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No. 849 Friday 28th September 2018 Arts varsity.co.uk

Cambridge’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1947

College transfers slow and complex

Stephanie Stacey Senior News Editor

‘I didn’t want to e University’s college transfer guidance may seem decisive, but anecdotal evidence from students suggests that the reality of the process is not so clear- cut. Unlike course change or intermission, do this loudly’ college transfers are markedly rare. In the past ten academic years, just 37 students formally changed college, an average of less than four students per year. Lapses found in college disciplinary Last year, four students successfully changed college, three of whom let procedures: Two students speak out Homerton. Speaking to Varsity, several students highlighted their struggle with a lengthy, drawn-out transfer process, which sometimes intensi ed the stresses and discomfort that had made the college transfer necessary. e University’s o cial guidance states that transferring colleges “is not

ROSIE BRADBURY ‘We won’t Campaign campaigned for a change in As part of one student’s course last A University spokesperson comment- Noella Chye the University’s disciplinary procedure year she was placed into contact with ed: the Breaking the Silence campaign is Editor standard of proof from proof ‘beyond someone she later found out was a con- “part of our continued drive to ensure cave in’ reasonable doubt’ to a ‘balance of prob- victed pedophile. members of the University community Over the past year in Cambridge, existing abilities’. e professor was found in 2008 to can make disclosures without fear of Residents procedures for handling cases of sexual Amid the attention the University and possess images of child pornography. reprisal, so we all can thrive as part of a misconduct have come under a process campaigners have placed on the issue of He was arrested that year and given a safe, welcoming, inclusive and diverse ght home of questioning. sexual misconduct, two students spoke twelve-month suspended sentence for community that nurtures a culture of In October, Breaking the Silence – a out on the bureaucratic push back they rehabilitation, during which he was mutual respect and consideration.” centralised campaign by the Univer- faced when they complained to college given full pay by the University, and told He returned to Cambridge under re- demolition sity to tackle sexual harassment – was administration about experiences re- he could return to work the following launched. Last term, CUSU Women’s lated to the issue. April. Continued on page 9 ▶ News page 2 ▶

Inside ● Inside the decolonisation movement Pg.18 ● Inside the psychology of climate change Pg.35 2 F 28 S 2018 News

INTERVIEW e student looking to make ‘ ey’ll have Cambridge a little less to force lonely Page 12 ▶ us out’ NEWS Residents Analysis: What does the pension strike outcome mean for Cambridge? campaign Page 10 ▶ FEATURES to halt Perspectives from a working class, mixed race woman demolition Page 16 ▶

Vulture Magazine Montreal Square residents

LIFESTYLE are trying to prevent a new Damn, I wish development from replacing I’d known that: their homes A freshers’ guide over 70 people came. Isobel Gri ths Support has come from Unite, a Brit- Page 28 ▶ Deputy News Editor ish and Irish trade union that campaigns on many social issues, whom the women Cambridge Housing Society (CHS), a local call a “lovely bunch”, and FeCRA ( e housing association, announced earlier Federation of Cambridge Residents’ this year that 18 residences just o of Mill Associations), as well as many local Noella Chye [email protected] Road were to be demolished, replaced businesses.“We’ve made a lot of friends” Merlyn omas & Catherine Lally [email protected] by over 30 new houses and blocks of says King. Vivienne Hopley-Jones [email protected] Joe Cook [email protected] ats. Varsity spoke to three women who If the plans go through, residents Mark Curtis [email protected] are campaigning to preserve the square will be rehomed and be given a £6,100 Rosie Bradbury & Stephanie Stacey (Senior); Isobel Gri ths & many have lived in for decades. home loss payment from the govern- Millie Kiel (Deputy) [email protected] Jess Ma, Alexandra Giannidi, Sarah Cheryl Smith, 60, Marti King, 73, and ment. When the new homes have been one at the same rent as they were pay- Orsborne, Kiran Khanom, Elizabeth Haigh, Amy Batley, Maria Stragapede Ann Byerley, 67, have lived on Montreal rebuilt, they will be able to move into ing previously. Jack Conway [email protected] Square, a cul-de-sac of 18 homes just o Smith, however, points out that the Maia Wyn Davies (Senior); Dan Wright, Nick Harris, Priya Bryant, Tom Nixon (Deputy) [email protected] Mill Road owned by CHS, for 17, 40, and new homes will be much smaller than Joseph Krol & Gesa Sophia Borgeest [email protected] 43 years respectively. those that are currently there. King Isobel Bickersteth & Jess Tan [email protected] Nick Collin [email protected] It was in January that they rst heard e campaign in claims that “they’re ruining the place by & James Dickinson [email protected] of CHS plans to demolish the current stats overdevelopment. What they’re building Miles Ricketts & Alice French [email protected] square. Residents were presented with is rubbish”, citing recent new builds that Julia Davies [email protected] Iris Pearson & Niamh Curran [email protected] little speci c information about what the have required many repairs less than a Ella Jones [email protected] development would entail, as the hous- decade ater construction. Marcus McCabe (Senior) & William Ross (Deputy) ing society did not yet have any clear e number of CHS told Varsity that they plan “to [email protected] Devarshi Lodhia [email protected] plans at that time. 18 homes being replace the current 18 houses with new Belle George & Oliver Rhodes [email protected] A board meeting was due to be held in demolished homes of the right size for current resi- Jamie Hancock & Nick Chevis [email protected] March to make the nal decision about dents to rent; plus as many low cost Cordelia Lam [email protected] - Vivi Way (Chief); Aimee Wragg, Gabby Handberg, Helen Grant, the future of the square. “We kicked up homes as possible and possibly some Helena Mackie, Emily Kilner, Imogen Childs, Jasmine Phull, Naomi Hayes, a stink”, says King, “so they cancelled it.” market sale homes”. Poppy Kemp, Ruth Moss, Allison O’Malley-Graham, Phoebe Harris, Shannon ey now expect a decision on whether Residents have also argued that the Phillips [email protected] Abdullah Shah the existing houses will be demolished e number of development would be harmful to the Raphael Korber Ho man to come through in October. residences being local environment. e square is home Edwin Bahrami Balani [email protected] Caitlin Smith [email protected] A campaign led by residents, ‘Save 30 built to 40 trees, all of which would likely be Reuben Andrews, Felix Peckham, Anna Hollingsworth Montreal Square’, began shortly ater destroyed in the demolition. CHS, how- [email protected] residents were made aware of the plans, ever, have said that a “generous amount Dr Michael Franklin (Chairman), Prof Peter Robinson, Dr Tim Harris, Michael Derringer, Caitlin Smith, Noella Chye and an online petition protesting the of green space” will be created in the planned development has received over new square. 1,400 signatures. e campaign received CHS has also claimed that the rede- backing last week from Cambridge De- e number of velopment is necessary, since “Montreal fend Education (CDE), a Cambridge 1,474 signatories the Square is the only CHS site in Cambridge © VARSITY PUBLICATIONS LTD, . All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be University student activist group, who petition has suitable to build more new homes than 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. shared the petition on Facebook. gathered exist there already.” Varsity, 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RX. Telephone 01223 337575. ey have held multiple demonstra- However, Smith points out that it Varsity is published by Varsity Publications Ltd. Varsity Publications also publishes e Mays. tions in the square, and pointedout that is “black and white” that many of the Printed at Ili e Print Cambridge – Winship Road, Milton, Cambridge CB24 6PP on 42.5gsm newsprint. Registered as a newspaper at the Post O ce. ISSN 1758-4442. even on the “wettest day of the year”, homes will be sold for private owner- Friday 28th September 2018 3 News

ship by CHS, and highlights that pri- ▲ Several signs in a conversation about a new design vate homes nearby have sold for over protesting the it means we’re listening to what they £600,000. development are have to say”. “You know and I know they’re not scattered around Byerley agrees with King:“they’ll have going to put homeless people on this site, Montreal Square to force us out.” King adds, “I would chain because there’s no money in it.” (RoSIe BRadBURY/ myself to the trees outside if I had to.” CHS have said that the development ISoBel GRIffItHS) “People say to me ‘you mustn’t get will “possibly” include some market sale emotional’, but how can you not get homes, “to help pay the costs of the re- emotional when you’re facing losing development”. your home?” However, they have assured the local What is most striking is the strength community that “our aim is to increase of the community in Montreal Square. the number of truly afordable homes at Byerley is the longest-standing resident, Montreal Square, not to make a proit.” and her house in Montreal Square was Cambridge is currently the most un- the irst house she had owned. She and equal place to live in the UK, according King have been friends for more than to the Gini coeicient, which measures 40 years. equality based on wealth distribution. “No one ever moves out, everyone’s he number of rough sleepers in Cam- been here for decades”, says King. bridge doubled between July 2016 and hey point out that for some, the July 2017, and many Cambridge residents move could be devastating. “We’re all found themselves forced to move away of a certain age”, says Smith, noting that as house prices soared. many residents have had health issues in he women say that most of those res- recent years which would make a move idents who are against the development very diicult for them. have refused to speak the CHS about any “[CHS have] pushed us at times to sort of rehousing. hey describe the cur- make us doubt our sanity”, King ex- rent situation as a “stalemate”. plains. “here’s been times when it’s he residents have been told that got us down, but we won’t give up”, they can contribute to the design of adds Smith. their new homes on Montreal Square. Smith agrees: “they know we won’t King, however, feels that, “If we engage cave in.” 4 F 28 S 2018 News Researchers campaign to protect employment rights

versity departments to gather support Priya Bryant for the original grace and against the Deputy Opinion Editor Council’s amendment. e University Sarah Orsborne did not respond to request for comment Senior News Correspondent on the campaign. e ysheet’s authors, Dr Daniel Earlier this year, concerns were raised omas and Dr Stephen Kell, estimate within the Regent House, the Universi- that “between a half and three quarters” ty’s governing body, regarding inequali- of University research sta will be ex- ties among research associates from dif- cluded from Regent Mmbership if the ferent faculties. Research associates are amended Grace passes. mostly comprised of postdoctoral sta , Cambridge UCU (University and Col- who undertake the majority of research lege Union) told Varsity their “executive within the University. Committee unanimously supports the Membership to the Regent House is Grace and opposes the amendment”. currently granted to research associates “We support the Grace because it only if their faculty enrols them or their removes an arbitrary and unfair dis- department does not fall under a faculty. tinction between the status of certain Because not all faculties choose to inclu- categories of sta , notably research as- sively enrol every member of their sta , sociates, based on where they work. some research associates have Regent “We oppose the amendment because it rights, such as the right to vote in Univer- proposes a qualifying period that would sity elections, whereas others do not. introduce another arbitrary distinction A ballot was called to address this is- around Regent House membership, of sue. e Grace 1 of June 27th seeks to a di erent nature, applying to Research remove these membership requirements, Under this amended Grace, many ex- ❝ The Grace are calling for the original Grace to be ▲ Senate House, and Computer Associates but no other thus extending Regent membership to isting Regent members would have their passed and the amendment blocked. where Regent categories of sta . It would also disen- all research associates. membership revoked if they do not meet removes an Professor Ross Anderson argued the House meetings franchise a large number of existing Re- Since this ballot was called, an amend- the three-year criteria. As a large number arbitrary proposed amendment will “infringe are held gents. Both of these elements we nd ment to the Grace has been proposed by of postdoctoral sta are employed on distinction [on research associates’] employment ROSIE BRADBURY unacceptable.” the University Council, requiring all re- contracts lasting less than three years, rights” and “discriminate against col- e signed ysheets will be submit- search associate members be employed postdoctoral representation in Regent between leagues who have taken a career break ted by 1pm on ursday 4th October, at the University for a “total period of at house would presumably decrease. certain staff to start a family”. followed by the ballot in which Regent least three years continuously prior to Campaign for Cambridge Freedoms, Flysheets in support of the campaign members will cast their votes on the the date of promulgation of the Roll”. backed by Professor Ross Anderson, ❞ have been circulated around various Uni- Grace.

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Cambridge freshens up

College JCR reps and freshers’ committees welcomed the newest cohort of Cambridge students on ursday as they began to arrive for Freshers’ Week

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● Last year, only 4 students successfully transferred colleges

● two students said their mental health worsened as the processes lagged

▶ Continued from front page normally possible” and airms that a student’s reason for transferring must be “substantial and compelling”. he University notes, for example, that it is not suicient for a student to “claim that they prefer another college, ind their current college’s location in- convenient or have friends in another college.” hree speciic “exceptional circum- stances” which may justify a college transfer are listed on the University’s website: ● Disability, other serious medical grounds, or other special need that cannot be met by a student’s own college but can be met by another. ● he irretrievable and signiicant breakdown of a student’s relationship with their present college. ● a traumatic event or series of events afecting the student for which profes- sional advice has been obtained that indicates that staying at their present granted a college transfer, Cohen real- ▲ For some, the alycia Leach was pooled to Murray knew even then that a transfer was the college would be untenable. ised that her scoliosis and lat feet might college location edwards, and immediately realised that only way to completely “ix” the prob- it is unclear, however, the extent to allow her to be classiied as disabled by made transfer- her mobility disorder would cause dif- lem: “i felt like i couldn’t live my life like which any of these conditions must be the transfer panel. She “immediately” ring necessary. iculties in travelling between town and my peers and do well, so i was deter- satisied in order to justify a transfer. sought written letters of proof from her For others, it a distant college every day. She raised mined to change it.” he University does not hold records doctor to provide to her senior tutor, but was the college her concerns after a Level Results’ Day, ❝ Leach sought help from the Disabil- of reasons for previous college transfers, her senior tutor was still “reluctant” to environment and began trying to initiate the transfer ity Resource Centre (DRC), which sent so only student testimony has conirmed take action. (Stephanie StaCey) process in her irst week at Cambridge, I struggled emails to the college on her behalf. She the use of each of these listed circum- She said, “trying to classify myself as though it took until the beginning of Lent with who then spoke with her senior tutor, who stances in speciic instances. disabled made me feel awful. in my eyes term for her to move into Clare. began the transfer process.her college Leora Cohen, a music student who i am completely able and it felt so wrong She told her tutor that she couldn’t to reach out transfer was approved in late Michael- transferred to newnham last year, de- and selish.” cope “physically and emotionally and to mas, and Leach moved into Clare at the scribed her original college, homerton, as a result of her deteriorating mental academically” with the distance, and beginning of Lent term. as “truly lovely,” but at a distance from health, Cohen “completely lost” her ap- was ofered advice, but Leach said she ❞ although Murray edwards was “very town was “tough from day one.” petite, “losing something like 10kg by Cohen has lat feet and scoliosis, so the end of the irst term.” in Week Seven, “the walking and cycling started became when Cohen went to see her senior tutor quite diicult early on,” especially since again, “she took one look at me before the majority of her music events took deciding to put me through the applica- Intercollegiate dynamics: Tracking college transfers place in the city centre. She said, “i was tion process for moving college.” 7 constantly in physical pain and soon my Cohen received a taxi account, paid Over the past 10 years, 37 Cambridge students successfully transferred to a diferent college mental health started deteriorating.” for by college, for the end of Michael- “i loved homerton but was never mas, and, in the third week of Lent, she 6 really there.” Long days in town were received an email informing her that she expensive in terms of bus transport and could transfer to newnham. meals out, and did not provide private Dr penny Barton, the homerton Col- 5 places for music practice and studying. lege Senior tutor, said to Varsity that Furthermore, Cohen struggled to estab- homerton “supported the application” lish strong friendships in college, los- to transfer, and that the College was 4 ing contact with many people she had “pleased that Leora was able to trans- known prior to arriving in Cambridge. fer before beginning her second term at She spoke to her senior tutor, as the Cambridge.” 3 University’s college transfer guidance “When i irst thought of the idea of suggests, but the irst meeting “wasn’t moving college, everyone told me it transfers of college Number too helpful,” though further meetings wasn’t possible”, Cohen said, “but it 2 were arranged. obviously was, and ended up being the all the while, Cohen said, her mental best thing really.” She added: “For the health was declining.after speaking to irst time in months i was excited to be 1 a student who had successfully been at Cambridge.” 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 F 28 S 2018 7 News supportive,” Leach found her rst Cam- she was referred to CUSU’s student ad- bridge term di cult: “my academic vice service, advised that they might be Explained: e process for college work really su ered for the entirety of able to o er help where the counsellor transfers Michaelmas so by Lent I felt like I was could not. e University’s o cial college a term behind everyone else in terms of transfer guidance states that any student In order to initiate a college transfer, progress and academic development.” seeking to switch college must speak a student must speak to the Senior Leach was satis ed with the out- rst to their senior tutor, however this Tutor of their current college. With or come of her college transfer, saying it information was not known, it seems, to without the senior tutor’s approval, was “handled well by both colleges.” She either the student or their counsellor. paperwork must be submitted to the noted, however, that the entire process In part due to the confusion of the College Transfer Request Panel. “could have been avoided” had her con- process, the student decided not to pur- If the panel approves a transfer re- cerns been better listened to when they sue a college transfer any further, but request, it will select a shortlist of up to 5 were initially raised in August. mains unhappy with her situation: “I feel Colleges to approach to potentially ac- “Having completed my rst year, I feel that being in an all-girls college largely cept the student through a transfer. e part of my new college, as if I have never clouded my rst year at Cambridge, and o cial transfer procedure states that, in been anywhere else.” if I could go back and have a chance to choosing the colleges to approach, the For both Cohen and Leach, it was loca- change to a mixed one I still would.” panel “will consider the preference and tion, rather than a dislike of their college, “I truly wish I could say I have come needs of the student.” which rendered a transfer necessary. For to ‘love’ my college, but in reality I have others, it is the environment within a merely come to accept my circum- college which causes discomfort. stances.” St John’s and Jesus accepted compar- ▲ Of the four be very di cult,” where “a student feels A Newnham student, who chose to Dr Mark Wormald, secretary of the atively high number of students through students who trapped by the decisions of a senior tutor remain anonymous, said that ater being Senior Tutors’ Committee, said that the college transfers, each accepting four in transferred who they disagree with, but has author- pooled to a women’s college, she “im- aim of the college transfer procedure the past ten years, while Pembroke had college last ity over them.” mediately knew” she didn’t want to go is “to formalise and ensure maximum four students transfer out of the college. year, three le t She highlighted the “uncertainty of there, “having been at an all-girls school e ciency, consistency and fairness in However, the number of formal transfers Homerton the procedure” and said that the panel in the past and having let due to the the Colleges’ response to those com- over the past ten years is too low to prove FENWENCH “can’t ensure that they will nd a suit- unhealthy environment.” paratively rare requests for a switch of any signi cant trend. able transfer college as neither colleges e student was unsure how best colleges.” Florence Oulds, former CUSU disabled nor the university have the authority to to initiate a college transfer and fearful e college which saw the greatest ❝ students o cer, said that “the current make a college accept a student,” de- of jeopardising valuable relationships number of students leave through a for- system de nitely has the potential to scribing this as “a classic issue of the within Newnham: “I struggled with who mal college transfer over the past ten I felt like I work well if the student’s current senior di cult power dynamic between col- to reach out to with this issue – neither years was Homerton, with six students tutor is supportive of their application, leges and the university.” tutor nor director of studies nor any overall. is may be due to its location: couldn’t live and when both the student and the sen- Although guidance is available to stu- other college sta seemed appropriate distant from the majority of lecture sites, my life like ior tutor agree to the transfer it’s usually dents on the University’s website, the as they had chosen to work in an all fe- this can cause di culties for those with quite straightforward”. information is not accessed by many. male college and my unhappiness there disabilities. my peers, However, she also noted that because Lack of clarity and awareness of the seemed – to me – like an attack on their Homerton also accepted the highest and do well the college usually submits the applica- process creates doubt, and has resulted career choice.” number of students through formal col- tion on behalf of the student, “if they in delays in students being able to trans- Ater rst speaking to a counsellor, lege transfers, with six students. ❞ are not supportive of the transfer it can fer college.

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News Reporting misconduct he gaps in colleges’ handling of misconduct complaints

◀ 50 students “When you report something you’re tied ribbons seen as someone who’s complaining,” to the Senate the second student said. She’s previously House gates been spoken to about her activity on so- in May (felIx cial media. “I’m a igure of controversy peCkHAm) in the college.” he irst student said: “It reminded me of the aftermath of when I irst ex- perienced sexual assault, the fact that information about me was taken out of my control, and I knew that people were talking about it, and discussing whether I was just being overly emotional.” She’s spent the year looking at her supervisors and thinking: “Do they know who I am? Do they agree with me? Do they just think I’m this crazy social justice warrior?” Her experience in Cambridge has brought painful memories back. “I still don’t like talking to anyone in high school because I know they’ll have heard these stories about me and have an idea about whether I was telling the truth about it. here are a lot of parallels with the situation with my faculty – not knowing who knows, not knowing who believes me, not knowing who sees me as an emotional woman.” ❝ Both students also said they ultimately felt their eforts would lead to little [I was consequence. said. “I just wanted students to be in- dents – “they all say he’s creepy, and that he irst student said: “I felt really ◀ Continued from front page formed and lectures to be recorded in he brings up sex a lot.” told], pretty hopeless, like nothing was going to -turned to Cambridge under restrictions future so that students would have the When she took it to the college, they much change.” from the University that he would only choice about whether to go, but it just informed her that iling an oicial com- In the second students’ case, she said: teach those who consented to work with seemed like it was blown out of propor- plaint would involve speaking to him verbatim: “I was angry that the other people who him and would not be allowed contact tion because of the intermediary that about her complaints, which she wasn’t don’t take reported him were not taken seriously with anyone under the age of 16. I had.” prepared to do. She asked if she could and not supported. I was angry that I “[After I found out, I] walked straight She was told to keep this quiet. “[I just switch supervisors, but the college this to the was stuck with this guy in a room and back to college and didn’t really breathe was told], pretty much verbatim: don’t refused. “hey told me I’d have to keep there was nothing I could do about it until I got back to my room. I wanted take this to the student press, don’t take going to [his] supervisions or I’d have student overtly. more importantly my anger was to throw up. it to Varsity; the faculty hates it when to intermit.” press because no matter what I did I would “When I was [younger], I was raped things like this come out in the papers; She was facing mental health issues at not be able to take him down. I thought by a guy who was signiicantly older things will grind to a halt, nothing will the same time, and said she was strug- ❞ it was just futile.” than me. He was in the sixth form of get done, and it will relect really badly, gling to go about her normal life. “I didn’t my school. which was… terrifying.” have the energy to ight with my college “I decided to go to the police about In easter, on the day of one of her ex- for what I want.” it because I wanted to press charges, or ams she got a text from a friend who had She thought: “I don’t have any evi- at least scare him so he wouldn’t do it been assigned the same pair of examin- dence, I don’t have a recorder, there isn’t again. ers: she had been examined by the pro- enough to have him removed very far “I was going to do it quietly – I didn’t fessor after the faculty made a switch. away from me… At the end of the day want anyone in my school to ind out. It was two hours until her exam. She I’m not going to win this because I don’t But [after I spoke] to my school and the thought maybe she wouldn’t take the have enough on my side. police about it, at some point he was spo- exam and miss out on the marks. “I spent “He’s seen as this genius in his ield, ken to, and as soon as he realised I was ❝ the entire day sobbing.” as this extremely intelligent man. peo- talking about it, he immediately spread Towards the end of the day she was ple see him as a weird igure who has around that I was lying, that this never At the end told that an alternative arrangement quirks … and he’s also seen as bit of a happened, that I was a liar, like people had been put in place for her. “[hey] dinosaur … so people just accept these do to victims of sexual assault.” of the day expected me to trust [them] when my things about him.” “[After hearing of the professor’s crim- I’m not experience … was so negative.” he supervision system creates inti- inal history] my brain was just spiralling. In a separate instance, a student at mate environments between students I remember thinking [that I wanted to do going to a diferent college iled a complaint and supervisors. he one-on-one su- something to] shock me back into some win this about her supervisor after noticing his pervision systems in many humanities kind of reality because I didn’t have a prolonged inappropriate behaviour. parts courses has the potential to place stu- grip on it,” she said. because I of her course involve reading texts with dents in more vulnerable positions. In When she took this to a college ad- sexually explicit content, and in one su- certain cases they may not have others ministrator she was told everyone in the don’t have pervision the supervisor had demon- in the room to back them up about an faculty really trusted him. She said she enough on strated ingering someone. In a separate incident they wish to report. “I sincerely was asked “to ofer how to solve the en- supervision, “he felt the need to tell me think that if him and I were in a room tire university system … as if it was me, my side how a man felt about oral sex”, and re- with thirty people he would not have solely, who had to do this”, with ques- ❞ portedly “said stuf like oral sex is an act done that,” the second student said. tions like, ‘What would you do? What of charity from a woman to a man.” She Both students said they felt they would you do if we started running su- said: “It wasn’t really part of the literary weren’t taken seriously, that they had ▲ Each ribbon represented one signatory of a recent pervisor checks?’ analysis anymore, was it?” been painted as making a fuss, and open letter calling for reform to the University’s student “I didn’t want to do this loudly,” she She’s spoken to some of his other stu- viewed as over-emotional. displinary procedure (felIx peCkHAm) F 28 S 2018 9

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The MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit is one of the world’s leading centres of research looking at the brain’s phenomenal capacities in language, memory, perception, reasoning and creativity. We also study the effects of brain injuries and mood disorders, looking for new ways to help people regain function. www.twitter.com/mrccbu www.facebook.com/mrccbu 10 F 28 S 2018 News ANALYSIS

information on respective issues, they were denied it. What In an unprecedented move in July, Queens’ announced that it will divest the entirety of its £86.2m endowment, noting explicitly that the decision was a di- could the rect response to growing calls for ethical investments. e college’s decision was the rst of its kind in Cambridge, both pension in that it marked the strongest commit- ment so far from any Cambridge college to environmentally ethical investments and that it saw students’ calls as suf- strike cient reason to take action. In making lobbyists’ concerns a focal point and in recognising that their outcome e orts justi ed a response, the College – in an unusual move – took the divestment lobby to be signi cant enough to warrant action. mean? In both cases, the University’s response placed campaigners in a Catch-22, telling them that they didn’t understand the University’s nances and could not get more information.

Schrödinger’s strike Noella Chye It was only as a result of 14 days of Editor sta action that an independent panel Rosie Bradbury was created, and validated their con- Senior News Editor cerns. Dr Jo Grady described the situation in a tweet responding to the JEP’s Earlier this month, an expert panel, report: “ e JEP has simultaneously the Joint Expert Panel (JEP), found the demonstrated the strike was both neces- employers’ decisions that sparked this ▲ Cambridge Defend Education joined sta in protesting pension cuts MATHIAS GJESDALHAMMERROSIE BRADBURY sary & unnecessary. Without the JEP we year’s pensions dispute had been based wouldn’t have the proof it was unneces- on shaky foundations. Its ndings vin- ambitious, in the fear that its recom- committees before reaching the Council, governing body Regent’s House – which sary, but the strike was necessary to get dicated sta who had voiced similar mendations will not be accepted by the such that few issues were brought to called for the retention of existing pen- the JEP. “It was Schrödinger’s strike!” concerns to no avail. University Council.” University Council with members not sion values – as “evidence of the poor Employers’ responses to the report’s e past year saw a new focus placed Despite the working group having having already formed an opinion. understanding of the matters at issue.” ndings remain to be seen over the next on the perceived disconnect between been tasked with consulting widely on Ex-CUSU President Daisy Eyre, who And, in the divestment working group few weeks as UUK begins a series of con- senior administrators, and sta and stu- whether to recommend divesting Cam- served on University Council, has de- report – meant to be a point of genuine sultations with them before returning to dents – a consistent thread over the past bridge’s endowment from fossil fuels, scribed her “feeling that decisions have engagement with the various arguments the negotiation table with the Univer- year, where structures have proven ill- Guillaume argued that the debate was been made long before they make it to – members dismissed campaigners’ con- sity and Colleges Union, the UK’s largest equipped to give di ering perspectives constrained, as members were hesitant the Council”, and where Council is un- cerns with the claim that they poorly higher education trade union. due weight. to recommend proposals which were able to come up with its own recom- understood the issue at hand. In Queens’ taking into account cam- unlikely to be approved by the Univer- mendations. A lack of sincere engagement was paigners’ arguments in choosing to di- Struggling to cut through lev- sity Council – to whom the group’s nal evident in the nal report’s simpli ca- vest, the college o ered a counterpoint els of bureaucracy report was presented. ‘How do we know that we’re tion of their main argument. e group to University structures skirting genuine Student representation within Univer- She called into question the group’s investing in Shell?’ wrote: “many of the calls for the Univer- engagement on nancial concerns. sity committees has proven to carry little ability to form an independent opinion, In both the pensions dispute and is- sity to divest... presupposed that such e JEP report is the most substantial weight in current governance structures arguing that even if there had been rig- sue of divestment, senior o cials have action was straightforwardly feasible legitimation of striking sta s’ perspec- in cases where there is a lack of genuine orous debate among members of the cited the complexity of nancial issues and within the direct control of Council tives on the pension dispute so far, as engagement between perspectives. working group, Cambridge’s governance in dismissing sta s’ or students’ con- and the IO [Investment O ce]”, largely the independent panel came to a similar Writing in Varsity in March, student structure meant that radical change was cerns. overlooking campaigners’ challenging conclusion as sta : that employers may representative to the University’s divest- never on the table. A Varsity investigation in June found the University’s very lack of control be capable of taking on a higher level of ment working group Alice Guillaume Levels of bureaucracy have also meant that nance o cials dismissed a Grace over its indirect investments. When di- risk. It could mark a turning point in the said: “ e working group is afraid to be that discussions take place in various signed by 501 members of Cambridge’s vestment campaigners asked for more search for legitimacy.

In early March, Cambridge Defend Ed- ❝ steer the proposals to being more favour- Stephen ucation (CDE), a student activist group, able for sta . protesting university markestisation, [It is a As the strikes continued into mid- began an occupation of Old Schools – March, the University relaxed its posi- Toope and which houses the central university of- mistake to tion in favour of sta s’ demands for their ces – in protest against the proposed pensions, including proposing that Cam- sta pension changes. think] that bridge pay higher contributions toward is was the rst student occupation the anger the scheme, and that it accept greater sta strikes, of the central University administrative risk in the short term. building since the 2011 tuition fee hike, directed at ree days into the ve-day student and student activists listed an open university occupation of Old Schools, Toope wrote explained meeting with Toope as one of the con- a letter to e Times decrying the “funda- ditions for the direct action to cease. leadership mental error” of university marketisation CDE said that the open meeting was where students are “reduced to mere simply “in line with Toope’s promises ▲ CDE activists port in 2017 for the controversial reforms is all about consumers”. Rosie Bradbury to being open and transparent”. Calls called for Toope to the pensions scheme, as the proposals pensions ❞ In an open meeting attended by over Senior News Editor that Toope should be more perceptive to to meet students promised to level a lower burden of risk 500 students and sta in mid-March, criticism re ected a belief among many and sta as one on employer institutions, despite later Toope agreed largely with audience Stephen Toope was installed as 346th students and sta that University leaders of the conditions changes to Cambridge’s position amid members on pensions issues and on vice-chancellor of the University of Cam- must be held more forcefully to account for ending their the pension strikes. employment precarity in the higher edu- bridge last October. for decisions and directions taken at the occupation And despite the fact that reforms to cation sector. He criticised the Univer- In early 2018, as strikes broke out highest levels of Cambridge’s governance MATHIAS GJESDAL the pensions scheme for Cambridge sta sity’s response to the pensions proposals across the higher education sector, the structures. HAMMER were dealt with on a national level, sta which it submitted in September 2017 as leadership of Cambridge’s Vice-chancel- ere was a particular frustration and student activists argued that Toope being done “far too quickly”, where there lor Stephen Toope on the pensions issues among sta with the fact that the Univer- had an opportunity to play an essential “probably wasn’t enough thought” given came under new scrutiny. sity had initially expressed strong sup- lobbying role in country-level talks to to various factors at play for sta . Your Future is Our Focus

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Connect was born. Belle George talks Drewett explains Cam Connect is ◀ Emma Drewett what it says on the tin: an online plat- to the creator of is a second year form through which students can con- Cam Connect, the studying English nect with other students for advice, sup- at Jesus port and breaks from studying. platform bringing EMMA DREWETT Highlighting that many music or CATHERINE LALLY sports societies have a “competitive students together rather than casual” nature that can be daunting for some students, Drewett says that “Cam Connect stands in as mma Drewett, creator of the an informal society for lovers of walks, newly-launched online plat- talks, co ees, and cinema trips,” o ering form Cam Connect, says she a “simple platform to meet new people E“never really considered Cam- and do more ‘normal’ friendship estab- bridge as an option” growing lishing activities.” up. It wasn’t until she attended talks e platform is undoubtedly a step and visits to the University, organised in the right direction for those looking by access groups, that she contemplat- to form more intercollegiate friendships, ed applying. Fast forward a few years and Drewett notes that it has already and Drewett is heading into her second begun to be successful, o ering advice year studying English at Jesus. Drewett to international students who identi- spoke to Varsity about how the isolation ed the lack of a Moroccan society at and pressure she felt in her rst year at Cambridge. One hopes this is only the Cambridge prompted her to set up the rst of many future small successes for platform which, in just a few weeks of the online platform, that will snowball being active, is quickly on its way to to contribute to a more inclusive and 100 members. connected Cambridge. A member of the Varsity team mentioned Drewett’s post on the O cial the need to compensate” for what she Cambridge Freshers Facebook group, believed herself to be lacking. explaining the creation of Cam Con- Additionally, many Cambridge stu- ❝ nect. Having myself noted the di culty dents report di culty in making friends of creating intercollegiate friendships, on their course, exacerbating discour- I was sad- Drewett’s goal of connecting people who aging feelings of isolation. is is par- dened by otherwise wouldn’t cross paths seemed ticularly common for arts students, who like an idea that could create tangible lack the one-on-one peer interaction ex- the number change for students across Cambridge. perienced by science students in labs. of students I ask Drewett about her university ex- Low contact hours and large numbers perience so far. She is immediately and mean the likelihood of sitting next to the struggling refreshingly honest. “Before Cambridge, same stranger in a lecture oten enough to strike the I never struggled to socialise; I always to strike up a friendship is low. And be- considered myself to be loud and outgo- yond our rs tweeks, how many of us correct bal- ing, which is why it came as a surprise continue to introduce ourselves to the ance or to to me to discover characters far bolder person sitting next to us? Emma explains than I was.” that English students seldom use their t in She goes on to explain in more de- second year group chat, aptly named ❞ tail the cause of her rst year struggles. ‘huge scary engling chat’, to reach out to “Overwhelmed by the diversity in per- one another. “Personally, I nd messag- sonalities and character types, I began ing the group chat highly daunting and to lose con dence in myself, becoming I am sure other students share in this quieter and doubting whether I would experience.” Jokingly, she adds “Maybe a t in”. She added that she was “already name change is in order, to ‘huge friendly apprehensive about [her] ability,” and engling chat.’” found her sense of ‘imposter syndrome’ Pressure to excel, coupled with so- was exacerbated by “meeting people “far cial isolation is a deadly combination. more con dent and self-assured” than ey exacerbate one another: working she felt. She said that this “was enough ceaselessly prevents socialising and to encourage me to nd refuge within the being socially isolated can lead to a comfort of my room, and shy away from false impression that peers are cruis- new opportunities and new faces”. ing through academic work while you Drewett’s experiences are not unique. struggle to cope. I remember meeting the second years Groups and platforms that connect studying HSPS at my college on my sec- students so they can support one an- ond day in Cambridge. Another fresher other have an important role to play in quizzed the second years about third alleviating this cycle. year papers – I hadn’t even given thought What prompted Drewett to act on her to which papers I’d be taking in rst year feelings of isolation was her discovery yet. It was intimidating. of Camfess, the anonymous confessions e ‘imposter syndrome’ Drewett Facebook page that revealed to her the speaks of is widespread in Cambridge. number of students experiencing the It can be especially daunting for fresh- same emotions of isolation and stress ers, prompting some people to feel pres- as she was. “I was shocked to hear that sured to ‘prove’ they are worthy of their I was not alone, which was encourag- place through excelling academically. ing at rst but I was let saddened by is pressure can lead to social isola- the number of students struggling to tion, as Drewett herself found. She said strike the correct balance or to t in. I that as a result of her “diminishing con - decided that something needed to be dence”, she “worked incessantly, feeling done to tackle the issue.” And thus Cam JOIN THE REPLY CHALLENGES The Reply Challenges and Student Tech Clash ﬁt within Reply’s vast programme of initiatives designed to promote a lifelong learning attitude, with a particular focus on students.

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▷ LIFESTYLE top tips∙ 28 ▷ THEATRE the theatre guide∙ 29 ▷ ARTS photographing king’s∙ 30 ▷ FASHION from the runway∙ 30 Vulture Features ▷ MUSIC the fab four∙ 30

Artwork by Alisa Santikarn 16 F 28 S 2018 FEATURES Letters to freshers A slow upwards haul: my journey to recovery

Content note is article contains dis- gled in my perceived intelligence com- cussion relating to mental illness and the parative to others. process of recovering from assault Cambridge is the kind of place where pretty much everyone struggles with a ntil this year, my mental sense of being an imposter and I felt health had never been a that, as I was not coping, I was not de- huge concern. I had had serving of a place here at all. is only my ups and downs, par- exacerbated the isolation I felt. It seemed ticularly in sixth form, but everyone else was getting on with their Ua ter a year out where I had, among other normal, trauma-free existences when for things, worked on myself, I was stable me, just waking up in the morning was and happy. a huge task. Like many others, I entered university Yet somehow, I got with unrealistically high expectations through it. I found the about it being the best three years of courage to tell my DoS my life, in which I’d make friendships I wasn’t coping – de- that would last forever and love every spite literally never second. e reality couldn’t have been having admitted defeat farther from the truth: at the end of my to myself ever before in rst term, I was assaulted. my life. Responses to trauma are varied and I found the strength to nd entirely unique to everyone. All survi- my college nurse to set me up vors will tell you they have very di er- with counselling, and I found the ent ways of processing what happened physical and mental energy to walk to them. into the University Counselling Centre In my case, I delayed any form of re- once a week. I managed to get out of action until early in Lent term when I bed every day. had a breakdown. I could barely muster ings began to get easier. I started the energy to eat, let alone talk to any- making it to a couple of lectures a week one. e thought of having to struggle and my essays stopped being completely through another 12 essays, or get up and incoherent. I smiled more. Over time I get myself to lectures seemed impos- began to see what I had perceived as sible. I would alternate between crying failure and defeat was anything but– it until I was sick and staring at the wall for was a sign of my own strength to keep hours– I contemplated intermitting. on going through what was the worst However, some form of innate stub- period of my life. bornness combined with a desire to not Perceptions of self-care can fall into take another year out meant I decided clichéd expectations of bubble baths and – perhaps stupidly – that I would power hot chocolate. Yet for me, self-care was through. Until this point in my life I had having a shower in the morning. When always been able to cope with what life I began to regard actions such as hav- threw at me and somehow still do well ing some fruit, as looking a ter myself, I academically. I can admit now that far began to forgive myself for not coping -

Priya Edwards too much of my self-esteem was entan- which enabled me to try and move on. Fresher fears: What if I nd out that I’m not good enough?

aving attended the same used on my subject group chat, or can’t ❝ overstretched with so many demands as the ideal, multi-faceted Oxbridge stu- school for the past seven follow conversations about Marxist his- on their time that there was a limit to dent. erefore, I took some convincing years, leaving the safety net toriography. Although it hasn’t made me I no longer how far they could extend teaching. that it was perfectly ne to write about Hof my old friends is a rather doubt that I should come to Cambridge, needed to With so many privately educated stu- my love of trashy romance novels, rather daunting prospect. Despite trying to it has made me question how I’ll adapt dents attending Cambridge, will I be than feigning a fascination for Homer’s avoid it, the odd doubt slips in. What to an environment so di erent to my ‘sell myself’ disadvantaged by my lack of knowledge Illiad. if I’m not interesting enough? Not con- mixed-ability state school. beyond an A-Level curriculum? Or will On group chats, people have discussed dent enough? Not [insert any other To me, Eton students (and the like) as the ideal, it actually help me because of the inde- their political campaigning and their adjective] enough? seem like unicorns — mythical creatures multi-facted pendent study skills and self-discipline orchestral performances. By contrast, I In particular, I’m panicking about not from a world away. Yet soon, some of I developed? read the odd Snapchat news article and being ‘good enough’. My education so far them will be my peers. I imagine our Oxbridge A year on from redra ting my UCAS struggled to reach Grade 5 on the piano. has put the spotlight on my academic disparate experience of education so far student personal statement 21 times, I’ve found ey have mentioned their acting experi- achievements — yet at Cambridge I fear will have developed di erent skill sets. myself countlessly rewriting the four- ence and their times in choirs, whereas this this will hardly be noteworthy. ese In my sixth form, My classes of thirty ❞ line bio about my hobbies requested by the extent of my performance in the niggling doubts are compounded when students whose targets ranged from my college. It was di cult to remember theatre was as the Lead Elephant in a Emily Hall Emily I have to Google the de nitions of words A*-E were taught by teachers frequently that I no longer needed to ‘sell myself ’ Year 7 production of e Jungle Book. F 28 S 2018 17

Letters to freshers FEATURESFeatures

However, my recovery did not come ❝ that it was a slow upwards haul to re- ❝ My own experience has taught me ing able to be perfect academically – and solely from myself. ankfully, I had covery. I would not say that I am back that it is ok to admit you aren’t coping. It otherwise. It was then, and only then, an incredibly supportive DoS and Tu- In Lent where I used to be and perhaps I never I stopped is ok to ask for help, however and what- that I began to feel happy again. tor who helped organise special exam will be. All I know is that now I am at a believing ever you need, even if it’s just a cup of Recovery is not a walk in the park. It is arrangements and repeat supervisions term I point where days and weeks can go by hot chocolate with a friend, to talk about a pretty much constant battle to remind for those in which I had panic attacks. could without thinking about it. Now, my goals my worth whatever is on your mind. yourself that things will eventually be ey reminded me it was ok to just be for the day are things such as spending I learnt that prioritising my own ok and that life can be amazing. In my surviving right now. barely time with a friend, rather than only to was wellbeing was the only way to survive. case, self-forgiveness and prioritising my e best thing anyone told me this muster get out of bed. entirely I stopped believing my worth was en- welfare were lessons hard learnt. year was my DoS informing me that I I’m not sure what my advice is to in- tirely de ned by academia and focused To all freshers, and current students, only had to pass my exams; there would the energy coming freshers. Many of you will have de ned by on looking ater myself and ensuring I the most important thing to realise is be no repercussions, no stern conversa- struggled or be struggling with your academia was as healthy and happy as I could be that you aren’t alone and that things can, tions about how I hadn’t worked hard to eat, let mental health, you may be worried that that particular day. I was lucky in that and do, get better. enough. alone talk any attempts at recovery you have made ❞ the support I received from both college If you have been a ected by any of these I nished the year with a 2:1 – a minor will be dragged down by the stress of and UCS allowed me to focus on myself issues, you can contact the Samaritans in miracle for anyone who had met me in to anyone day-to-day life here. You may be nerv- and myself alone. I no longer had to be the UK on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans. Lent term. Although it initially appeared ❞ ous to admit to yourself you are scared perfect for anyone else, which let me org, and the mental health charity Mind by miraculous, re ection has made me see it will be too much. nally begin to forgive myself for not be- calling 0300 123 3393 or visit mind.org.uk.

But, I nd it genuinely interesting and to attach photos to my string of fairy oten reassuring to see what is discussed lights. on these chats. I was relieved to nd that My common sense isn’t renowned, Meet the everyone had found the Admissions Of- and recently being home alone led to ce impossible to contact; in my subject an accidental defrosting of the freezer, chat, discovering others with similar the demise of our entire tomato crop, as educational experiences has helped al- well as the untimely and inexplicable Global Game-changers leviate a lot of my concerns about the disappearance of my sister’s pet sh. As Undergraduate and Graduate careers in Law state/private divide. I will confess to be- much as I like to claim that I’m capable, ing somewhat of a ‘lurker’ on most of I’m well aware that the truth is far from these chats. Perhaps my reluctance to that—hence overcompensating before £45K Starting Salary 48 Global Oices 2600 Lawyers Worldwide regularly contribute is based on the fact my arrival. that I’d rather people judge me on how When it comes to it, I’m hopeful that 50 Training Contracts 55 Vacation Schemes 26 Countries they nd me as a person in ‘real’ life but in reality I will crawl out from under my that hasn’t stopped me from scrutinising duvet and be genuinely excited about my Instagram and Facebook to remove coming to Cambridge. Ideally, I’ll reread Want to do headline-grabbing work that drives innovation around the globe? Then bring your anything remotely embarrassing. this article in the future and laugh at my unique worldview to a team of fresh-thinking, forward-looking lawyers who work seamlessly My current friends were made with typical habit of overthinking absolutely across practice areas, industries and time zones. From space exploration to cybersecurity, and the blissful overcon dence and social everything. Yes, I’m scared about making obliviousness of a cocky eleven-year-old. friends—but most people know no one, renewable energy to driverless cars, we’re drawing on our collective expertise to help clients Now, a slightly more insecure and jaded so we’re all in the same boat. Yes, I’ll nd transform the world and the way we live our lives. version of me has to convince a whole having more autonomy intimidating. We are the Global Game-changers. You could be too. bunch of new people that I’m worth Yes, a lot of the people will be formida- keeping around. It’s more than a little bly talented at seemingly everything— Find out more at bit scary. In an attempt to appear as if but not everyone can grace the stage of I’ve got my life sorted, I’ve overthought the National Opera House, and the same hoganlovells.com/graduates everything to the point where my pack- group chat has happily debated tting ing list even includes mini wooden pegs Timberlands in a clutch bag. 18 Friday 28th September 2018

Features What is decolonisation and why does it matter at Cambridge?

since the #RhodesMustFall campaign in south Africa captured international headlines in 2015, students have been mobilising on campuses throughout the uK to demand the decolonisation of their universities. As momentum for this movement continues to grow at the university of Cambridge, so does the urgency of clarifying what exactly cam- ◀Students paigners mean by ‘decolonisation’. rallied on ‘Diversity’ initiatives are not ‘deco- ‘D-Day’ to lonial’ initiatives. Diversity initiatives pressure simply seek to expand reading lists to ❝ University include more authors of colour where- Councillors as decolonial initiatives start from the How and to support premise that colonial power stole and why does divestment destroyed land, bodies, and knowledge (Louis AsHWoRTH) from indigenous people. in practice, decolonial this means that diversity initiatives per- resistance petuate the status quo of Eurocentrism whereas decolonial initiatives seek to apply to fundamentally challenge the presump- tion of Eurocentrism. universi- Campaigners have argued that in sim- ties, given ply including a few non-European voices in historically xenophobic reading lists, that the diversity initiatives fail to interrogate modern how the existing academic industrial complex – with all of its historically University xenophobic structures – continues to center whiteness and continually place is not im- non-white voices on the margins. in mediately other words, they say, the inclusion of authors of color do nothing to challenge recognis- Eurocentrism. By contrast, a model of able as a decolonial resistance centres around the role that colonialism plays in perpetuat- colonial ing systemic injustices today, arguing for the need for reparations by Europeans power? ❞ to ex-colonies, de-centering of European ways of being, and re-centering of indigenous perspectives. But how does decolonial resistance apply to universities, when the modern university is not immediately recognis- able as a colonial power? Many students and academics have formed working groups to reconsider how existing curricula simultaneously excludes the epistemologies of indigenous people and fails to situate white authors and their theories in a colonial context, and have successfully put Fanon and Gandhi into the introductory Politics module. hese measures, campaigners argue, are insuicient in seriously con- sidering the impact of colonialism in the history of European political thought. While reforms to the curricula are undoubtedly necessary to displace hegemonic assumptions about the su- periority of Western thought, it should be emphasised that this alone cannot lead to decolonisation. Researchers Tuck and Yang have written that decolonisation cannot simply be conlated with calls to adopt more critical pedagogi- cal practices because doing so would reduce decolonisation to a metaphor. instead, decolonisation must maintain its speciiety in claims to sovereignty by indigenous and colonised people. in other words, to decolonise we must constantly and continually reassess and reconsider our positionality and the spaces

Howard Chae & Faria Tabassum Chae & Faria Howard we occupy. F 28 S 2018 19

Features

Beyond the question of knowledge production, universities have also - nancially bene ted from colonialism. Glasgow University recently announced that “the institution bene ted directly from the slave trade in Africa and the Caribbean in the 18th and 19th centuries to the tune of almost £200m in today’s money.” Cambridge’s partnerships with Cat- erpillar Inc. and BAE Systems through the Cambridge Alliance Service have ❝ come under recent scrutiny, as 40 Uni- To decolo- versity student groups have called for Cambridge to boycott the companies due nise we to their involvement in con icts in the Middle East. must con- Cambridge’s colonial heritage remains stantly and apparent within the University’s walls. Trinity College has permanently loaned continually Australian Gweagal spears to the Uni- reassess versity’s Museum of Anthropology and Archeology (MAA), refusing to repatriate and recon- collected colonial artifacts. Churchill College’s namesake is a sider our Prime Minister who was responsible for positional- overlooking a genocide due to his own dehumanisation of colonised peoples. ity and the Last year also saw students and aca- spaces we demics of colour involved in decolonial work at Cambridge harassed by the na- occupy❞ tional press. A Daily Mail piece headlined ‘How CAN Cambridge let this hate- lled don pour out her racist bile?’ attacked Churchill academic Dr Priyamvada Gopal, an advocate for decolonisation of Cambridge’s English curriculum, for criticising an Oxford theologian as being a colonial apologist. e University’s failure to provide explicit support demonstrated their continued privileging of white comfort over the security of col- oured students and sta . Over the coming term, the BME Cam- paign hopes to begin shiting the terms upon which students engage with decolonisation. By rooting the university decolonisation movement in its socio- historical context and its origins, we hope to inspire a re-imagining a radi- cally di erent university. For those of us invested in carrying forward localised decolonial resistance, we must recognise how the University continues to uphold imperialistic power. Reforms to pedagogy (including changing the curricula, reevaluating hiring practices, and funding for research) must work side-by- side with social justice movements in working toward creating a decolonised university. As we return to this Michaelmas term and resume our various working groups, let us remember to “interrogate the ac- ceptability of decolonising rhetoric as a sign that it is being co-opted” by the Varsity, now very structures of racist, sexist, ableist, featuring you and classist oppression that we seek to Pitch an idea at dismantle. varsity.co.uk/ get-involved 20 F 28 S 2018 Features Perspectives from a state educated, working class, mixed race woman Daniella Adeluwoye Daniella

is week marks my last shit at work- ❝ I pic- ▲ the backdrop of King’s College Chapel a North London sh and chip shop. ILLUSTRATION BY and zooming through narrow-cobbled No, I do not t the Cambridge stere- tured myself LISHA ZHONG streets. I pictured myself, too, rushing otype: privately educated, white, and rushing past past magni cent buildings on my way upper class do not describe me; my magnificent to lectures and chasing friends down parents did not nish their education. quaint back alleys. However, they had an unwavering be- buildings on In this fairy-tale daze, I started do- lief in its power and instilled this value my way to ing research about Cambridge admis- in me. As such, I set my sights high. sions- but my jaw dropped. I found When we were asked to write down lectures ❞ out that every year, more than 17,000 our dream universities in secondary bright young people apply to follow school, I con dently wrote down ‘Cam- Stephen’s footsteps, but only 3,500 make bridge’. But to my disappointment and it through. shock, I was given a pitiful glance by Suddenly, I wondered whether my my secondary school teacher and told secondary teacher was right to tell me to be ‘a bit more realistic.’ My 15-year- that I was being unrealistic: how could old self was disheartened. I dare to think that I had the potential As I stared back at my scrawny to attend the same university as Hawk- handwriting, I could not understand ing? what was so unrealistic about at- For black/mixed-race students, the tending Cambridge. I had recently barriers set in front of us are exacer- watched the Theory of Everything, bated by the fact that we tend only to with Eddie Redmayne starring as the be shown a rigid range of possibilities young Stephen Hawking, cycling past for ourselves. For example, when year F 28 S 2018 21 Features

10 work experience was upon us, to my ❝ Being in and give me hope for a future that once gain admission to. In Ore, I saw myself formals and balls. I wonder how much of dissatisfaction, we were only o ered the seemed impossible. and the possibility of my future. Her ❝ I won- the Cambridge fantasy will turn out to be opportunity to go to retail shops. a room of Ater seeing the twitter post, hope had guidance and feedback improved my a reality: the Harry Potter-esque robes, der how What about us budding lawyers, black stu- been restored and I immediately signed self-con dence as she told me I was a the May balls and the fancy buildings. politicians and scientists? Why were we up to the conference. strong candidate, and that I had every much of the Or whether my fantasy bubble will be dents made as a collective – simply because of our Being in a room full of black current right to apply and study at Cambridge Cambridge burst by a plethora of microaggressions, socio-economic background – expected be realise and prospective students lled me with like herself. endless deadlines and a disappointing fantasy will to amount to nothing more than menial Cambridge awe, because it made me realise that It was the tight-knit black community Eurocentric curriculum? labour? Cambridge did not have to be a fairy-tale within Cambridge that extended their turn out to Communities like FLY Cambridge Experiences such as these quickly didn’t have dream, it could be my future reality. hand to me as a prospective student and and the ACS will become a home away be a reality made me realise that for a resident of to be a fairy In particular, it was my mentor, now as an incoming fresher. from home. I’ll be ne, and I will our- Wood Green (North London), Cambridge former ACS President Ore Ogunbiyi, that I am determined to enable this com- ❞ ish because that is what I do despite the was, in actuality, virtually unobtain- tale ❞ gave me the courage to walk through munity to ourish and graciously extend odds. able. that door. Ore dedicated hours per week my hand to my current mentee through More than my place of residence, I skyping me and holding interviews. I her application process. realised that my very person- a state am extremely grateful for her care and Worry and excitement ll me at the educated, mixed-race, and working- devotion, but those sessions did some- thought of beginning term in a few short class woman- made Cambridge more thing more important: I saw a positive days. Starting university will undoubted- and more like a distant fairy-tale. Ater and intelligent young black womanw o m a n ly be a di cult time of transitioning from all, what did I have in common with studying the degree I hoped to frying sh on Friday nights to attending Hawking? Fortunately, as I was scrolling through my twitter feed one day, I came across a tweet by Courtney Daniella (a former black Cambridge vlogger) which adver- tised an Access Conference hosted by the African Caribbean Society (ACS). Such new platforms and initiatives have al- tered the landscape for pro- ADVERTISE spec-s p e c - WITH US. To advertise in any of our print publications or online, please contact our Business Manager:

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tive students like me. ey allow us to SWEDISH NATIONAL HERITAGE BOARD perceive Oxbridge through their own eyes: ethnic minority vloggers o er an alternative vision of life within the university I once dreamt of; ethnic minority-speci c access events have o ered me real-life connections that inspire 22 F 28 S 2018 Opinion

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

n 8 March 2016, Jerome nance, some of the biggest contributing economic experience. trap, and many see no way out, having Rogers’ body was found in factors to this epidemic? e lack of action to combat this issue been exploited by a predatory system e a woodland area near his e humiliation and subsequent si- is unacceptable. Yes, managing your own which claims it wants to help us achieve Ofamily home, where he used lence surrounding personal nance do nances, especially for the rst time, is our goals. If that is the case, why would to play as a child. Jerome committed not only exist in news stories and in the naturally somewhat stressful – I’ll admit Camden council have allowed Jerome’s deafening suicide a ter his debt spiralled to £1019, lives of the working population: they are it took me longer that it should have to debt to accumulate so extortionately? resulting from two tra c nes which implicit in Cambridge’s classist culture. gure out which end of my debit card What kind of logic entails that a 19-year- he picked up while working a zero-hour Although the 2016/17 Big Cambridge goes into the machine (unbelievable, I old who cannot a ord to pay two £64 silence contract job. e last person to see the Survey found that 38% of students felt know). But managing this with no nan- tra c nes would be able to nd over a 20-year-old alive was a baili . their nancial situation had negatively cial education while living in a classist thousand pounds stashed away? His story featured on the BBC docu- impacted their time at university, there culture which equates nancial insecu- It astonishes me that our PSHE les- around mentary Killed By My Debt. Shortly a ter is a tangible assumption that everyone rity with shame, especially in an elite sons were spent being lectured on drugs watching this documentary, an advert here has money. is assumption fosters institution like Cambridge, forces it to and alcohol, while this silent killer was for a prominent bank’s student plans a culture in which students are simply become a burden it doesn’t have to be. ignored. I want to confront the nancial student appeared on my screen. A would-be stu- expected to be able to a ord the extrava- Rather than by our schools, we are and access-related struggle in Cambridge dent, using spoken word poetry, rhyth- gance of May Week and frequent formals, taught by banks which services we which a ects diverse areas of student mically expressed his determination to without a second thought for the day-to- should buy: HSBC urges us to ‘be pre- life, and the classist attitudes which nance be nancially stable and independent day costs of living independently. pared for life’s unexpected costs’ by sub- simultaneously underpin and burden of his mum before beginning university. Of course, we are lucky to have the scribing to their overdra t service. ank it. Class privilege does prevail here, A ter all, nancial insecurity and hav- generous nancial support Cambridge you for the advice, but what about the but this doesn’t mean that there are no must be ing insu cient personal funds is just a o ers, but our lack of nancial prepara- reality of living with an overdra t? eir Cambridge students from lower-income choice, right? And this meant being a Real tion before university – by which those student account o ers an overdra t of backgrounds who are alienated by this Man, with the archaic ‘man up’ thrown from less wealthy backgrounds are dis- up to £3000 by third year, which sounds assimilating assumption. Student coun- broken in for good measure. What a joy to see proportionately a ected – alongside this wonderful until you realise that once selling should target this, and every col- an advertising campaign which not only oppressively privileged attitude, means it is transferred to a graduate account, lege should give thorough talks in Fresh- perpetuates but advocates a classist cul- many are unable to take full advantage of anything above £1500 is immediately ers’ Week about the nancial support Charlotte ture of nancial shame, directed towards the nancial support available to them. charged at 19.9% interest. is shouldn’t available. You shouldn’t have to ‘know those most vulnerable to it. What’s more, this classist assumption be banished to the small print of nan- where to look’ to nd this information, Lillywhite I was struck by not only this tendency also exists on a national level, with cial agreements: Toby orn, a former it must be impossible to ignore. Privilege to sideline the cultural and psychological the proportion of maintenance loan a Cambridge ARU student, took to the must not be the loudest and most-valued factors surrounding student nance, but student receives determined on the as- back of a Barclays letter demanding he voice. the discord of the documentary and ad- sumption that their parents or guardians repay his £3000 overdra t, to write a note vert I had seen within a such short space will ‘top up’ the rest for their child. is before committing suicide back in 2012. Opinionated? of one another. How can we decry the isn’t possible for many, and students are His £8000 debt, including a student loan Sign up at young male suicide epidemic while be- le t with maxed-out overdra ts, mount- of £5000, was ruled as a major contrib- varsity.co.uk/ ing complicit in a culture of shame which ing pressure, and – particularly here – a uting factor. get-involved stigmatises issues like debt and personal support system lacking in diverse socio- Young people are drawn into this Friday 28th September 2018 23 Opinion Varsity Editorial

here’s a double meaning to a Cambridge culture uniform in several to overcompensate, and live more like perfectionism in Cambridge. ways because we feel a pressure to feel the person I wish I was. We’re he irst is what we often hear ❝ accepted from the get-go, as if our identi- he past two years have also been a Tabout: incessant academic In trying ties are ixed. As if we aren’t 19, or 20. gradual process of navigating my inse- perfectionism. We rarely hear about In ten, ifteen years from now I know curities, feeling things click into place. the second. to reject I’ll remember the warm light in a best here’s another, louder part of me now still It isn’t diicult to notice a homogene- friend’s room; people, gorgeous and that has a better grasp of what feels real ity in some aspects of Cambridge student academic vivid; and Cambridge in the summer. I to me and what clearly doesn’t, and be- culture. A lot of us talk, dress, text and perfection- hope I remember too that for most of my lieves that takes priority. trying take pictures in the same way, feeding time here I haven’t been at ease with the he pressures for perfection in this into a pervasive aestheticism. ism, we person I am, and that I’m still confused, sense are less visible but equally, if not Part of the aestheticism stems from but I was growing. I hope I remember to more, unrelenting. hey’re subtler too, trying to rid ourselves of the parts of reach for celebrate that. seeping into how we live our lives and to be Cambridge culture we may feel em- images of We’re still trying to be perfect on our responding to our insecurities in ways barrassed about. In trying to reject the own terms. here’s a pressure here to it we haven’t fully confronted. academic perfectionism that many of us noncha- ourselves into the existing culture, to live How many people have come before perfect come here with, for example, we may lance a life that feels perfect, instead of carving us; how many have walked these streets reach for images of nonchalance, and out spaces for ourselves. and felt out of place? curated weariness. ❞ When I stepped into Cambridge I As I start my last year here this week, It’s also shaped in part by a subtler found a culture deeply at odds with plac- I’m feeling, more than ever before, the on our form of imposter syndrome. Coming to es I’d lived in before, and a compulsion tide of time. I’m thinking more about the Cambridge feels slightly unreal, like it’s to shape myself to it it. I was uncertain ❝ place I’m going to leave behind and how a dream that we’re continually trying and afraid of not having a rightful space, I hope it evolves. A big part of that is hop- to process. Because of that, there’s a of being odd and out of place when home I’ve found ing we collectively become a little less own compulsion to try to live a grander life. in Singapore was an ocean away. relentless in scrubbing, and scrubbing, at I don’t know what being a student in Sometimes I still lapse into doubt I often feel ourselves in the hopes of reaching a self Cambridge should be like. It doesn’t feel about which parts of me people will like I can’t we like, and demanding that we make terms at all like I’ve been told or imagined it accept, and my instinct is often to grow perfect sense, always. would. Even after two years of living a quiet for stretches of time. I’ve found be fully his week a group of freshers will starkly diferent reality, I often get a nag- I often feel like I can’t be fully present arrive to discover Cambridge for them- ging sense that my time here has got to in the spaces around me, like I’d rather present in selves. be better or more beautiful than how I’m just observe, because I feel out of place, the spaces Freshers, reach for what feels real. experiencing it. a little like a glitch. Be wary of the network of pressures During my two years here I’ve dis- In Cambridge I’ve been confronted around me we create from our insecurity. Imagine covered worlds of similarity with the more than ever before with pressures ❞ what Cambridge could be if we stopped people I’m closest to, who have sensed yanking me in diferent, sometimes con- demanding that we make ourselves re- too that we subconsciously partake in tradictory, directions. I often feel I have lentlessly better. Finally, liberated. Power-play and blurred consent are the building blocks of sharking

harking. his is a term most the morning after. At its core, sharking is sharking, and both the power dynamic hough many people joke about commonly seen in the Facebook just a very ‘Cambridge’ expression of the and the efects remain largely the same. sharking (though how funny the jokes comment section of any second pervasive sexual pressures and power Victims are still being valued as objects are is dubious), there seems to be little Syear that hits interested on a dynamics at play across society, dressed for sexual gain. thought given to the atmosphere this cre- freshers’ week event. ‘Sharking’ occurs up to seem “fun” and “traditional” rather Naturally, not all cross-year relation- ates for freshers, especially women who when students from upper years exploit than predatory. ships involve sharking. But let’s be clear: are already told endlessly to be wary on the power imbalance at play between he gendered nature of sharking people don’t shark ‘accidentally’, and in nights out. A deluge of comments about themselves and freshers, an imbalance makes this fact clear. Sharking is pri- your heart of hearts, you know if you how someone’s friend clearly can’t wait created by a diference in age, knowledge marily thought to describe older male have gone out there with the intention ❝ to put the moves on a person framed of Cambridge and university life and, ‘sharks’ and female freshers. his is to pull a fresher because you see them as as a piece of meat, does not create the often, sexual experience. Crucially, the symptomatic of both the social pressure ‘easier to get’ than your peers. Further- It is about most welcoming environment. Instead, targets are students who are made vul- on men to demonstrate an enthusiasm to more, over the course of conversation it is more likely to make incoming fresh- nerable by the fact that they have just make advances on women, as well as the with them, you can sense whether there preying on ers feel worried about how people will had their world turned upside down, expectation that women should want is a power dynamic at play. You can ask the vulner- act towards them, the sincerity of the and are eager to it in. to be seen as attractive, and be accom- yourself: “Am I genuinely engaging with relationships they’re forming, and their Sharking is recognised by JCRs as a modating to the desires of men. his is this person as an equal, and is that how ability of willingness to accommodate unwanted form of sexual misconduct, to the extent especially prevalent in University socie- they are engaging with me?” his sec- new stu- advances. that Pembroke has included it as a topic ties, where, although there is already a ond part is crucial, as in the panicky and To tell the harsh truth, if you need to in their consent workshops. It’s easy to hierarchy of oice in place, gender also high-pressure atmosphere of irst term, dents for exploit pre-established power dynamics see why. It frames sexual encounters as plays a key part. It was disappointing many freshers do in fact see those getting to pull, you have terrible game. Time for an exchange between a predator and a to see that when a question was asked sharked as “cooler” simply because they your own some honest self-evaluation, relection victim – a victim who, by virtue of being about improving fresher retention in know older students. You may have gone sexual and and work on developing qualities that hunted, does not need to consent. a society’s Facebook group, one of the in there with the best of intentions, but make you attractive. Ultimately, when Going along with sexual acts that one most common pieces of advice was if you can tell the fresher doesn’t see you social gain it comes down to it, sharking is about isn’t comfortable with in an efort to it “make sure nobody sharks female fresh- as an equal, it’s time to disengage. Some- ❞ power. It is about exploiting a power- in can be incredibly distressing and, al- ers”. However, it is untrue to claim that times power dynamics arise regardless dynamic to prey on the vulnerability of

Cecily Bateman Cecily though it is often dismissed as trivial, can only men can shark women – anyone of one party’s actions, but that doesn’t new students for one’s own sexual and have longer-lasting efects than regret of any gender can enact or experience mean they aren’t there. social gain. 24 Friday 28th September 2018 Opinion Being othered in Cambridge has chipped away at my sense of belonging

◀ King’s was British politics, and waiting for the Tube, embroiled in only to feel that those hours had sud- Constantly controversy denly vanished, that I had never actually assumed to be last year over done those things. In Cambridge, being a tourist or an its porters a visible person of colour and of Chinese international treatment of heritage, I was automatically read as student, Dr Priyamvada foreign, and those memories and tenets columnist Gopal (LOUIS of my identity vanished like dust into Sophie Zhang ASHWORTH) the skies. I felt like I had been uprooted discusses the from my own personal history. microagressions Initially, I found it very hard to proc- that ess the microaggressions, and some- characterised times found myself consumed by them. her irst year I was confused, because I had been reading and hearing about how positive and progressive Cambridge is, only to forget that groups of vocal students pushing for progressive reform do not erase Cam- bridge’s history as an institution created with a certain type of person in mind. I had forgotten that history casts a long shadow over the present. ❝ Eventually, I did ind places in which I would I could belong. I’ve gained so much sup- hen I irst came to Cam- Unlike many freshers, I wasn’t par- irst language. he realisation that people port and insight from participating in bridge, I was illed with a ticularly set on presenting a new version automatically categorise me as an inter- find, groups such as FLY. With time, through naïve excitement about of myself upon setting foot in university. national student, if not a tourist, purely whether I my degree, and talking openly with oth- Wstudying at such a prestig- But I would ind, whether I liked it or for being of East Asian descent. I was ers about my experiences, I gained the ious university. Even more outlandishly, not, that my identity would in fact be increasingly given the impression that in liked it or tools to articulate and comprehend my I had high hopes for making Cambridge contested once I arrived in Cambridge. Cambridge, to be British was to be white own experiences at Cambridge. my home – where I could feel like I be- here would be my pre-existing identity, British, and to be of visible East Asian not, my I can only speak for my own experi- longed after years of moving around. the one I had formed before coming to heritage was to be foreign. To the sound identity ence, and it is true that many of my BME As term progressed, however, I began Cambridge, and the other identity that of praise for Cambridge’s progressiveness friends have more pleasant stories to to feel disoriented. I navigated my walled people would often assume from my and the values of diversity, inclusivity would be share. However, as an institution that college nervously, and was left only with skin colour: foreign, international stu- and tolerance that Britain supposedly es- has historically thrived of exclusion and the feeling that I did not belong in Cam- dent, tourist. poused, I could feel my identity and past in fact be privilege, we must be alert to how rem- bridge. And it was not only Cambridge, Over time in Cambridge, a series of being slowly but surely erased. contested nants of this proliferate today, especially but the whole of the United Kingdom small microaggressions built up, chip- Sometimes I ended up being swept for people who do not it the bill of a that felt alien. Despite having spent 18 ping away at my sense of identity and away by these microaggressions, feel- ❜❜ ‘typical Cambridge student’. It is vital to years in this rain-sodden country, de- belonging. Being signalled not to enter ing that I was foreign, just as others had listen to others and to seek to improve spite sporting a British coat of arms on my own college by a random white per- made me feel. It was strange; I had spent everybody’s experience at Cambridge, my passport cover, during my irst term son because I was assumed to be a tourist. as many hours as everyone else studying through changes in our actions as well

Sophie Zhang in Cambridge I became foreign. Assumptions that English was not my Shakespeare and Henry VIII, debating as University policies. Ignorance shouldn’t be cause for shame

am deeply terriied by the forests nounced than in the realm of political your college bar is probably not going to listening to Ha-Joon Chang, that I was of my own ignorance. his fear can discussion, and this is the direct result of ix the housing crisis. By the same token, ❝ able to ind the language and informa- A fear of expos- become so debilitating, the forests politics becoming far too enmeshed with so many times have I worried about ap- The more tion to articulate thoughts I have held for ing what we I so overwhelming, that I simply give personal identity. Alongside the music pearing stupid, that I have prevented over eight years (my angsty twelve-year do not know up trying to claw my way out. Most we listen to and the clothes we wear, myself from debating and developing scared we old socialist self has inally been sati- must not stand recently, this has resulted in me relin- politics has become another expression my own opinions, and from challenging ated). In this way, when our knowledge in the way quishing attempts to chase after current of self. his has led to two things: one, a other people to defend theirs. his leads are of be- inevitably falls short, it is not for lack of educating political discourse. he strong feeling is worry that our political views or ideas to intellectual stagnation, a permanent ing wrong, of trying. ourselves that I will never know enough; about will be used against us, and two, a level subscription to a political identity that he limitations of human knowledge macroeconomics, about the American of engagement with political causes that refuses to change. the less deine our consciousness: we still don’t Civil War, about the rise of authoritarian- can at best be called supericial. Our pri- he fear of ignorance is also self- willing we know what caused the Big Bang, or why ism in Poland. About Brexit. mary concern has become not the sub- perpetuating; the more scared we are I have recurring dreams about my eye- Undoubtedly, my fear of ignorance stance of ideas but rather the portrayal of being wrong, the less willing we are to are to open lashes falling out. My fear of ignorance, was heightened after getting into Cam- of a consistent political image. I should open up and learn. Isaac Asimov wrote though not unfounded – the ignorance bridge. I recall when early on, a family not have leapt to support my lecturers despondently of a “cult of ignorance” up and itself most certainly exists – exists in us friend questioned me about King Ed- simply because the term ‘pension cuts’ that he perceived in the US, which was learn ❞ all. But as soon as we become outwardly ward VII’s role in the Second Boer War. sent a cold shiver down my leftist spine, fostered by the “false notion that de- political, as many of us irst do during I turned about as bright red as a brown but because I had come to an informed mocracy means that my ignorance is our time at university, this ignorance person can go, admitting that I couldn’t opinion on the issue itself, isolated from just as good as your knowledge”. his becomes a threat not only to our ideol- ofer him anything other than dates and pre-existing beliefs. Moreover, seeking comfort with being in the dark for the ogy, but our personal morality and char- names. His response, a comment I’ve re- validation through politics will always sake of maintaining a political image is acter. Rather than forgive ourselves for ceived perhaps twenty times since, was: lead to simplicity. Signiicant historical unacceptable. Rather, we have a respon- momentary ignorance, the reasonable “Call yourself a Cambridge historian, and change has been enacted by thousands sibility to face the forest head on, and prelude to knowledge, we jump to con- you can’t tell me about *insert historical of nameless, faceless heroes; posting a self-educate. clusions based on neon headlines and event here*?”. What I now wish I had photo of yourself at the divestment rally he internet has democratised knowl- prejudice as a means of self-defence. said, is this: “Sorry, Paul, but British mili- is not a virtue. edge, and whilst the volume of informa- What we must practise instead is letting tary history in the late Victorian era is So, what to do? he Japanese philoso- tion can be overwhelming, it can also go of self-importance, and undertaking not my area of interest. You clearly know pher and samurai Miyamoto Musashi be essential for revising our prejudices. a slower process of self-education. We plenty about it, so please enlighten me.” implores us to “hink lightly of yourself, Find the most cogent arguments for your should try to understand what matters Or, more succinctly, “Piss of, Paul”. and deeply of the world”. When discuss- beliefs, and then read the rebuttals those to us in as much detail as possible, and Nowhere is this fear of ignorance – of ing politics, give up your ego, and accept arguments have received. Concede to the most importantly, not be afraid when

Maya Achan Maya potential embarrassment – more pro- that sounding clever in a conversation at experts. It was only this summer, after that is not enough. F 28 S 2018 25 Opinion is year, we should support sta strikes in the name of the bigger picture

n a few weeks, the ballot for mem- e e ect of this marketisation was ‘average graduate salaries’, as though a ❝ that teaching is being missed, why the bers of the Universities and College clear to see during the strikes last year. high-paying career is the ultimate goal of strikes are as important for students as ere is more Union (UCU) voting on whether to Whilst huge swathes of the student- our education. We have been sold David The moment they are for striking sta . at stake than Istage further industrial action will body refused to cross picket-lines and Cameron’s lie that a degree is a ‘phenom- we relin- Above all, we must continue to shit we think in the close. is comes just months ater the staged demonstrations, I consistently enal investment’, expecting our return to the terms of debate. Arriving freshers ongoing sta largest higher education strikes for dec- came across students, even those sup- come in the form of future job prospects. quish the must be integrated into movements such pay ballot ades were carried out across the coun- porting the strikes, who responded in Even on its own distorted terms, the neo- as Cambridge Defend Education, who try, as 40,000 took to the picket lines in terms of consumerism, as paying cus- liberal approach to education is failing. premise must sustain the changes to the politi- February . tomers: “I support the strikes, but I’m In Cambridge, there are lessons to be that edu- cal climate set in motion by the strikes: As a fresher, arriving in the Cambridge annoyed about how the disruption will learnt from last February and March. Stu- from individual to collective action, from whirlwind for the rst time, you could a ect my exams…” Such attitudes give dents should not feel strikes are some- cation is a private purchase to public good, from be forgiven for viewing this as a rather in to the privatising agenda of those who thing for them to process alone or feel consumers to students. insigni cant, if sudden, turn of events as would sell education as though it were pulled in di erent directions by, on the public good is year’s strikes are not, therefore, you come to terms with your rst lec- a piece of tat at a car boot sale. Strikes one hand, CUSU advocating support is the mo- just about University sta pensions, or tures, formals, and Wednesday Cindies. are supposed to be disruptive. We must for the strikes, and, on the other, some pay, or the casualisation of their labour. However, it is neither: the strikes have learn to stop thinking as individual con- lecturers demanding they cross picket ment we ese are only the symptoms of a much neither arrived out of the blue, nor can sumers when it comes to education and lines, while colleges o er pastoral sup- lose every- larger rot at the heart of our society. Edu- their importance be underestimated. start defending our right to education as port if they feel work is being a ected cation has become one of the last mean- It is vital to remember that the recent a public good, not our right to good exam (it should be a ected!). Strikes can be a thing ingful battle elds between a neoliberal industrial action has not come about in a results as a paying customer. e real time of creative and collaborative en- establishment which asserts that ‘noth- vacuum. e strikes emerge from a con- ght, we must remember, is not just for deavours that bring us together, rather ❞ ing is worth doing if it doesn’t make mon- text in which years of political consensus our education, but for education itself. than divide us. ey’ and those of us who believe education amongst the political establishment has e moment we relinquish the premise ere must also be a more thorough to be a public good, as Jeremy Corbyn’s brought privatisation and commodi ca- that education is a public good is the and concerted attempt by both UCU and pledge to scrap tuition fees and set up a tion to nearly all areas of education in moment we lose everything. CUSU to inform students of the reasons National Education Service recognises. this country. Whereas across Europe, Not that such attitudes are surprising. for the strikes. Perhaps, as have been uti- Strikes remain a tool not only for winning even in Scotland, university education We have all come through a system in lised elsewhere, free teach-ins could be tangible gains in industrial disputes, but is seen as a public good, and is either which we rank the educated with ex- held on the picket-lines, with speeches for disrupting the very terms on which free or cheap at point of use, decades of ams from a young age and quantify the made by both students and lecturers, these disputes are fought; they are battles neoliberal consensus have eroded this educators through league tables, with setting the strikes in the broader politi- to be won, but also a vital weapon in the

Angus Jackson Angus ethos in England. high prestige given to categories such as cal context, discussing why it matters ongoing war.

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We will pay you £6 or £10 per hour depending on the type of study.

You will receive a picture of your brain if you take part in an fMRI brain scan.

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www.twitter.com/mrccbu www.facebook.com/mrccbu 26 Friday 28th September 2018 Opinion Rethinking the politics of solidarity

◀ Students posites. A friend of mine or a friend of tied red Johnson’s.” Relecting ribbons around what does this mean for students on successful Cambridge to today? hough conditions have changed, emancipatory campaign for there is much to be learned in our con- protests divestment temporary student political landscape throughout (LOUiS ASHwORtH) from this (largely lost) spirit of solidar- history, ity. too much organising on campus Cambridge becomes consumed with transforming activists must its own political spaces before seriously locate their orienting itself to the world. Facing the cause’s place world and choosing our friends should in the wider instead be the starting point. hen comes world the work of coalition building, of common struggle and service. his idea of solidarity and the coali- tions that came of it were forged in the heat of an assertive age of global anti-colonial insurgency, and might thus seem rather alien to our contemporary student political landscape. he imperative for students in a place like Cambridge to choose their friends endures, implicated as we are in our University’s historic and ongoing complicity in the reproduction of oppressive power structures. Much of the work to extricate our institution from this position is already underway: fossil fuel divestment activists have worked uch contemporary student “experiencing irst hand the determi- for solidarity and staged a major strike with indigenous communities ighting politics is deined by its nation of student bodies ighting and in April 1970 agitating for the release of climate change, whilst Palestine solidari- insularity and fragmenta- agitating for colonial freedom in the Panther political prisoners. hey pushed ty campaigners work alongside, and take Mtion. Both absorbed by the very heart of a country that possessed the University administration into public lead from, Palestinian civil society. campus itself and focusing on struggles a vast colonial empire”. At a time when questioning of state repression of the Underlying all this is the simplest of conceived as singular and separate, left- the American state was gunning down Panthers, and catalysed a national stu- ideas: that ‘our’ freedom is inextricably wing organising on campus is often be- defenceless black citizens in cold blood, dent strike in which more than four mil- bound up with that of others. it was reft of any coherent practice of solidarity. slaughtering hundreds of thousands in lion took part. this that led the great Labour politician his has not always been the case, and Vietnam, and drafting young Americans Huey argued that these white, bour- tony Benn to insist that “injustice to as calls to decolonize universities gain into the military, the Black Panther Party, geois students facing the draft were anybody anywhere is a matter of con- currency, we can learn much from the founded in Oakland in 1966, built a coa- oppressed in a “somewhat abstract” cern to everybody everywhere”, and to anti-imperial and anti-colonial struggles lition of the three. Solidarity here was way, immune as they were from class ❝ Nelson Mandela’s declaration after the of the last century. Here we ind a kind understood not as ‘allyship’ or second- exploitation and racism. Perhaps they Our free- fall of Apartheid that “our freedom is of solidarity — universalising, unify- ary support, but common struggle un- weren’t oppressed at all. Nevertheless, incomplete without the freedom of the ing — worth remembering, and worth derwritten by universal opposition to he thought that the place of the students dom is in- Palestinians.” he best historic traditions reviving. empire and particular struggle against in the Panther-led anti-imperialist coa- of emancipatory politics teach us that Student politics at its best and most its American iteration. lition could be made concrete by the extricably particular struggles are inseparable from vibrant has always faced the world, at- Students at US universities, compos- act of them “choosing their friends.” He bound up universal causes, and vice versa. in seek- tuned to with transnational ights for ing the bulk of the anti-war movement continued: “they have a choice between ing to build a better world and subvert freedom. Recalling his time as a student and resistance to the draft, were an im- whether they will be a friend of Lyn- with that the stature of elite universities towards in London in 1945, the great Ghanaian portant part of this coalition. At Yale, don Baines or a friend of Fidel Castro. A of others the end of social good, student activists anti-colonial revolutionary Kwame Nk- thousands of (predominantly white) friend of Robert Kennedy or a friend of of all stripes in Cambridge and beyond

Ed McNally Ed rumah later wrote of being inspired by students responded to the Party’s call Ho Chi Minh. And these are direct op- ❞ would do well to remember this. he reality of summer: not always a pretty picture

here is an idealised summer didn’t realise this until i got home. Giv- However, disagreements at the dinner in comparison to what summer should that we have been fed. Just as ing it some thought, this change struck table occur when explaining these shifts be. Our idealised the cast of High School Musical 2 me as unsurprising: at Cambridge, i had in mindset - family dynamics become But unexpected friction because of summer tsang its praises when we were been exposed for the irst time to new uncomfortable. these changes at home can be rewarding. doesn’t younger, we now constantly celebrate people, cultures, and causes that had ❝ But i’ve found these disagreements trying to work through the diferences reveal the summer in exam-term conversations and become an integral part of who i am. he are seldom discussed, partly because – to reconcile the old and new me – has diiculties of on social media as a time of rest, travel, physical act of returning home forced We should they don’t adhere to the idea of sum- brought us closer together, and we’ve home and memory-making. his past summer, me to confront the diferences between mer we so desperately cling to. when learnt more about each other and the however, i started to ind cracks in the the person i was raised to be, and the be wary we talk about summer, we never talk people we want to be. i recognise that ideal we have collectively created. person i am now - and it was an unset- not to erase about how hard it is for those who are this approach is not possible for every- Before coming to university, i was tling experience. struggling with their self-image to be one. But you are in the best position to privileged enough to have never had i had always been taught the prin- the variety constantly reminded of their weight by determine what works best for you. to think twice about the realities of a ciples of self-sacriice rather than self- of experi- family members; how frustrating it is worshipping the summer holidays is prolonged period away from school: i’m love in my Chinese-Korean family. it was when racist or heteronormative jokes not a harmless act; we should be wary lucky enough to have a home i have al- only from new friends and networks like ences stu- follow any mention of a friend with a not to erase the variety of experiences ways felt very comfortable going back FLY (Cambridge University’s forum for diferent background to yours; the dif- students face when May week draws to a to. Yet as i’ve grown older, i’ve realised women and non-binary people of colour) dents face iculties of living with people who aren’t close. Not until we begin to talk candidly that it seems there will always be some that i learnt how to say “no” without when May good for your mental health. And, if liv- about what summer means will we cre- aspects of returning home, even to one feeling guilty or being afraid of appearing ing at home is too detrimental to your ate an environment in which we can talk we love, that can make us feel uneasy. selish. Realising that i can and should draws to a wellbeing, inding and funding your own openly about our diiculties, and begin i still recall returning to Hong Kong at prioritise myself when necessary was close accomodation can be equally draining. to share and seek out practical advice. the end of my irst year and being taken so liberating; it changed how i interact he drain is not only inancial, but emo- to achieve this, we must dispel the myth

Michelle Wong aback by how much i’d changed - but i with others and how i organise my life. ❞ tional, as we watch as our summer pale of the perfect summer. ▷ LIFESTYLE top tips∙ 28 ▷ FASHION from the runway∙ 29 ▷ THEATRE what’s on?∙ 30 ▷ ARTS photographing king’s∙ 32 Vulture ▷ MUSIC fresh tunes∙ 30

Artwork by Alisa Santikarn 28 Vulture LIFESTYLE

ONLINE THIS WEEK CAMBRIDGE'S WALKING TRAILS Damn, I wish I'd known that As freshers move in this week, Vulture Lifestyle asks the Varsity team to look back at what they wish they'd known when they arrived in Cambridge as freshers

ith so much to remember ❝ as you embark on the beginning of university life (or Having spent the return a ter a long summer rst 10 years of break), it can be easy to for- Wget the small things. From some general bits my life with a of advice to the quirky items they've become view of the ocean dependent upon, several current students share the tips they wish they'd known earlier in their from my window Cambridge lives. I had reservations Searching for the sea about attending a university so far from Belle George the coast Having spent the rst 10 years of my life with a view of the ocean from my window I had ❞ reservations about attending a university so far from the coast. However, I quickly learnt that Cambridge has lots of lovely swim spots - try a dip in the Cam at Grantchester (there’s a big tree with rope swings in the middle of the meadows that’s particularly fun) or visit Emma, Christ or Girton’s college pools. Sug- gest a swim to your new mates before free time and sunshine disappear for the winter. Bowls are the new plates

Isobel Bickersteth If university has taught me anything, it’s that bowls are the new plates. ey’re versatile, portable and practical. It’s possible to eat all three meals of the day from a bowl, and when you’re bogged down with work the seconds Time management? I got you Pack the essentials (milk frother saved in cleaning will feel like a lifesaver. But ▲ Deputy included) beyond this, bowls are sociable in ways plates Millie Kiel editor just can’t be. From carrying stir-fry to the but- My college principal told us in her matricula- Catherine Catherine Lally tery to gathering in my friend’s room ater a tion speech that the 24-hour day could be di- Lally lives If I could have told my fresher self the hit night out for pasta, a bowl means I can easily vided into three: 8 hours for work, 8 hours for a minute my personal nances would take as a result eat wherever I want. ese communal mo- sleep and 8 hours for everything else. While away from of a mild-to-moderate ca eine dependency, ments of food and friendship underpinned my putting numbers on the amount of hours of Fitzbillies. I would have sprinted to Hot Numbers and rst year - so don’t underestimate the impor- work you do isn’t helpful for everyone, I found Her bank bought an Aeropress right there and then. tance of bringing a bowl with you! this structure really useful in dividing my time account has and ensuring I still had a social life. Using this su ered. Your rst Michaelmas is likely to be exhaust- as a rough guide throughout the year, I have ALISA ing, but don’t force your future sleep-deprived come out in one piece and have had much SANTIKARN self to rely on Cambridge’s (admittedly lovely) fewer desperate nights in the library trying cafés. is should go without saying, but I to nish essays! Regardless of the hours you lacked foresight. break it into, structuring your time to suit the way you learn is invaluable. Any make of co ee machine, as well as a cheap frothing wand and milk pitcher (works on even the worst of gyp hot plates) is your Patience is a virtue best friend.

Zébulon Goriely Back when I started here I was oten told that ‘you’ll make all your closest friends in Freshers’ Week’. is can put a lot of pressure on you right at the start of term and I’ve found that it’s actually a huge myth. Sure, you might bond with some people instantly, but I didn’t make some of my closest friends until a month, a term or even a whole year ater

ALISA SANTIKARN matriculation. Moving to a new place without knowing anyone is tough, but if you’re patient and put yourself into situations where you’ll meet others then eventually you’ll nd your people. FASHION Vulture 29 From the runway to King’s Parade

Runway fashion isn’t as ‘out dance this season, and they’re the Bailey’s swan song collection for the label perfect way to nish o this teddy- was remarkable in design terms. Marrying the there’ as you might think. chic look. modern with the classic, the collection was Vivienne Hopley-Jones nds summative of Bailey’s legacy at the label he inspiration for your autumn helmed for 17 years. wardrobe from this show Sweater weather In a homage to his time at Burberry, a lot of the season Ater taking some time away from pieces you’ll see on the shelves this autumn the company she founded 25 years are inspired by the Autumn/Winter collec- id-September and the grey skies ago, Filippa Knutsson returned to tion. From the timely rainbow motifs to the and drizzle seem to have solidly Swedish label Filippa K for an more classic check prints and camel tones, Mset in. Having just about given anniversary collection at Stock- the collection screams Britain in a way few up on the precarious promise of an holm fashion week. e AW18 show other than Bailey have mastered. indian summer, I’ve finally reached is a fresh take on the classic mini- a point of acceptance that allows malist style of the brand. From How to wear it now: Stores are awash with me to welcome the beginning of an unassuming cord suit in a forest the pale taupe and camel shades that best suit a new season. With conkers and green to a chunky knit paired with the checks and tweed of the classic Burberry amber leaves coating the pavements, a pleated skirt; the brand man- designs. Try working in the archetypal British and deceptively sunlit streets disguising ages to incorporate trend pieces of design to your out ts for autumn through ac- blistering winds and the icy chill of the tion play against the moment in a way that seamlessly cessories; bags, scarves and hats worn in the morning air, there’s a lot of beauty to metallics and blends into the labels classic print are a wonderful accent or focal appreciate in autumn. the animal and own character- point to an out t. Alternately, opt for graphic Autumnal styling is just as beautiful as the wildlife prints of the fabrics. istic style. With tees with the rainbow lettering paired with season itself. With Michaelmas term upon blues in shades loose t trousers for a more casual take on us, it’s time for the Autumn/Winter collec- e standout garments for me were the the collection. tions from February to nally lter their way hearty hikers boots which the models into our wardrobes. Fashion weeks across the donned throughout the show. It is these vary- world are overwhelming in number, so I’ve boots worn by runway veterans Naomi Camp- ing from the hand picked you a few of my favourite shows bell and Kate Moss, in addition to many of the midnight of deep October nights from last season to give you inspiration in male models, that give this show a place in to the dusky tones of crisp Sep- your own wardrobe this autumn. my autumnal wardrobe edit. tember mornings, the colours in this collection are beautifully How to wear it now: ere’s no need to fork wearable. Chic like Coco out on the Louis Vuitton boots to channel the swagger of Campbell or Moss. Pull out How to wear it now: Opt for Possibly my personal fa- your favourite Dr. Marten boots, which are a classic tailored look, with vourite of this Autumn/ also making a comeback (if they ever went slouchy knits and wedged Fall show season was away). and are now available in vegan leath- boots. is collection is per- Chanel’s collection. e er. Slinging chunky docs or hiker boots with haps one the easiest to in- power suit has been a an oversized coat and boyfriend jeans is the corporate into your student staple for womenswear perfect way to channel LV menswear. wardrobe. Chic and cosy, you designers in recent can’t go wrong following one seasons. From skinny of the centrifugal ‘Scandi’ ts to more tradition- Tonal teddy chic fashion labels. ally masculine styles, the classic trouser While this may be slightly o -piste, a show Want to write for suit isn’t going any- from which I’ve continued to nd inspira- Burberry’s Britain ▼ Sliding chunky Varsity fashion? where. However, tion is one from the 2017 show round. Max docs with an over- (Of course you do) Chanel’s signature Mara’s Milan presentation for Fall/Winter Despite the damage to Burberry’s reputa- sized coat and jeans Pitch to us at skirt suit is being 2017 was one of my favourite collections. tion following recent revelations about the NOAH HOPLEYJONES [email protected] thrown into the With rich browns and lavish layering, the company’s business practices, Christopher mix this season. classic Italian label’s collection remains Parading through a stunning option for this year. With Max wild woodlands, the collec- Mara (and Fendi) featuring a camel colour tion was chic and practical. scheme prominently in the recent SS19 runway shows, this colourway is an investment Textured knits and bold silhouettes de ne that will last you through the seasons. the emboldened woman Chanel is seeking to celebrate through design. Elegant and power- How to wear it now: Try ful, earthly and beautiful; the infamous French colour blocking your out- label is a gorgeous place to nd style inspira- ts: don’t worry about tion for autumn. getting a perfect match but think tonally in- How to wear it now: Pair a tweed skirt with stead. Opt for layered a leather jacket and chunky trainers or boots taupe to brown shades to work the classic style of Chanel into your for a style true to Max wardrobe in a more casual or grungy way. Mara’s fall collection. Alternately, go for the full skirt suit for a put Or, try working with together workwear look. cream and white for another option I’m loving for this season. A Sole destroying camel jumper with brown wide leg trousers is perfect e Louis Vuitton menswear show for for this look, topped with AW18 was utility wear at it’s nest. Vuit- an oversized coat of the ton o ered a collection that managed to same colour family. be both otherworldly yet inherently solid. Faux fur and u y e grounded earthy tones in the collec- coats are in abun- 30 Vulture theatre Friday 28th September 2018

Your Michaelmas guide to Cambridge theatre

Baled by Camdram? Fear inding her voice within societal constraints, not! With over ifty new shows, this is Austen as you’ve never seen it before. Selwyn Chapel, hursday 1st –Saturday 3rd No- Cambridge’s theatre scene has vember, 9pm it all for you this term. Whether you’re looking for sketch comedy, A die-hard fan of Victorian female novelists? he new musical Cathy: A Retelling of Wuther- Shakespearean history, or a ing Heights tells the story of a passion which retelling of Wuthering Heights, transcends life – and death – itself (Corpus our Vulture theatre editors are Playroom, Tuesday 13th – Saturday 17th Novem- here with their top pics of what to ber, 9.30pm). watch this Michaelmas Week Five: he Ladies

Watch the drama unfold, irst from the cor- Week One: Vita & Virginia ridor outside, and then from within the most glamorous, the most mysterious, and the most Adapted from the correspondence of Vir- sacred of all locations: the ladies’ loos. New ginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, two of endings and old beginnings, frustration and the 20th-century’s most notorious literary embarrassment, humour and tenderness — women, this play is frank yet sensuous, col- this play examines the walls we build around loquial yet artful. It is everything you might gender and sexuality, and the diiculties of expect from letters between a modernist icon navigating a queer new world when these and her unconventional lover. walls unexpectedly come down. Corpus, Tuesday 9th – Saturday 13th October, Pembroke New Cellars, Tuesday 6th - Saturday 9.30pm 10th November, 7pm

Want to hear from more strong female igures? If you’re looking for a slightly diferent vision Head to the Corpus Playroom for Amayon- of relationships, head to the ADC for Anna, an naise, a saucy (and slightly surreal) solo stand- exciting circus adaptation shrouded in the up (Monday 8th October, 9.30pm) or get to know mysteries of its eponymous character (ADC, Ania Magliano in her one woman show Myste- Wednesday 31st October – Saturday 3rd Novem- rious Girl (Monday 1st October, 9.30pm). ber, 11pm).

Week Two: he Children’s Hour Week Six: he Yeomen of the Guard

In 1930s New England, two female teachers In the Tower of London, during the reign of are socially ostracised when one of their stu- Henry VIII, Colonel Fairfax has been sentenced dents falsely accuses them of homosexuality. to death for sorcery and awaits execution. Lillian Hellman’s he Children’s Hour (1934) Commonly regarded as Gilbert and Sullivan’s was banned in London when it was published darkest and most poignant operetta, it has ▲ he Ladies is due to its controversial depiction of female emotional depth and a majestic score to match an exploration of Bedheads homosexuality. Now, in the 21st century, it many grand operas. he G&S Society are proud constraints placed serves as a powerful reminder of the horrors to present it as their Michaelmas show. upon gender and All was peaceful at Bedheads Record Com- of intolerance. Robinson Auditorium, hursday 15th - Saturday sexuality (ALICE pany. But when the unexplained death of ADC, Tuesday 16th – Saturday 20th October, 17th November, 7.45pm TYRRELL) one of the company’s star acts lands Bed- 7.45pm heads’ two producers in prison, everything his term is also bursting with musicals, from changes. A brand-new interactive murder Week hree: Richard III High School Musical at the ADC (Tuesday 6th – Civilisation declares war on instinct as the mystery, it also doubles as a musical sketch- Saturday 10th November, 11pm) to the CUMTS divine tears up the mortal. his visceral new comedy, based around the alibis of the dark Political drama meets gangster-thriller in this musical A Chorus Line, also at the ADC (Tuesday production provokes uneasy questions and and quirky individuals that emerge from adaptation of Richard III, which sees one of 30th October – Saturday 3rd November, 7.45pm, demands uneasy answers. Explore the fear of Bedheads Records. Everyone knows that the Shakespeare’s least redeeming characters plus Saturday matinee, 2.30pm). the unknown, as this divine tragedy exposes music industry is cutthroat, but nobody ever seamlessly slotted into the modern world as the cracks in our own moral codes, in a hor- thought it would be like this. a scheming mobster. Could anything be more Week Seven: Belleville rifyingly compelling examination of society Corpus Playroom, Tuesday 23rd – Saturday 27th itting? and the self. October, 9.30pm ADC, Tuesday 23rd – Saturday 27th October, Belleville is a bleak psychological drama in Corpus Playroom, Tuesday 26th November – Sat- 7.45pm which two people in love can’t help but de- urday 1st December, 7pm Improv on the Orient Express stroy one another. Americans Zack and Abby An improvised, interactive, and hilarious Craving more history? King Charles III (ADC, — young, bright, and newly-wed — seem to be Not enough Classics for you? How about murder mystery where YOU choose the Tuesday 6th – Saturday 10th November, 7.45pm) living the expat dream in bohemian Belleville, hyestes by Seneca, the Cambridge Latin murderer. You should be paying US to see explores the conscience of Britain’s most fa- Paris. But when secrets are revealed, intimacy Play, a staging of one of the most violent and it, it’s that good, but that’s not how capital- mous family as a ‘future history play’, and Oh, is unravelled, and love turns pathological, the heart-breaking tales from the Classical world ism works. Until we throw of these chains What a Lovely War! retells the story of the Great dream of their perfect life is quick to shatter. (Queens’ Fitzpatrick Hall, Monday 12th - hurs- and lead the revolution into a new blazing War through a satirical lens (ADC, Wednesday Corpus Playroom, Tuesday 19th – Saturday 24th day 15th November). sunset of equality and hope, the Impronauts 10th – Saturday 13th October, 11pm). November, 7pm and their comedy will have to do. I Top Comedy Picks ADC, Tuesday 16th – Saturday 20th October, Week Four: Northanger Abbey his isn’t the only show where Corpus strips 11pm away the outside world and shows us the Two By Two Performed in the neo-Gothic splendour of truth behind the front door: he House hey But that’s not all (or even close)! Head to Selwyn College Chapel, this unconventional Grew Up In (Corpus Playroom, Tuesday 30th Mitchell and Webb, Mel and Sue, Fry and Lau- www.varsity.co.uk/theatre and you’ll be and ambitious take on the novel aims to cap- October – Saturday 3rd November, 7pm) will rie. Cambridge is the home of the comedy duo! sure not to miss a thing. ture Austen’s wit and originality. Its use of subtly change the way you look at the people Why not come and suss out Cambridge’s next physical theatre, multi-roling, puppetry, and around you. budding stars? It promises to be a hilarious live music give the audience the impression evening showcasing the beauty of working as that they have entered the world of Cather- Week Eight: he Bacchae a pair, on the glorious new ADC theatre stage ine’s imagination. With a stunning venue and for one night and one night only. a still-relevant story about a young woman Ritual madness has descended upon hebes. ADC, Tuesday 30th October, 11pm Friday 28th September 2018 ARTS Vulture 31

Seater Single Deckers Up to Seater Doub Up to 61

84 le Deckers 32

for 32 years.

Email: [email protected] 32 Vulture arts Friday 28th September 2018

SUMMER PICKS ONLINE UNRAVELLING MYSTERIES AT A MILANESE AUCTION HOUSE Looking for Cambridge through the lens Domininkas Zalys sits on King’s Parade every day and takes a single photo, he tells Noella Chye

very day, people attempt to capture one, immutable chapel. “his will stay here Cambridge through a camera ❝ forever,” he says, “but me, and things around Elens. Hordes of tourists. Students it... we’ll leave.” capturing moments to remember. I was I start my last year here this week. And like he city’s beauty gets in the way. So much many others, the time has slipped between of Cambridge is grand and picturesque, often fed up my ingers. here’s so much to preserve — at odds with how it feels like living here. he with this in the three, four or more years we’re here, best parts of Cambridge often aren’t picture we see the city through a lens we never will perfect, and the daily reality is far from it. image of again. Already, walking through Cambridge, Photographing it truthfully means facing the city I notice that familiar sights are tinged with a struggle of trying to see past its wonder, impending inality. When I return to the city ditching the easy narratives of its grandeur, being in a few years' time, feelings of possibility will glitz and quirks, and inding that in a single a place be replaced by a sense of time having passed snapshot. where and all that transpired here gone with it. More Photographer Domininkas Zalys is trying than ever I want to collect memories, to take to do just that. nothing pictures which get to the heart of Cambridge, Every morning he sits just outside Cafe ever here and now. Zalys will continue to photo- Nero on King’s Parade and takes a picture. One graph the chapel and its passerbys until he morning he invited me to join him, “where it happens leaves Cambridge in two years, graduating all happens.” from Anglia Ruskin. After this he’ll move on to “What you do is,” he reaches for his phone New York to pursue fashion photography. He and holds it in front of him, then says, “pre- hopes someone else will continue what he’s tend that you’re taking a selie. he most in- started. “Everyone sees things diferently. I nocent thing in the world is a phone. People want to see what other people would capture, will never realise. what other people notice, but having this in “As soon as there’s someone a little out of the background,” he tells me. the ordinary, I’ll capture it purely because it’s he city is incessantly gorgeous, but many Cambridge, but it isn’t associated with it.” sights mean more than they appear to at irst. He seeks out the images you’d never ind on he gown store on the corner, glowing through postcards, capturing the people who shape the night. he stack of tattered hardbacks be- the place, searching for its soul. “I love this side the Mac. he bicycle on King’s Parade city,” he says, but “I was fed up with this im- riding toward a slow sunset. he city just past age of it being [a place] where nothing ever six in the summer, golden. happens.” We all grapple with the disconnect between King’s Chapel sits in the background of eve- Cambridge’s perception and our lived experi- ry picture in the series — a perennial backdrop ences of it. he city commands a supericial- to the igures who have come before us, and ity. It compels people not to peer beneath its will last through the generations. he lives surface. Cambridge in the popular perception of those who follow in our footsteps too will and through history is a iction — simple, revolve around these streets, traditions, and homogenous and picture perfect. Friday 28th September 2018 arts Vulture 33 34 Vulture FILM TV

ONLINE THIS WEEK BOJACK HORSEMAN AND PERFECTIONISM IN CAMBRIDGE

Interview Monkman and Vulture TUNES Seagull speak to Vulture What we wish we'd listened to in freshers' week

Musically, Freshers’ Week can be draining. e endless cycle of trying to seem interested in the Drake album Ba ed by Camdram? at pre-drinks in order to impress new friends, followed Fear not. Whether you’re by the inevitable ‘Mr Brightside’ singalong of every looking for sketch comedy, tentative night out, is enough to leave anyone crying a Shakespearean history, out for musical inspiration. or a retelling of Wuthering Heights, with over ty new Well, fear not, because your Music Editors have got shows Cambridge eatre your back. Covering everything from homesickness- has it all for you this term quashing bangers to hangover-curing chill-out tunes, - and Vulture eatre tells here’s Varsity’s Freshers’ playlist: you when and where to watch Just a Stranger Kali Uchis ( t. Steve Lacy)

Audacity of Huge Simian Mobile Disco

Narcissist No Rome ( t. e 1975)

Ater University school in East London tells me the reaction ▲ Monkman and Seagull first Every 1's a Winner from his students is mixed. “Some of the kids met on University Challenge Ty Segall Challenge icons I teach don’t watch any TV so they’re like – BBC PRESS OFFICELABEL why’s everyone so gassed about Mr. Seagull? Vegas Monkman and Seagull's But sometimes it makes a teaching a little bit easier, especially with more challenging kids ABRA breakout year, who nd maths di cult. If they think they’ve got a teacher that’s got some sort of pro le Young Lady Devarshi Lodhia talks they pay more attention in my lessons.” Kid Cudi ( t. Father John Misty) Bobby’s passion for Maths and making it to the duo about Love “cool” has extended into a number of solo projects with his new book, e Life Changing ❝ LILO Island, DeLoreans, and Magic of Numbers, set to be released in Octo- Some of the kids I e Japanese House ber – as well as a series of ads for UKTV for a teach don't watch copying Big Shaq ctional show called Geek Island. Out on Love “I’m a big Love Island fan so it was the per- any TV so they're Lydia Loveless fect thing for me to do. On the back of that, I he last few years have been quite met Miss England winner Stephanie Hill who like, why's everyone Got to Be Real a journey for television’s newest also has a degree in Oncology so I’ve asked so gassed about Mr. Tdynamic duo, Bobby Seagull and Eric her to do my introduction speech of my book Cheryl Lynn Monkman. launch at the Royal Institution and so that’s Seagull? Following their breakout performances on going to be really quirky.” ❞ Heart to Heart University Challenge in 2017, the pair have re- As well as maths, one of Bobby’s great pas- Kenny Loggins leased a quiz book, presented a show on BBC sions is rap music – something which he’s ▼ Amber Bain sings, Radio 4, and now have their own four-part tried to incorporate into his teaching. produces and plays the series on BBC Two: Monkman and Seagull’s “ e thing that got me into doing maths instruments in her electro- Genius Guide to Britain. raps in class is kids in the playground were pop act, The Japanese e show sees the pair travel around the rapping Big Shaq’s Man’s Not Hot and they British Isles in search of hidden gems of sci- could recite the entire song but when it came enti c and technological ingenuity. I ask if to class they couldn’t remember basic things there was any particular standout locations in maths. It made me think if you can engage they visited. kids in things they’re interested in whether Bobby instantly mentions the DeLorean it’s music or football, it’s the best way to get Museum. “I’m a big Back to the Future fan and them hooked onto maths.” I didn’t realise that they made the DeLorean e trailer for the new show features Eric in Belfast in the early 80s” he says. “I even singing a song based on the Welsh song, Men had the opportunity to drive one, although I of Harlech, so I ask whether an album could didn’t get it up to 88!” be up next for the pair. For Eric it was the people he and Bobby “ at’s actually a really good idea – we met along the way. “We were shown around hadn’t planned that before but now you’ve by so many knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and said it… ere’s a lot of nice song parodies generous guides who gave us a lot of time and about science and I think that’d be my con- were very kind.” tribution to it and Bobby can do his maths Speaking about the reception for their new raps.” show, Seagull, a PhD student at Emmanuel Monkman and Seagull’s Genius Guide to Brit- College and part-time Maths teacher at a ain continues Monday on BBC Two at 8pm NEW PONTOONS FOR 2018 AT HARTFORD MARINA

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Sophia Borgeest Science Editor

What is the most efective way to slow down global warming? Sander van der Linden and Cameron Brick, two researchers at the department of Psychology, argue that the climate change challenge is primarily a social and psychological one: to stop the earth from warming, we need a change of heart. “Climate change is the largest social dilemma in history,” says Linden. he paradox of the health of our planet is such that although at societal level we would all be better of if everybody acted sustainably, at an individual level un- sustainable behaviour is typically the default – an easier, less costly and psy- chologically more attractive choice. If we want to solve climate change, Brick and Linden argue, we will irst need to understand the psychology of this dilemma: Brick asks, “Why is it that despite all the scientiic evidence, people’s general re- ▲ “The climate sponse to climate change is collective change chal- inaction?” Public engagement and policy lenge is prima- lag far behind the consensus of expert rily a social and recommendations. So, what is causing psychological people’s apathy? one: to stop “We know from behavioural econom- the earth from ics that people care less about things that warming, we are far away in the future – a phenom- need a change of enon called temporal discounting,” says heart.” Linden. he efects of climate change (BEn BROWn) will be catastrophic, but they are not imminent. Instead, because the processes of global warming are complex, their consequences are delayed. “Even if we doubled our fossil fuel consump- tion this year, it wouldn’t immediately translate into clear, observable impact,” says Brick. We have evolved to run away from predators in the desert, to solve local, experiential and imminent problems – not to be scared of abstract, invisible and delayed threats. In other words, we’re not made for foresight. he very thing that has allowed us to evolve is now coming back to bite us. Plus, when it comes to climate change, there isn’t a bad guy. “Hardly anyone is walking around deliberately harming the planet,” says Linden. Harvard psycholo- gist Dan Gilbert explained this problem ments: “I like collecting data on people’s plications for policy: if a government ❝ Only if the public asks for it, Brick ar- as follows: “If climate change was some behaviour, rather than just what they wants to encourage more sustainable gues, will government implement laws type of nefarious plot visited upon us by say, because often those two things are behaviour, it needs to know what works What and regulations that will slow down very bad men with moustaches, then I very diferent.” in the long run. global warming. According to recent guarantee you that our president would ❝ But it’s important to ask how valid is One successful environmental policy needs to calculations, replacing the world’s air have us ighting a war on warming with In the what people do in a lab when it comes in the UK has been the plastic bag fee. happen so conditioners with more eicient models or without Congressional approval.” In to assessing everyday behaviour? A few “It’s amazing how powerful just ive would reduce total greenhouse gases by the absence of a clear potential villain, absence of years ago, Linden and his colleagues pence is,” says Brick, “people really want that people the equivalent of 90bn tonnes of CO2 by there’s nobody to blame except our- studied the efects of a ‘do it in the dark’ to avoid paying it.” So, is the aim of Brick talk about 2050 – roughly 30% more than if half of selves, and this can trigger a range of a clear vil- campaign at a US college campus, which and Linden’s endeavour to turn every- the world’s population were to give up defensive biases – including inaction. lain, there’s encouraged students to switch of the one into Ryanair-boycotting vegans? climate meat. herefore if the public demanded To study the psychology of climate light more regularly. “We found that dur- “I’m getting increasingly pessimistic stricter regulations for air condition- change, Linden and Brick employ a range nobody to ing the campaign people really made an about changing those types of behav- change ers, it could go a long way to saving the of methods. Surveys designed to assess blame but efort to reduce their energy usage, but as iours,” says Brick. Instead, he is hopeful with their planet. people’s attitudes to environmentalism, soon as the campaign ended, everyone when it comes to policy engagement. nudging people out of their position the future of the planet or global warm- ourselves went back to the same patterns of be- What needs to happen so that people friends? of comfortable inaction into a feeling of ing. More informative than question- haviour as they did before,” says Linden. talk about climate change with their ❞ urgency and political agency – maybe naire data, Sander argues, are experi- ❞ Such indings can have important im- friends and colleagues? that’s how we’ll solve climate change. Commercial feature Meet the expert: Securing the future with cyber security

As we all move into a cyber age that seems unnervingly intended by the developers. But there are bad guys, attackers, ▲ (REPlY) increases, also the specialisation and the knowledge required similar to a dystopian sci-i movie, security is becoming a who would like to access some data which is stored inside that ▶ (@lUIGI_CUTOlO to deal with such technologies will increase. more and more contentious topic. product. hat’s the game in the cyber security ield. You would AND @lUIGI_FRUN- like to protect your product against possible attacks, so this ZIO) How does Reply support your research and learning? Engaged in the never-ending quest for complete cyber se- may sound simple but products are becoming even more and We deal with new technologies every day, so Reply HAS to curity is Roberto Carlo Paleari; graduate of the University of more complex which makes it even more and more diicult support our research or we would not be able to do our daily Milan, PhD, Cyber expert and Cyber Security Master, Senior to ensure they are secure. activities, so it’s pretty natural for Reply to let us invest some Consultant in Spike Reply. time into learning how new products work. So you have to think like a bad guy, right? Research and learning is an integral part of our day to day Can you introduce Cyber Security to us? Yes, that’s right. Well, the most diicult part is that you have activities and probably the most important part of this is Cyber Security is a really huge ield. It includes several diferent to be very creative. You have to think outside of the box, try to the team. areas, ranging from very technical topics but also including make a product behave diferently from what was intended. non-technical like risk and compliance, GDPR and so on. In Even if it’s a very rational, deterministic job you have to still he team I’m a part of is made of several really skilled people, Spike Reply, where I work, we cover all those areas but cur- be very creative. hat’s one of the main qualities and skills we they have international experiences in this ield so it’s really rently I’m working in a very technical hands-on group where are looking for for components of our team. important for us to keep learning from each other. hen of we focus on the identiication of security vulnerabilities in course you have all the initiatives organised by Reply like embedded IoT products. For example we analyse set up boxes, How has the evolution of technology afected Cyber Se- peer to peer trainings, hackathons and so on. One initiative routers, cars and even things like connected boilers for our curity? we just opened for Replyers and externals the Cyber Security customers and we look for security issues afecting these Technology is evolving really quickly and today even more challenge, next 5th October, on challenges.reply.com. So if you products. complicated products, devices , and applications hit the mar- want to start or keep on hacking you can train in the sandbox ket daily so more of these products are dealing with your mode then join the competition and win prizes. How did you get involved with Cyber Security? data. his means that the need for security is continuously I started with Cyber Security in high school. In a technical increasing, and in my opinion a more important point is that Why does Reply organise such challenges? sense, it’s not only hacking, it’s a mindset. I started program- the need for cyber security has entered the physical world. Reply has a culture that really encourages you to keep learn- ming at about 6 or 7, I began to look at how things worked. Someone can hack your car and push your brakes which can ing. So, events like the Cyber Security Challenge or even like I wasn’t really involved in hacking but I was programming, afect your safety and not only your virtual security. So, the the Student Tech Clash it in with the Reply aim to encourage analysing the code and I didn’t start getting involved with evolution is moving cyber security into the physical world you to keep learning new things and promote coding. hey cyber security until high school with my friends where we which is a huge diference. also work a lot with students and the younger generation to were doing some hacking stuf since it seemed cool. I then encourage them to code. took it forward into university. What do you think is the future for Cyber Security? his trend, the fact that security is moving into the physical How does it feel to be part of a growing company and what he history and basics of Cyber Security? world, will continue for sure and probably security will be are the advantages? Cyber Security is as old as IT. Nowadays it has become a very even more pervasive, you’ll need it for your washing machine, he Reply network includes access to a lot of diferent projects, trendy topic with the news about data breaches, vulnerabili- lightbulbs, everything. As products are getting more complex teams and know-how so the access to that knowledge is very ties, malware and so on, they headline almost every day. So it is cyber security is more and more complicated. Companies agile. If you want to better understand how some technology a really really old topic but nowadays has gone mainstream. will start looking for very specialised cyber security experts, works you can just write an email to someone who is in a dif- he basics is very simple, you have a product like a website, for example you’ll need an expert on connected products, an ferent Reply company who already deals with that technology phone or car and you want that product to behave as it was expert on web applications, smartphones, so as the complexity so you can increase your skills in new technologies. brains and brawn

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We must address gender equality in sport William Ross tious. hey made national headlines gender, that should be a sign the sponsor ibly supportive”, and “key individuals ▲ The Cambridge explains in April when the Women’s Boat Club isn’t worth having.” are working hard within committees at women’s football why Cambridge needs to pulled out of the Sveti Duje regatta after In rugby, the men’s blues were able the club to ensure that a level playing team at a match the Women’s crew were ofered youth to attend a training camp at the Browns ield for the men and the women is the (CAmBRIDgE level the playing ield hostels to stay in, while the men’s crew Sports Club in Portugal this September, ultimate goal.” UNIvERSITy were put up in a ive-star luxury hotel. while the female University rugby play- he men’s football team, meanwhile, FOOTBAll ClUB) he issues, however, extend far deeper ers had to make do with a pre-season jetted of to Wuhan in July after being he issue of gender equality in the world than this single incident. training camp back in Cambridge. A invited to participate in the World Elite of sport is never far from the headlines. his summer, a number of men’s source within the Women’s Rugby Club University Football Tournament. Katy more work can be done in addressing From FC Barcelona placing its men’s teams travelled abroad – in sports in- commented: “we have struggled to get Edwards, the CUAFC Women’s secretary, issues of equality in Cambridge sport team in business class and its female cluding rugby, football and rowing, at sponsorship this year, and so could not clariied that the “opportunity hasn’t when it comes to funding and sponsor- team in economy when both teams both University and college level – to [go on tour].” been ofered to the women’s side to my ship. he tendency for male athletes boarded a light to the US in July, to attend training camps, while their linked She also added: “from my perspective, knowledge”, and “the women’s side of to attend international tours without tennis player Novak Djokovic publicly women’s teams received no similar invi- the problem is far deeper than simply a the club didn’t go on a tour this year for their female counterparts is concerning arguing that male tennis players should tations. Although in most cases it would lack of funding at the club level here. It a variety of reasons: namely a lack of and damaging. he University should be awarded more prize money than fe- have been a painful decision to deprive is deeper-set, with the sponsors far more funding, no obvious opportunities and be seeking to set the gold standard in male tennis players, it is clear that the male athletes of travel opportunities, the likely to back a men’s team due to the the fact that no-one had time to organise terms of gender equality in sport. Instead wider world of sport has work to do in decision of these clubs to accept an invi- higher proile of male sports making it one.” She was, however, keen to empha- of accepting invitations which are only achieving gender parity. How, though, tation to an event in which female com- seem a more lucrative venture”. sise her “hope that with the recent merg- extended to male athletes and accept- does the world of Cambridge sport fare petitors were excluded is questionable. On a more positive note, the same ing of the men’s and women’s teams we ing sponsorship money from organisa- by comparison? In the words of Daphne martschenko, source commented: “we do now have will be able to collaborate better and tions only willing to fund male athletes, he issues of equality of funding and former President of CUWBC, “if perhaps, a number of shared sponsors for both make planning tours easier and more Cambridge’s sport clubs might consider sponsorship are particularly conten- a sponsor is only willing to sponsor one men and women’s teams who are incred- afordable” taking a stand. It’s time for change.

posts following a barnstorming charge attacked the Cambridge half, only to by Charlie macCallum and a neat run by CURUFC 26 be halted by a tackle from the ubiqui- Cambridge men’s rug- fresher Joey ‘Ali’ gatus. Not long after tous Bell and the subsequent turnover. that, the speedy Elliott Baines scored However, the pressure returned and soon Cambridge’s second. loughborough scored their second of the by team kicks of with loughborough were not to be de- Loughborough 21 night to leave the score at 26–14 after 48 terred, and they began to launch their minutes. own ofensive. Phase after phase, and A quarter of an hour later, the away soon the light Blues were feeling the yellow and the light Blue defence inally side had scored once again, and the a convincing win pressure as the penalties built up. A fur- gave way for loughborough’s irst try touchline conversion turned it into a ther ten minutes of pressure in the Cam- before half time. one-score game, as the inal 15 minutes bridge 22, but the Blues held their own he second half began in a remark- were played out with the score at 26–21. Chris Bell to Twickenham with their irst victory where lesser teams may have faltered. ably similar fashion to the irst. most As the bodies tired, the defence seemed Sports Correspondent over the leicestershire side for many Success breeds success, and a penalty people had barely retaken their seats, to strengthen: a credit to both sides. years. After a fwe weeks of pre-season, in the corner led to a few quick phases and even fewer realised a penalty had Early season games can never be ex- including a tour to Portugal, the Blues inishing with miles Huppatz forcing been awarded, before Bell had taken a pected to run perfectly smoothly, but last Wednesday evening saw grange were raring to get back on the pitch. himself over to leave the score at 19–0 quick tap and was under the posts for Cambridge ground out a win through Road host loughborough in a thrilling And things couldn’t have started bet- after 25 minutes. his second of the evening. some tireless defensive sets. If this game opening match of the season, as the ter. Within the irst minutes, scrum-half But alas, the fairytale had to end at But loughborough’s resolve was not was anything to go by, we have a lot to men’s rugby team started their journey Chris Bell had touched down under the some point, and Jonny Dixon was shown to be dampened and they once again look forward to in the season ahead.