedural set back in our society if you’re ugly? plexed me to the point that I would go toral student at Princeton University, THE ENTIRE GAZA STRIP HAS hoops”, nothing would happen if “the Do you know how many doors just up to African-Americans arbitrarily led him to be ostracised from the BEEN LAID TO WASTE case... [was] brought before the court, being good-looking opens up? You on the subway and ask them, ‘what do American academic community, em- there... [was] an indictment and the bare with the stigmas – it’s called life!” you think happened there?’” broiled in a public feud with US jurist Israelis were found guilty of having When he called the Charlie Hebdo Despite being an eminent scholar, Alan Dershowitz and arrested outside committed war crimes”. cartoons “sadism, not satire”, Finkel- Finkelstein lacks a tenured academic the Israeli Embassy in New York. to international law? He outlines Finkelstein compares this pro- stein turned heads. What does he position commensurate with his ex- In spite of his opposition to the three approaches – diplomacy, armed spective investigation with the one mean by this? He begins his explana- pertise and experience. He continues abuse of power, Finkelstein condemns resistance and mass nonviolent resist- conducted by the International Court tion with reference to the values his to write, though “out of anger, because the decision to exclude President Pu- ance – and argues that the irst two of Justice in 2004 that found the wall parents instilled in him. “I think back there are so many lies and I try to set tin from the 70th commemoration of had failed. Diplomacy has, according built by Israel in the West Bank to to what my parents would say. Prof. the record straight”. He bemoans the the liberation of the Auschwitz by the to him, “marked a severe regression in be illegal. “Does anybody even know Chomsky exerted a huge intellectual fact that his books “have not had the Red Army. Laughter quickly gave way an attempt to settle the conlict”: the what happened?” he asks. He argues force on me, but the moral core came kind of impact” he wish they had. In to scornful incredulity: “Look, there’s “rotten fruits” of diplomacy have ren- that in the same way the ICJ verdict from my parents. When people are his words, “the sorts of people who no love lost between myself and Putin, dered it an “untenable strategy”. he faded into obscurity, any ICC verdict down and out, when they’re sufering, like what I have to say, they’re not but he’s a head of state. Anybody with Hamas-proposed alternative of armed would do the same. what would they say about somebody readers”. But as long as conlict rages the slightest knowledge of history resistance has similarly failed – Fin- he most important thing he learnt who starts mocking their most deeply on in the West Bank and the Gaza knows that it was the Red Army that kelstein points to the fact that there from Noam Chomsky, whom he has held beliefs?” Having established that Strip, the issues he writes about will defeated the Nazis. It was astonishing “has been a huge amount of bloodlet- considered a close friend and men- Muslims are “demonised and viliied”, never lose salience. CommentComment Friday 30th January 2015 13 It’s OK to criticise Cambridge

ince coming to Cambridge, I’ve “academic rigour”, Cambridge spent ‘intimidated’ by the early female visiting fellow, called “an ugly lesson been overwhelmed with the most of its long life as a glorifi ed pioneers.) Whilst this could again be in repression.” Ssense that I should be grateful fi nishing school for the wealthy elite. attributed to the attitude of the ages, Cambridge was not built for me, to be here. Whether it’s complaining Scholars were eligibile for a fellow- the fi rst batch of ‘male’ colleges to and it was not built for many of us. about the drinking society, whose ship without a degree. Exams were permit women to enter did so only in It was built as a fi nishing school misogynistic and abusive comments as hard as those at most of the good 1972 – and Magdelene only followed for the leaders of an empire which reduced me to tears, or suggesting schools in the country, showing no suit 25 years ago, in a change which enslaved and tortured some students’ three essays a week is unreasonable, academic development was ex- prompted students and fellows alike ancestors, a state which deemed the I feel obliged to couple it with an pected. Yet a fi fth of undergraduates to march through the streets with a gender of others inferior and inca- Martha Saunders apologetic reference to my eternal still failed them. At many colleges, coffi n, fl y the fl ag at half mast, and pable, a Church which viewed their gratitude. e problem with this students were given degrees without don black armbands in mourning at sexualities morally abhorrent. at sentiment is that it’s disproportion- even having to sit exams, including the ‘death’ of their college. time may be over but its scars and Cambridge is far from ately directed towards me as a state King’s, whose Scholars were drawn More recent history laughs in oppressions remain, often too recent school girl on a bursary and other exclusively from Eton. Whilst Eton the face of the idea of Cambridge or too personal for the emotional an ‘academically students who face various oppres- was initially set up as a charitable peddling pluralism and defending detachment and reasoned debate rigorous’ paradise sions or come from lower down on institution, justifying this relation- free speech – unless we ignore the constantly demanded of us. the sociopolitical spectrum. ere’s ship, the admissions privileges and utterly crucial role that protest plays Campaigns, safe space meet- a feeling that we should be thank- Amicabilis Concordia collaboration in free, democratic expression. After ings and protests are, and always ful that this esteemed institution continued well into Eton’s ascent into the Garden House Riots of 1970, a have been, the weapons of the less has deemed us worthy of walking its an indisputable bastion of institution- protest against the Greek military privileged, the tools of change and hallowed halls. rough this, we not alised educational inequality. Even government which disrupted a dinner revolution; glamourising formal only entrench and legitimise elitism, today, the Provost at King’s is auto- Cambridge were hosting to promote debate and devil’s advocacy over it but neglect the reality that we are matically appointed in an advisory tourism to Greece, jailed protestor is an exercise in intellectual elitism. here through our own merit, and role to Eton’s governing body. Rod Caird described how “an attempt Until Cambridge learns to accept the our right to have a say. In much of As for pluralism and inclusivity, was made… to withhold my degree voices of campaign groups, protes- the student press’ willful vilifi cation Cambridge has regularly had to be on the grounds that I had ‘brought tors and activists, it cannot call itself of student campaigns, our sense of dragged into the next century kick- the University into disrepute.’” An a true defender of free expression or misplaced gratitude is weaponised ing and screaming. Women couldn’t even more controversial case was pluralism. e fact is that if you feel and used to silence experiences of be full members of the University that of Owen Holland, a student in the need to be venomous towards mistreatment and, perhaps more until 1948, with protests at prior 2012. Owen read out a poem during groups which clearly mean a lot to importantly, whitewash Cambridge’s attempts including maiming and a speech by the visiting Education people and are not doing any active highly problematic history. decapitating female effi gies before Minister. An entirely peaceful, legiti- harm, then they’re not the problem; Firstly, anyone citing Cambridge’s throwing them into Girton (at the mate, and powerful protest within the you are. You are achieving nothing history as being grounded in “the time, it was a college established for legal remit of freedom of expres- but more pain, hatred and bitter- ideal of an academically rigorous uni- female students – it’s distance was sion – the university issued Holland ness. Leave them be. Just by existing, versity” desperately needs to pick up allegedly deliberate, part of an eff ort with a suspension for seven terms they’re doing more good than you a history book. Far from promoting to prevent male students feeling in an action which omas Glave, a could ever realise. We can’t keep studying Britain

nternational students do not highly important, both to UK higher clearly not done much to improve quintessentially British teaching feel welcome in Britain”. is education and the country more British universities’ image. But policy style. e ‘Harry Potter’ factor of old “Iwas e Guardian’s dramatic widely. Not only does their presence and economics are only one aspect dining halls and fl owing gowns is headline for an article revealing the internationalise the academic envi- of the issue. Reports have shown that undeniably appealing to prospective sustained decline in international ap- ronment, but they also contribute once international students arrive in students. However, as appealing as plications to British universities over more than £7 billion to the economy. their destination country, their top hall dinners and ancient chapels may the past fi ve years. While theatrical, e higher education sector as a concern is dealing with cultural dif- be, students also want some form of this was not the only anxious article whole sources around one-eighth fi culties. Perhaps universities should assurance that their university educa- Eleanor Hegarty on the topic. Newspapers ranging not be so focused on infl uencing tion will help them secure a job. A from e Huffi ngton Post to the legislation, but rather on adding purely Anglo-centric education will Times of India have expressed fears variety to their own courses. For not take a student very far in the in- e university’s about the decline in British universi- example, Cambridge prides itself on creasingly competitive international reputation depends ties’ appeal to international students. being diverse, boasting that 10 per job market. British universities must ese fears are justifi ed. A 2014 THE HISTORY FACULTY cent of its undergraduates are non- learn to adapt to an increasingly on courses losing their National Union of Students survey European, representing 65 diff erent international global climate. showed that more than 50 per cent REMAINS AS GEOGRAPHICALLY nations. But this says little about how In 1965, Cambridge’s History Anglo-centric focus of current international students in international the university’s mindset Faculty was divided over a proposal the UK feel unwelcome, and 19 per LIMITED AS EVER and approach to teaching really is. to include more African, American cent would not recommend the UK As a historian, I was truly shocked and Asian history and introduce as a study destination. ese statistics to see how geographically limited more social history. Sir Geoff rey were released against a backdrop of of its income from international the course is. e only non-British Elton, who later became Cambridge’s signifi cant and continuing drop-off s students’ tuition fees. Stagnating or options available are European, Regius Professor of Modern History, from important sending countries fl uctuating demand from students Empires or North American papers. opposed these reforms. Elton came such as India and Pakistan (from overseas can therefore leave institu- It is worth pointing out that the under fi re for these views and was 2011 to 2012, there were 38 per cent tions vulnerable or aff ect their ability University of York off ers courses heavily criticised for being an old- and 62 per cent declines, respec- to plan strategically in the long-term. including Reform, Revolution and fashioned bigot who refused to adapt tively). Following several coalition Universities are quick to condemn Nation Building in Latin America to the changing world. Yet half a reforms made to the immigration the government’s policies for this 1750-1900, as well as Africa and the century later, the History Faculty system, the UK higher education sec- sharp decline. e government’s World since the 1950s. remains as geographically limited as tor as a whole has experienced two decision to classify international Of course I recognise that ever. Cambridge is ahead of the game consecutive years of falling overseas students as migrants in the statisti- Cambridge is not a typical British in terms of political, gender and entrants in 2011–12 and 2012–13. cal calculations of net migration – university. Part of its appeal lies even dietary developments – now it’s ese developments are signifi cant meaning that they are now subject to in its reputation for upholding time to bring modernity to its course because international students are Conservative attempts to cut it – has age-old traditions and providing a content. 14 Friday 30th January 2015 Comment

e Ismist Allan Hennessy

I’d like to let you into a secret. Before coming to Cambridge, I was dumped by my ex. “Long distance just won’t work, Allan, it won’t.” I was distraught. WAS – I’m over you. But I did something quite human and awful. I told all my friends (and myself) for months that it was a mutual decision. You, drinking society rejects, are also lying to yourselves. But, frankly, 90 per cent of the hatred that drinking societies re- ceive comes from what I like to call ‘drinking society rejects’. People who aren’t in them and who would JUMP FOR JOY if they were given an off er to go out with one. I’m literally talking clearing the pole vault world record without a pole. Essentially, drinking society rejects, you are hiding your disap- pointment and rage under the guise of moral objection. You are pretending that the reason you hate them has nothing to do with the fact that you’re not going out with them, but that it’s because they are abhorrent, reprehensible forces of evil. (In parenthesis, you do realise that by slandering them you are minimising the chances of getting an invite, right?) So, why am I telling you off for this? Firstly, you’re lying to your- self, which is always bad, as I have Could meninism have a point? come to learn. Secondly, and more importantly, you are exacerbating – wait, here it comes again – the he internet has a fraught out with this – yes, they might have a – and rightly being condemned for reality-perception dichotomy. We relationship with feminism. little point, but it’s a point that’s made it. But, quite apart from being a have already seen the detrimen- THatred is rife. self-refl exively, and entirely without gaggle of people who clearly (and tal eff ects this dichotomy has on On one side of a deep divide are a any actual thinking done on their perhaps intentionally) misunderstand politics, sexuality and race – the vicious, self-assured, pseudo-intel- part. Let me explain. feminism, they illustrate an important consequences are equally troubling lectual TERF rad-fem collective, who e internet fosters hate exception- wider point. here. mostly inhabit the darker corners of ally quickly. Strong, vocal, like-mind- It’s imperative that feminism, and e perception is that drinking tumblr. On the other sit moronic, ed communities emerge rapidly, and, indeed all social justice movements, societies is where it’s at – they’re loud, frat boy 4chan dwellers, who most importantly, these communities don’t fall into the trap of becoming the ‘cool kids’, part of the higher are taking to twitter to right the are rarely, if ever, exposed to op- monocultures. ey cannot exclude echelons of society. In reality, that’s perceived wrongs done to them by posite opinions if they don’t want outsiders for the (unfounded) fear not the case. You are to blame for a movement that they believe wants to be. Debate is, for some, at a bare they are stupid, they cannot per- this perception as much as they not equality, but the subjugation of minimum. Tight-knit groups on mit unquestioning acceptance of are. Granted, there are people in all men. social media platforms are permitted ridiculous dogma coming from inside drinking societies who do think Rob Stockton It began, as many things don’t, on to huddle in their insular communi- the movement, they ought to keep that they’ve hit the social jackpot feminism.com. Male feminists had ties, exposing each other to similar in check pseudo-intellectualism and now that they’re in them, but that’s been sharing legitimate thoughts on ideas constantly, and hearing little to rhetorical tricks and make points more a refl ection of how pathetic Feminism shouldn’t female structural oppression in soci- no criticism unless they actively seek clearly and concisely. they are than on how inherently ignore the lessons of ety, writing how they “are all opposed it out – which a notable few fail to do. People inside activist movements ‘cool’ drinking societies are. to all forms of misogynist behaviour e result is a positive-feedback loop have to be self-aware, and self- You, however, think that you meninism and sexist attitudes; we support all as unassailably vast and imposing as eff acing – aware of how they sound to are being marginalised by the cool women”. Lovely. Saturn’s ring. Views become gradually others, and aware that their move- kids. You victimise yourselves. en, swooping in with all the ver- more and more radical – no dissent- ment cannot be just about them, not en, to make up for it, you put bal grace and dexterous wit of a bag ing voices means everyone is right, all if it wants to fi nd success in the world a brave face on and tell everyone fi lled with cement, came the meninsts the time, with little regard to what is beyond their room. that you can’t stand them be- on twitter. Out, seemingly, to openly actually being said. Of course meninism has to go. cause they’re elitist, sexist, racist, mock those who would address the Moreover those dissenting voices Feminism is not, and will never be, homophobic cults. at’s just structural inequalities of society and can be caricatured, straw men can be about men. Men are implicated, sure, defamation. have it be a nicer place for every- constructed at random, stupid be- and things will undoubtedly improve ere are awful people wherever one, a group hijacked the meninism comes orthodox, heterodox becomes for most men if feminism is success- you look – from the water polo hashtag, and fl ooded twitter with a stupid. ful. But feminism is about a woman’s team to the Union, from the jazz range of hilarious ‘jokes’ for everyone Monocultures develop; people who struggle for emancipation and equal- bands to the Vixens. Yes, the grass to ‘enjoy’. Although deeply unfunny, express themselves the same, like the ity, not anything else. e sooner this is always greener on somebody casually misogynistic, and unfath- same stuff , and have the same opin- is acknowledged, the sooner we can else’s yard, but that does not ex- omably stupid on every conceivable ions see the world as their enemy and, achieve change. cuse your defamatory behaviour. level, could these aforementioned if motivated enough, do something Yet feminism can learn from the Before telling others how to meninists have unintentionally made about it. stupidity of meninism, even if only mend their moral compass, you a cogent point? Were they raising an Of course these groups are always through looking at the way it emerged might like to consider that making important issue to feminists? small – I think of the awful Trans- as an idea. To seek out debate, to fi nd sweeping statements about an Are they right in resenting and Exclusionary Radical Feminists, out what your opponent is actually entire class of people is danger- parodying the way activists self-fash- of Men’s Rights Activists and now saying is, more than likely, worth your ously immoral in itself. You’ve read ion their movements on social media (probably as an off shoot of the MRA) time, even if only to make them look the history books, you know that. in addressing inequality? To risk Meninists. Meninists are the perfect a bit stupid. Don’t let the movement Allegedly. conceding a tiny piece of ground to example of a community monocul- become a caricature, don’t set up the sort of dangerous idiot that came ture leaking out onto a wider platform straw men, don’t sit in an ivory tower. Comment Friday 30th January 2015 15 We need to talk about immigration

t used to be the case that anti- graduates out of the country at the May has been rebutted, but there for 43 per cent of total population immigration obsessives accused end of their degrees marked a short- is a greater risk still – that the growth until 2037, by which time Ithe establishment, defi ned by its sighted attempt to satiate the anti-im- intellectual laziness which currently the UK’s population could reach predilection for political correctness, migration thirst of the electorate as characterises the debate on immigra- 75 million people.  e potentially of suppressing debate surrounding well as of the right wing of her party, tion will imperil our recent escape devastating implications of this on the taboo subject of immigration. with little regard for the social and from the asphyxiating atmosphere the quality of our public services and Well, the cat is out of the bag and the economic consequences. of political correctness which has housing provision should not require issue is set to defi ne the election. Cui Crushing one of our most success- defi ned recent years. If Nigel Farage elucidation. We need to question Chris Rowe bono? ful export industries, with Britain is driving the debate on immigra- whether the principle of the freedom  e meteoric rise of UKIP has possessing a 15 per cent share of a tion and other politicians are merely of movement of people, a key tenet shattered the politics to which we had growing global market of students following (remember Clegg and those of the European Union project, is We can’t sideline the become accustomed. A recent poll paying exorbitant sums to study debates), of course we are going to compatible with maintaining our conducted by the Guardian/ICM re- wish to return to our relative bliss of current standard of living and welfare immigration debate vealed that support for the three larg- feigned ignorance. provision in this country. est parties has reached a record low,  is is not an option. Failing  e economic crisis of the any longer rendering the prospect of another to discuss the issue will only fuel Eurozone and unbalanced migratory coalition all but certain. Much of this further resentment. But how should fl ows within the EU are indicative support has been appropriated by THE CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG the debate be framed? What can of the same fl aw which defi nes the UKIP – although now polling lower the Tories and Labour do to shelve European project – any attempt to than 11 per cent. Politicians can no AND THE ISSUE IS SET TO UKIP’s rhetoric and fl irt with its impose uniform policies and princi- longer run away from immigration, a DEFINE THE ELECTION policy suggestions? Two things must ples across the EU is at odds with the matter now only second to the NHS happen: fi rstly, as a country, we must heterogeneity of its members, result- in terms of importance in the eyes be honest with ourselves. Without ing in gross imbalances. As a net of the public. A survey conducted by the inward fl ow of migrants, we recipient of EU migrants, we must British Future has found that 32 per abroad, would be foolish enough. would neither have had the boom settle the question of whether we can cent of those polled think politicians Worse still, in a country which has of the noughties nor our current aff ord the current open door policy are not paying suffi cient attention to failed to address the skills defi cit resurgence in economic growth. We of immigration to Europe before the the issue. of its own workforce, it would be must counter the innate assumption prospective Tory referendum on the  e Tories, most worried by the unduly charitable and economically of many opposed to immigration EU in 2017. We may decide that we UKIP challenge, have adopted a hard illogical to aid other countries in that Britain stands best when on its can – but coming to this conclusion line for the sake of appearing tough, this endeavour by forcibly returning own two native feet, a view which is after a healthy debate can only be a leading to ill-informed and non- graduates whom we have trained. In entirely incongruent with the reality good thing. Politicians must step up sensical proposals with potentially 2012-13, 43 per cent of postgraduates of the increasingly globalised world to the mark, eschew party interests devastating economic and social who enrolled in UK engineering and in which we live. and discuss immigration in a reason- implications.  eresa May is the technology were non-EU students. However, the problems attend- able and well-informed manner. most culpable. Not only fi ghting the  e very graduates whom we so des- ant upon unrestricted immigration Should they fail to do so, I fear we election of 2015, but also position- perately need and whom May would should not be ignored. More than will all crawl back into our caverns ing herself to assume power in the deport after their graduation day. half of the increase of the UK popula- of political correctness lest we be post-Cameron era as leader of her  ankfully it is her proposals, tion between 1991 and 2012 was due mistaken for subscribing to the man- party, she has done a great disservice rather than the swelling cohort of to net immigration. According to tra of UKIP, and the salient issue of to the conduct of political debate in successful foreign graduates, that estimates, the cumulative net infl ow immigration will again be kicked into this country. Her proposals to boot have recently been shown the door. of post-2012 migrants will account the long grass.

Tuesday 27th January marked (possibly the bowels of Whitehall members of the Bullingdon Club. 100 days until the general elec- – or else, Boris Johnson’s hair), Not just people who know what tion.  at’s 100 days left of catty painstakingly embroidering mono- ‘prorogation’ means (thank you, party-political tweets. 100 days left grams into tartan slippers for the Wikipedia). of fretting over chairs – whether Lib Dems. But, apart from that, it’s No, politics is about all peo- Millie they’ll be empty and who will oc- virtually impossible to say which ple. Or, at least, it needs to be. cupy them. And 100 days left of way the votes will go. Politicking may be something Nick Clegg. Seriously. I’ve done Not that  ey would tell you odious which other people do, but the calculations. It turns out there that, of course. (‘ ey’ being the politics has to be something that is a 98 per cent chance that he will ones with the pearly-white smiles you do. If you live in this country, simply self-combust after 7th May, on all the billboards and bus stops, then the politics of this country are never to be seen again, slipping talking incessantly about im- about you. And that’s why you have sorrowfully through the cracks of migration and the EU. Not to be to vote. No wriggle room: just vote. Brierley history to settle into oblivion, with confused with the other ones with If you know exactly who you comfy slippers and a cigar. the pearly-white smiles on all the want in charge of the UK for the And the most interesting thing is billboards and bus stops in conten- next fi ve years after this May, that that absolutely no one will notice. tion for this year’s Oscars.) is what your vote is for. If you look On election fever: He will make the most impressive No, if you listen to  em, you’ll at the current parliament, and Irish exit ever. Social-phobes the hear that, actually, this year’s don’t see yourself refl ected, that is why your vote is crucial world over will be green with envy. general election is very straightfor- what your vote is for. If you care Or else, they would be, if they – or ward.  e Conservatives are going about your life here – and others’ – anyone else – had spotted he was to capitalise on the demise of the that is what your vote is for. missing. It will be truly laudable, if pesky Lib Dems and fi nally gain If you genuinely believe that not also utterly piteous. a Commons majority. Labour is there is not a single policy or piece But anyway, enough of Clegg going to rise again to snatch power of legislation which could ever stir (this is 97 days away from being back from the Tories. UKIP is go- you into anything but utter indif- very literally true).  is year’s is ing to take parliament by storm (a ference, then you have my permis- set to be a truly fascinating general storm, incidentally, possibly caused sion not to vote. But I would also election, the kind requiring snacks. by Stephen Fry’s recent nuptials – I recommend checking your pulse. (I’m putting in an advance order am awaiting confi rmation on this). I’m concerned for you. for 65 million rounds of popcorn, And the Greens are going to at As General Election Fever (the and some nachos. You can all pay least double their number of MPs. medical reason for Nick Clegg’s me back later.) At least. imminent disappearance) reaches In fact, it is possibly also party- With all kinds of claims being its peak over the next 100 days, we worthy. (No, silly! Not the kind of fl ung about in all directions (rather mustn’t let ourselves forget that party leafl eting our politicans will like monkeys throwing their fae- this whole thing is actually about engage in oh-so diligently for the ces), politics can all too easily seem people. And, as people (presum- next 97 days, but the kind of party alienating. Like a foreign-language ably), we have to take part, or we where everyone dances to the fi lm without the ill-fi tting dubbing. lose by default. Macarena and someone overdoes Or the French attitude towards  ere are now 97 days to go. it on the sausage rolls). queuing. It is easy to forget that  at’s 97 days to register to vote. It really is a tough one to call, politics is actually, by its very na- 97 days to decide which people you this time round. Obviously, there ture, about people. Not just people want representing you, another is a legion of elves somewhere in power. Not just people who were person. 16 Friday 30th January 2015 Comment

Mental health: a new stigma One of the biggest conversations ey also don’t want to think that thus now often seen as naïve and un- or family history, or brain chemistry. in mental health right now is about they’ve missed the signs, that we’ve informed, feeding even more into the If talking therapies are applied stigma: what it is, what it means for been struggling alone, and that if idea that – like Mrs Bennet with her properly and successfully – and they treatment, and, most of all, how to re- we’ve achieved things in spite of fl uttering nerves – they are simply very often are – both individuals will move it, so that people can talk about being sick, that we’ve done so by hysterical and seeking attention. feel better, both will learn resilience and seek help for mental illness. overcoming an adversity without e stigma of happiness hysteria tactics for when life inevitably con- ere is still a lot of work to be their help. is is especially true for is dangerous. It increases our risk of fronts them with tough times, and done to reduce and remove stigma families – such as mine – with long neglecting people who are actually both will be able to spread the strate- surrounding what are seen as ‘more histories of depression and anxiety. ill and in need of support. I’m going gies and mindsets they have learned Courtney Landers serious’ mental illnesses such as to risk sticking my foot in my mouth to other people. schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. and suggest that there are individuals, Dismiss someone as ‘not really However, excellent progress has trapped in a kind of hysteria by our depressed’ and we not only deprive A new stigma been made for depression and anxi- society and culture, who think or are them of the chance to learn and grow, ety. Although there are many more told they are mentally ill when they we stifl e the spread of resilience and around depression is people to convince, an increasingly THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS aren’t. mindfulness throughout society. large number of people now accept WHO THINK OR ARE TOLD ing is, these individuals are in replacing the old and understand that depression and no less need of our help. If someone Mental Health: anxiety are as legitimate and serious THEY ARE MENTALLY ILL feels so unpleasant they suspect or as physical illness. are told they are depressed, they are The Statistics Our problem now is that a new WHEN THEY AREN’T just as deserving of care and support stigma has replaced the old. In my ex- as someone whose emotions have ● 1 in 4 British adults perience, this is particularly the case fl atlined and who is experiencing for depression. Instead of questioning Doubt in the form of hope is fairly extreme fatigue. While the latter experiences a whether depression is real, some of harmless though; for many of us our may need antidepressants and other mental health us now question whether particular loved ones want us to be well and will physical or chemical therapies, the individuals really are depressed. give us their support. former can be assisted with talking problem at some I’ve seen this attitude take two What truly concerns me is doubt therapies. point in their lives forms. stemming from our awareness of the Cognitive behavioural therapy, e fi rst occurs in otherwise cult of happiness; the phenomenon interpersonal therapy and the like ● Over 450 million supportive family and friends, who where people expect to be happy all are designed to help people deal with people globally are may ask: “But are you sure you’re the time because society and pop- things that are upsetting them and depressed?” In response to my culture have told them they can be learn strategies for being present and thought to have diagnosis, my own mother said: “I and should be. is kind of doubt can mindful. a mental health don’t think you have depression; you lead to a dismissal of diagnoses of ey’re about learning new ap- couldn’t have gotten so far in life if depression (and anxiety) as a form of proaches to our thoughts and experi- problem you did” (meaning excelling academi- hysteria or attention-seeking enabled ences; learning how to cope with and ● Between 8 and 12 cally and coming to Cambridge). by the marketing behaviours of ‘Big fl ourish within the ups and downs of We have been so successful in Pharma’. life. Someone feeling pain because per cent of the UK establishing depression as a serious In part, we have contributed to this they’re not as happy as pop culture population su er illness with serious symptoms that it new stigma by educating society that led them to believe they should be is frightening in the same way serious happiness isn’t a question of feel- would benefi t from these therapies depression in any physical illnesses are. Our loved ones ing great all the time and that we all just as much as someone trapped in one year don’t want depression for us; they experience ups and downs. ose still a cycle of negative thinking about don’t want us to suff er. caught up in the ‘happiness trap’ are themselves due to trauma, personal JULIANNA PARS

Vulture CULTURE ■ FEATURES ■ FASHION ■ THEATRE ■ REVIEWS 18 Friday 30th January 2015 Vulture Culture What’s On: Week 3 Idols of a Lonely

If you haven’t had a chance to get down to Beauty and Revolution, Kettle’s Yard’s current exhibition on the art and poetry of renowned Scottish artist Ian Hamilton- English Student Finlay, then head to curator Professor Stephen Bahn’s talk, e Cambridge Con- nections (Tues 3rd Feb, 7pm, Kettle’s Yard) Noa Lessof Gendler tells us about her literary icons from Satan to Aslan and plenty inbetween which will shed some light on the artist’s peculiar relationship with our fair city. Po- etry-lovers are also encouraged to hit the Speakeasy (Sun 1st Feb, 8pm, ADC bar). Featuring both established spoken-word poets and an open poetry slam, this is a I’ll have a go at doing this jus- I know I’ve just done a whole bunch of chil- great opportunity to test the spoken-word tice, although it’s just impossible dren’s books, but this is the last waters in an informal environment. for me to mention all of the literary one, I promise. e Wind in the Another chance to have your eyes/ characters I love, let alone properly explain Willows is just about one of my ears opened comes in the form of e why each is signifi cant. e ones that I have favourite books ever, and my Mendeley Debate: is House Believes included though deserve thrones in the Literary favourite character is the Rat. He Space Exploration is Worth the Cost ( urs Hall of Greatness, where readers who love them gets the best line – “there is noth- 5th Feb, 7.30pm, e Cambridge Union). will meet them and be best friends with them, ing – absolutely nothing – half so Welcoming speakers from both NASA and which is, naturally, my biggest dream much worth doing as simply the UK Space Agency alongside journalists ever. Here are the heroes I’d like to messing about in boats” – and and heads of charities, it will certainly get shake hands with. And hug. I’ll start he muses and writes poetry. interesting. with someone acceptable for an No disrespect meant at all If you just can’t choose between Poetry English student, which is what I to the Mole, the Badger or and Space then you have very much am, although you’d never have the Toad, though. All four lucked out with new exhibition Graphic guessed. of them deserve medals, but I Constellations: Visual Poetry and the feel a special aff ection for good Properties of Space (Until Sat 21st Feb, Satan from old Ratty just because he’s so 10am-4.30pm, Ruskin Gallery), which will Milton’s epic charming, mild, and hilarious. demonstrate the dynamic interplay be- Paradise Lost tween text and image, and between poetry is the character and graphic design. we hate to love. e idea of him caught my attention when I was reading His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (more on this obsession soon). Years later I read Paradise Lost itself and fell in love. I think Satan is probably just about the Following the success of e 24 Hour sexiest antihero ever – rebelling against Plays, CUMTS presents e 24 Hour Mu- God? at is supremely cool. Plus his dark sical! (Sat 31st Feb, 11pm, ADC), in which internal torment, his magnifi cent impassioned teams will have 24 hours to write, learn and speeches, his seductive persuasiveness… I think perform a show-stopping musical number. the argument that Milton intended Satan to Hilarity and high notes are sure to ensue. be the hero of the poem is stupid, as the whole If you’ve not had enough musical joy then point of Satan is that he is alluring but he’s still there’s e Witches of Eastwick (Tues 3rd- really, really evil – that’s half the fun. He’s the Sat 7th Jan, 7.45pm, ADC). CUMTS have ultimate bad boy. promised to take a “fresh look at the ma- terial” of this darkly funny show, focusing e supposed ally of the fallen angel is Lyra on the empowerment of its female leads. Belaqua from His Dark Materials. I spent my For some drama without songs, try Henry time between ages eight and 15 just longing V (Weds 4th-Sat 7th Feb, 7.45 pm with to be friends with this girl. She’s the heroine I matinees on urs and Sat, Cambridge wanted to be: brave, clever, funny and char- Arts eatre) – both Shakespeare’s most- ismatic – I’m still working on these. She also loved historical play and a nice departure travels between worlds, can read the truth from the normal student theatres, it should about anything, tells spectacular stories, and be one of the highlights of the term. Also is utterly independent, running wild as she recommended is ‘one-man tragi-comedy’ grows up and going on an epic adventure. I Awkward Conversations with Animals I’ve think I was also envious of her having a dæmon F*cked (Tues 3rd-Sat 7th Feb, 9.30pm, Cor- (Google it), probably because I didn’t have any pus Playroom). pets and thought one that could change shape would be nice. Puck from A ere were two other girls I wished I was Midsummer Night’s Dream SOPHIA BUCK friends with. e fi rst was Lucy Pevensie from is next on my list (here the struggling e Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She was English student attempts to redeem herself). from her home in Jamaica, she’s known as loyal, kind, determined, and Aslan’s no. 1 gal. He’s obviously a beautifully crafted character, Bertha Mason, appearing as the archetypal Continuing the current string of one-off I’ve got to give a shout out to the lion himself the instigator of an excellent plot and a fairy ‘mad woman in the attic’ in Jane Eyre. Jean comedy shows is Kenneth Watton’s Bed- here – yes, I know he’s Jesus, but you don’t have to boot; but I am also of the opinion that he Rhys’ 1966 novel gives her a voice, and it’s time Chat-Show (Monday 2nd Feb, 9.30 to be into God to think he’s completely brilliant. says the most perfect passage in Shakespeare. moving and passionate, transforming her from pm, Corpus Playroom). It features a wealth e other character from the Chronicles of I know I’m not a scholar or anything, but his a ghost into a woman who lets us explore of promising characters beyond the titular Narnia character that deserves a mention here closing monologue is just exquisite: “If we important gender issues and society’s attitudes fi ctional host, two of whom are listed as is Edmund. Talk about a turnaround: no one shadows have off ended, / ink but this and towards mental health. Others who’ve been ‘Bear (a)’ and ‘Bear (b)’, which is quite entic- else could go so genuinely from spiteful Witch all is mended…” He’s not just talking about the knocked off the list are Odysseus, Cassandra ing. Meta-entertainment is also the theme accomplice to lovable supporting brother and fairies in the story. He’s talking about the ac- from I Capture the Castle, Dr Iannis from of S.C.O.F.F.!: e Comeback Tour (Weds hero in so few pages. e other girl who was a tors, and reminding the audience that it’s make- Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, and Úrsula Iguarán 4th -Sat 7th Feb, 11pm, ADC) which prom- sort of imaginary friend is Titty from Swallows believe and transient. While we’re showing from One Hundred Years of Solitude. ises big laughs and, being this term’s ‘Foot- and Amazons. Despite her unfortunate name off with Shakespeare, I also nominate Beatrice lights Presents’ show, a big audience. For and unfortunate attitudes to the indigenous from Much Ado about Nothing. She’s just the I won’t go into detail because I have a word professional comedy, try Flaws (Sat 31st people of anywhere that isn’t England, she’s got funniest. limit (and an English degree, that unfortunately Jan, 8pm, Cambridge Corn Exchange) the the sort of tough attitude that we all wish we neglects many of these self-evident classics), new tour show from Varsity Interviewee – had. She completely aces everything: captur- e last character who sits in my Hall of but if you’ve read the books then they speak for and critically acclaimed comedian – Mark ing the Amazon, fi nding the treasure, rugby Greatness is Antoinette Cosway from Wide themselves. If you haven’t read the books, I re- Watson. tackling Captain Flint. What a boss. Sargasso Sea. Once she’s married to an ally can’t recommend them more. Last but not Englishman for her dowry and shipped away least, Dumbledore. Enough said. Culture Vulture Friday 30th January 2015 19 -THE OSCARS- What’s the Opposite of

Diversity? What’s On Naomi Eva Obeng questions representation, the Academy and what we can do about it (cont.) Did you hear that? The hushed whispers and stories about western post-colonial male clacking of keys? The nominations list has existence, via jazz hands been read. Preparations for Hollywood’s and computer gener- showcase have begun. Of course it’s not ated explosions, has just Hollywood, there’s a foreign language managed to produce category too! nominations for actors that do not in- It has not escaped the attention of major clude a single person newspapers that this year’s Oscar nominees of colour? Or that out are the least diverse bunch of creatives to of the 428 ere are plenty of unusual nights out to have been printed onto its hallowed enve- nominees be had this weekend, starting with Do You lopes in years. for best Even Swing!? (Fri 30th Feb,10pm- 3am, e Fountain Inn). Aside from a great name, this direction event promises 3 fl oors of “good music and Moments before the nominees were revealed since the good people”. Entry is a very reasonable £3, it had seemed completely impossible for cer- with a discount if you show up in fancy dress the British actor David Oyelowo not to get emony’s with a 1920s/30s or, enigmatically, ‘gypsy’ a nod for his portrayal of Dr Martin Luther inception theme. Saturday night is a great time to visit e King, Jr. in Selma. He was in all the papers’ in 1927 on Junction for Boomslang presents: Toddla pre-Oscar predictions and Brad Pitt even there have screen gave a master-class on how to pronounce his only been 2 T Takeover (Sat 31st Jan, 10pm-6am, e will be the Cambridge Junction). It’s more than worth name – something Lupita Nyong’o took upon women? Is same subset of the pricey ticket and inevitable cab ride herself before her best supporting actress win it surpris- people deserving back. If you’d prefer to stay closer to home last year. It turns out that David Oyelowo ing that the enough to be there”. then the Trinity Hall June Event Launch is a isn’t Oscar-worthy after all. Apparently. Well, Academy Unluckily for the ceremo- safe bet; ONE NATION UNDER GROOVE if members of the public cannot predict who voters – a group ny, many have already made (Sun 1st Feb, 10pm-3am, Fez Club) off ers a rare Cambridge chance for some Funk, Soul will and who won’t receive a shiny statue at a so overwhelm- up their minds that the winners are and Rare Groove ‘n’ Motown. televised ceremony in California next month, ingly white, part of a nominee pool that should then what on earth is the point of it all? over 60 and e more classically inclined will en- not have existed. So does it really joy pianist John Plowright ( urs 5th Feb, male that it’s as matter in the end? At least the Oscars 8pm, Kettle’s Yard) performing pieces by I’ll take the liberty of breaking down the if institutional- never pretended to represent society. Bach, Brahms, Schuman and Liszt; or the highly uniform nominees for you, don’t ised inequality Let people lose trust in the Academy’s lunchtime concert by CUMS Concerto blame me if you get bored: all nominees for actually exists ability to be unbiased in rewarding Competition fi nalists (Tues 3rd Feb, 1.10 direction, cinematography, writing and visual – caused this outstanding pieces of art. Let people lose pm, West Road Concert Hall). effects are male (that’s 25 men, 0 women), outcome? interest. all nominated best pictures have a male protagonist (by the way, Selma is a town in With all the However, the Academy fails to realise the Alabama, not a woman), all best leading and excitement and importance of representation in cinema. Let supporting actors and actresses are white the promise of us watch, make and support the fi lms that Ahead of the release of Selma, e Interview (that’s 20 talented Caucasians), the animated Neil Patrick Harris matter to us. Perhaps this year the Hermès and, of course, Shaun e Sheep e Movie, feature makers are all male and there is one as host, it’s easy to shroud will be lifted on the dazzling night of this is a relatively quiet week for new cin- man nominated for costume design (good on forget that the Oscars celebrity, and we’ll fi nally see the room full ema releases. Use the down-time to catch up on the fantastic eory of Everything, you Mark Bridges). are not about what of artists in their most expensive clothes be- Birdman and A Most Violent Year. Alterna- the public want, ing handed bits of metal and bits in goodie When all this transpired, debate was raging they are about which tively, check out spy-comedy Kingsman: e bags by ordinance of a privileged few. Secret Service (released urs 29th Jan). Di- in publications, glances fi ring and mugs of fi lms a group of rected by Matthew Vaughn, the man who coffee no doubt being poured from heavily 1,000+ men Of course I loved The Grand brought you Kickass, the trailer suggests subsidised percolators. “Is it because there chose to Budapest Hotel and of course an enjoyable romp with a star-studded cast isn’t enough diversity in fi lms?” (there isn’t), see in I will go on continuing to and some pretty limited female roles. Also “Is it because there is a gender bias in fi lm the love it if it doesn’t win an featuring guns and intrigue is Paul omas Anderson’s Inherent Vice (released Fri 30th production?” (there is) “Is it because of who cin- Oscar. We have a choice Jan). is adaptation of omas Phynchon’s is voting?” (yes)… I wonder if Neil Patrick ema as to whose stories we Harris is going to sing.’(I hope so!). last detective novel of the same name is set at watch, and Hollywood, try the tail-end of the 60s and is described as year (or as it might, should not dic- “Part surf noir, part psychedelic romp”. That’s just it. There is a whole host of to pretend tate whose voices and expertly reasons that does not stop at the Academy. to have seen, as it lit faces are important. The Oscars are just It starts with society and the sunny money- transpired was the case for many Academy Hollywood. So we can count on them to be making industry that only values the voices members voting for last year’s best picture no more than what Hollywood does best – an of a particular group of people. Diversity is Twelve Years A Slave). expensive, if vacuous, show that may include natural, the opposite of diversity takes quite Neil Patrick Harris doing a song and dance. some prejudiced effort to achieve. Is it really It is unsurprising that the reaction has been a It’s all about glamour and pomp in the end. surprising that a corporate industry built on wearied – “Once again the people represented Isn’t it? 20 Friday 30th January 2015 Vulture Culture FLICKR: MADAMBRIGHTSIDE

Happily Ever After Jonathan Shamir on our cultural marriage to monogamy

Western Civilisation is built upon a Christian ed- rule applies to everything, from economics to distraught when he fi nds out that ‘Samantha’ is makes it an important symbol of our social ifi ce, and although religious belief has declined, the psychology of monogamy. Ivan proclaims ‘involved’ with over 8,000 other people like him- devotion to monogamy. If it were no longer our society is still profoundly tied to that system that Christ’s love would not suffi ce, as it is di- self. ‘Samantha’ argues that this does not change important to society, the political debate would of ethics. With the drive towards greater liberali- rected towards everyone.  e exclusivity of hav- the intrinsic nature of her relationship with have been far less intense. sation eroding so many religious dogmas that do ing one person, who you love and who loves you  eodore, and while this may be true, whether it  e evidence is most prominent in our not fi t with modern society, most evident in the back, is a far more comforting and special love is a man in love with a computer or a struggling cultural artefacts. One only needs to scroll normalisation of homosexuality and widening than Christ could ever provide. If your partner Christian, the rival sources of investment and down the UK Top 40 to see that even suppos- acceptance of abortion, we must ask: why is there was emotionally and psychologically invested in trust would destabilise even the most emotion- edly irreverent pop stars are obsessed with the still a cultural obsession around monogamy? someone else, would that not detract from your ally aloof. idea of monogamous love, with Clean Bandit’s Even if our animal instincts pull us towards relationship? Religion did not always condemn polygamy. ‘Real Love’ and Phillip George’s ‘Wish You Were polygamy, our developed psyches opt for But you don’t have to go back to Dostoyevsky’s In fact, two of the three forefathers of the three Mine’. Your more polygamous rappers are being monogamy: we cannot underestimate its Russia to see this. Just look at Spike Jonze’s fi lm main monotheistic religions all had multiple outstripped by the Ed Sheerans of the world psychological signifi cance.  is boils down to Her from last year.  e same questions are asked wives – Abraham had Sarah and Hagar and who promise ‘“And, darling, I will be loving you a simple psychological maxim which struck me as we watch  eodore, the fi lm’s protagonist, fall Jacob not only had two wives, Leah and Rachel, ‘til we’re 70.” And you can always guarantee that in Dostoyevsky’s Brothers Karamazov: the more in love with an operating system with artifi cial but also had children by their handmaidens there will be a saccharine romantic comedy at something is available, the less it is valued; this intelligence. Joaquin Phoenix’s character is Bilhah and Zilpah. In spite of this, polygamy was the cinema. It’s the same recycled and formulaic never really part of Christianity and was eventu- love story over and over, and yet people will still ally weeded out of Judaism, also having declined cough up the cash to see the latest adaptation of under Islamic law (Muslim men are allowed to a Nicholas Sparks novel. Even on the rare occa- practice polygyny with up to four women but sion when romantic cinema eludes you, almost polyandry is not permitted). One of the reasons all other genres perpetuate the monogamous given by Rabbi Gershon, the man who altered ideal; four out of fi ve of this year’s BAFTA nomi- the Jewish perspective on polygamy, is that nations for ‘Best Film’ contain this theme, be it polygyny was a source of jealousy and confl ict teenage heartbreak in Boyhood or the roman- between wives. It seems there is a consensus tic antics of a bellboy and a pastry chef in  e between your modern man, married to an Grand Budapest Hotel. Even if it is peripheral, it operating system with artifi cial intelligence, and is always there. a Rabbi around 1000 years ago.  e psyche of Refl ecting back on my own childhood, it is human beings hasn’t changed so much after all. easy to see how my generation’s perceptions  e situation is diff erent today, but we should have been moulded. Beauty and the Beast, not mistake it for contradicting our cultural Aladdin,  e Little Mermaid, Lady and the obsession with monogamy.  e sexual revolu- Tramp – Disney alone could be identifi ed as the tion which occurred in Britain over the past root of my own ideas on monogamy, and they half a century has revolutionised the traditional certainly aren’t changing.  e internet genera- male-female relationship.  ere is more sexual tion will have a more diverse cultural exposure promiscuity, marriage is no longer required than 90s kids, but even if their attention span for sexual relations and sexual relations are not is shortening to a YouTube-appropriate length, limited to heterosexuals. However, although Disney’s new shorts are here to ensure the next people may be sexually polygamous, this is dis- generation’s dedication to the ideal of monoga- tinct from being both physically and emotionally my with Paperman and  e Blue Umbrella. Yes, polygamous – it is rare to fi nd someone who is even Umbrellas can love one another, and more dating two people at once with both partners importantly, resist the urge to make sweet um- aware of it. Sexual polygamy only presses the brella love to more than one parasol. Even mov- point further; our ability to move on from sexual ies like Frozen, lauded for their empowerment monogamy highlights our inability to move on of women, have at their foundations the trope emotional monogamy. of romantic monogamy.  e altered gender  e Offi ce for National Statistics published balance and the refreshing focus on sisterly love FREE FREE in December 2012 that an estimated 42 per aside, a Disney fi lm is just incomplete without a cent of marriages in England and Wales end in monogamous, heterosexual romance, as fulfi lled divorce. When considering these statistics – by Anna and Kristoff . alongside the debauchery of British youth and  is all amounts to something of an obses- the technological revelation that is Tinder – it is sion, and in spite of the embedded roots of clear that attitudes have changed. Yet this only monogamy in our society, it remains a diffi cult serves to accentuate the remarkable survival of phenomenon to explain. Is culture and media monogamy: the fact is that if people are getting responding to our demands? Or is it our cultural divorced, they are also still getting married, and landscape that shapes our perceptions and sexual promiscuity in no way indicates that peo- sustains this obsession? It is diffi cult to tell what ple are have stopped being interested in dreams came fi rst, but it is obvious that the two are of monogamy, especially in the long-term. sustaining each other. Monogamy is now deeply Most people enjoy their fl irtation with lascivi- entrenched in our society and a cycle has been ousness, but never as anything more than that. established.  e fact is we are constantly buying People still believe in monogamy – whether into the nonpareil of monogamy, and cultural it’s marriage or an alternative manifestation of production responds to this obsession, making mutual commitment, their ultimate goal is still our society’s love for monogamy a rival to some the same: ‘one love’. We only have to look only as of the greatest romances out there. far as the political ruckus surrounding same-sex With Valentine’s Day just two weeks away, marriage to understand this; civil partnerships forget Cindies and that one night stand and fi nd already existed, but there is something about someone special.  ere is no point in fi ghting it: marriage aside from the religious aspect that monogamy is here to stay. STUDENT TICKETS

ONLY £15!*

*inc £2.50 booking fee 22 Friday 30th January 2015 Vulture Features Building Blocks HENRY COOKSEY HENRY

The complacency of beauty Architecture and Access Claire Huxley Christina Farley

ove it or loathe it, Cambridge is pretty. here are un- y school was made of asbestos. Its most interesting feature was the relative ease with which doubtedly far uglier places to spend your formative years. you could stick a foot through an outside wall, resulting in immediate evacuation and no les- For all Cambridge lacks in nightlife, well-lit pathways or sons in that classroom for several days. Also notable were the orange stalactites blooming on reasonably-priced breakfasts, it more than makes up for in the ceiling of the science block. windingL cobbled streets and oak panelled walls. Let Oxford keep MAll this was a far cry from the strange, ageless beauty of Cambridge architecture, the irst thing that its dreaming spires; we’re overlowing with our own. But with such hooked me in and in many ways a key reason I applied. here are various moments that stand out: beautiful buildings at every turn, is it possible that we have become A punting tour just after GCSEs, when the astonishing virginia-creeper-covered back of New Court complacent? Does impressive architecture bestow a prestige that al- convinced me that I liked St John’s best. A corner of what I now know to be the Old Music Room, the lows us to rest on our laurels? he university must think so, for what red curtain, panelled ceiling, heraldic carvings, glimpsed through a Tudor window from the street, when else could explain monstrosities like the UL or Sidgwick site’s much I desperately wanted to be inside. I could think of nothing better than to study the History of Art and maligned Raised Faculty Building? Perhaps the powers that be are Architecture while surrounded by the buildings that appeared in my books. worried that too many arches and vaulted ceilings will cause a severe We often hear in the media about the lawns of Cambridge and Oxford, condemned with that hack- case of smugness. he only cure: a heavy dose of concrete breeze neyed adjective, ‘manicured’. According to these writers, our buildings ooze stuiness, fossilised in archi- blocks. tectural splendour: colleges where only the rich and privileged could possibly feel at home. heir similar- However if the university is afraid of the power of beautiful archi- ity with England’s best public schools no doubt lends weight to this misconception. Poor state-school tecture’s to rot our minds, they needn’t worry. If anything, arched students must feel hopelessly out of place in these surroundings, we are repeatedly told: how could they doorways and sun-dappled cloisters seem to have quite the opposite feel otherwise, coming from an environment so far removed from it? efect; could there be more than academics behind Trinity’s ive year We should be wary of this attitude, which confuses attractive buildings with barriers to social mobility. domination of the Tompkins Table and unmatched number of Nobel he implication is that state-school students, not surrounded by beauty from birth, must be intimidated Laureates? It’s a tempting conclusion, but one which falls apart on by it. But why shouldn’t students who are not from these (minority) backgrounds love it too? To focus on scrutiny – Churchill ranks as the sixth best college academically, the buildings is to ignore the bigger issue: a private education is often (but not always) quite simply better while St John’s languishes seventeenth. than a state one, and can provide the resources that give its recipients the conidence to succeed whatever Yet, regardless of whether architecture speciically inluences environment they ind themselves in. Of course, the same goes for family background: parents who take academics, it certainly plays a large role in what makes our experi- an interest in their child’s education make it easier for them to succeed as adults. hese are the real rea- ence here so special. Any jaded third-year who forgets the magic of sons for inequality in career destinations and university admissions, not the buildings. here is also media a candle-lit hall need only take a glance at the awed faces of their hyperbole to contend with. Psychologically, the efect of the architecture surely pales in comparison to the college children to be reminded of how it felt to go to formal for the efect of the many hysterical articles about ‘tofs’, channelled comfortably from cloistered schools through irst time. Even at our most stressed, frustrated or cynical, the utter the dreaming spires of Oxbridge and into the halls of Westminster, or other stereotypical career desti- beauty of Cambridge has a habit of sneaking up on us; be it sun- nations. If state-school students do feel uncomfortable looking up at King’s College Chapel, or peering light glittering on the river, or the trees on the Backs turning from through the gates of Sidney Sussex, or seeing St John’s Chapel Tower looming on the horizon, is it because emerald to gold, there’s always a new sight to take refuge in. here’s a of the architecture? Or is it because that’s what they are told they should feel? reason why our Instagram feeds swell up in exam term. In the midst he idea that great architecture must frighten those who aren’t lucky enough to be acclimatised to it of a week ive meltdown, breath-taking views feel like our university’s before they arrive is patronising and problematic. I did not like the fact that my school was made of asbes- last saving grace, the unshakeable element that makes the whole tos. I did not like the ugliness of the white and blue metal. he fact that it was freezing in winter was not thing worth the struggle. compensated for by gorgeous, if ill-itting, Gothic windows. I wanted to escape. It was Cambridge’s stun- For many of us, Cambridge’s beauty is inspiring, a constant re- ning surroundings – coupled in my mind with the excellence of the education and the promise of friends minder of what makes it unique, and of the hard work that it takes to on my wavelength – that made me want to come here. he buildings of my school did shape me, but they achieve (and keep) a place here. Rest on our laurels? You’re far more taught me to long for something lovelier. he beauty of Cambridge drew me here. It is not the preserve of likely to ind us resting on a window seat in the library. the rich. Features Vulture Friday 30th January 2015 23 It’s a Basic Struggle Lucy Roxburgh says goodbye to M&S and hello to the Sainsbury’s Basics Range, for a whole week

esco Everyday Value. ASDA Smartprice. Even Instead I turn to my unnecessarily large jar of tomato sauce, the infamous Waitrose ‘Essentials’ (including shrink wrapped cheddar and mysteriously labelled “pasta such key products as scented ironing water shapes” (which turns out simply to be penne… why not just and limoncello mousse). Every supermarket say penne?) to whip up a student classic. Thas its own budget range uniquely branded with its own distinct font. It doesn’t taste any the worse for being made up of only Basics products – the only diff erence so far has been price. For the typical Cambridge student, the Sainsbury’s Day one– still alive and not yet orange. Basics range is by far the most recognisable of these, in no small part thanks to the off ensive shade of orange For day two I take it up a step and put on my baking mitts. it’s decked in. It is a colour scheme I’m going to need to I make rocky road using dark and white chocolate, butter learn to love, as for one whole week I have embarked and dried fruit, all sourced from the Basics range, naturally. on a quest to live on a diet of only Sainsbury’s Basics. Admittedly, it lacked the satisfying squidginess that a gener- Yes, you read correctly – such a challenge may have ous dollop of Tate and Lyle golden syrup in the mixture never been attempted before. Who knows if I’ll turn normally provides. Nevertheless, it proves to be pretty orange, or even if I’ll survive – so read on (spoiler alert: addictive and its presence in my mini fridge next to my desk I do both). makes concentrating on essay writing even more of a chal- lenge then usual. HANNAH TAYLOR My neighbour is horrifi ed – having grown up in a strictly Marks and Spencer’s household, which occa- It even goes down well with M&S friend (although I don’t sionally stretches itself to the luxuries of Waitrose, this think she entirely realised that it was made from Basics- presents an entirely new world for her. In a slightly only ingredients). I had bought the Basics feta, always one quivering voice she asks me whether I’m sure that of my staples for an easy couscous lunch (so Cambridge), Hits I know what I’m getting myself into. I am sure – but realise that the Basics range doesn’t stretch that with Sainsbury’s so much cheaper, more acces- far. Instead, I make a simple meatball soup using the Tortilla Chips sible and ultimately just not that diff erent, I am pre-chopped mixed vegetables, tinned (well, boxed determined to win her round, so on Monday actually) tomatoes and minced beef. Mozarella balls (only 50p!) I set out shopping. I have defi nitely found that sticking to fresh Chocolate digestives Many of the products are already familiar foods, or at least foods with minimal extra to me – the custard creams, English processing, is the way to go when shopping muffi ns (70p, an identical packet of on a budget range.  e diff erences in taste is Most things sweet – English muffins just Sainsbury’s ones are 90p) and normally negligible, and you actually know are a particular favourite bananas slip easily into my basket. My what you’re putting in your digestive system. Percy Pigs habit is replaced with some Meat and eggs, however, are the one area slightly soggy looking Midget Gems that I fi nd it worth spending that little bit Fruit and vegetables, which are much for 50p, the only sweets available in the more. cheaper with zero taste difference range, but oh well. As the week goes on I am beginning to  e Basics slogans are there to keep miss my branded staples – Philadelphia me entertained – from the ironic and for bagels, proper Heinz ketchup, Kellogg’s surprisingly self-aware “creamy and Crunchy Nut instead of dusty “More fl akes cheesy” cream cheese (who knew dairy than fruit” Basics fruit and fi bre cereal. I could be so meta?) to the apologetic notice the peculiar omissions of the range, “light and lovely, just a little less choco- despite its surprising size of over 500 prod- latey” chocolate mousse – the market- ucts: Basics tonic water to accompany the ing team behind the Basics Range are “no fancy packaging, just gin” only comes clearly willing not to take their prod- in diet, there are 22 types of Sainsbury’s ucts too seriously, and kudos for that. breaded chicken but none are Basics and the  ere are even gentle attempts at puns, fruit and veg included in the collection is “simple recipe for a lot less dough” sporadic. reads the packaging on one loaf of bread. And so the shopping continues  e slogan on the Basics cat litter really – my eyes ignoring anything with non- sums up the range: “does the job”. You are orange packaging or a price more than never going to be able to knock up Michelin a few pounds until my basket is full. star meals purely from this range and it is unlikely to blow your taste buds out of this At fi rst, I can honestly tell you that I world. By the end of the week I have found didn’t notice any diff erence. I toast a new favourites (hello Basics chocolate crumpet for breakfast (covered in but- mousse, six for 40p) and defi nitely saved ter), and a packet of Basics crisps fi ll money (albeit earning far fewer Nectar my 4pm hunger dip (can you go that points). Even M&S friend seems sort of wrong with crisps?)  ere is defi nitely convinced. HANNAH TAYLOR something kind of tragic about the white and orange crisp packet, but Despite my new appreciation for shopping there’s also something kind of tragic on a Basics budget, I have to admit that I about how quick I am to assume some- am defi nitely looking forward to escaping thing needs to be branded in familiar its confi nes and returning to the culinary garish colours to be tasty. Everything is gratifi cation that can only really be found Misses tragic really. by those instantly recognisable branded products. When it comes to my stomach, Mysterious meats – to be avoided at all A picnic style lunch of a Scotch egg with I am afraid to admit that the multinational costs a clementine, mini apple pie and black- corporations have won. currant squash gives the atmosphere of a primary school trip. But school trips On returning from a gin-fuelled Sunday Ready meals - here, Taste the Differ- are fun. For dinner, it is time to actually Life night out, I fi nd the Basics tortilla chips ence means what it says have some hot food. I feel I should give and jaff a cakes waiting for me to make the one of the basics ready meals a go, but perfect 3am snack and give me the energy I’ll my lack of an oven drastically diminishes HANNAH TAYLOR need overnight to nurture my body back to Coffee (that tastes like acid) my choices to four types of mash-topped good health for the morning. And with the pies or multiple mystery lasagnes. Hmph. smell of tortilla chips on my breath, my week living the orange high life has come to an end. The relentless orange 24 Friday 30th January 2015 Vulture Fashion

down the path Fashion Vulture Friday 30th January 2015 25

Obscured in the light, jewelled tones among the bleak: all found down the path...

Photography | Julianna Pars ; Model | Catherine Tennyson & Maria Tennyson ; Clothes | Models’ own Direction, Styling, Setting, Hair & Make-up | Livs Galvin 26 Friday 30th January 2015 Vulture heatre THE SHOW MUST COME OUT

Richard Skipper explores LGBT+ issues in the Cambridge theatre scene

he concept of theatre as a ‘gay’ space is noth- voluntary system of theatre production, but it student theatre is one of the few things I feel it comes to displaying the history of a demo- ing new. For a long time, there has been a sense is never diicult to think a little harder about like I can afect with an article and without a graphic that has been censored and erased of moral panic about the bohemianism of what sort of people you want to be seen on parade. Cambridge already does so much to for hundreds of years. here are other groups the theatre industry as a breeding ground for stage. promote queer people in theatre, but I don’t who are represented even less, from non-white the odd and anti-social. Even now, in LGBT+ feel like it is too much to ask for more when racial groups to disabled people, but their con- movements, theatre of all kinds is seen as one his doesn’t mean that all theatre involving many other places refuse to even consider the cerns and demands for representation are not of the integral cultural mediums of the grand LGBT+ people must concern itself solely with notion. mutually exclusive to LGBT+ people. queer tradition. the fact that queer people exist, and a diversity in representation would be beneicial. Pieces Even if every play in Cambridge for an entire It is diicult to express quite how much repre- Part of this is likely down to a self-reinforcing of theatre about the speciic issues and lives of year only wrote exclusively about queer people, sentation matters to those who have grown up attitude: if theatre is seen as a queer-friendly LGBT+ people are always important and are I would probably still ask for more, because any with their sexuality and gender identity vali- space, then it is only natural that queer people nothing to be snifed at, but I think it is okay sort of queerness in theatre has been sani- dated as acceptable and normal by the media, should gravitate towards it. heatre is also one now to try to move beyond creating queer tised and hidden away for so long. he length but Cambridge theatre should fully embrace its of the most easily accessible forms of story-tell- characters just to be counted. It’s diicult to of some of these paragraphs is proof enough reputation as a queer-friendly space. he more ing, not necessarily demanding the high budg- think of queer plays in theatre where someone that we have only scratched the surface when of those there are, the better. ets and technical expertise that mediums like doesn’t die. LGBT+ violence is extremely real ilm-making can require. Marginalised groups and extremely frightening and that, in addi-

can capitalise on these advantages, bring- tion to the high suicide rates, should never be ing their story directly to a waiting audience. forgotten or wiped away for the sake of pre- However, it is never that simple. Recent articles tending that equality has been reached. I don’t about racial diversity demonstrate the need for reject the plays that have come before, like he Part-time Freelance Job greater awareness of the kind of stories student Laramie Project, that depict tragically common theatre chooses to tell, and who it includes in scenarios of violence and cruelty, and I’m glad them. Is Cambridge theatre doing enough to be they’re still being put on. I do want, however, the LGBT+ space it is believed to be? more plays about queer people living happy lives despite these issues, and queer characters Responsibilities: From my own personal experience, Cambridge who do live in accepting societies that are not theatre is, for the most part, a very accept- our own. Research ing environment. here have been a couple of choice comments about how I should “pretend here’s an entirely diferent article to be written Data gathering to be straight” in order to be a better actor, but about LGBT+ people and comedy, but to have these are certainly in the minority, never from them appear in sketches or farces without it Opinions & Insights a director, and are not indicative of the wider necessarily leading to gay or trans-panic jokes picture. he number of plays concerned with would be nice. In addition, just because a play LGBT+ experiences since I have arrived is truly was written before the 1970s, this doesn’t mean heartening. there isn’t room for reinterpretation, as many Shakespeare productions in the past have 3-5 hours & freedom to work from your Of the top of my head, I can name the recent shown. LGBT+ people have, of course, existed productions of he Laramie Project and Romeo for a very long time, even if they weren’t writ- own home and Juliet, as well as last year’s Tory Boyz and ten about. John Dryden may not have known Her Naked Skin. It suggests good things that I about transgendered people, but he also didn’t Salary: £340 P/W feel like there are more productions that I have know germs existed. left of this list, for fear of ofending the people who put in ridiculous amounts of commitment Not all queer theatre needs to be about sex, as to bring them to stage. some either choose or do not want to have sex. Not all queer theatre has to be about white, Requirements: here are gaps in representation here though. young, conventionally attractive men. Not all, he ‘L’ and ‘G’ components, and sometimes or rather no, queer theatre can capture the No qualifications required even the ‘B’ section, are being covered. But it’s extreme diversity of such a broad component that ‘T’ part that eludes so many people, along of society, and nor should every play feel forced with the other letters lurking behind that plus to add in characters for the sake of characteris- Good communication skills sign, which are pretty much non-existent. ing the unquantiiable amounts of queer people across time and space. Queer theatre has its Time management Part of this is likely down to a lack of coni- roots in telling real and crucial stories about dence in directors and producers in making violence and discrimination, but it has poten- Immediate start & No fees required and casting plays about groups they don’t play a tial to do much more. part in, and part of it is the lack of scripts made ANYONE CAN APPLY for these issues in the irst place. But I promise I don’t mean to stand over theatre as some you: as long as you are respectful and do your great liberal guardian of enforced LGBT+ research, there is nothing diicult about mak- representation, demanding a queer character in ing a play about transgendered characters, or every production I see – that is to completely asexual characters, or intersex characters, or miss the point. Besides, there is nothing im- Contact David for more info: non-binary characters. moral about writing about straight, cisgendered people, mythical as they may be to me. Nor do [email protected] It’s always diicult to decide where the re- I mean to refute that theatre is more progres- sponsibility of representation lies in an entirely sive than many other forms of media, although eatre Vulture Friday 30th January 2015 27 JOHANNES HJORT

FRESHER DIRECTION First year Will Bishop talks us through his directorial debut

Honestly, I had mixed feelings when I got the and then set about casting people for the show. gig of directing at the Corpus Playroom this term. Calling something a ‘Week 3’ show made I am very proud of the cast I assembled. I had

JOHANNES HJORT it sound like I had less than a month in which to some incredible people audition, and everyone create it, which, considering that the last show I who came through the door gave it their all, directed had a rehearsal period of fi ve months, which was an honour to witness. I was surprised did not quite feel like enough time. by the amount of second and third years who auditioned. Coming from secondary school, it’s I hid myself in a dark room and quietly screamed very easy as a fresher to believe that you are in in panic. After I emerged, I accepted the chal- some way the equivalent of a naïve little Year lenge and got on with it. 7, but in fact, we are all equal when it comes to what we do in our spare time. e second and A little background to this: I did not direct any third years I’ve cast are talented, committed, and of the fresher’s plays, but I had a director’s itch, have put their faith in me and my ability to cre- so I pitched a play, fully expecting them to turn ate a play that doesn’t suck. Directing them has me down. not been intimidating, but enjoyable. I’m always itching to get back into the rehearsal rooms and I was pleasantly surprised when they gave me spend more time with the artists I both relate to the Corpus Playroom, which in my mind is a and look up to. really exciting space. e play is called Racing Demon by David Hare, My knowledge of the Cambridge theatre and is about a group of vicars living in inner-city machine was lacking. I knew a few of the cogs; London, facing a brave new world that spells how to run auditions, who I needed on the God with a small “g”. Whilst one vicar struggles production team, but what of funding? What of to marry his socialist sensibilities with the rituals the technical side to the process? What about of his Church, another struggles to keep his gay publicity? I knew nothing. lover hidden from view. A young vicar casts off his atheist girlfriend, for fear of off ending his It was at this point that I reminded myself that boss, and another vicar drinks herself silly trying the fi rst step to being a good director is to to fi gure out why everyone seems so miserable. pretend you know what you’re doing, and the second step is to ask other people when you e play resonated with me as a political story have no idea what you’re doing. that examines how the Church of England is both a religious body and a British institu- I’ve been very fortunate in this. e more thea- tion, steeped in traditions of the past whilst tre you go to, the more shows you do, the more also struggling to accept what it is to live in the friends you make in this scene, and everyone is modern world. Cambridge has had its fair share willing to throw in their fi ve cents because, in of ridiculous traditions, and so the play has a essence, we are all working towards the same particular relevance here. I couldn’t resist pitch- thing: creating the most vibrant and thriving ing it. student theatre in the whole of the UK. I was just the latest fresher willing to contribute. is whole process has been terrifying, excit- ing, and a huge amount of fun. e trust that I quickly ran through everyone I’d met in the Cambridge theatre has in its freshers is mind- ADC clubroom or in rehearsal rooms, to ask boggling, and humbling. I’m proud of what them a thousand questions about the shows we’ve achieved in this past month. they’d been in, directed, produced or just liked. I applied to a funding body, the Pembroke Players Turns out you can actually get a lot done in (who have been really lovely and helpful to me), three weeks. 28 Friday 30th January 2015 Vulture Reviews

Björk – Vulnicura As well as misspelling several track e album’s sound also carries an titles, the low-quality leak which element of threat. ‘History of Touches’ prompted Vulnicura’s surprise release clatters with icy stutters reminis- rather poetically tagged the album’s cent of post-internet electronic genre as ‘Other’. While this only experimenters such as Oneohtrix superfi cially covers Björk’s extreme Point Never and Holly Herndon. Overlooked: brand of pop, this album truly is a e ten-minute ‘Black Lake’ lurches departure from previous form, and from strings to industrial, metal- e Slade marks a return to the contours of her lic techno. ‘Lionsong’ develops into legendary albums in the late 90s. a supple, double-time pop ballad Lectures Björk’s album artwork usually gives which wouldn’t feel out of place on a feel for the music it accompanies Radiohead’s In Rainbows. India Rose Matharu-Daley – in 2011, Biophilia presented her as Signifi cant credit is due to a sci-fi Gaia. By contrast, Vulnicura Alejandro Ghersi, alias Arca, who Deep in a green jungle of cedar, features her hovering, doll-like, in a is fresh from producing the sound mahogany and sapodilla trees, in leather catsuit with what looks mid- behind FKA twigs’s meteoric rise in the heart of Chiapas, Mexico, the way between a vagina and a gaping 2014. e brand of androgynous, off - majestic Temple of Inscriptions wound in her chest. e album’s tone kilter dance music in his solo album, bestrides the ancient Mayan city of matches the image with unerring ac- Xen, is a major point of reference Palenque. e temple is a gem of curacy; despite its otherworldly exte- here, mirroring Björk’s own powerful Mesoamerican architecture, a py- rior, it is profoundly human. Björk has and knotted voice. Co-produced by ramidal structure with nine levels ripped open her chest and candidly Björk and Arca, the tracks integrate symbolising Xibalba, the Mayan revealed what lies inside it. Björk’s complex, strained string ar- underworld. Vulnicura’s subject matter is by rangements with tightly woven synth Its hieroglyphic inscriptions far her most brutal yet – recording parts. e sound is vibrant and spa- recount the remarkable life of the breakdown of her long relation- cious, but unsettled. It fi ts the tortu- the man who built it, K’inich ship with artist Matthew Barney. Its ous lyrics with astonishing grace. Janaab’ Pakal, the polymath ruler most powerful moments read like In the past, Björk has been guilty of of Palenque, who died in 683AD. sections of tortured conversation: the indulging in high concept. Vulnicura Pakal’s tomb was only discovered lyrics, sung with desperation is a return to her core appeal – a com- in 1952: after climbing the steep and venom, repeatedly bination of emotional directness and pyramid face and entering the tem- speak of “we” and “us.” a pure, focused sound. By ‘Mouth ple precinct, Mexican archaeolo- ‘History of Touches’ Mantra’, the penultimate track, she gist Alberto Ruz Lhuillier broke the presents this sharply: makes use of the scale that she has seal around an unassuming lime- “Every single fuck / We abused in her past missteps. Here, stone slab. Behind was a hidden had together / Is in a the thunderous basslines and staircase leading into the build- wondrous timelapse”. screeching vocoder choirs ing’s core. Another slab revealed a is is her most serve to magnify the voice further fl ight of steps descending visceral material in at the centre of the music. to the crypt. e sarcophagus in its years, and it is no at voice has rediscovered musty interior showed Pakal falling surprise that she’s its medium, and it can be into Xibalba, ‘the place of fear’, expressed terror welcomed back as a truly through the jaws of a giant serpent. at the prospect of vital one. Pakal’s corpse wears a jade mask performing it live. Michael Davin and bead necklaces, and holds a jade cube and sphere, the meaning Hot Numbers of which eludes us. ere is a great deal of mystery e website gave it away before I’d and ‘eggshell’. Felix was impressed by surrounding the ancient Maya, even set off . Minimalist and stream- the charcoal drawings of mysterious- a pre-Columbian people whose lined with little hand-drawn graphics, looking nobodies on the walls. civilisation fl ourished in parts it screamed ‘pretentious void’ with ere was a piano in the corner of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, just the words “Our Coff ee”, “Gigs and and soft jazz music in the background Honduras and El Salvador around Events”, and “Blog.” (which no one could hear because 4th-16th centuries CE. New Already I could tell that this wasn’t they all had headphones on). It discoveries, however, are creating your run-of-the-mill independent fulfi lled the requirements of ‘inde- constant excitement in the fi eld. café, peddling middling-to-average pendent, subversive coff ee house’ by Professor Mary Miller has come fi lter coff ee and ciabatta paninis (al- blatantly trying so very hard. from the Americas to share them though these were to be found on the Nevertheless, the barista was cheer- with Cambridge. A member of depressingly unimaginative menu in ful. She smiled so enthusiastically as the American Academy of Arts the bowels of the website). she took my order that I felt slightly and Sciences and Dean of Yale is was a café with an image – overwhelmed – it was fairly early in College until 2014, Miller holds one that seeks to attract the lonely the morning, after all. this year’s Slade Professorship of brogue-wearing, fold-up bike-riding Instead of a till she used an iPad. Fine Art. e chair was founded thirty-something singles of CB1. I wanted to kill the person who in- Foxcatcher by the art collector Felix Slade at was the other problem. It was vented an app for that. I must admit I thought the shadows (1788-1868). e visiting Slade so far away. Felix and I set off early: Felix had vanilla chai tea and a of Anchorman, e Offi ce and 21 Professor, an international leader I’d been rowing and he had to sweep smoked salmon and cream cheese Jump Street would loom too close for in his or her fi eld, is elected every in college, because at Corpus we get bagel; I had a chai latte and porridge me to be able to take Carell and Tatum year. Miller’s predecessors include punished for laughing after 10pm, with cinnamon, honey and prunes. It seriously – both, however, have cre- artist, art critic and member of so we decided that a nice breakfast all came to just over £12, which really Ominous strains of a cello? Check. ated characters that far exceed their the Bloomsbury Group Roger might cheer us up after our cold out- wasn’t worth it. Piano melody bearing more than a comic roles and contribute to a slow- Fry; Sir Ernst Gombrich, author door mornings. e drinks were bland and smelt passing resemblance to Schindler’s burning but quietly horrifying fi lm. of the seminal primer e Story We had planned to enjoy the stroll a bit weird, Felix complained that List? Check. In du Pont, Carrell has created a of Art (1950); and Anthony Blunt, down Mill Road (perhaps a slightly the bagel was slightly scorched from Brace yourself for the deeply disturbingly believable creature. e director of the Courtauld Institute, unrealistic ambition) but soon re- the toaster and his cream cheese was chilling psychological drama that is subtle oddities, like strange vocal Surveyor of the King’s Pictures alised we should have worn hiking runny. My porridge was just boring Foxcatcher. Based on a true story, the infl ection or a top lip that curls a little and Soviet spy of the notorious boots and brought bottled water with porridge, with some decoration out fi lm follows the brothers Mark and too far, keep the audience on edge. Cambridge Five. In short, the Slade us. of a squeezy bottle. I’d also forgotten Dave Schultz (Channing Tatum and But Carell’s real achievement is to Professors are the titans of art Just in case you were still think- why I dislike prunes. I remember now. Mark Ruff alo), Olympic gold-winning slowly change the audience’s per- history. ing about going there: seriously, Perhaps going early in the morn- wrestlers, as they are recruited by John ception of du Pont from a lonely, Holders of the Professorship give don’t bother. I’d been right about the ing when I was particularly hungry du Pont (Steve Carell). unsettling chemical fortune heir with eight lectures and four seminars lonely hipster vibe. e café was full slightly marred my experience. A wealthy recluse who is bent on an unusual passion to a paranoid psy- for students. Miller’s rich off er- of bearded men and women in duff el If I were to go there for tea and creating the greatest US wrestling chopath with zero empathy. ing is “A ing Of Wonder: e coats, all sitting at MacBook Airs and cake on a diff erent day when I was in team the world has ever seen, du Pont By the fi lm’s denouement, Carell is Hand-held Object Of e Ancient sporting giant headphones. a great mood, its aff ected image and believes wrestling for one’s country to truly a revolting presence on screen Maya,” which she will unravel ey all sat alone, sipping black mediocre content might not have be dulce et decorum est. whom the audience loathes. e each Monday at 5pm in Mill Lane coff ee. A few were slowly spoon- bothered me that much. While Dave is able to enjoy a family eff ect is compounded by du Pont’s Lecture Room 3. She promises tit- ing down porridge. e décor was But, then again, I’d have to be care- life outside of wrestling, Mark spends relationship with his mother (even in illation, revulsion and whacky New predictable: naked lightbulbs hang- ful to avoid their almost daily ‘gigs his nights alone with instant noodles talented company, Vanessa Redgrave Age theories. Erich von Däniken ing low over the stripped wooden and events.’ after awkwardly addressing schools, shines), which alternates between a believes the Temple was the work tables, benches instead of chairs, bare Watching lonely people biting their and longs for enduring success, seem- petulant middle aged man throwing of an ancient extraterrestrial. Now brink walls highlighted in colours an nails and drawing or watching a work- ingly possible with du Pont’s help. his multi-million dollar toys out of the is your chance to ask the eminent interior decorator would call ‘teal’ in-progress play about self-doubt Most of the fi lm takes place on du pram to a distinctly Freudian complex. Professor Miller if she agrees. probably wouldn’t inspire a much Pont’s estate, which creates a claustro- Du Pont literally adopts a submissive e Slade Lectures are held every more positive review. phobic atmosphere reminiscent of e position in the ring when his mother Monday until 9th March. Noa Lessof Gendler Shining’s Overlook Hotel. is watching.

MEGGIE FAIRCLOUGH Reviews Vulture Friday 30th January 2015 29 Music in the Fitzwilliam

If you haven’t heard of the Sunday called the highlight of his collabora- lunchtime ‘Music in the Fitzwilliam’ tion with the Reigate Wind Ensemble. concert series, you probably aren’t Where the Mozart had been confi dent alone. I certainly hadn’t until last and cheery, the Poulenc was agitated week, so when I slipped into Gallery and slightly uneasy, building through- 3 on Sunday afternoon, I didn’t really out with a sense of urgency and alarm. know what to expect. However, some- ere was no sense of safety: once you thing about the atmosphere there thought you knew where the piece was delighted me instantly, even before going, it suddenly changed direction,

ANNAPURNA PICTURES, LIKELY STORY, MEDIA RIGHTS CAPITAL STORY, ANNAPURNA PICTURES, LIKELY I heard any music. Sitting among a a delicious contrast to the Mozart horde of 16th-18th century portraits which was more familiar, and invoked was just magical, not to mention the a greater sense of complacency in its gorgeous plasterwork on the ceiling. audience. Although the gallery is large enough, ese concerts take place every the gathering itself felt intimate and week, at the same time (13:15-14:00) cosy. – which means that you don’t have to e two pieces performed on get up too early, and have the option Sunday were Mozart’s Quintet for of using them as a welcome afternoon Piano and Winds in E-fl at major, K. respite from work. It’s defi nitely worth 452, and Poulenc’s Sextet for Piano having a look at the Fitzwilliam web- and Winds, Op. 100, played by Erik site, whose event page details every Azzopardi and the Reigate Wind concert until April, to see if anything Quartet. Formed in 2010, their interests you, because there is a good ensemble has since grown in size and deal of variety. focuses on exploring the standard Next week’s concert is a perform- wind repertoire. e players gave a ance by members of the Britten short introduction to each piece, so Sinfonia Academy, with works ranging you needn’t worry if, like me, you from the Baroque to the 20th cen- aren’t familiar with the music. tury. While the event is free, it is still e two pieces complemented ticketed, so if there’s something you each other very nicely. e Mozart particularly want to see, you should Quintet was very upbeat and almost try and arrive a bit early. I cannot reassuring. A special shout-out to recommend this series highly enough. Annie Morris, whose performance Perhaps for some, a 45 minute concert on the clarinet was gently unassum- in Cambridge’s favourite museum isn’t ing, but which I felt supported the quite ‘escaping the bubble’, but for whole piece. However, I particularly me, it was a glorious escape from the loved the Poulenc, a February 2014 outside world. performance of which Azzopardi has Emer O’Hanlon Kettle’s Yard Concerts

e Kettle’s Yard concert series is highlight, however, was the fi nal another one of those little known cul- movement, Cantique, a meditative tural gems that crop up in Cambridge. piece whose ethereal block chords Set in the main atrium of art col- evoke a similar pagan mystery to that lector Jim Ede’s former house, the found in sections of the Rite of Spring. performance of chamber music here Causton’s Night Piece, performed by feels more like an informal gathering Tim Horton, displayed a postmodern of music enthusiasts than a ticketed composer’s attempt to pay homage concert in a university-owned mu- to the past. e past in question is seum. e series is far from amateur, Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, from however. Scanning down the season which Causton borrows the clarinet’s programme reveals an impressive melody line, coating it “in harmony array of big names, including Young and blurred resonance beneath a layer Musician of the Year winners Lucy of dissonant bell-like sonorities”. Landymore (2010) and Laura van der Towards the end, this modern Heijden (2012), and the star operatic ‘veil’ is lifted, and the clarinet melody tenor Mark Padmore. It’s also heart- emerges in its original harmonisation. ening to see that the venue is keen As well as being sonically beautiful, not to fall into the trap of endlessly the piece makes a deeper statement programming the classics, dedicat- about how we experience art, distort- ing seven of the 16 concerts to new ing it with modern preconceptions We are constantly reminded of of Dave as an animal, an ‘ape’, as du at points. music, ranging from turntables and and ultimately making us unable to the inability of men to communi- Pont eventually comes to describe Yet to simply categorise the male dancers to Frank Zappa percussion. experience it as it was fi rst conceived. cate emotionally with one another; him. relationships as a combination e Nash Ensemble, arguably the best e opening minor triad of the Mark seems not only unwilling Tatum’s nostrils fl are as he of infantile in their emotions and chamber ensemble in the country, was Shostakovich Piano Quintet brought but physically unable to confi de grunts, and the wrestling move- closeted in their sexuality would be no exception to the high calibre of art us fi rmly back to the midst of the 20th in Dave, despite the iron bond ments reduce the human form to to do the fi lm a disservice: it is the that Kettle’s Yard promotes. century and WWII. e Prelude ex- between the brothers. the shuffl es of a gorilla, hunched lack of any sort of father fi gure for e group opted for a 20th and hibited the Nash Ensemble’s remarka- over and menacing; tellingly, du all three leads that points to the real 21st century set , with Stravinsky’s ble ability as soloists, with cellist Bjorg Pont summons him as one would heart of the fi lm. ree Pieces for String Quartet, fol- Lewis off ering moments of impas- a dog. e father of the brothers isn’t lowed by the premiere of a Richard sioned lament before being swept into ere is a sense of regression in around, and the search for a male Causton piece, and ending with the inevitable dissonant crisis typical the ring, and it is to the cinematog- role model creates psychological Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet. of Shostakovich. In total contrast, the NO HORROR FILM CAN rapher’s credit that wrestling seems tensions and desires. e fi rst movement of the Fugue’s dispassionate counterpoint not an olympic sport of speed and Mark is clearly desperate to give Stravinsky, Danse, thrust us was brought out by a hauntingly dead PRODUCE MONSTERS AS skill but, as Redgrave puts it, a ‘low’ his fi lial aff ection to anyone who immediately into the world of sound in the violins. e next move- UNSETTLING AS THOSE sport, which strips competitors of shows him the least bit of kindness, 1910s Paris. From the opening ment, a Scherzo, showed a return to language and humanity. while du Pont sees his role of coach drone played over the bridge of the savagery which the group had PRODUCED IN PURSUIT OF Homoeroticism is perhaps an as inclusive of a broad range of the viola, to the fi nal synchro- proved capable of in the Stravinsky, inevitable theme here; hordes of capacities, namely father, brother, nisation of the folk-like fi lling the packed atrium with THE AMERICAN DREAM men greased up and wearing lycra, leader and teammate. melodic cellos, the quartet chugging chords and virtuosic with very little screen time given e tragedy of the fi nale stems generated an intensely sav- piano runs. e fi nal Intermezzo to women, means that one par- from a complex series of rejections age sound. and Allegretto are written in a ticular scene with Tatum in boxers which are simultaneously profes- e middle movement, more naïve, neoclassical mode, Both seem deeply frustrated defi nitely suggests a relationship sional, sexual and familial, with Eccentrique, was inspired perhaps in an attempt to reclaim by this lack of articulation, and beyond the platonic with du Pont undertones of Oedipus and Falstaff . by the clown Little Tich, the lost innocence of a war-torn instead attempt to use the ring as a (this has been fi ercely denied by the Foxcatcher leaves the viewer and required an almost Europe so clearly evoked by the mouthpiece to express their feelings real Mark). profoundly shaken and reminds us transient level of self- previous movements. and fears. Every drip of sweat and squeak that no horror fi lm can produce awareness on the part ough short, this was a Yet, far from portraying wrestling of gym shoe on fl oorboard is monsters as unsettling as those pro- of the players, rap- very enjoyable, well performed as a physical art form or an ancient magnifi ed, and prolonged shots of duced in pursuit of the American idly switching between concert in brilliant surround- masculine rite of passage, the fi lm’s wrestling ‘holds’ build an intensity Dream. nostalgic lyricism and ings. If you haven’t been – go. imagery is constant in its portrayal that is almost uncomfortably sexual Kit Fowler comedic glissandi. e Jonny Venv 30 Friday 30th January 2015 Sport Alastair Cook fi nally gets the axe

attacks and made the bold decision Refl ecting on England’s to give him a go, now he is one of the world’s leading players in all three for-

decision to fi nally sack JAMES CULLEN mats. England should have done the Alastair Cook as same with Hales. ODI Captain However, now Morgan only has a few warmup games in which he can prepare for the World Cup. Rory Sale Expectations would be higher if he Sport Correspondent had had control of the team through the summer and the tour to Sri Lanka. It is not all doom and gloom though. If When Alastair Cook was fi nally sacked the selectors go with Hales and Ali at on 19th December from the England the top, this coupled with the hitting One Day captaincy, there was relief of Morgan and Butler has the makings amongst all of us wanting England to of a decent batting line-up.  e bowl- succeed at the World Cup. It had been ing still remains slightly suspect, but if a long time coming. those batsmen fi re, they can certainly  is does not stop it being some- win us games, especially if the danger- thing of a surprise. Ever since Kevin ous Morgan can fi nd a much-needed Pietersen’s sacking,  e ECB made return to form. a decision to stand by Cook through Finally, it must be said that despite thick and thin. He was the man to take all my criticisms of Cook as a one-day England forward into a new era after player, he remains entirely the right the calamitous Ashes campaign.  is man for the Test job. His dismissal persistence and consistency in selec- from the white ball set up should not tion eventually paid off in the summer in any way endanger this. One only with three back-to-back test victories has to look at his record to see that he to win the series against a disheartened is about to stroll past Graeme Gooch India. In the one-day format however, as England’s highest ever test run- England have been nothing short of scorer, and already has the most test stubborn. It’s been a long time coming hundreds (25) of any English player. In It has long been clear that Cook, batsman in the world, was being kept about England’s chances this winter, players picked for the long run and not fact, relieving him of the one-day du- with an average of 27 at a strike rate outside the team by the tedious Cook. please resign,” he had a point. simply on temporary form. However, if ties might be exactly what he needs to of 71 in 2014, is not good enough to It is not often that we produce a man So why have England taken such a the man leading the side should not be return to his run-accumulating best. warrant a space in the one-day side. who can smash it out the park with long time to accept their mistake, cut in it, you have to be bold.  is is espe-  e World Cup off ers him a timely  ese numbers recall Mike Atherton’s consummate ease, so when one comes their losses and drop Cook? It seems to cially true in the one-day format. Take break after what can only have been an description of him as a “donkey” and along, get him in and quick. Pietersen, be a product of the rational conserva- David Warner. He had not played a sin- extremely testing year in which he has a “plodder”. Even more frustrating for a man with less tact than Nigel Farage, tism of English cricket developed dur- gle fi rst class game before Australia got handled himself with immense dig- England fans was the fact that Alex is very often mistaken; however in ing Andy Flower’s tenure.  e steady him in the T20 and one-day side.  ey nity. Come the Ashes this summer, he Hales, recently ranked the best T20 tweeting “Dear Alastair, if you care selection policy did often work, with saw his ability to dominate bowling might well be glad that he got sacked. Coventry’s Calling? Being a Python which no top-tier rugby team has yet has already bagged six Premiership so far was defi nitely the Varsity match Wasps Rugby Club are to exploit, as well as upgrading to a tries this season. Experienced fl y- A term of playing against the ‘other place’. discovering a new lease capacity of 32,609 seats (compared half Andy Goode is proving a reli- American Football We played Oxford at Grange Road with Adam’s Park’s 10,284).  e Ricoh able presence with the boot, while with hundreds of our friends watch- of life away from London Arena is at the centre of a large com- the likes of Christian Wade, Tom in Cambridge ing, commentary on CamFM and plex, including a leisure centre, a hotel Varndell and Elliot Daly – established even a live stream online! George Ramsay and a casino with ample parking also members of Wasps’ back line – off er James D gby And we thrashed them (sort of – Sport Correspondent available, while their High Wycombe an exciting blend of pace and fl air to Sport Correspondent but we did win). home was buried at the back of an in- the proceedings. It was better than playing Cantebury, dustrial estate.  eir fi rst performance at the who called it off at half-time after a On October 7th last year, Wasps RFC Add to this the fact that Wasps were Ricoh also gave reasons for cheer: I came to back to Cambridge this year drubbing. We don’t talk about the were confi rmed as the main share- hours away from bankruptcy in 2011 with a slender two-point lead at determined to play a university sport; Oxford Brookes match… holders of the Ricoh Arena in Cov- and were only saved by the backing of half time, Wasps scored four second it didn’t matter which one. As it turns If you’re fi t, keen, and looking entry, and the following week they businessmen Derek Richardson and half tries to defeat London Irish 48- out, I am far too short for basketball, for something a bit diff erent, get had announced that they would play David  orne.  e move to the Ricoh 16. What’s more, Wasps secured a not quite European enough for volley- involved! their fi rst game at the new stadium on off ers Wasps a fi nancial platform that record for the highest attendance in ball, and I really can’t ice skate. Nor am December 21st 2014. By November, part-ownership of Adams Park a Premiership fi xture at a club’s regu- I ever going to be desperate enough to Wasps completed the purchase of the simply couldn’t provide. lar home ground (others having been resort to korfball. complex to become its outright own-  e on-fi eld situation set at Twickenham and Wembley). A American Football stood out as ers, completely reshaping the club’s ge- also seems much brighter similar margin of victory was recorded a sport which, despite being a little ography in the process. Having played for the club. Four years ago, against Sale Sharks, who succumbed niche, had a serious team structure, THE FEELING OF RUNNING OUT their home games at Adams Park in Wasps found themselves to a 41-16 defeat with scrum-half training schedule, and played in a big High Wycombe since 2002, Wasps hampered with fi nancial in- Joe Simpson bagging two tries BUCS league. It also had a cool logo, ON A FIELD IN FULL PADS AND have long-showed intentions to move security while also sit- and lifting Wasps into play-off and the guys I met from the team were to a larger, more permanent stadium, ting on the cusp of contention. friendly.  e Cambridge Pythons!  e HELMET IS NOTHING SHORT OF and the move away from the capital relegation.  ey However controversial dream. AWESOME was foreshadowed last summer when have since se- the decision to up-sticks to Training is fun; American football the club dropped the ‘London’ tag cured a plethora Coventry may have seemed is fun. It is a cracking sport – fast, from their name. of high-profi le at fi rst, it is now clear the exhausting, and featuring the big- Moving your home stadium 80 players, the move has sparked new life gest hits in sport (come at me, rugger Male or female (no gender discrim- miles up the M40 may seem danger- most notable into the club, and the play- fans!). And the feeling of running out ination here), a spritely wide-receiver ous; the news was greeted with mixed including the ers are certainly helping on a fi eld in full pads and helmet is or a lineman built like a brick-house, reviews and understandable upset was re-signing the cause having strung nothing short of awesome. there is a position for you. voiced by the club’s London fan-base. of current together a fi ne set of re- Play is similar to rugby, but with ar- American football is the fastest But on paper it seems to make sense: club cap- cent results. mour, and everyone hitting everyone growing sport in the UK, so jump on Wasps were only part shareholders tain James So the future looks at the same time. it. of Adams Park alongside Wycombe H a s k e l l , bright for Wasps. With Plus there is the added American We train hard, play big matches, Wanderers Football Club.  ey were Welsh in- one of the richest and bravado – whooping, hollering, big meet to watch games and swap; we’re also competing against Harlequins, ternational most successful pedi- chants, everything to lend our wind- a team. It doesn’t matter if you’ve Saracens and London Irish, all well- B r a d l e y grees of all English swept, hastily-converted football never even watched the sport before established Premiership clubs with Davies and rugby clubs, the men in pitches the ambiance of a US col- – most of the team hadn’t! grounds nearby. In moving to the the sizeable frame black and gold could fi nd lege super stadium fi lled with bands, Plus my profi le picture, in pads with Ricoh, Wasps can tap into a pocket of of Fijian Number 8 history repeating itself in the cheerleaders and thousands of fans. a Cambridge jersey on, got 110 likes. the West Midlands and Birmingham Nathan Hughes, who coming seasons.  e highlight of my rookie season Just sayin’. EATIN LIKE GODS Check out: Student Monday • Twitter Tuesday Our upstairs dining area, perfect your party or swap at Nanna Mexico! Pick up your Nanna Mexico *loyalty card and start collecting.

Keeping it real at Nanna Mexico! Find us at: 29 Petty Cury, Cambridge CB2 3NB Follow us and 33 Regent St, Cambridge CB2 1AB

* cannot be used in association with any special ofers 32 Friday 30th January 2015 Coventry’s Calling? Alastair Cook finally fired  e right move for Wasps Rory Sale refl ects on why it took so long

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RICHARD STOCKWELL Asia Cup 2015 inspired comeback against Uzbekistan A ‘dummy’s guide’ to in the tournament’s group stages. the Asia Cup, hosted by Everybody loves the story of an un- derdog, and the biggest upset of the Australia this month Asian Cup thus far has been Japan’s exit at the hands of a resilient and te- N ranan Ranakunalan nacious United Arab Emirates team. Despite dominating possession, the Sport Correspondent Japanese were creating few chances, and were unusually profl igate when Spectacular. Otherworldly. Brilliant. they did. e UAE, meanwhile, were ese are some of the words that have happy to sit back, soak in the pressure been used to describe Tim Cahill’s and stick to their defensive game plan. absolute stunner against China. e What was strikingly clear, however, overhead kick showed technique, posi- was that the Emiratis simply wanted tional awareness, and above all, audac- the win more than the Japanese, who ity, something that sets the gifted apart unfortunately will not be lifting the from the Heskeys. is contender for trophy for a record fi fth time. “goal of the tournament” shows that Iraq’s thrilling 3-3 draw with Iran Cahill still hasn’t lost it. It looks set has arguably been the game of the to make it into one of those YouTube tournament thus far. It had goals, dra- goal compilations with the annoy- ma, controversial refereeing decisions, ingly catchy Basshunter tune playing and most importantly, heart. Referee in the background. Besides the former Ben Williams’ questionable decision Everton star, other big names to have to send Mehrdad Pooladi off left Iran graced this year’s Cup are Japan’s Kei- deeply frustrated and they saw their suke Honda and South Korea’s talis- lead evaporate with Iraq pulling level The R Costings Abbey stadium was packed with students and regulars alike for the FA Cup tie manic striker Son Heung-Min. in the second half. With the score tied Established players aside, this at 1-1, the game went into extra time Asian Cup has also seen its fair share where it well and truly sparked into of emerging talent, like Australia’s life. Iraq took the lead twice only to Massimo Luongo. A relative unknown have Iran equalize each time, the lat- Cambridging the gap just six months ago and a benchwarm- ter’s numerical disadvantage on the er at the World Cup, Luongo’s surprise pitch more than made up for by their Can the Manchester all was the attendance at the Abbey. is is evident from the support and selection against Kuwait received some strength in character. It was not meant Full to the brim with 8,000 regulars training they currently give to our criticism. But the youngster responded to be for Iran, however, as they lost 7-6 United FA Cup tie spur and university students alike, all urging football Blues side. Danny Kerrigan, emphatically with a solid performance to Iraq in a dramatic penalty shootout. more students to head their local side on. In fact, it could eas- the club’s Community Trust Manager Every tournament has that moment, ily have been possible to fi ll the ground and former Cambridge Blue, told me which takes it out of the footballing down to the Abbey? three, or maybe four, times over. how they have started to fi rm up links sphere and propels it into the public e game undoubtedly captured the with the University. consciousness, either because it was Peter Rutzler city’s imagination. You only had to walk “ e relationship was really cement- really heartwarming or because it was through the centre of town to see scarf ed with the University football team ASIAN FOOTBALL IS HEADING fascinatingly and inexplicably amus- Sport Ed tor sellers fl aunting their match day goods. at the start of last season. Cambridge IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION ing; the famous Paul the Octopus is a is game was unmissable, and, for at United committed to coaching the perfect example. e 2015 Asian Cup’s ings are on the up for Cambridge least one day, everyone in Cambridge team, and Jez [George] managed Blues ‘moment of the tournament’ falls very United. Having spent the last ten years was a U’s supporter. games throughout the season. much into the latter category. A pen- in the doldrums, fi ghting off fi nancial And this can only be a good thing. It “I also met Jez through his involve- against Oman in the group stages. alty was awarded to Saudi Arabia in liquidation and battling it out in the has always been diffi cult for Cambridge ment with CUAFC, and was off ered Besides silencing his critics, Luongo their game against China. Ignoring the non-league spectrum of football, they United to entice the student popula- the job of Community Trust Manager. has perhaps left Tottenham Hotspur coaching staff ’s pre-match penalty ad- made it back to the professional league tion to make the trip to the Abbey and At least part of the reason why I was wondering if they sold off Australia’s vice, Chinese goalkeeper Wang Dalei system last season. And then Man- stand in the Newmarket Road terrace. hired was to provide a stronger link “golden boy” a little too soon. opted to go with the advice of 12 year chester United came knocking. Students are busy. e ground is on the with the University. Another player to look out for in the old “ballboy-slash-budding-goalkeep- For a club like Cambridge United, outskirts. e standard of football has “ is season we gave free season future is Japan’s Yoshinori Muto. Still er” Stephan White. Stephan picked left, once treading the banks of a fi nancial not been high enough. tickets to all college captains, to try to a student, Muto has managed to jug- Wang Dalei went for it and, amazingly, quagmire, to now receive a fi nancial But these excuses may just have been encourage them to attend more regu- gle his studies with leading the line for the Saudi Arabians were thwarted. e windfall of the kind seen not only supplanted with the events of the last larly. We have also provided further Japan. While he has had a relatively tournament’s unlikely lucky charm is through the game last week, with live couple of weeks. It’s not hard to fi nd discounts for college teams who have quiet Asian Cup, with just one assist, now a bit of a cult hero in China. television coverage and in front of a someone from the university who was come as a group.” ings are clearly his assured performance against Iraq Usually maligned and ignored by full-to-bursting R Costings Abbey sta- on the terraces last Friday. moving in the right direction. But more showed the glimpses of a star. Sharp, the footballing community, this year’s dium, and to be able to do it all again Juan Luis Bradley, from Fitzwilliam can still be done. What is clear, how- pacey and good on the ball, Muto’s Asian Cup has been diff erent from in two weeks’ time in Manchester, College, is just one example, describ- ever, is that this FA Cup tie has given greatest asset is his age. Coming off the previous editions, receiving more has been something of a miracle. A ing his experience as “a memory to be Cambridge United the opportunity to back of an impressive debut season for widespread recognition. Maybe it is ‘Utopia’, as Jez George, the club’s Chief cherished for a very long time indeed.” tap into the student market like never FC Tokyo, Muto can only get better. because of the novelty factor, with Executive, described it. Students fl ocked in great numbers to before. But football is not just about person- Australia hosting the tournament Last week’s performance by the get tickets. And they were served up a You only have to see the way the alities. Goals, comebacks and upsets for the fi rst time, or perhaps Asian League Two side was extraordinary. treat by the home side. student media interest in the side has are what fans crave and the Asian Cup teams are playing better football than eir organisation, resilience and sheer e real task for Cambridge United rocketedCambridge United will des- has consistently delivered. Amongst they have previously. While Asian determination completely dwarfed any is to sustain this sudden upsurge in in- perately be hoping that they have done the higher scoring games of the tour- football is probably a few years away of the technical fl air and prowess that terest. Working with the university to enough to get Cambridge students to nament were Jordan’s 5-1 win against from reaching the giddy heights of the their multi-million pound megastar pull curious football fans away from become regulars at the Abbey during a hapless Palestinian team, while 2002 World Cup, where South Korea opponents attempted to off er in re- their desks and spend their pennies term time. Australia left its fans delighted after stunned nations like Italy, Spain and turn. ey came to the Abbey and were on pies and bacon butties must be a But especially in the wake of their putting four past Kuwait and Oman. Portugal en route to a fourth placed thwarted. It was the stuff of dreams for priority. Manchester United heroics, the Amber China, who recently exited the cup af- fi nish, the Asian Cup has shown that the U’s faithful. Indeed, the U’s have made attempts Army could not have secured a better ter a quarter-fi nal defeat to Australia, Asian football is heading in the right But the most important statistic of to engage more with the university. opportunity to gain more recruits. will be better remembered for their direction.