Humans of Warwick Re-Launch

Wednesday 27th January, 2016 Est. 1973 | Volume 38 | Issue 7

theboar27% battery remaining, 24 minutes left Can’t find a seat in the library? Revealed: seven in eight students won’t have a study space on campus

FEATURED: Humans of Warwick re-launch

News COBALT Music Games Mushrooms growing in First ever printed pages of the Tribute to David Bowie Best (and worst) of 2015 Tocil...again magazine Page 40 Page 35 Page 5 Pages 26-29

>> Photo: Joe Lester / The Boar

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Humans of Warwick & Cobalt Working Class White Boys David Bowie Tribute Science Explained Pullout (p. 24-29) Comment (p.11) Music (p. 40) Science & Tech (p. 42) One of the things that we have tried to perfect George Morgan’s article about the stagger- this year is telling stories. Not only this, but ingly low numbers of working class white This week’s Music section features a marvel- Speaking as someone who barely remem- to tell the stories that matter. I am delight- males from entering further education is one lous tribute to the late, great musical genius bers what a Bunsen burner is, it’s a relief ed to introduce a partnership with Cobalt, not to be missed. It’s hard not to stereotype (and my mum’s favourite) David Bowie. In that Science & Tech have revived their long- the student-run online lifestyle magazine at about this demographic; they make up most Film meanwhile, there’s one to celebrated dormant Science Explained column. This Warwick, and the re-launch of Humans of of the boys I went to community high school thespian Alan Rickman. It’s sad to be na- week: why you can’t get a Big Mac cooked Warwick University not only in the paper but with in the North West, and from experience tionally mourning two unrivalled talents medium rare, and what smells are. Both of on campus. As a student media society, one I have to admit that Ofsted’s designation of with magnetic personalities at once, but it these are entirely valid for anyone who has of the few things that is really important to the interests ‘fighting, f**king and football’ to also provides a great opportunity to reflect found themselves drunkenly thrusting bus us is collaboration and creativity. That is why this group are often not far from the truth. upon the careers enjoyed by both stars, not tickets at the poor McDonalds night shifters this issue is so heavily focused on the beauty I’m by no means saying that this stereotype to mention the ludicrous influence they each demanding a side of peppercorn sauce whilst of photography and how great it looks in the applies to all, but by understanding the pres- had on their respective industries. simultaneosuly wondering why the smell of print medium. I don’t know if the paper will sures put upon some men from a young age, vomit has been following you round when exist in 5 years, but let’s hope this one issue we can avoid tarring them all with labels like you definitely, definitely weren’t sick in a bin. stands the test of time. ‘lazy’ and ‘yob’. Next week: what is grass even for? Hiran Adhia Bethan McGrath Jacob Mier Sam Evans

theboar Editorial Team Editor-in-Chief Hiran Adhia NEWS Connor O’Shea & BOOKS Lucy Skoulding [email protected] [email protected] Arthi Nachiappan [email protected] Imogen Cooper Joe Lester Karishma Jobanputra Deputy Editors-in-Chief Sam Evans Matt Barker [email protected] Bethan McGrath Alex Ball FILM Kambole Campbell Jacob Mier Lily Pickard [email protected] Tom Hemingway Ana Clara Paniago Sub-editors Hannah Campling GAMES Ali Jones [email protected] Halimah Manan COMMENT Nick Buxey & [email protected] Cameron Clark Beccy Willmetts [email protected] Mike Wrench Jack Abbey Anna Cuthbert Matt Monk Seeta Parmar Emma Johnson MUSIC Stephen Paul & Amy Barnett Zoe Morrall [email protected] Jess Mason Hattie Rowan Ollie Ship Matt Williams FEATURES Blessing Mukosha Park Ben Shears [email protected] Lauren Bond TV Carmella Lowkis Beth Thomas Molly Willis [email protected] Callum McManus Rachel Knight Jesse Samasuwo Kasia Derkacz SCIENCE & TECH Selina-Jane Spencer Anna Young LIFESTYLE Elizabeth Pugsley [email protected] John Butler [email protected] Anushae Fecto Director of Business Harshini Singh Gerard Jones TRAVEL Jack Prevezer [email protected] [email protected] Armani Syed FINANCE Alexander Shaw Head of Sales Lauren Garvey & [email protected] Jerzy Gut PHOTOGRAPHY Shruti Dayal [email protected] Pim Pearce [email protected] Manizha Khayriddinova ARTS Sophie Dudhill Head of Marketing Iris Du [email protected] Charley Adams SPORT Shingi Mararike [email protected] Alexei Warshawski [email protected] Sam Nugent James Roberts Oscar Mayhew Get in touch:

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Editors: Arthi Nachiappan & Connor O’Shea News [email protected] Israel-Palestine Question Time controversy

Warwick academics protest Israeli spokesperson

pull out; and John Lyndon. spokespeople, does more of a failed peace process and Clare Clarke The third, and contest- harm than good to the strug- the impunity that Israel en- ed speaker, was meant to be gle for Palestinian rights.” joys for its continuing viola- Warwick academics from Yiftah Curiel, who is the The issue with Curiel, actions of international law.” across the University signed head spokesperson from Isra- cording to the letter, was that: The letter was signed by a letter protesting the el’s London embassy. “Inviting Israeli officials to 18 academics across many de- now-cancelled visit of an Is- However, Warwick aca- speak on campus ignores Pal- partments. raeli embassy spokesperson demics raised concerns over estinian calls for solidarity”. On the event’s Facebook at a Warwick International the debate. The academics argued that page - now deleted - Samiyah Relations Society debate. The group of academics the University should be in Ali, the president of the In- The debate, “Question said in their letter: “While support of: “Boycott, Divest- ternational Relations Society, Time: Israel and Palestine” debates in general are in- ment and Sanctions (BDS), posted a response. was meant to be held on 19 She said: “The purpose of January to offer three guest this event is to engage in dialogue and question the views “Does more harm than good” of the panel, thus question Signed by 18 Warwick Open letter from academics time.” academics She went on to state that Yiftah Curiel is a spokesper- dispensable for rationally issued in 2005, [which] aims son, rather than an ambassa- and logically debunking the to isolate Israel until it rec- dor. views on the topic of Israel other side’s propaganda and ognizes Palestinian rights This all occurred before and Palastine. exposing their defence of to self-determination and the cancellation of the event. The speakers at the debate indefensible violations of in- abides by international law. included Dr Claudia Prestel - ternational law, debating Is- “It is a form of non-violent For more information visit the panellist that decided to raeli officials, including their resistance against a backdrop theboar.org/news » Image: Garry Knight / Flickr Panellist Claudia Prestel pulls out of debate

The University of Leicester his- but it would have served as part of voice is completely unacceptable… the complex nature of the conflict Catherine Lyon torian also claimed that there was the Israeli ‘hasbara’. I did not want this is also apparent in the letter by and claimed that debates such as no genuine space for debate and to be on a panel when the outcome the 18 Warwick academics. the one arranged would address Warwick International Relations that both sides would not have felt was clear. these difficulties, something that it Society were forced to close down able to speak freely had the event However, the Warwick Jew- claimed students were keen to see. the event “Question Time: Israel gone ahead. ish-Israeli Society claim the ac- “The desire to silence the It said: “The popularity of the and Palestine”. ademics’ letter, alongside other Israeli voice is completely event demonstrated that many Organisers claim that it was events, reveals a more endemic unacceptable” students at Warwick were looking withdrawal of another panellist “I didn’t want to be on a problem in attitudes towards de- forward to the event and it is wrong from the event that prevented it panel when the outcome bate on the conflict. Warwick JISOC for them to be denied this opportu- from going ahead, and not academ- was clear” In a statement they said: “We nity because certain people do not ics placing a ban on Curiel from believe that the lead up to the In- think it is appropriate for one or speaking at the debate. ternational Relations Society’s can- more speakers to be there. Yet Dr Claudia Prestel, who is Claudia Prestel celled event “Question Time: Israel “University academics have no “The cancellation left many of known for her staunch support of and Palestine” revealed some very place censoring what it is that stu- us disappointed and we hope the Palestine, said that this letter was troubling features of the argument dents should hear and see on cam- debate can be reorganised.” an influence on her decision to She said: “I felt there was no fo- against Israel. pus.” It is not yet known whether the boycott the event. rum to genuinely discuss the issues “The desire to silence the Israeli The statement also reflected on event will be rescheduled. 44 | NEWSNews theboar.org

Deli bans “rude” mobile phones Auradaze, a restaurant in Leamington Spa, has recently banned the use of mobile phones inside its facilities, reports Aisha Zahid. Commenting on the use of mobile devices while being with other people, restaurant-owner Yates says: “well, you can do that later.” Warwick students seemed to share dissimilar opinions over the matter. Free Iqra Malik, first-year Psychology student, commented: “Phones should not be banned but they shouldn’t distract you from who you’re with.” Jamie Jenkins, first-year History student, agreed, saying: “a ban is extreme as it’s an individual’s choice but it’s rude spending the whole time on your phone.” speech Yates, however, has allowed cus- tomers to take pictures us- ranked ing their mobiles. red at Warwick

» Image: Craig Sunter / Flickr

Catherine Lyon speech by online magazine ond article which ranks insti- Warwick has fallen in line visit of Namazie, who the Uni- Spiked. The ranking suggested tutions according to their atti- with over half of UK universi- versity allegedly feared would that Warwick was an amber tudes towards free speech. ties in being ranked ‘red’ over- “incite hatred” on campus. The University and the Stu- rating while the SU was red. These rankings were the all, a judgement which Leigh He said: “This is a particu- dents’ Union (SU) have said However, the website did not same in last year’s survey with attributes to the magazine’s larly deceptive narrative, since that they hold positive atti- explain the methodology be- the magazine criticising the “political motivations” despite the SU does not arbitrarily tudes towards free speech af- hind this assessment. SU’s ban on The Sun and the the SU allegedly refusing per- “ban” anything. For example, ter being accused of banning Representatives from the Daily Star on campus. Yet the mission for Maryam Namazie we have never banned a speak- and censoring ideas on cam- University, including the SU University’s ‘Dignity at War- to speak on campus last year. er from coming to campus to pus. president Isaac Leigh, have wick’ policy and the SU’s ‘Ex- Leigh also criticised the me- speak, despite media reports to Warwick was ranked red criticised online magazine ternal Speakers Policy’ were cit- dia for misunderstanding the the contrary.” overall for its attitude to free Spiked after it published a sec- ed as redeeming features. circumstances surrounding the Read the full story online. Student stories from around the globe In this issue, Clare Clarke reports on news affecting students across the world

Pakistan Terrorist attack at university Scotland Offensive costumes banned On Wednesday 20 January, there Pakistan observed a day of national Edinburgh University has characteristics in order to convey an indi- was a gun and bomb attack on a mourning on Thursday, with flags flying implemented a ban on students vidual or character. university in northwest Pakistan, at half-mast on all government buildings. dressing in “offensive” costumes, “A good costume should be clear killing 21 people and injuring others. The Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz such as blackface, Caitlyn Jenner, and enough that you do not need racial or cul- The attack occurred at Bacha Khan Sharif stated that, “We are determined mental patients. tural additions.” University in Charsadda, in northwest and resolved in our commitment to wipe The Edinburgh University Students’ However, this has been met with back- Pakistan, and resulted in a three-hour out the menace of terrorism from our Association (EUSA), which introduced lash from some students, with a petition battle between security forces and the homeland.” the ban, has stated: “You may not intend entitled “Reinstate Free Speech at the gunmen. There is current dispute as to which to hurt anyone when picking out your cos- University of Edinburgh” gaining almost militant group is behind the attack, with tume, and you may not even think there’s 900 signatures. “Menace of terrorism” two Taliban spokesmen both claiming a problem, but it’s important to consider The petition, started by Philosophy and disavowing the attack, respectively. the impact your choices will have.” student Charlie Peters, argues that the Four men, reportedly wearing suicide A school in Peshawar had been closed a This comes after several scandals in- freedom of speech is being impinged vests, opened fire at roughly 9:30am. They few days before in fears of an attack. volving students in blackface. upon and that universities are sheltering entered classrooms and accommodation This comes after several cases of terror- The EUSA added: “It is also not ac- students from dissenting views, “betraying blocks. ist action over the past few months. ceptable to use props to emphasise racial the most basic ideals of education.” 5 News theboar.org/News | @BoarNews | NEWStheboar.org 5 Coventry Best ‘shrooms on campus home to country’s Mushrooms found growing in Tocil kindest neighbours

Hattie Rowan

Coventry has the kindest neighbours in the country, according to a survey of 2000 people conducted by One Poll for CORGI HomePlan. Its residents are reportedly » Image: Mary Shattock / Flickr most likely to help their neighbours move house, mow the lawn and look after one anoth- Ana Clara Paniago However, they said they were er’s pets and plants. shocked to be told that this hap- “There have been a small Half of the residents fre- pens often in Tocil. quently introduce themselves to A representative from Warwick newcomers in their area whilst A group of students have discov- number of incidents of fungi an even more generous one ered mushrooms growing in their third will apparently clear snow flat in Tocil. “Even after spraying growing on damp carpets” from a neighbour’s path. When the 12 freshers first moved them multiple times, they Warwick Accommodation into their apartment block in Tocil Older and wealthier last October, they were expecting kept growing back.” a small kitchen, four shared bath- Reports suggest the older and rooms and blue doors as advertised Kumail Jaffer, first-year wealthier population of Cov- on the accommodation website. entry are amongst the kind- They were not prepared for a est; most commonly the ‘best’ fungal infestation to start growing neighbours are those between from underneath the carpet. Accommodation told the Boar: the ages of 35 and 59 and who According to the students, first “Since 2013 there have been a are earning between £30,000 there were two mushrooms by one small number of incidents around and £45,000. of the showers, but they soon began individual showers within the To- The data from the survey to multiply. cil student accommodation devel- suggested that 72% of Coven- They started appearing in early oping slow leaks underneath the try residents would apparently December, but were only properly shower trays, which have included check on a vulnerable neigh- treated during the Christmas hol- cases of fungi growing on damp bour if they are concerned about idays. carpets.” them or have not seen them in Kumail Jaffer, a first-year PPE They added that further alter- a few days. student who lives in the flat said: ations were made to the showers Professor Sandi Mann of the “Even after spraying them multiple during this academic year to com- University of Central Lanca- times, they kept growing back.” bat the infestation, and they are shire explains that this may be The residents were told that “not aware of any issues that have because more and more people the mushrooms were due to a wa- been raised following the work cur- are moving further away from ter leakage from one of the shared rently being undertaken.” » Image: Ching Yi / Boar News their parents in order to find bathrooms. a job. Thus, they worry about their parents living on their own as they get older and more vulnerable. CORGI HomePlan is using Have you got a story for us? these results to start a “How Safe is Your Street” campaign We are always on the look out for campus-breaking stories and the latest bit of rumour to investigate for News. which will encourage residents to keep an eye on their neigh- Email us at [email protected] in confidence and you could see your name here in the next issue. bours and will give suggestions as to how one may do that.

USA Female students reporting sexual assault Turkey Academics arrested The United States Department of Jus- others might think they were partly in With 27 Turkish academics ar- There has been a rise in nationalist pres- tice has recently released a 450-page re- fault, and the victims themselves would rested earlier this month, there ence on campuses, with students marking port looking at over 50,000 college stu- get into trouble. have been further restrictions to aca- professors’ doors and posing threats to in- dents and their experiences with sexual The responses indicate the general be- demic freedoms in universities. dividuals who signed the petition. assault. lief that officials could not handle sexual The Turkish Government has respond- However, there have also been criti- One of the questions asked was: “Why assault cases adequately. ed aggressively to a petition released on cisms of the government. do female college students not report rape Questions asked in the report also 11 January that was signed by over 1,400 Most notably, college student Emine to various authorities?” found that those who identified as lesbi- academics and researchers in Turkey and Akbaba has been suspended from Ege an, gay, bisexual or transgender were more abroad, as well as an open letter signed by University in Izmir due to her support for Did not want assistance likely to be victims of sexual assault than foreign academics such as Noam Chom- imprisoned Turkish journalists. heterosexual students. sky. There have also been worries about Overwhelmingly the answer given was Finally, the report found that students Prime Minister Erdoğan denounced how the arrests will impact students and that they did not want assistance or ac- reported more sexual assault in their the criticism, saying not all professors are the Erasmus exchange programme, as tion taken, as it was not serious enough freshman year than in junior or senior “so-called intellectuals”. previously European universities have to report. years, with rate of incidents also dropping The response in Turkish universities threatened ending their exchange with The second highest answer was that slightly. has also been mixed. Turkish universities. News theboar.org/News | @BoarNews | NEWS 6

» Image: Warwick Media Library

Warwick is world’s 45th ‘most international’ university

Billy Perrigo The news comes after a year of This takes into account an in- Boar whether more could be done climbing league tables for War- stitution’s percentage of interna- “I hope that in future this to integrate home and international wick. It was named the 2015 Sun- tional staff, percentage of interna- barrier [between domestic students, she said: “Right now we Warwick has been ranked the day Times’ ‘University of the Year’, tional students, and percentage of and international students] have a clear classification of ‘home’ world’s 45th “most international” and 61st in the QS World Univer- research papers published with at and ‘international’ students and I university in 2016, according to sity Rankings. least one co-author from a differ- will be broken down” hope that in the future this barrier Times Higher Education. Vice-chancellor Nigel Thrift ent country. Sophie Worrall will be broken down.” It is the 16th UK university in said: “This result recognises War- Teaching, research and paper ci- She declined to answer whether the list, behind institutions such as wick’s significant international rep- tations are weighted most heavily the relentless pursuit of ‘interna- Imperial College London, Oxford, utation and engagement. in the indicator, whereas percentage officer for EU students, said the SU tionalism’ was inherently a good and University College London. “We now have students and staff of international students and staff, was proud of the achievement. “Be- thing. Qatar University topped the table from over 120 countries on our along with income from industry, ing a student at Warwick I believe Warwick was ranked 32nd overall. campus, and in the last decade we are weighted relatively lightly. we have a first hand opportunity to most international university by have added significantly to our in- The methodology can be viewed be part of a globalised world. The the Times in 2015, however they Student and staff from ternational links and activities.” in full, on the Times Higher Educa- achievement is a result of thorough “strongly advise against direct com- The methodology for the Times’ tion website. integration of the many interna- parisons with previous years’ World “over 120 countries” international ranking is based on Sophie Worrall, Warwick Stu- tional students.” University Rankings… because of an ‘international outlook indicator’. dents’ Union’s (SU) international However, when asked by the changes in the underlying data.” 88% of students don’t have a campus study space

Democracy and development officer, Oliver Rice, proposes a second campus library

Anais Ronchin with adequate study spaces, and the year. 6:30 every morning during term when term three arrives, students Mr Rice argued that students of- three, and I lived in Bluebell on often compete for spots at the li- ten have to study at home, which campus. The Students’ Union of Warwick brary. can lead to mental health problems “Now I live in Leamington … University has called for the con- Indeed, a total of only 2781 study such as depression, anxiety or in- term three will be a nightmare.” struction of a second library on spaces were available for a total of somnia because there is no distinc- However, Alp, a second-year campus. 23,570 students during the academ- tion between ‘rest’ and ‘work’. Politics student, thought that a sec- Democracy and development ic year 2014-15. He also denounced the struggle ond library on campus might not officer, Oliver Rice, denounced the This means that the University to access physical texts necessary be the solution. ‘study place crisis’ which is current- provided one study place per 8.5 for courses, commenting that the He said: “The same funds could ly happening on campus. students, which, according to the main library was at full capacity be used more efficiently by build- He proposed a new library with proposer, is unacceptable. and unable to meet demands. ing another library in a student 2000 study places, more core texts, Additionally, the 22 remaining The education officer and post- town like Leamington. resting spaces and gender-neutral Russell Group universities – ex- graduate officers will keep lobbying “[This would] ease the burden facilities. cluding Oxford and Cambridge - until the decision is taken. of overcapacity on campus during One reason Mr Rice gave for the have an average of 6 libraries per Alice, a second-year Language, Term 3.” proposal was that the University university. Warwick only offers Culture and Communication stu- has a duty to provide its students one, which is not open every day of dent, argued: ‘I had to wake up at » Image: Warwick Media Library 7 | NEWSNews SU blunder over News women’s officer Nuggets election Sarah Morland Johan Byttner

All candidates were told to “post- She said: “I can under- ard, Arthi Nachiappan pone putting up any posters” while stand their decision; they agreed arwick Law Society held Ana Clara Paniago the SU resolved a dispute with the determined that posters would that a its first law careers sum- University Estates. have very little impact, and I do rerun was mit at the end of Week Once the dispute was resolved, understand the logic. not feasible, yet 1. The summit brought together Chloe Wynne has been an- however, only Ms. Wynne was “However, I do wish I could have stated: “it is however, a weird reac- speakersW from various industries nounced as the new Women’s Of- emailed to say that they could re- put posters up myself as I personal- tion to invalidate an election and including law, consultancy and ficer for the Students’ Union (SU) sume putting up posters. ly do look at posters for elections.” admit you made a mistake, and government. The event sold over three days after the election had Ms. Wynne stated: “The dis- Nevertheless, she also said: “I then within a matter of days make 100 tickets to Warwick students. been deemed invalid. pute concerning posters was re- think Chloe is an exceedingly the complete opposite decision. Marissa Beatty, the Law Careers Josie Throup, the former wom- solved once it was confirmed that strong candidate and had a strong “I’m sure Chloe will do a great Summit co-ordinator told the en’s officer, stepped down earlier no candidates broke any guidelines chance of winning. Whether it be job. However, it is a shame that this Boar: “The aim of the summit is to this term. regarding posters as a campaigning fair or not, she is deserving, having has caused such a problem over- engage law and non-law students This resulted in the organisation technique, including myself. sought the position for years. all: I’m sure for her too it would’ve with a number of different legal of an election for the new opening “As a democratic panel of impar- The Elections Adjudication been nice to win without any of career paths.” in Week 2. tial staff and officers from the Stu- Panel met once again on the 25th these avoidable circumstances!” However, the Elections Adju- dents’ Union ruled this morning, in to discuss the error but agreed that On her plans, Ms. Wynne stat- dication Panel met on Friday the light of new evidence, information the impact of the SU’s error was ed that: “My first actions while in 22nd of January and decided the and candidate accounts, the inval- “minimal” and could therefore be office will be to liaise with past 28-year old was hospital- elections had been unfair due to idation of the election result was disregarded. officers to try and learn as much ised with a large gash to a mistake on the SU’s behalf. The overturned and I was the winning Democracy officer Olly Rice about the reactive side of the role, the cheek, a possible broken reruns would take place in the fol- candidate with 58% of the vote.” pointed out that “this fault could how best to go about enacting my nose and a bruised elbow follow- lowing week. Following allegations that her not have changed the outcome and pledges, and any general advice ingA a snooker-ball-in-sock attack Nevertheless, three days later, posters were found around campus, a re-poll was unfair to everyone in- they have. in Milton Keyes. The attack took the SU has announced that Chloe she responded: “I categorically did volved.” “I’ll be really keen to start place at 10.30pm on Newport Wynne, one of the candidates, has not receive any special exemptions However, he also stated that “the working on International Wom- Road. A 29-year-old man from been voted in as the new women’s nor did I break any guidelines re- fault was the SU’s only (the result en’s Week as soon as possible. I’m Leamington has been arrested on officer. garding campaign methods.” of human error) and we hold up also planning on meeting up with suspicion of the assault. The man The SU website states the elec- Eleanor Snowden confirmed our hands and apologise for this the president and democracy and has received bail until 29 February. tion was “delayed” due to “an SU that she was not told she could put and will more than learn from our development officers this week to PC James Elliott of the Milton administrative error that resulted in up posters but “would have liked mistakes in the future”. talk about diversity in the upcom- Keynes police station commented: miscommunication to candidates”. the opportunity.” One of the candidates, Lily Pick- ing Sabbatical elections.” “This was a nasty assault which could have resulted in a severe injury.”

Union petitions to n elderly woman narrowly survived a car demolishing her garden wall and her parked Peugeot. The woman, who isA over 90 years old, was just leaving record all lectures her house as a vehicle came down the residential street at a high of their lectures. lish and Theatre student, said: “It’s speed. The perpetrator then drove Sabine Demel Automatic Lecture Capture definitely a step forward, and good off before their identity could be es- can be used in lecture rooms that for people who are ill or can’t take tablished. A neighbour called 999, already have the equipment for notes very quickly. but was told it was not an emer- Warwick Students’ Union (SU) the software. In this case, lectures, gency since no one was injured and is campaigning for all lectures in which are on the recording sched- “ that police would not attend the all academic departments to be ule, are automatically recorded and It’s definitely a step scene. According to the Coventry recorded and posted online for uploaded on the Echo 360 Portal. forward, and good for Telegraph, a police spokesman stat- students’ use after the lecture has people who are ill” ed that the 999 number should be taken place. Fran Cattaneo used in emergencies only. Led by education officer Charlie “ Hindhaugh, the vision for the cam- It can be quite tricky to paign is to develop a central portal ensure good quality where recorded lectures from all as the lecturer He continued: “It encourages la- hirty-nine year-old Gary departments can be accessed. cannot move away ziness, because many people would McDowell, from Earlsdon, According to the campaign, Lec- from the mic without rather watch the lecture in bed confessed to stealing two ture Capture could help if students ” than go to the actual lecture.” boxes of chocolates from Pound- are ill or missed the bus, and could affecting sound quality “I think they’re a good thing landT in Coventry, valued at £48. be beneficial for students who are because if you have other com- Mr McDowell’s case was heard on not native speakers in English. Bethan Jackson Jones mitments you can miss it without 1 January, at the Coventry Magis- The SU suggests students who relying on other people to take co- trates Court. The case was heard want their lectures to be recorded pious notes,” commented Bethan alongside Bryn Ward-Smith, who to talk to their lecturer about the Jackson-Jones, an English student. stole 15 bottles of Fairy Liquid possibility of lecture capture. The Personal Capture meth- “I have had experience with (worth £59.85) and Vasile Dra- There are two methods for re- od, where lecturers have to upload Lecture Capture and it can be quite gut, who admitted to the theft of cording lectures, Automatic Lec- records themselves, can be used tricky to ensure good quality as the two Boots perfume bottles (worth ture Capture and Personal Capture, for lectures in rooms without the lecturer cannot move away from £126). Mr McDowell received a » Images: cybrarian77, uniinnsbruck, used by departments like Econom- equipment. the mic without affecting sound criminal behaviour order and a Taqirumi / Flickr ics that currently record some or all Fran Cattaneo, a first-year Eng- quality.” £160 fine. 8 | NewsNEWS Warwick launches free online literature and mental health

course “You shall pass”

Natalya Smith and Dr Paula Byrne, best-selling to helping students struggling with author and fellow of creativity at adjusting to university life. Warwick Business School. The Boar contacted several War- Warwick University has launched Bate explained that great lit- wick students about their response the world’s first free online course erature “has always been one of to the course, all of whom have exploring literature in mental humankind’s richest resources for suffered from mental health con- health. making sense of difficult experi- ditions and have wished to remain “Literature and Mental Health: ences and living through painful anonymous. Reading for Wellbeing” is available times One student responded that she on the FutureLearn platform and is “[It] can serve us all as ‘safe plac- was “glad to see Warwick offering in association with ReLit, a foun- es’ for reflection and de-stressing in further opportunities for people to dation dedicated to ‘bibliotherapy’, a busy world.” explore mental health, in keeping or the wellbeing benefits of great The course will begin on 1 Feb- with the other mental health initi- literature. ruary and over 9,000 people have atives they and the SU have intro- The course features interviews already subscribed. duced this year.” with Sir Ian McKellen, Stephen Learners will spend approxi- However, several students felt Fry and Melvyn Bragg, who dis- mately four hours each week on that it misses an opportunity in cuss how forms of literature such course material including videos, “humanising unusual experiences.” as poetry, plays and novels can help readings, activities, discussions and One student said that though people cope with and understand online conversations, however they the course appears interesting, it times of deep emotional strain. are not limited to a week-by-week risks becoming a “sanist general- The themes explored include frame and can learn at their own ised campaign, which popularises stress, heartbreak, bereavement, pace. a narrow narrative of such illnesses trauma, depression and bipolar, The course is reflective of re- that don’t taken into account the ageing and dementia. cent efforts by both the University narrative of the actual people who Delivering the course are Sir Jon- and Students’ Union (SU) to raise experience these conditions.” athan Bate, honorary fellow of cre- awareness of mental health. The course is the latest in a ativity at Warwick Business School This year’s RAG week raised series of free online courses run and Honorary Professor in the over £2,000 for mental health char- by the University that attract ap- University’s English and Compar- ity Mind, and the SU has launched proximately 16,000 learners from ative Literary Studies department, the “It’s OK” campaign dedicated around the world. » Image: Little Deejie / Flickr

Maintence grants abolished New snapchat filter

Aisha Zahid once a graduate earns over £21,000 sequently lead to the Labour Party Lauren Hurrell for the application to be accepted. a year. launching an opposition day debate He also added that the university In the recent summer budget, and an annulment motion which A new student-designed Warwick was not consulted over the setting George Osborne expressed that took place on Tuesday 19 January. University Snapchat filter may be up of this filter. providing maintenance grants to MPs ended up voting down on on the way, this time featuring The new image seems to be those from lower income back- “Another Blow” the motion proposing to annul the the most famous piece of campus popular with students. First-year grounds had become “unafforda- Conservative’s plan meaning that artwork: the Koan. engineering student George Smith ble” and proposed that they would Warwick SU the decision to axe maintenance This will add to the previous Lomas said “I’ll definitely start be replaced with loans. grants still remains definite. two University filters for students using the Warwick Snapchat filter On Thursday 14 January, a com- The National Union of Students to show off their Warwick pride as if it has the Koan in it”. mittee consisting of only 18 MPs (NUS) say they are “outraged” with part of Snapchat’s ‘geofilter’ feature. took ninety minutes in their deci- As a result of the abolition, a this result. This allows users to superimpose sion to cut the maintenance grant protest was organised by National Sabbatical officers have released unique images relating to their entirely. The grant is currently Campaign against Fees and Cuts a statement commenting that the location onto their pictures. provided to over half a million stu- (NCAFC) and Hope Worsdale. “Warwick SU wishes to express its The filter was submitted by dents in England. Demonstrators protested, block- disgust” at the decision made. the creators of the first Warwick Under the current system, grants ing Westminster Bridge, and gath- The fact that the decision was Snapchat filter, second-year are provided to those from house- ered in Parliament Square in sup- “passed by just 14 votes” is what the students Kyle Byrne and Richard holds which have a family income port of an opposition day debate sabbatical officers refer to as “an- Gold. of £25,000 or less a year. in the Commons. Warwick’s edu- other blow”. Keeping maintenance Richard suggests that the new Under the new plans howev- cation officer, Charlie Hindhaugh, grants were a condition in raising filter “looks a lot cleaner and more er, students will be entitled to was one of the many protestors. tuition fees which highlights “an- modern than the current ones”. £8,200, but this loan means that The lobbying from various Stu- other broken promise and betrayal However, students may be left the amount will have to be repaid dents’ Unions across the UK sub- of students.” waiting as it will take up to a month 9 News 9

Editors: Nick Buxey and Mike Wrench Comment [email protected] ‘Football, Fighting and F***ing’

Working class white boys in crisis of education?

29% pursue further education past 16 50% less likely to attend university

ew data out this week shows that white, convince parents not to be put off by the new In addition, an undeniable causal factor is It does not satisfy the immediate gratifi- working-class boys attend university in fees structure. Only time will tell us how suc- deindustrialisation. As working-class com- cation that our society so readily promotes. far smaller numbers than other social cessful these policies will be. munities in the North East, South Wales and Boys do not benefit from the so-called ‘bed- groups. We can be sure however that there is no the West Midlands among others suffered room culture’ of girls, in which a more pas- NOnly 29% continue in education post-16 shortage of debate on this issue. It is one of the loss of industry, they incurred long-term sive socialisation puts them in a social space and they are 50% less likely to attend univer- the most popular among sociologists, yet few unemployment, falling living standards and where education is more convenient and is sity than women from the same background. definitive causes have been identified. increasing crime rates. not such a cause of social exclusion. This is hugely detrimental to their own An increasingly prominent idea is that As people grow up in these often deso- Speaking as someone who would place prospects, but it hurts us all as it results in a education has become highly feminised; the late communities, seeing only low-paid jobs themselves within the white, working-class massive loss of potential productivity for our vast majority of primary school teachers are available (if any at all) and facing competi- category, such a cultural explanation exacer- economy and contributes towards our mam- women and the values taught in schools and tion from an influx of migrants more skilled bated by the unsuitable environment of the moth ‘skills gap’. We must address it. required by teachers are ones of passivity, than they are themselves, a palpable sense of school fits with my experience; no matter The Universities Minister, David Willets obedience and maturity. disillusionment and resignation to a life of how stereotypical it appears as an explana- MP, believes that universities should apply These often contradict the values boys poverty and unemployment is present and is tion. another level of positive discrimination to- are socialised into from a young age, such as frequently reported in academic studies. To solve this, more male teachers must wards white, working-class boys in addition activity (a focus on sports in particular) and Ultimately, I would hint at a cultural ex- be recruited to change the environment in to the measures already in place for ethnic individualism, in combination with the fact planation for this phenomenon. The differ- schools and the media must promote male minority students and state school pupils in that boys mature at a later stage than girls. ence in cultural tastes and habits of white, role models outside of the usual confines of general. Such a socialisation is especially promi- working-class boys from other groups exists. footballers and celebrities. Moreover, he hints at reforms within the nent in more working-class communities, Ofsted rather brutally described the culture But ultimately, a long-term cultural education system to improve the suitability where historically higher education hasn’t as ‘fighting, football and f***ing’. change is required and that will not happen of the environment for white, working-class been required for employment. It is a culture that rejects education as overnight. boys and an increase in the flexibility of uni- This explanation seems highly simplis- some sort of nerdy, unfashionable pursuit versity recruitment to allow them to adopt tic and stereotypical at face value; however that only children hoodwinked by the estab- George Morgan the positive discrimination measures. it may help to explain why boys fall behind lishment forces of parents and teachers will Finally, he outlines a new scheme to girls at a very early stage. succumb to. Defender Attacker

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© 2015 KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG network of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. All rights reserved. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. 11 News theboar.org/Comment | @BoarComment | COMMENT 11 No faith in faith schools Separate but equal cannot exist in education

ritain is a “primarily Christian” coun- meals will be at that school compared to the toise. constantly conform to the ‘Christian ethos’ of try, according to Nicky Morgan, Sec- local community average. Where these religious schools are my school, you can bet that I’d rebel against retary of State for Education. What does this mean? It means that by state-funded - as both of my examples were that pretty quickly. While the 2011 census reported that 64% religiously selecting, faith schools are also ef- - and especially in cases where they are aca- Parents argue that they should be allowed Bof Britons saw themselves as nominally fectively selecting socioeconomically as well. demically excellent; this means that it is pos- to teach their children in a school that con- Christian, a 2014 YouGov poll reported 77% Where I went to school, a comprehensive sible for a child to be turned away from the forms with their religious beliefs. of the country being “not very, or not at all in west London, 63.93% of the students spoke best school in the area because of their faith But why should the state fund schools religious”. English as a second language, and 59.0% of or lack of. which reject some citizens based on some- To anyone who has lived in the UK for any students were on free school meals. Why should the state fund social and reli- thing as arbitrary as the faith they were born amount of time, the latter figure will support At the Church of England school 500 gious division? into? their anecdotal evidence that sincere reli- metres away, only 9.5% of students had Eng- Religion should be celebrated, sure, but ‘Separate but equal’ cannot exist in edu- gious belief is on the decline here, especially lish as a second language, and 18% were on from my experience (I then went to sixth cation. amonge the young. free school meals. You can guess the academ- form at the aforementioned church school) And segregation of one school has knock- So in this climate of increasing secularism, ic differences between these two schools as religious schools effectively indoctrinate on effects on other schools in the area. It de- why are religious schools still allowed to di- a result. their youth. creases the diversity of all schools in the area, vide communities by discriminating entry by Clearly this is an extreme - but it shows And I would argue this is bad for religion. and is actively detrimental to social cohesion. faith? how the current system is unfit for practice. Anecdotally, most of the Christians I knew It should be done away with. Evidence from the Fair Admissions London, one of the most multicultural cities from the church school had lost their faith by Campaign shows that, on average, the more in the world, should not play host to schools the end of sixth form. Billy Perrigo religiously selective a school is, the lower the that can effectively discriminate and ghet- If I were a child forced to recite prayer and number of children eligible for free school » Image: barnyz/ Flickr Tell me why my My school taught me that curriculum is white I’m just as valid as a man

an inclined perspective on the globalised world. Radhika Roy I struggled to decipher why the essays we read ecently, head teacher at dents all the same gender as you, I on Japanese consumers were all written by Europe- Brighton College, Richard can confirm the opposite sex is not ngland’s School Minister Nick Gibb recently an academics, or why the development theories were Cairns, published a maga- a completely foreign concept to sin- announced the inclusion of feminism as one of based on the historic successes of Western countries. zine article stating that single-sex gle-sex students. the ‘core ideas’ in A-level Politics, after an out- The reason these instances made me uncomfortable Rschools were detrimental to social Being in an all-girls’ school cry over the lack of female thinkers across syllabuses. was that it felt as if the knowledge being attained was development. meant that no subjects were ever EYet there’s a long way to go before women and other highly misrepresented, and merely based on stereo- Cairns said in his article, focus- considered typically ‘male’ to us. minorities are fully represented across the curriculum. types. In recent times, there has been a fair amount of ing particularly on single-sex girls’ Subjects like maths and science According to past National Student Sur- light shed on the issue of the lack of minorities across schools, that girls will grow up un- are more commonly perceived as vey results, women have reported to be curriculum. able to converse with boys which something boys are more likely to less satisfied than men in areas of ac- The ‘Why Is My Curriculum White?’ campaign means they will struggle in the study. ademic support and learning resources. set up by UCL in 2015 is one response to the lack of workplace. But our school encouraged us to In addition to gender, satisfaction diversity found in course content and reading lists. It His article has generated a lot of study what we were really passion- profiles vary greatly amongst races, aims to highlight the importance of reflecting upon debate about single-sex education. ate about whether that was arts, ethnicities, sexual orientations and academia’s complicity to white-supremacy. Having attended an all-girls’ sciences or a combination. disabilities. Curriculums in higher While this is fairly recent, NUS’s lib- school for my entire secondary Through this encouragement, an education are often built around the eration campaigns - Black Students’ school education, from the age of 11 all-girls’ school caused us to flourish, model of a ‘traditional’ student, and Campaign, Women’s Campaign, to 18, I felt his view that going to a ignoring any gender roles that may the education we receive is largely LGBTQ Campaign, Disabled single-sex school means girls will be have been enforced on us in co-ed. shaped on colonialism in which Student’s Campaign - have disadvantaged and unable to com- Being educated in an environment we applaud Eurocentric writers been making this very same municate with male colleagues was where I was constantly witnessing and thinkers over others. argument to liberate cur- simply untrue. girls achieving brilliant things. As a result, the content stud- riculums for many years. Richard Cairns seemed to as- Whether the achievements wers ied is intrinsically linked to the While I do not condone sume that girls who attend sin- in academics, sport, music or drama, formation of a dominant culture, the use of diversity as gle-sex schools will never have the it let me grow up believing that de- which sends signals to the stu- a ‘token’, I strong- chance to interact with boys at all, spite any ideas of this being a ‘man’s dent about who is valued. This ly suggest a higher which is just not the case. world’ we have just as much capa- raises the issue of an ‘attain- representation of Not only will girls in single-sex bility to achieve whatever we want. ment gap’ in higher education. minorities across education have male family mem- If anything, the confidence in- Coming from a comparably curriculums in all bers and friends from outside stilled in myself from an all-girls’ diverse department, it took me departments. This school, but also many schools, such education would make me even a while to realise the truth, or will positively chal- as my own, had links with other lo- more apt in the workplace. the reality, of this situation. It lenge the thinking cal all-boys’ schools. Despite Cairn’s claims, I have was only when I ventured into process of the stu- We worked with them on a range learnt not to be intimidated by men taking an interdisciplinary dents, and prepare of events, from charity fundraising as my thoughts and ability just as route with more ‘traditional’ them for an increas- to drama, and were certainly not invalid as theirs. modules on topics such as in- ingly globalised world. timidated or felt unable to converse Alex Bach ternational development and » Image: Danie can with them. consumption, that I noticed der Merwe / Wikimedia Despite spending 9 to 4 with stu- » Image: shinealight / Flickr 12 |News COMMENT

think it is important to ac- going to be enough time to do of our degree. Give the Freshers a Break knowledge the fact that the everything. But I also remember Therefore, having a week to try transition to university can be turning up to my first lecture and and establish yourself can be im- really challenging. Everyone tells not knowing that there was set portant to the process of integra- Iyou how great university will be, reading for week one and already tion to university life. and it is! feeling behind and slightly over- University is stressful, therefore However, anyone who tells you whelmed. having time to settle can help alle- that it’s smooth sailing from day In first year in general, one of the viate some initial stress. We should one is probably lying. In all honesty, biggest challenges was learning to have the opportunity to make leaving home can be really tough. balance a degree, a social life, and something new and all-inclusive I’m going to go right ahead and say taking basic care of myself. While that could accommodate more than that now for any fresher who feels that might sound rather silly, find- just our party animals (although we like they’re still settling, and also ing time to eat, clean, and sleep, can do love you). state that that is totally fine. be challenging sometimes when By not having a freshers’ week, No matter how ready you feel, in you are also trying to find your the university fails to recognise that the space of twenty-four hours you place and have those pesky dead- our experiences here are so much have up and moved to a new place lines. more than only our academic ca- and you are suddenly expected to This is precisely why I think a reers. feed yourself three times a day. Now, freshers’ week without classes is es- Essentially, it would give freshers I’m not saying that every fresher is sential. It gives people the opportu- all a moment to catch their breath going to find the move really hard, nity to try to find a rhythm before and find their feet, and take a mo- but the point I’m making is it is an beginning academic life. Universi- ment to settle in before taking on adjustment, and people handle that ty is a stressful time, according to the demands of academic life. in different ways. Warwick student support servic- My memory of freshers is a blur es, as many as 29% of us could Zoe Morrall » Image: Francisco Osario / Flickr of excitement, confusion, and the experience mental health sense that three years here wasn’t difficulties during the time

» Image: Ana Paniago + Warwick Media Pop the Economics bubble Library

arwick, without ques- courses that want different for politics, the media and even, good tion, is one of the abso- themselves? gracious, finance. lute best universities in As are many other Humanities I’m not saying that Economics the UK for Economics. It’s a fact students, I am interested in the students are narrow-minded. I’m weW are all aware of as Warwick stu- media and in the charity sector, but saying that the general atmos- dents, and one that indeed should Warwick appears to have a distinct phere at Warwick is one that needs be celebrated. lack of career events aimed towards changing, by all of us. We need to However upon starting at War- these students. broaden our educational horizons, wick this year, I found myself over- This also brings me onto the and embrace other career areas whelmed by the consumption this point that Warwick as a microcosm other than investment banking. university appears to have with the in itself does not respect the arts We should also equally celebrate subject and its related areas. As an subjects in anywhere near the same the amazing Arts and English fac- Ancient History student, before light as Economics. Living in a flat ulties at this University that the starting at Warwick I had no idea of Economists and Engineers, I am students here have worked incredi- what a spring week was, or even frequently teased (in jest) about my bly hard for places to study with. I honestly what investment banking degree choice. firmly believe you can get what you was really about. Upon meeting the hundreds want out of life without viciously Four months on, and I find my- of new people I met as a Fresher, competing with and putting-down self immersed in the Economics many didn’t believe I had any career the people who are also on the bubble, watching my new friends prospects at all, being frequently same journey with you. and flatmates panic themselves, as told that ‘I was wasting three years’. To conclude, yes Warwick is they network for prospective jobs An example close to home for brilliant for Economics. But War- that they won’t even potentially me is Classics. Classics is arguably wick is also amazing for History, start for three years yet. one of the oldest disciplines in the and English, and many other de- Although the sheer amount of world. Yet Classics is still contin- grees that students embark upon opportunity Warwick offers for ually mocked as being ‘pointless’ here, and I think it’s important that View from those trying to get into the Finance and ‘irrelevant’. But yet Classics we don’t lose sight of this fact. sector is fabulous for those inter- graduates still have very good ca- ested, what about the many other reer prospects, especially from Katie Sewell the Koan students on very different degree Warwick, with students entering Britain’s “booze culture” is literally killing students notorious for its party scene, only remember much apart edly “is it bigger on the inside?” and of alcohol consumed and amount Eloise Millard once have I seen anyone throw-up from being projectiling in the lavish surround- of fun had. It also has a lot to do on a night out here. Pre-drinking ings of Kelsey’s loos. with our culture. In most of West- isn’t a thing here either, however Unfortunately, the cons aren’t ern Europe, you can buy beer and ’ve learned a lot of things on my it’s commonplace for someone to limited to crippling public humil- wine from the age of 16. It’s much year abroad in Berlin. One of be swigging from a vodka-filled iation. When your levels of per- less of a taboo. A lot of students those is that every non-Brit I’ve water bottle on the Uni Express. ception are limited, you’re more arrive at university having only just met thinks the British do nothing Booze is more expensive in susceptible to physical danger. In turned 18 and British student cul- Ibut get wasted. Britain than elsewhere in Eu- 2014, York St. John student Meg- ture seems like a world of previous- In my German language class, rope - maybe that’s why we an Roberts tragically drowned in ly-forbidden possibility. Before you we were asked to discuss the typ- try to disguise Everyday Value the River Ouse after a night of try and neck a £4 bottle of Blossom ical eating and drinking habits of spirits as Evian? Even so, most binge drinking at a society social. Hill’s finest before the last bus, re- people in our home country. When students are no strangers to £2 Just last week, a 21 year old woman member sometimes your Mum is alcohol was mentioned, all eyes Jaegerbombs and doubling up from Wisconsin was found literally right. were on me. From Bangladesh to on spirits for £1. frozen to death after leaving a par- Don’t drink too much. The con- Venezuela, we’re renowned for our It’s all fun and games until some- ty where she was apparently “really, sequences could be far worse than boozing to excess. It was pretty em- one starts crying about their ex. really drunk”. a hangover and regrettable snap- barrassing. We’ve all done some cringeworthy I think a lot of students have chats. The sad thing is, it’s more than things whilst drunk. Halloween of dressed as convinced themselves there’s a di- » Image: Robert S. just a stereotype. Despite being second year was that for me. I don’t the TARDIS, getting asked repeat- rect correlation between amount Donovan / Flickr 13 News theboar.org/Comment | @BoarComment | COMMENT 13

Do you agree with someone’s view? Has someone written something so idiotic it makes you physically hurt? Tell us what you think by sending your reader Reader Responses response to [email protected]

t’s true that Kim Kardashian isn’t the et’s get one thing straight: Quentin ’m an intensely private person. My life is n an interview with Newsweek, Taran- most intellectual figure in the world. But Tarantino, a white American director, my own, and it’s nobody else’s business tino openly criticised Roots; labelling it her impact and business acumen are ob- who has made millions of dollars from unless I decide otherwise; I have a prob- as “oversimplified” and asserting that the viously limitless – otherwise she wouldn’t be at least one film depicting black people as lem, then, with the idea that someone isn’t storytelling and performances don’t “ring Ione of the most successful women in Amer- Lslaves, complained about being “oppressed” Ientitled to a private life just because they Itrue”. ica today. by black critics? Can you say ‘privilege’? hold public office. I’m sure that creator, Alex Haley, would Whether she appears to be doing a lot or While it is absolutely true that a conversa- I agree that public figures should be held offer his most sincere apologies for trying not is irrelevant. Whatever she’s doing, she’s tion about Tarantino’s race is equally valid to accountable. A good number of my articles to convey the true story of the suffering of doing it right, and the Kardashian-Jenners the conversation about his depictions of race have been about trying to hold the SU ac- his family at the hands of white slave owners are the most managed family in America, and racism, it’s not because his voice should countable, although sabbs can’t exactly be as accurately as possible. I must then deduce with good reason. be included. It’s because, while black people described as politicians. But what the SU that Tarantino rates his fictitious Django Doesn’t it seem a little ironic that an article are so often misrepresented onscreen and officers do with their private lives, what poli- Unchained as a much more reliable depic- attacking the double standards women face there are so few behind the camera, white ticians do, is no concern of mine. tion. in the media attacks a woman based on her people like Tarantino are given free rein to They could cheat on their wives, have sex Although Tarantino “wanted to give black looks and lack of accomplishments to make do as they please. Including depicting black in a weird way or have a disagreement with American males a western hero, a cool, folk- its point? people as slaves, with the typical ‘white sav- their children but it has no bearing on their loric hero who could actually be empower- As with all social movements, feminism iour’ character teaching one how to be free, abilitity to do their job, however morally rep- ing”, all he managed to do was create a sup- relies on solidarity, and petty attacks on and being critically acclaimed for it. rehensible I find their actions to be person- posed hero who decides to abandon his black someone simply because her contributions to Black peoples’ voices are marginalised ally. peers. He watches violence against them, and society aren’t the most cultured contributions enough; critics’ tearing Tarantino a new one And I wouldn’t allow it to affect my vote, does nothing. It’s questionable if he’s even seems reductive. If we focused on bigger is- is not oppressive. They’re only calling him in the same way that I don’t let someone’s sex, ‘free’ - he becomes a ‘valet’ for the white man sues and disregarded our problems with each out for making millions from something he age or race affect my vote, because they’re all who saved him, which is synonymous with other, we could achieve equality much faster. has benefited from. Cut back on the arro- equally irellevant to how well a person does ‘servant’. Cool? Maybe. Heroic? No. gance, Tarantino, and stop playing the victim. a job. Basically, just let people live their lives. Nick Buxey Eloise Millard in response to ‘No flaws in Star Wars’ Halimah Manan Mike Wrench in response to ‘Is Tarantino really a super- in response to ‘Is Tarantino really a in response to ‘A private life isn’t possible’ villain?’ supervillain?’ Têtê-à-têtê Should Donald Trump be banned from the UK?

Matt Monk says YES If anyone campaigns to hinder the rights James Partington says NO ic: the use of state power to silence those of our citizens freedom of movement due with whom you disagree rather than con- to some arbitrary factor such as race or re- tending with their opinions. The nature of n a quiet night in your Rootes kitch- ligion, we should have no tolerance for it, onald Trump is an intergalactic twit. our rebuttal of Trump is a measure for the en, your Muslim flatmate tells you and swiftly move to ensure this man has no His comments about Muslim com- health of our society. about a guy in T-block 2nd floor. voice to spread his hate in the UK. munities are odious, divisive and ir- The Home Office cite those “not condu- Now, you have heard some nice stuff about We should protect the freedom of speech redeemable. cive to the public good” and who “seek to OT-block. Sure, they have some problems with of our citizens, not those of a fool from an- DYet our response should not be a reac- harm our society” as criteria used to assess the floors below them trying to sneak into other country who views some of our peo- tionary and impul- sive ban, but a these cases. Trump has objectionable views, their kitchen, but whatever, right? ple with such hatred for measured and intelligent but I do not believe he has passed beyond This one T-block guy though, your mate illegitimate reasons. approach capable this critical threshold, yet. describes as a ‘dangerous fool’, a ‘buffoon’. We don’t allow of contend- ing his Our policy is specific to our society and He’s trying to stop him from entering other hate filled views adequate- would be misused if applied to Trump, who T-block 2nd floor kitchen ‘because he is a people to en- ly. has not made specific threats towards Brit- Muslim’, despite others in T-block being ter our country, A ban would ain. In recent history, 84 hate preachers have friends with your mate. not Muslim ex- be an il- liberal been banned for inciting extremism and Now, the reasonable action here is not to tremists, nor an- and regressive fomenting terrorism. Banning someone on invite this T-block ‘dangerous fool’ to your ti-semites, why is stance. It origi- the basis of ignorance and stupidity would flat, to give him a cup of tea and a grilling. Islamophobia not nates from the same create a worrying precedent. Further, and That’s not how you treat actively racist big- viewed from the strand of crucially, Trump has made his remarks ots. Instead, the next time he wants to join same angle? log- whilst outside Britain, and banning his the party in the flat, you shut the door, you entry would not stop us hearing his tell him he can go and join the many views. lonely Westwood folks for one of their During the debate, Bradford parties, they’ll be happy to West MP Naz Shah – “I stand here have him. In our flat howev- as a proud British Muslim wom- er, you can’t shut out one of an. In my Islam, what it teaches us, without us shutting out me, is that goodness is better than you. There is no tolerance evil. If someone does bad you do for intolerance. good in return. I will not allow the Now, this idea may be rath- rhetoric of badness into my heart”. er paradoxical. An intolerance We must respond wisely. A ban is for intolerance is problemat- tempting but would undermine our ic, but it makes sense in such liberal values and achieve nothing: free a zoomed-in analogy, and is expression must remain a right for all, and very applicable to the big not an arbitrary privilege. picture of international free- If we banned people for holding misin- dom of movement. We have formed, controversial or inexact views then no responsibility to protect parliament would soon be emptied. A ban on Trump’s freedom of speech. Trump would be hypocritical, counterpro- » Images: Gage Skidmore / Flickr ductive and fruitless. 1414 |News COMMENT Editors’ Letters

“Maintenance “Have you got a grants are a reward” grad job yet?”

Hiran Adhia Karishma Jobanputra Editor-in-Chief Deputy Books Editor

was at a house party last week and an- ments). I can accept all of these things, but don’t think I can count the number of Plan B and you’ll have the head bob, and an other student told me that they support- the reality is that maintenance grants served times I’ve been asked about my plans unconvincing, sometimes patronising, “it’ll ed the cutting of maintenance grants. as a reward for the talented, yet underpriv- for after graduation. Personal tutors, all fall into place”. Although he had received the benefit him- ileged minds. It was a crucial investment friends, even people you don’t know. I think The thing is, it genuinely will. It will fall Iself, he was adamant that the common tax- in young people that gave them hope that Ithey just want to be able to pose the ques- into place. Obviously that doesn’t mean payer should not have to subsidise anyone’s the government actually gives a shit about tion so they feel they’re a part of the action. that you can head home, eat McDonalds education. them. It turns out that they don’t. My life is literally like Groundhog Day. everyday and expect riches and happiness Why should Bill the Builder pay for an Keep throwing your socio-economic If you’re a finalist, you’ll feel some affin- to come your way. An inkling about the estranged teenager to get through univer- arguments at me. Keep telling me that it ity. If not, you’ve got it to look forward to. right career path and a list of options is just sity, only for them to end up earning more gives some students an unfair advantage. Some people, though, probably do look for- fine. It’s more than fine. It’s just as valid and than him? It was a bit of a shock. Keep reminding me that university is not ward to these conversations. If you’ve sort- acceptable as saying you’ve got a grad job I felt like I was listening to the sort of the only option. I am more than happy ed a graduate job, and got a cohesive plan ready. And it’s about time everyone realised person that you see drinking in a Wether- to listen to you, but I know for a fact that about the pitfalls of investing in a holiday having a graduate job is not the be all and spoon’s at 10am on a weekday; not an actual there are plenty of people at Warwick and home in the Cayman Islands, then it’s a end all, and it certainly doesn’t define your student going through the pains of being beyond that are only here because of this great conversation to initiate. And hey, who success. perpetually poor like the rest of us. grant. It was the only way they could afford could blame you - you sound superhuman. With so many people always asking what Never mind the fact that young peo- to change their lives. I’m definitely not averse to the conversa- the next move is no wonder everyone is ple work incredibly hard in a minefield of In the grand scheme of things, if you tion itself. After all, there’s no point sticking stressed about a viable future the moment UCAS applications just to get to university, actually asked taxpayers (like your parents) your head in the sand. The end of the year after they step foot out of university. Take a let alone learning to fend for themselves, what they would rather spend their money will come, and it’ll be time to say goodbye breath and realise what you want from the leaving their families and trying to pre- on, I don’t think grants is an unreasonable to the U1 (thank God), Vialli’s (sob) and future, and out of life. Then go and chase it. pare for the scariest concept of all: being a request. When we are still paying off the aubergine purple (no comment). As an ob- If you already know - great. And if you fully-fledged, working adult. I mean, what debt from banks, leveraging mortgages and sessive planner, I’ve even been the one to don’t - that’s just as great. You’ve got your kind of state would even want to punish a subsidising MPs expenses; I don’t think an ask the question sometimes. twenties to figure it out - that’s what they’re group of people that has hurdled all of these investment in the future of this country is It’s the reaction and attitude around it for. Why bother working crazy hours at a challenges? Who in their right mind would too much to ask. that makes me want to throw something. job you don’t really want just so you can tell agree with them? Education is a human enterprise and If you haven’t sorted out every detail of life people now that you’re “sorted and court- I know what the sceptics are going to say. everyone deserves a chance to go as far as you’ll be treated to a sympathetic head bob. ed”? That the grants system is very inefficient, they possibly can. If you don’t agree with It worsens when you say you’re looking for Either way, don’t worry about that hol- that it shouldn’t be based on how much this, then maybe you haven’t really learnt a creative job, and are waiting to hear back iday home in the Cayman Islands - I hear your parents earn and student debt isn’t re- anything at all. about postgraduate study. Top it off with the weather isn’t so great. ally “debt” (one of the more moronic argu- the fact that you’re still thinking about a

MI5 best employer for equality Cartoon by Ali Thomas We think...

We think spies, we think James Bond, we think white man. While MI5 are trying to create this fun, rad and diverse image - can we really believe it? The problem is they are a secret service, are they really going to expose any inbuilt inequality? Like, honestly, if there was an organisation capable of keeping under wraps their lack of diversity, it’s MI5. Of course, this could just be a pointless little rant and they might actually be a super diverse force of spies. But, we’ll probably never really know. Or if we do find out, we’ll probably go missing pretty quickly - nice knowing you all. Connor O’Shea & Lily Pickard, News 8 theboar.org15

Editor: Alexander Shaw Finance [email protected] The cost of blowing up the Death Star

ow that Star Wars is on everyone’s be a major setback. Estimated by economists, mind again, Professor Zachary Fein- it would take us 833,315 years to produce stein has been looking at blowing enough steel (at current production rates of up the Death Stars. Far from the victorious 1.3 billion tonnes per annum) to construct Nclimax the movies present, he has concluded the moon-like station. On the bright side that their destruction would in fact have been however, Earth can supply us with more than catastrophic for the galactic economy. enough iron. With all the iron on Earth, we The US government claims that the cost could build over 2 billion Death Stars. How- of building the first Death Star was $852 ever almost all of that comes from mining quadrillion. Factor in the cost of building the everything from the Earth’s core, which is second, as well as all the necessary research a slight problem for the continuation of our and development, and the sum grows to $419 planet. quintillion (that’s a billion billion). To put One last area to consider, as always, are the that into context, if the entirety of the world’s markets. The financial markets might have GDP (estimated to about $77 trillion) was been heavily invested in the Death Stars, put solely into Death Star construction, it with the construction costs likely the major would be 11065 years before we would finish outstanding debt. Thus, with all this mon- the first one. Earth isn’t going to be blowing ey in trouble and the death of Palpatine, the up Alderaan any time soon. Galactic economy would collapse. The Rebel Feinstein then goes on to calculate the Alliance would have to have a bailout ready Gross Galactic Product by comparing the of at least 20 percent of GGP ($18.4 sextil- development of the Death Star to that of the lion) to prevent galactic financial collapse – I first atomic bomb. Assuming that the cost doubt Princess Leia’s pockets run that deep. of the battle station is 0.21% of the Empire Now, this may all seem a bit pointless, but budget (an equivalent figure to the Manhat- Episode XII seems to indicate that the Re- tan Project), the estimated GGP is $92 sex- bels’ victory was not quite as triumphant as tillion for the 20 years of the Empire. we first thought. Not to mention, of course, However, assuming that we had the mon- that many Bothans died to bring us this in- ey, and technology to build such a space sta- formation. tion, the required raw materials alone would Reece Goodall » Image: Steve Troughton / Flickr Oil Crisis: We are producing too much! report compiled last week by the In- crease in supply, forcing the prices down to a ternational Energy Agency (IEA) 13 year low of less than $28 per barrel. How- said that “the world could find itself ever, it is expected to fall further. drowning in oil this year, and prices could As noted in a report by the Guardian last continueA to fall’”thanks specifically to the week, the fall in prices was initially seen as increased output from Iran that is balancing good, as it cut costs for most companies, out the decreased supply elsewhere. whilse also increasing consumer spending So far, we have witnessed two years of sup- power through lower prices for fuel. ply exceeding demand globally, and next year This has happened in conjunction with will push it into its third, with supply out- the sanctions being lifted off Iran, the world’s stripping demand by over 1 million barrels fifth-largest oil producer. It will be interest- per day. ing to see, over the next few months and This has coincided with the slowdown years, what effect this will have on other oil in China’s economy, resulting in far low- producing countries, and how OPEC will er demand from China, but similarly other respond. Further to this, the wider political BRICs, as reported in our last issue of the impact might be interesting, with ‘fracking’ Boar. It is estimated further by the IEA possibly being delayed in the United King- that 285 million barrels will be added to the dom thanks to the lower prices of oil. stockpile this year. The markets have responded to this in- Jennie Watkin » Image: Open Grid Scheduler / Flickr 16

Editor: Blessing Mukosha Park Features [email protected] A right and not a privilege Lauren Bond on why we must protect education from becoming an option only open to the wealthy

“Social mobility in Higher Education is a hugely important issue with massive social implications, and we will continue to oppose any measures which have a negative impact on students or constitute regressive steps for Higher Education.” Warwick SU

» Image: Wrote / Flickr

rguments for free educa- But as the poorest students are get- ing in debt simply because we want than those who went to private apply to university but they are also tion are often a big part of ting pushed away from higher edu- to learn and do well for ourselves. school. increasingly unable to afford it if university life, as it’s under- cation, we have to wonder – will it According to The Telegraph, of- they do get in. standably an issue many students only be those who were able to af- Almost two-thirds of ficial figures show that almost two- Despite what some say, degrees careA about. With the recent mo- ford being privately educated who A-level students from thirds of A-level students from the are important. No, having one tion passed to abolish maintenance are able to afford university? the private sector went private sector went on to Britain’s doesn’t promise anything, and yes grants for university students, the The cost of university is a prob- leading institutions in 2010/11 it’s often the experience you get issue is more important than ever. lem. The rise in tuition fees was on to Britain’s leading compared with less than a quar- that can count the most towards unfair, and put a lot of people off institutions in 2010/11 ter of those from the state system. getting your desired career but a coming to University. Now the gov- compared with less than a And in further research from 2013, degree certainly helps you put your I’ve always thought ernment is getting rid of mainte- quarter of those from the it was shown that privately educat- foot onto the ladder. nance grants, a huge source of help state system. ed students had a 9% more likely The reality seems to be that it’s education was a right, not for the poorest students who attend chance of getting into Oxbridge our parents’ income which will de- a privilege. university. Without them, many than state school students, with the cide what kind of education we can wouldn’t be able to study. Educa- same A Level results. have. Are we really willing to accept tion should be a right for everyone, The sad reality is that for teen- So, not only are state-educated this? we shouldn’t have to pay for it and agers who went to state schools, it’s students at a statistical disadvan- Many people deem it unfair that we shouldn’t have the worry of be- so much harder to get good results tage when getting the grades to we have to pay so much money for the right to be educated. Surely, after working so hard to get here, we shouldn’t have to pay out of the nose for it. I completely agree with this sentiment, yet it’s always struck me that there’s a side to ‘free education’ that nobody talks about. photo: Warwick For Free Edu- Privilege is always a thing that cation/ warwick4freeducation. bothered me growing up. I could wordpress.com never understand why people paid money to go to school, when I knew I got mine for free. I thought education was a right, not a privilege. I’ve seen many a student protesting against student fees and cuts to maintenance grants. Especially at Warwick where many students have protested against the rising costs of higher education. But I’ve always felt like there’s an elephant in the room. Around 25% of students at Warwick were privately educated – it might not seem like a lot, but only 7% of the UK population were privately educated, which shows there is a huge distortion in the figures. It’s wrong to assume that everyone who went to private school doesn’t agree with the premise of free education - a lot of them do. theboar.org/Features | @BoarFeatures | FEATURES 17 Is my tuition worth the £9,000 a year?

Accepting that, despite the re- engaging, but the content is still tribute fully in seminars. If you’ve be strangers, who don’t know much Cedric Conboy peated protests against fees, tuition phenomenal. In my experience, bothered to do the reading and about them. This probably comes costs money, the next question is seminars are generally well man- prepare the questions, seminars from the fact that personal tu- his week Warwick SU re- whether the education we receive aged and interesting. are a fantastic way of being taught. tor meetings generally come in 10 leased an official statement reflects the price we pay. Looking They really do enhance your un- minute slots. Honestly, 90 minutes against the recent decision at Warwick in particular, at first derstanding of the issues. Also, of personal tutor time in a degree is by the government to cut mainte- glance I would say yes. This seminars give the opportunity simply not acceptable. nanceT grants which will affect “… university is consistently in to get into the issues much In summary, we are taught students from families with annual the top 10 in league tables more deeply than lectures. through lectures and seminars and incomes of £25,000 or less [who] in the UK and in the top The majority of seminars for most students, they are gener- get the full grant of £3,387 a year” 100 universities in the in my experience have ally worth it. We’ve all been in few (BBC News). We don’t need to world. This doesn’t been fascinating and lectures which you wouldn’t rave to look very hard around campus to happen by chance. worth attending. your friends about, but in general see students also protesting against The teaching Outside of pro- the quality of the teaching is still tuition fees and cuts to student here is among the viding lectures and of a high standard. The same goes grants. highest quality in seminars, uni- for seminars. If you make the most the world. The versities also use of them they are great to enhance This university is professors are at our tuition fees your knowledge of specific issues consistently in the top the forefront of to supply us with and help a lot with regards to the their fields and personal tutors notes you can take and use later for 10 in league tables in the we have lecturers who, throughout essays and exams. UK and in the top 100 here who wrote the the course of our universities in the world. textbooks on our degree, are meant 90 minutes of personal This doesn’t happen reading lists. Grant- to support and en- tutor time in a degree is by chance...we have ed in some cases this courage us. Given simply not acceptable can be seen as shame- that most students only lecturers here who wrote less self-promotion on see their personal tutor the textbooks on our the lecturer’s behalf, but once or twice a term, it just Personal tutors are a wasted asset reading lists these books are internation- doesn’t seem like we are get- as we hardly get to see them and ally acclaimed; they are even ting what we pay for. the other services provided by the referenced in our other textbooks. You don’t get enough time with university are a mixed bag. All of this raises the question of Lectures in the majority of personal tutors. While some are Overall, I would say that al- whether or not the money we (have subjects are not compulsory but N o w that lucky to have a good relationship though the £9000 we pay is unnec- to) pay for university is worth it, es- most of the ones I have attended the university website has been re- with their personal tutor (I for essary and unjustified, our tuition pecially when so many of us will be have been captivating. Yes, you do furbished, it is much easier to ac- example am rather fond of mine) at this university is well worth it. in debt once we graduate. get the odd lecturer who is not as cess the materials necessary to con- many find their personal tutors to »Image: silloyd1 / Flickr Are you a little bit geeky? Join our team of Software Developers on a starting salary of £32K plus excellent benefits No experience required - Internships available for Summer 2016!

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Editor: Elizabeth Pugsley Lifestyle [email protected] Ready, steady... cheese Heidi Selwood's The best bits of pie perfection... EAVEN is all I have to say about this recipe. If you being a basic bitch don’t try it, your life will Hnever be complete. ecently, I had the honour of about this issue in greater detail. crowd, because there’s something Ingredients: being labelled a ‘basic white Why had he presumed that my wrong with the “basic” women - 1 Camembert girl’. love for Taylor and Tchaikovsky that they are so clearly in com- - 1 Puff pastry block, rolled out into Now, I will admit, I do have all were mutually exclusive? Why petition with. Women are taught two sheets Rthe required qualities – I’m white, can’t I love Starbucks and Shake- from an early age to be more than - 2 tbsp. onion chutney (or apricot I drive a Fiat 500, I drink Star- speare at the same time? Does their gender, to separate them- jam!) bucks on the regular and I LOVE my Bridget Jones DVD collection selves from typical feminine qual- - 1 egg yolk, whisked Taylor Swift ('1989' is a work of mean I can’t have an opinion on ities in order to seem more than - 1 stick of French bread, sliced art, don’t fight me on this). How- the recent air strikes in Syria? they are. However, collecting ever, I was astounded when a male I want to know when peo- MAC lipsticks, loving Pretty Lit- Method: I was conversing with presumed ple started deciding that liking tle Liars and quoting Mean Girls 1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/ these qualities meant I was shal- certain popular music or items in every other sentence does not Gas Mark 4. low and uncultured. In fact, he labelled you as shallow or basic. mean you are less intelligent than 2. Remove the Camembert cheese then proceeded to interrogate me, It’s not only condescending, it's - anyone else – I promise you, there from the plastic wrapper. asking what my favourite piece dare I say it - sexist towards mod- is no correlation between being a 3. Slice the Camembert in half of art was, if I’d ever listened to ern women, to decide that shared ‘basic white girl’ and being smart, horizontally. classical music or even had a fa- interests populated by a certain cultured and accepting. 4. Spread the onion chutney on one vourite composer (as if Nicki Mi- demographic are somehow worth half of the Camembert, and then naj doesn’t count?). He asked me less than others. Quoting Mean Girls in place the other half of the cheese if I’d read "the great literatures of I know a lot of females who every other sentence does back on top (similar to how you the world"; if I’d "ever travelled love the same things as I do - they not mean you are less would make a sandwich!) anywhere before"; if I was "well just aren’t as open about it. One intelligent than anyone 5. Place the Camembert to one read on politics or history". When of my close friends admitted the else... side. I finally submitted my essay-long other day that she loves a new 6. Make sure the puff pastry sheets answer detailing several of my Bieber track, but then had to go are rolled out to at least the thick- cultural interests, he then asked and listen to her Smiths vinyl to If you hate Beyoncé, that’s fine ness of a pound coin. me if I’d Googled them. "cleanse her soul". Why? Why (sort of ); if you can’t stand the 7. Place the Camembert on top of must we dissociate ourselves from colour pink, by all means, choose one puff pastry sheet. I want to know when popular interests in order to seem another colour; but please ladies, 8. Gently brush the egg yolk on the people started deciding cool or cultured? It’s almost as let’s encourage each other to own pastry surrounding the cheese. that liking certain popular if females feel an innate need to our femininity and decide for 9. Now place the other pastry sheet distinguish themselves from the ourselves what we can and can’t on top of the cheese and squeeze music or items labelled typical woman, or as she is now enjoy! Embrace your inner stereo- the two pastry sheets together you as shallow... known, the ‘basic white girl’. typical white girl, stick on Legally around the cheese to seal them. Every female book or movie Blonde and realise that the only 10. With a knife, cut away the character claims they aren’t like person who can define who you excess pastry, leaving 1-2 inches Now, at the time, I felt a mix- the other girls: they are different, are is you. of pastry around the edge of the ture of infuriation and amuse- unique, special. Women are told Charlotte McGing cheese. ment but then I started to think they have to stand out from the » Image: Poolie / Flickr 11. With a fork, press around the edges of the pastry to squidge out all the excess air and it makes a pretty pattern! 12. With the leftover pastry, cut a heart shape and place it on top of the cheese. 13. Now brush all of the pastry with Agony Aunt: Liv's lifestyle advice the remaining egg yolk until it is covered. 14. Place in the oven for 15 minutes. ear Liv, ear Pattie, down again tomorrow. 15. Remove from the oven, slice it Deadline time is about prior- up and serve with the French bread. I need advice – I’ve come Firstly, do not worry. itising and self-control. Obviously, 16. Snap a cheeky picture and tag back for the second term and I al- If you manage to get through the prioritise tomorrow’s piece of work us on Instagram @BoarLifestyle Dready feel overwhelmed with work! Dexam time or a mass of deadlines over next week’s exam, but begin Term hasn’t even started properly without reaching peak stress levels, your work early enough to have yet and I’ve got tonnes of dead- please tell me how. time for it all. It is only term two lines… My friends all want to go Secondly, the stress is not al- after all, and uni isn’t impossible; out clubbing or to the pub and I ways bad! Stress has been shown it’s just hard work, and you wouldn’t feel so guilty heading out for the to make you work harder – well, up be here if you weren’t capable. Have evening or relaxing when I have so to a certain point. Too much stress enough self-control to earn a night much to do. I don’t want to miss however, diminishes your motiva- off and start again the day after. out this term but I want to pass my tion and attention, and this is when Good luck all, and remember to degree! your social life needs to come back keep your questions coming! into play. So, the answer is simple; Please help, take a break! See your friends, relax, Liv x have a drink… It’s okay! If you do Panicked Pattie this, you’ll be ready to get your head » Image: Olivia Gillard / Facebook 15 theboar.org/Lifestyle | @BoarLifestyle | LIFESTYLEtheboar.org 19 Pro Tips: How to be savvy in the January sales How to make the most of your student loan: Daljinder Johal tells us how to be frugal yet fashionable

ew clothes, cool Nikes, the ning good deals or let you collect latest iPad…we live in a points (to buy more). world where buying things Internet shopping is becoming has become a bit of an obsession. more and more popular but it’s best NIn fact I get a bit close to saying to be shrewd. Electronics and books “Hi there, my name is Daljinder are a fairly safe bet to buy online, and I’m a shopaholic”. I’m not even but trying on clothes in person is joking, the book and film ofCon - far better than hoping the skirt that fessions of a Shopaholic hit a little looked so cute on the model on- too close to home for me. When line doesn’t turn out to make your I’m not feeling great, I always end butt look like a space ship. Learn up buying myself a cute notebook from my tragic mistake – I went all from Paperchase or yet another lip- the way to the post room for that. stick. Being tactical about what shops to Plus, I love the buzz of getting buy from is crucial. Now is the time something on sale. Luckily, I’m to gravitate towards high quality pretty good at not descending into investment pieces from upmarket a spiral of crazy like Isla Fisher and brands - just make sure to grab the instead channelling this into being one you’ve been eyeing on sale. This a savvy shopper. This also means is better than pouring money into that I’m a wealth of information on everyday clothes that haven’t got as how to grab a steal in the January big of a markdown and aren’t very sales. good quality. Sale shopping in person can be Now is the time to gravitate overwhelming, so it’s best to whit- towards high quality tle down your three preferred shops for an item. Then, if you don’t have investment pieces that any luck, you can save an obvious- you’ve been eyeing on sale... ly more precious commodity than your money - time - and move onto something else. Before buying To avoid your small uni room something, take the opportunity to looking like a hoarder’s, assess inspect items closely for scratches, what you already have. Instead of rips or other flaws so you don’t end thoughtlessly buying stuff that you up with a nasty surprise. If it’s a already have or will never use, take good deal and a minor fixable issue, a step back and figure out a list of go for it. key pieces and a few non-essentials. Finally, always check the return You probably don’t need yet an- policy; some stores have brilliant other striped top or fourth iPhone ones so if you’re in two minds, you case. Working out the maximum can actually have a bit more time price that you’re willing to spend to ponder rather than doubt losing is especially helpful on a tight stu- you a great find. Don’t feel guilty dent budget, and it’s worth having about an impulse buy once in a a quick browse online to check while - sometimes the best things whether you can get it cheaper - aren’t planned! things like beauty products or music often have specialised sites run- » Image: Hannah Morgan / Unsplash Don’t be deceived by celeb DVDs Holiday pounds weighing you down and thinking of buying a fitness DVD? Reece Goodall warns us not to hristmas is well and truly cra-clad telly harridans are willing ing more than ever. The annoy- working, doing chores, whatever celebrities into the mix, however, it over, but some things re- to share their secrets with you. You ing opportunism of these ce- you’d like, to waste an hour and has become an excuse to make peo- main constant. The panic of too can be built like Davina Mc- lebrities, knowing that they are a half following an elaborate fit- ple trying to get fit feel worse about knowing deadlines are just around Call, and all you have to do is shell cashing in on (whilst lowering) ness routine. Not to mention, of the whole endeavour, and render Cthe corner and you haven’t done out for her DVD. All that, and you your self-esteem, is the un- course, that this routine isn’t them out of pocket as an added bo- any of your assignments. The sheer get to do it in the comfort of your derlying implication that the be-all and end-all – we nus. Still, on the bright side, when joy of lying in bed when outside is living room – it’d be mad not to. you’re not as good as them also don’t have a personal you’re sitting on the sofa, crisps just a bit too cold. And the sure- and you won’t be unless trainer like the celebs do, in hand lamenting your inability fire knowledge that, when you turn Now is the time to you hand over your mon- standing around flattering to shift those pounds, at least you on the television, you have to suffer gravitate towards high ey. them and handing them know you have Davina McCall some celebrity promoting their fit- I’ve no doubt that blended fennel shakes and her stupid intricate workout to ness DVD. quality investment pieces these measures work (or something stupid like blame for it. Yes, it’s that time of the year that you’ve been eyeing for them, but fitting a that) before they go back when you get to feel bad about on sale... celebrity model onto an to their insulting day job of Have you tried a yourself because all celebrities ordinary person’s life isn’t baring their arse for money or celebrity DVD? worked themselves healthy and right and it won’t work. something. Tweet us you are sitting there, a fat slob after But here’s the deal. Britain, as a We have more impor- If we’re honest, the only way @BoarLifestyle stuffing yourself with turkey and nation, is getting fatter than ever, tant things to do with our to get fit is to eat better and to to let us know how it chocolate. But fear not – these ly- even though these DVDs are sell- time – people are too busy move around a lot. By adding went! 16 News 20

Editor: Lucy Skoulding Books [email protected] Warwick student gets published Nicola Paling interviews Harry Manners, Warwick physics student and author of the Ruin saga » Image: harrymanners.net / Recuerdos de Pandora / Flickr

any of us dream of being successful are you planning on writing any more? few hundred active professionals. dependent authors that have been emerging authors in the future, but have you Essentially, getting an agent is like a lottery. since 2010 or thereabouts. I’ve been self-pub- ever thought about the possibility Counting novellas, I have five books pub- It’s not uncommon for authors who write lishing my work for about a year now, which of starting out now? Surely it’s not possible lished. I also have two short stories published wonderfully to query for a decade or more enables me to maintain absolute control, and Mto fit in writing and still do a degree, let alone in speculative fiction anthologies. Right now before they get a deal. It took me three years removes all the unnecessary barriers. attempt to get published? To answer these I have outlines for around thirty more books, to get an agent, during which time I always questions, I talked to Harry Manners, au- with ideas for about twenty more floating had at least one query pending a response. How do you balance writing and studying thor of the Ruin saga and third year physics around in my head. The problem isn’t find- Actually that’s pretty fast, especially for an for your degree? student who proves it is possible to enter the ing the ideas—ideas are nothing special, unknown teenager, but at the time it literary world now, and gives us some of his and they’re a dime a dozen—the felt like an age. When I got the That’s a question I get asked all the time. I expert advice on how to get started. problem is refining them, offer, I was over the moon, study Physics, so the workload is pretty heavy. and then living long and we started pitching. But something most people are surprised to What inspired you to start writing and how enough to get them all We got some interest hear is that the writing itself isn’t what takes old were you when you started? written down. from editors, one the time. I tend to write about 2000 words of them from a per day. On top of that, I edit, proofread, for- Inspiration was never an issue for me. Jack Was it hard to Big Six publish- mat, write ad copy, commission editors and London said, “You can’t wait for inspiration. get published? ing house. The cover art, and myriad other things involved You have to go after it with a club.” I’m in total problem was in the publishing process. The upside of be- agreement. Writing is simply something I’ve As I men- that my book ing an independent author is that I make all always done. It was my way of relaxing when tioned, I start- wasn’t what the decisions. The downside is that it’s very I was younger, and I’ve written pretty much ed pursuing they want- time intensive. Finding the balance isn’t easy. every day since I was thirteen. I started writ- publication ed for what To get it all done, you really have to need to ing novel-length projects when I was sixteen, when I was publishing write and be read. Just wanting to ‘write a and pursued publication for the first time seventeen. At companies book one day’ isn’t enough. when I was seventeen. the time I had call their lists. written three Publishers of- What advice would you give to students What genre of books do you write? novels, and I ten have a pretty who want to get in to creative writing? thought maybe I good idea of what I’m all over the place. Genres are more or less was getting towards kinds of books they Read. Read a lot. Then write, a lot. Keep do- a function of marketing, and have little to do not being absolutely want to publish in any ing that. There isn’t a whole lot more to it. I with stories themselves. Most of my work awful. So I started que- one year. The people we don’t think that courses help all that much; hangs around in the speculative fiction area rying agents, sending what I approached wanted me to being in a creative environment where you (a blanket term for science fiction and fan- considered at the time to be my make some pretty radical chang- can get regular feedback and be around other tasy), but I also write literary, thriller, horror, grand epic. Most literary agencies will es to the manuscript. creative minds is undoubtedly a big help, but post-apocalyptic, and magic realism. I’ve just respond within three-six months, if at all, That’s nothing unusual. Books often go it will never suddenly invest you with some released the last instalment in a post-apoca- and in that time require exclusivity. For every through heavy editorial changes during the essential essence that will enable you to write. lyptic trilogy called The Ruin Saga, and I’m thousand queries an agent receives, they’re publishing process. But this was on a level You just have to start. You’ll probably be ter- now working on a literary sci-fi novel chron- likely to request the full manuscript of one— that just wasn’t worth it for me; they essen- rible for a long time, but that doesn’t matter. icling the lives of the first settlers on Mars. yes, one. Maybe one in twenty of those get tially wanted me to write a different book. Nobody’s early drafts are any good. Even the asked to sign deals. If you’re looking for an Turns out it wasn’t for me. I decided to do best authors say that the first draft is more or How many books have you published and agent in the UK, you have a choice of only a something else: I joined the hundreds of in- less a splurge of ideas; writing is rewriting. Genre Study: Sci-Fi New edition of Mein Kampf

he sci-fi genre is characterized by a lot a massive history buff with a big weak spot of things: aliens, space and intergalac- for queens, kings and all that scandal. How- tic travel for example. It can be known ever, I’m not someone who enjoys elaborate as a genre only the computer science kids or language too much and Dune is certainly a peopleT with really weird fetishes enjoy but to novel that can be guilty of that. anyone who has this view, I say you’re wrong! The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is defi- ein Kampf was written during it: the book will be annotated for educa- Science fiction probably has the ability to nitely on my list of to-be-read books. It’s Hitler’s years in prison fol- tional purposes, and to help contextualise be the most flexible of all the genres because by Douglas Adams and has had a massively lowing the Munich Putsch of German history (as well as saving it from it lets the imagination run wild, but can also positive reception to it since it came into ex- November 1923. In the book, appropriation by neo-Nazi groups). Critics combine fiction with reality. Take The Mar- istence on the radio in 1978. You either love ostensibly an autobiography, he lays out his have argued that it is massively insensitive, tian by Andy Weir for example. Weir takes it or hate it but nevertheless, it almost always politicalM ideology and his plans for the fu- possibly glorifying Hitler and belittling the technical details and weaves them with fic- ends up on best sci-fi novels lists ture of Germany. His main thesis was that Holocaust. It has also coincided with the tion and story-telling, so not only are you be- My message to you is to try and look at of the ‘Jewish peril’ – the book explains how events of Cologne, suggesting the desire for ing entertained, you’re also learning about… this genre with new eyes (unless you already he became increasingly anti-Semitic and a return of the book’s view. I think this is you got it, science. love it, in which case, good on you). I was militaristic, and was later interpreted as an very unfortunate. For the more elaborate science fiction, never really destined for a scientific career outline for what happened during his time On the whole, though, the release is a complete with galactic duchies, kingdoms but I definitely envy those who are. in power. good thing. History is there to be learned and corrupt politicians, Dune by Frank Her- The possibilities are endless, especially in Not unsurprisingly, then, the book is from, studied, and this is a fantastic exam- bert could your choice. It’s about a feudal space. The idea of exploring undiscovered very controversial, and so its reprinting in ple of where banning would do far more interstellar society in which noble houses lands holds a kind of romanticism for me. Germany this year has also attracted con- harm than good. compete for the valuable “spice” melange. siderable controversy. What is important to Reece Goodall Anyone who knows me really well knows I’m Hazal Kirci note, though, are the motivations behind 17 News theboar.org/Books | @BoarBooks | BOOKS 21

Top Ten Opening Lines

It is a truth universally acknowledged, ‘There was no possibility of taking a walk Rowling: an opening line that will make ‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.’ that a single man in possession of a good that day.’ you feel nostalgic every time you read it, this I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith: as fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë: although seems so innocent in comparison to the final quirky and heart-warming as the book Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen: the most fa- not as famous as the amazing ‘Reader I mar- showdown in the Battle of Hogwarts. itself, this line really needs no other expla- 1mous, misquoted and frankly overused open- 3ried him’ from the same book, this opening 8nation. ing line in the history of books, a list like this line immediately grabs your attention and ‘It was a queer, sultry summer, the sum- wouldn’t be complete without the addition of throws you right into the middle of the slow- mer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, ‘As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning this line. And it’s pretty much an unwritten ly developing and claustrophobic world of and I didn’t know what I was doing in from uneasy dreams he found himself rule that if you’re ever stuck for a great open- Jane Eyre. New York.’ transformed in his bed into an enormous ing first line yourself, you can just make use 6The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath: this line is so haunt- insect.’ of this one. ‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the ing as it is not just confined to the page, ech- 9The Metamorphosis, Franza Kafka: again, this clocks were striking thirteen.’ - oing the feelings of loneliness and confusion line is memorable purely for how strange and ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst 1984. George Orwell: this line perfectly evident in Plath’s life who committed suicide unnerving it is, as is the book itself. of times...’ sets up the idea that everything is not quite as only a month before the book was published. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens: 4it seems and manages to plunge you into an ‘Last night I dreamt I went to Man- more of a paragraph than an opening line alien world without any explanation. ‘In my younger and more vulnerable years, derley again.’ 2(but still one sentence) this is how to make my father gave me some advice that I’ve Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier: a the opening of a book dramatic. Even if you ‘Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four been turning over in my head ever since.’ haunting beginning to a gothic classic about don’t know the words, everyone knows the Privet Drive, were proud to say that they The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald: for me, 10love and jealousy, this line throws you in at rhythm of these lines and I think that’s a were perfectly normal, thank you very 7this line captures the horrible, universal reali- the deep end and stays with you long after fairly good legacy to have. much.’ sation that in retrospect things never turn out you’ve finished reading the book. 5Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, JK to be as good as they seem. » Image: Tim Evanson/ Flickr Tete-a-Tete: Severus Snape Donoghue’s Room Beth Hurst reviews the novel behind Bitter bully, or a good man underneath? the new film Good man - Sohini Kumar Bitter bully -Maya Kad mma Donoghue’s Man Booker Prize The reader becomes so invested in Jack as nominated novel Room was a bestseller a character that it will be interesting to see everus Snape’s negative characteris- Oh, but Snape loved Lily all this time, way before Lenny Abrahamson adapt- whether the young Jacob Tremblay’s portray- tics are often foregrounded by Har- he’s just misunderstood”. No. That can- ed it for the big screen. The book is a fasci- al can live up to expectations, and cope with ry’s skewed perspective, but Snape is not, and will not excuse his behaviour. Enating experiment into motherhood under a the mature content of the book. Donoghue too complex to be simply dismissed as This man had too many bad traits to microscope, as Jack and Ma interact inside in The Guardian Books Podcast mentioned ‘bad’. He spends his life atoning for his mis- ignore. He publicly ridiculed his students, ‘Room’, imprisoned there by Old Nick, in a that readers sometimes miss the first half takes.S The ends do not justify the means, but pointing“ out Hermione’s large front teeth situation inspired by the dreadful Fritzl case. of the books, with odd bits of culture such he ultimately makes huge sacrifices protect- and calling her an “insufferable know-it-all” Room is their entire world, where as Kylie Minogue and fairytales existing ing Harry and putting his own life in danger for being eager to participate in class. He objects like “meltedy spoon” strangely amongst the horror. to ensure Voldemort’s downfall. was basically a bully, favouring the students are treated like friends. However in cinematic terms he liked, such as Draco Malfoy, and disad- The narration through Abrahamson can play He is often the one whose merits vantaging the others. Jack’s mind flaw- with the confine- remain unacknowledged Snape struck fear into the hearts of his lessly captures ment then release students. The fact he was Neville’s boggart is the world of a in a way that is evidence of this. Neville, whose parents were five year old, visually and Even though he initially chooses the Dark tortured by death eaters, was very afraid of full of im- emotionally Arts over Lily Potter, his decision to join the his Potions professor. agination stunning in Order of the Phoenix is evidence that his love In the third book, he purposefully set the and hope. contrast to for her is greater than anything. This unwa- students a homework task on werewolves, The rela- the first vering love makes him regret his mistakes knowing full well that someone, in this case tionship half. The and drives him to rise above his bitterness. Hermione, would put two and two together between film ver- Maybe he doesn’t fully succeed in this, but and realise that Professor Lupin was a were- Ma and sion will at least he does not pretend to be something wolf. His actions not only cost Lupin his job, Jack is certain- he’s not, like Dumbledore does. but made him bear the brunt of a harsh social beauti- ly add Snape is not the only character to make stigma. ful and another mistakes, but he is often the one whose mer- So was Severus Snape a kind-hearted bitter- dimen- its remain unacknowledged. man? Definitely not. A cruel, bitter bully? sweet, sion to the Always. crys- story that tallised ironically in Jack’s comments on sadness at the media and his mothers it’s sensational- drawing of him ist reaction to vic- Literary quote of the fortnight: asleep because tims, but I can’t help “you’re on at the but think that without “To read a poem in January is as lovely as to go for same time I’m off.” the beautiful narration of The book is split into two an innocent child, that some- a walk in June.” halves: inside Room and then thing will inevitably be lost. outside after their escape. At a particular- Can you guess the author and book? Tweet us @BoarBooks with your answer! ly heart-breaking moment, it is discussed whether Jack wishes they had never escaped. » Image: London Public Library/ Flickr

Editor: Shruti Dayal Photography [email protected] Into the night: Exploring the city in its after hours

»The city never sleeps image: Joyce lau »Lit by the night image: Joyce lau

»Lonely night image: Joyce lau

» London Eye image: Stephanie Watts » Facade image: Kambole Campbell

» Skyline Inn image: Kambole Campbell

»The lights guide you home image: Joyce Lau

Interested in photography? Join our team! With us, you can explore different types of photography, cover events and improve your skills! Join our Facebook group: The Boar Photographers 2015/16 t’s not a nightmare. It’s part of Dear Readers, me but I can never relax. I have to think about every single action, every To be in a position to tell people’s stories is a pow- step. humans of erful privilege and gift. We are constantly checking IIf it’s wet outside I have to be more careful and I our integrity and consistency in our attempt to curate have to remember to put this vehicle on charge. The temporal moments with accuracy. little things add up; I’m struggling a little socially. At The Humans of Warwick are diverse, inspired and Warwick everybody studies and goes. It’s a university full of feeling. We hope this feature reflects these not a school - a huge place with loads of people and qualities, promotes empathy and discussion and pro- it’s difficult to have stable friends. vides awareness for our independent platform. Final- warwick ly we thank the individuals pictured for their honesty What drives you? and discretion and the Boar for our partnership. Languages. I study French and Italian and I’m studying abroad next year in Milan and Paris. I like the different sounds, the culture, the people, the literature. I Yours faithfully, like to read, both novels and short stories. Honestly, apart from using my brain and my knowledge, I don’t university Editors of HOW /HumansofWarwickUni think there’s anything else I can do. Everyone wants to do something with their life right?

I think we need disorder in the universe. I don’t like things being “ systematic all the time. I study Chemistry because I like it, not because I want to be rich or a chemist in four years. humans of warwick | 25

hat gets you up in the morning? For me, the purpose of university is pri-

My alarm clock. Most of the marily academic, but also to meet new peo- time. I think I realise you have ple and change your ideas and maybe even to have a dream and you need to fight for see people you know already in a different it.W Before, I had no aspirations or targets to light. strive for. Right now, I feel pretty good, I just asked

Now I know I want to stay in the UK so I a girl out and she said ‘Yes’. I’ve known her need to find a job. It’s nice to have a for six years. We studied in high school to- plan - you wake up and you know gether back at home and over Christmas what you want to do and why we travelled with one another and became you need to do it. closer. Then everything changed. I crafted this necklace out “ of the wood of a pine tree in the mountains. Every time I try to picture nature I just smell it and I’m there again.

Him Her remember this one night last year during Are you a rational person? Freshers, everyone was at the Paint Party When it comes to studies, “Yes”, and we didn’t have tickets so we went to when it comes to matters of the Bar Fusion. heart, “No”. I’ve been hurt in the IWe played pool, connected and I felt re- past and I never want to feel that way ally close to her. After that, we hooked up again. I have irrational fears and I’m a few times. I remember wanting more and glad he understands them. I’ve come to re- one day she asked me, “So what do you see alise that it’s better to have 3 close friends for us?” and I said “I hope for everything”. than five million acquaintances. He is my best friend, but I can’t read him What’s the biggest thing she’s changed sometimes and it makes me worry. Is he as about you? emotionally dependent on me as I am him? My self-confidence and my ability to relax. Irrespective of independence, I’ve told him She’s my best friend and she is so support- – “If I want to succeed in life, I want to suc- ive. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself ceed with you”. - to be better, to succeed, to be up there. I’m hoping there is an end point once I get a How can you be so certain? stable, well-paid job. I want to enjoy what You know how I realised he is the love of I have. my life? I can fart in front of him. * * Surprise! Don’t worry, nobody has tampered with your newspaper - we’re super excited to bring you the first ever collaboration between The Boar and Cobalt Magazine. Usually, Cobalt publishes creative content termly in a swishy online format - so if you like what you see over the next few pages, check out our previous issues on issuu.com/cobaltmagazine or on Facebook, where you’ll find all the info you could possible want. We’re also an official SU society and we run all kinds of events, from socials to workshops, throughout the year. For now, however, enjoy this snapshot of never before published content! CONTRIBUTORS AND EXEC: Gemma Albin • Sofia Benincasa • Abi Browning • Kambole Campbell • Hannah Campling • Frederick Chen • Ellie Hastings • Katie Hall • Kristen Helmick • Hebe Hewitt • Abbie Neale • Emily Raisin • Aniqua Rao • Agneh Raj Sikka • Jonny Young Humans of the Trans-Siberian Railway by Freddie Chen

n April 2015 upon railway is transporting yourself Icompleting my military service, to another world momentarily. I journeyed on the Trans- Time on the train is separate, Siberian Railway through suspended from real life. Indeed, Mongolia & the Gobi with people hardly ever exchange my buddy Niall. As with most contacts when they step out of other humans, we are as trigger the train cabin for the last time, happy as can be. This instance, heading not for the hot water I approached my photography dispenser but the exit door. We in a different manner. On don’t know if Pasha eventually board the trains, rather than made it back home to conspicuously documenting Khabarovsk at the end of 9 days the carriage situation with on the train. Or if Vera is still the Leica M3 I had brought working for the government. along for the trip, which I Nor if Suuvda is done with figured would unnecessarily her studies in St. Petersburg compromise the genuineness & is back in Ulaanbator. But I of the photographs & the treasure that anonymity. It’s in experience in its entirety, I this regard that I curated this opted to capture and portray particular set of 12 images to my cabins/cabin mates/trains balance the adventure of the in a raw, discreet but no less exotic with our journeys & intimate way by snapping these travels - precisely what I hoped memories purely on my mobile to capture in these photographs. phone. As you’d tell, none of the subjects know about these I was considering a different photos. They remain some of format for my submission, in my fondest memories of the, the form of accompanying I dare say, life changing 80-90 pointers & peculiarities about hours across the Far East on each cabin mate, such as Pascha board Trains #044, #070, #006 drinking 10 cups of tea every & #004 from Moscow through day, Viktor showing us a video Yekaterinburg, Ulan Bator & of him getting baptized in finally arriving in the Imperial -13 degrees in nothing but his City in Beijing just hours before underwear and Vera sharing the symbolic May Day parade with us Easter eggs her mum and celebrations. I hope you had made at midnight on appreciate them as much as I Easter (we were on board the do! train on the exact date), but I figured I really like the idea of It’s been said journeying on anonymity coming through in the Trans-Siberian these photographs. 27 by Jonny Young Premature Movie Reviews

ow that 2015 is in the rear Rating - Avengers with mud on the Nview mirror of the spluttering lens / 10. broken down Ford Fiesta that we call life, we can look forward Suicide Squad to the inevitably superb and Some weird fusion of Sucker completely unique 2016, that Punch, Grand Theft Auto and in no way will be a rehash of Z-list Batman villains, this could everything that’s come before go in several thousand different it. We are, after all, a society directions, with only a couple built around new ideas and the being somewhat good. It ought shunning of nostalgia. to be deliciously dark and twisted, In that sense, it’s time to but Mr Neon Pimp Joker and his accurately predict how good horrendous tattoos temper any this year’s batch of totally new sort of positivity I had towards concepts that get turned into the thing. films will end up being. Rating - Will Smith’s rap Batman vs Superman career / 10 Batman vs Superman vs Wonder Woman vs Lex Luthor vs Doomsday vs Aquaman vs Stan Rogue One: Lee vs Hitler vs Wall-E vs Your A Star Wars Story Mother’s Toaster looks to be After the deluge of unnecessary 80’s favourite rather than striking orcs and men can stop repeatedly exactly what everyone expected fan service in Episode VII: A Ghostbusters out on its own. Just, make a new hitting each other with sticks but not necessarily hoped it New Hope 2: Somehow We Hollywood reboots of cult franchise. while numbers fly out of them would be; Diet Justice League Made A Sphere Have Emotions, franchises never work. Replacing until one or the other fall down, with too many players and not what better period to start afresh old characters with supposedly Rating - a corpse repurposed as a but it is not this day. They’re enough plot to back it up, while in the Star Wars universe than... new ones but having them take lampshade / 10 taking the Pandarens to Isengard. introducing about seven million right before A New Hope. For up the exact same traits as the JRR Thrall-kien. new ideas and concepts in a God’s sake. originals never works. Changing desperate flailing bid to catch Warcraft Rating - doyougetitdoyougetit / 10 an all male cast to an all female The Return of the Warchief. The up to Marvel. Hopefully the Rating - an 80’s Star Wars cast hasn’t been done before, but spectacle alone will save it, since miniature that’s been thrown Fellowship of the +11 Armor it most likely won’t work here. No Leather Belt. One cannot simply Independence Day 2 the plots been entirely spoiled in around the garden by a 7 year old matter how good the movie is, it’s Oh, fuck off.. record time by the trailers. / 10 make a good videogame movie. piggybacking off the name of an There may come a day when

PHOTOGRAPHY by Agneh Raj Sikka

< It was absolutely freezing when I shot this photograph, I had to climb a lot of stairs to get to the top of the church tower. It was worth all the exercise and braving the chilly winds - when I finally got to top the view was stunning, the sun was about to set and the light was perfect. Couldn’t bring myself to not take this photograph. Ah, so beautiful.

The symbol of love, The Taj Mahal. I have tried to do justice to it, though I believe that no photograph can perfectly capture the true beauty of this breathtaking monument. No words can truly describe The Taj Mahal, it has stood strong and remains beautiful no matter from where you are looking at it. It is not difficult to see why the whole world is enamoured by The Taj Mahal. > 28 I’m a 3rd year Film and Literature student, but I haven’t been into photography for that long, I’ve been shooting for about a year now! I kinda got into this whole thing through my girlfriend who’s been doing it for God knows how long now, and so at some point last winter I asked my dad if I could have his old Nikon 35mm film camera, which he rightly called “bulletproof ”.

It’s been great to experiment with film and learn how great a medium for photography it still is. I started shooting random pictures around where I live and around London in December, and around Warwick in PHOTOGRAPHY January and it became an obsession from that point – I researched everything I could about film cameras and different kinds of film, and shot as much as I possibly could over the next few months. I think I only by Kambole Campbell started being happy with what I actually took around that Easter!

Eventually I also started developing my own film (with a lot of help) and that’s been even better – there seriously isn’t many things more satisfying then see a roll of film you’ve developed come out great.

See more of Kampbole’s photographs at cobaltmagazineblog.wordpress.com P O E T R Y P O R T F O L I O

Achu and his Little People Amy Winehouse Achu resides in London, next to the sea bank and the grimy weather. She was a Red Admiral with a hole in her wing, He writes poetry and sniffs blue and white bath salts and glue and bright Her shrivelling, limp heart faintly fluttering glitter falls from the birthday cards his daughter sends him, Against the burden of the ever-beating wind spilling on the suit And the ceaseless, cruel flashes of white lightening he has worn for seven years straight. Pounding her to residue, leaving a carcass fine, Leaving her to float along cloud’s white line. His daughter plays in the alley way, kicking coke bottles and beer cans, Unable to fly. Unable to climb. rearranging them into the shape of A photo shard in the wind – reluctantly signed. daddy. She thinks he wears colourful She was a Red Admiral, a victim of her skies, scarves and knitted jumpers from Grandma Once bestowed a gift, a curse in disguise, but really he hates Grandma, As her sweet yet deep and tender lullabies (that silly old bat owes him money) Created the breeze that allowed her to rise and he also hates knitted jumpers. And created too the path which lead to her fall, Leaving her short where she once stood tall, When she was Achu’s mother, Grandma’s hair didn’t feel like straw. No longer grand but sombre and small, She used to hang all her jumpers on a washing line Too much painful truth in her lyrical drawl. that could stretch across the River Thames and back She was a Red Admiral, who through the skies reeled, (or that’s what it felt like) She was a caught butterfly in a display firmly sealed, and every time she did this She was a Red Admiral, who needed to be healed, it would rain. She was a Red Admiral who fought without a shield. Achu stares out at London, as if waiting for something to happen. A pigeon steps onto a manhole and there are roadworks far away and the cold by Emily Raisin doesn’t seem to be bothering him and his tie is thrown into the air by the wind and he shifts his position and blinks and thinks about yawning but doesn’t actually yawn. London is so very little these days. UNTITLED Achu thought about his brother once, after a storm, Animals come out. Not her, because they used to hold each other Out, into the open- under Mum’s bed They met then, in summer- when the rain got bad Out of hibernation. and the wind got bad and when Mum got bad Hedgehogs, squirrels, moles. Not the bitch She likes to lick... Hurk Litoris and then Achu got bad Her master. and no one was there to hold. Rain’s for winter but She makes it fall all seasons; Down her face, He sits on the rocks beside an empty bench and a brick wall Red tears. and watches the river. A million knitted jumpers float to the surface of the water. Cats have nine lives; they had 9 weeks. Scorpio, Cancer It starts to rain. Two Virgos.

One came out; by Abbie Neale The other a pussy. by Aniqah Rao

Aaaand that’s all we have space for! We really hope you’ve enjoyed your little dip into the world of Cobalt Magazine - if you’d like to find out more, drop us an email at [email protected] or find us at facebook.com/cobaltmagazine

Now back to The Boar! Sponsored by: 30

Editor: Sophie Dudhill Arts [email protected] Gender inequality in the arts Sohini Kumar explores the debate around gender pay gaps and female ith Jennifer Lawrence’s essay ‘Why since over half the population is comprised concept of a gender pay gap. According to Do I Make Less Than My Male of women. However, breaking the bounda- him unequal pay results due to other factors Co‑Stars?’ being published in ries of gender in the arts is not just for the such as a larger proportion of women work- October 2015, a lot of discussion has been sake of representing the male to female ratio ing part time and thus being paid less than Wongoing about a gender pay gap in the film faithfully. Equality among genders will give full-time workers. He goes on to justify his industry. all actors the freedom to explore a greater arguments by saying, “We all know that men People generally acknowledge that gen- variety of roles. This can highlight nuances are more risk taking than women”, which is ders are treated unequally in work environ- previously overlooked in popular works. For ments and this includes the other branches instance, Maxine Peake took on the role of “Just because I haven’t got the of the arts sector as well. The Center for the Hamlet in 2014, telling the BBC, “Just be- Study of Women in Television and Film, cause I haven’t got the appropriate genitalia appropriate genitalia doesn’t based in San Diego State University, has doesn’t mean I can’t understand [male char- mean I can’t understand [male Theatre in decline found that 12% of protagonists in film were acters].” With a female actress playing Ham- characters.]” female in 2014, and that figure has dropped let, a different light is shed on the character, since 2002. Similarly, the Guardian reported foregrounding traits that might not have n my hometown there is massive de- in September 2014 that women are under- a gross generalisation based on gender ste- bate at the moment as to whether represented in theatre, acting, writing, and reotypes. directing roles; at the time, the only female “Do women have to be naked to Nevertheless, there is still hope. Although our local theatre should close down. playwright whose work was showcased in the get into the Met. Museum?” progress seems slow, several areas of the arts EarlierI this week, I stumbled across the West End was Agatha Christie. sector are promising to reduce gender ine- knowledge that theatre attendance is in People might argue that audiences do not quality. In June last year a retelling of Romeo decline in general and I’ve pondered the choose what to watch based on the gender and Juliet starring two couples comprising reasons why. of the writers or actors. The author of the been apparent in male actors. same-sex and mixed-race couples was made At this point, it is important to men- Guardian article This month, a feminist group known as into a short film, Still A Rose, proving hugely tion that the statistics have gaps. They Lyn Gardner the Guerrilla Girls spoke about the repre- popular. Through steps like this, with con- show that attendance to West End pro- asks, “Why sentation of women in visual arts; less than tinual awareness raised by celebrities and the ductions are not declining dramatically. keep going 5% of the artists in the Metropolitan Mu- general public, we can live in hope that the However, from my own experience, a trip to the thea- seum of Art are women, whilst 85% of the arts sector — and its au- tre if you nude artwork features females. They ask ‘Do diences — will even- to the West End is a big pre-planned seldom see women have to be naked to get into the Met. tually embrace all visit to the city. Seeing a West End play yourself Museum?’ The same idea translates to popu- genders equally. is an event in itself and continues to be reflected lar music videos, where 99% of the men are the norm in London culture. So why are there?” clothed. This highlights that payment and community and local productions not She adds underrepresentation are not the only ways thought of in the same way? Why are that this genders are treated unequally. Continual we not attending these productions any- should presentation of women as sexualised subjects, » Image: Ryohri more, or as frequently as we once did? change or as secondary characters within film and Noda / Flickr, In a world where technology is forever theatre encourage gender stereotypes. This Guerrilla Girls evolving, it is obviously becoming more leads to further inequality. For instance Tim Wor- and more of a fundamental part of our stall, writing society. Everyone owns a smartphone, for Forbes, ‘Netflix and chill’ has become the slogan rejects the of a generation and society is glued to social media. People are living through technology; perhaps this is one of the reasons why the theatre is in decline. The idea of exploring anything arts-related, outside of the comforts of our homes, is daunting. I know that when I arrange evenings with my friends, the theatre will not nor- mally strike us as a potential place to go. We’ll watch a horror film on Netflix as a group, or the lads will play FIFA. The possibility of seeing a play would not The Marriage of Figaro Review: “Opera is a funny thing” even have crossed our minds. As our culture continues to evolve Alpana Sajip gives her verdict on Opera Warwick’’s latest show around technology, I would reiterate that there is no experience like the living in pera is a funny thing. To say you enjoy on politics was an invigorating perspective The interplay between cast and orchestra it lends you a cultured, sophisticated on the opera, and was carefully sustained in was visually, as well as aurally, refreshing. the present and theatre allows this. It air, yet when it comes down to actually the first half. The best thing about Kendall’s show was provides a more fulfilling involvement sitting through a production that’s often over Rivard and Agarwal gave polished its accessibility – the modern twist brought it than sitting behind a laptop screen can threeO hours long, you regret coming just that performances, but the true stars of the show bang up-to-date, while maintaining and even offer. Going to theatre is relevant now tiny little bit. Not so with Opera Warwick’s were Panzieri and Ellie Popham as the enhancing the essential comedic elements more than ever. production of The Marriage of Figaro; with Count and Countess – their vocal power and that make it such an enduring opera. Katie Sewell its striking energy and panache, it did not intensity were showcased in this production drag for a second. and their respective solos in Act III were The show tells the story of Figaro MP sincere, heartfelt and moving. Notable Check out Nia (Nick Rivard) and his bride-to-be Susanna performances also came from the comically See Alpana’s full review (Natasha Agarwal), whose wedding plans profane Basilio (his delivery of “fuckety- online at theboar.org/arts Oatley’s interview are continually thwarted by the lustful bye” had me in stitches) and the playful with Colin Cloud Count Almaviva (Florian Panzieri) and the Cherubino (Ellie Sterland). Conductor Chris Follow @BoarArts for at theboar.org/ machinations of his assistants, Bartolo (Cole Blex emanated a captivating, visceral energy more theatre reviews arts, and see him at Mclaren-Bailey), Basilio (Rob Pellow) and that was reflected by his fantastic ensemble, the Spa Centre on Marcellina (Charlotte Senior). The emphasis bringing Mozart’s magic beautifully to life. theboar.org/ Arts | @BoarArts | ARTS 31

WUDS Presents: POSH Leave “feeling quite conflicted and quite angry” Alexei Warshawski talks to director Angus Castle-Doughty about his gender blind take on the Bullingdon Club in Posh

show, simply to see how different an impact osh, by Laura Wade, debuted in the idea of an elite dining club will have 2010 during the General Election, when you’re not just looking at a group of to raving reviews. Five years later, young men. The production also plays a lot Warwick student and Posh director Angus with physicality, making this show a very dif- Castle-DoughtyP began planning his own production of the show, about three months Posh promises to be a both after the 2015 General Election. I visited Angus Castle-Doughty and his cast during hilarious and thought-provoking a rehearsal, and chatted to him about his production, challenging the gender-blind take on the play. audience’s conceptions of both Posh follows the endeavours of the Riot theatre and elitism. Club, a fictionalised version of Oxford Uni- versity’s well-known Bullingdon Club. The play follows ten members of the club during the evening of their termly dinner, which ferent experience to what Warwick is used to. they hold at a country pub’s dining room. As The latest in a string of successful War- the evening progresses and the characters’ wick University Drama Society (WUDS) rowdiness increases, the play leaves you won- shows, Posh promises to be a both hilarious dering about the nature of the social elite. and thought-provoking production, challenging the audience’s conceptions of both theatre and elitism. Posh will be showing “The play follows ten members from February 10 through to February 13 of the club during the evening at 19.45, with tickets costing just £6.50 for of their termly dinner, which Warwick students. Visit http://www.war- they hold at a country pub’s wickartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/2016/wuds- dining room posh/ for ticketing information, and like ‘WUDS Presents: POSH’ on Facebook to be kept up to date with the show.

Having seen the play in London, Angus » Left: Director, Angus Castle-Doughtey, told me how the humour of Posh had ap- Right: Cast member Craig Nannestad in re- pealed to him and that he liked how the play hearsal “asks questions about the characters rather than going in with a black and white agen- Im- ages: Alexei War- da”. However, he made it very clear to me shawski / Boar that he has no particular agenda within his Arts, Angus production and wants the audience to leave Castle-Douh- “feeling quite conflicted and quite angry”. gtey / Face- “The main theme we want to put forward”, he said, “is that these guys think they’re some- they’re getting so angry. Their family for Angus wants to show that “what they’re [the thing that generations has been used to a certain style club members] doing is horrible, against they’re of life which, in the 21st century when eve- humanity, and morally wrong, rather than a not. ryone’s a bit more aware and willing to fight basic attack on women. Their behaviour is They’re against social traditions, is crumbling around completely abhorrent, and I hope that’s even living off them. And they’re desperately trying to cling clearer with this casting”. their par- onto it.” When it came to casting the members of ent’s money, the club, “it didn’t matter if they they’re not were male or female”, Angus told living a sustain- He liked how the play ‘asks me. “We just cast the most talent- able life and they questions about the characters ed actors. There are quite a lot of know it, and rather than going in with a black problems at Warwick with outreach, that’s and white agenda.’ which I think everyone’s very aware w h y of, so what I learnt in auditions is that you just cast who’s best for the role.” He told me he didn’t want to try and When I asked him about his decision to satisfy a particular expectation, but cast the play gender-blind, he said: “There’s simply find the best castwith the already not enough roles for best actors. women in any play. It was Having a gender-blind cast “makes the quite important to me to play more universal”, Angus said. “It makes give the female actors at it less a comment about ten men in a room, Warwick a chance to and more about the kind of people that they play a role which isn’t are. I think that’s quite important with the a typical, archetypal fe- themes of the play. After about ten minutes male role, whatever that of the play, the audience won’t be thinking might be.” about how they’re watching women playing The scene they were rehears- men, and men playing women.” ing when I arrived involved the The gender-blind casting of this produc- arrival of a prostitute hired for tion is unprecedented for the play, both in all ten members of the group. By professional and student performances. To casting a male actor in this role, me, this is reason enough to go and see the 32

Editor: Kambole Campbell Film [email protected] Alan Rickman: 1946-2016

he entertainment industry has seen yet another tragic loss, with the passing of actor Alan Rickman. Most people would agree with me when I say that Alan Rickman was one of the finest talents to have graced British cinema and theatre. Throughout his career he has captured audiences through his iconic performances in films such as Die Hard, Sense and Sensibility, Sweeney Todd and Robin Hood: Prince of ThievesT. Yet, it was his portrayal of the enigmatic potions professor, Severus Snape that spread his appeal to a new generation of fans. I am one of the many fans who first encoun- tered Rickman through the Harry Potter series. It’s a performance that will be treasured by any fan of the franchise, and one that convinced me that he is no doubt one of my favourite actors. To pay tribute to Alan Rickman’s remarkable cinematic works, I would like to invite you to join me as I revisit a few of my personal favourites. Ann Amarawansa

Hans Gruber (Die Hard, 1989) » Image: 20th Century Fox

Rickman caught audiences’ attention with ematic history. In my opinion, Rickman’s his theatre work during the early years of his prowling stage presence overshadows the career, however, he gained wider popular- hero of the film, John McClane. Hans Gru- ity after accepting the devilishly charming ber is often held as Rickman’s most popular role of Hans Gruber in the first instalment role and resulted in him incessantly being of the Die Hard franchise. His portrayal typecast as a villain. Rickman himself ex- earned him a place on AFI’s 100 years… pressed that Gruber was a complex char- 100 Heroes & Villains list and granted him acter, who wanted things and took certain the title of one of the best villains in cin- measures to get them.

Severus Snape (Harry Potter Series, 2001-2011)

Sheriff of Nottingham (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, 1991)

» Image: Warner Bros Entertainment » Images: Warner Bros Finally, I want to talk about the role that personal choice to portray the character Rickman’s version of the Sheriff adds a that he would have carte blanche with his left a profound impression on me. Many of and in fact, she enlightened him prior to far more lecherous and ambitious dimen- interpretation of the character, that he got us grew up cowering away from the screen completion of the books with Snape’s fate. sion to the character, augmented by his on board with the production; going on to whenever the scowling potions master ap- It was the intricate back story that drew repugnant behaviour and making him an win a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor. peared. Yet, the moral ambiguity that sur- the actor to play the character and which incredibly dislikable villain. What is in- Personally I felt that in many ways Rick- rounds the character eventually led many he used as a guide to fashion particular teresting is that Rickman turned the role man’s execution of the role saved the film, to warm to and develop an understanding scenes. Rickman’s last performance as the down twice, due to his unwillingness to especially when compared to Kevin Cost- of the character. It is difficult to think of character will always be haunting for me, be categorised as “the villain” yet again. ner’s rather flat portrayal of Robin Hood. another actor who could have executed the and his portrayal will be treasured by many. It was only when producers ensured him role as well. Rickman was J.K Rowling’s

In other news... Oscar nominations »Images: Fox Press Office, Warner Brothers The Revenant leads with 12 Nominations, The Martian is third, with 7 including Best Picture, Mad Max follows with nominations, for some reason Best Director and Best 10 nominations Actor (fingers crossed) theboar.org/Film | @BoarFilm | FILM 33

“Brutal and beautiful”: Boar Film reviews The Revenant

lejandro González Iñárritu won the camera and its object – in this case, the ent a stark view of the human experience. last year’s Academy Award for Best snowy, biting climes of Canada and Argenti- Now, for the big question: I do not know Director for Birdman, a scintillat- na (where filming took place). The Academy whether or not DiCaprio will finally win the ing critique of celebrity culture Award for Best Cinematography has, for the Best Actor award. I have no doubt that the and the fame game. The 1820s American last two years, gone to Emmanuel Lubezki conditions were awful, and am impressed wildernessA of his next film, The Revenant, is for his work on Gravity and Birdman, and I that the vegetarian DiCaprio agreed to eat far removed from the glitz and the glamour find it hard to imagine him not securing the raw bison liver for the role – footage of his of Birdman’s Broadway. Where Birdman was hat-trick for The Revenant. initial reaction has in fact been kept in the lively and garrulous, The Revenant is meas- Much of the film consists of DiCaprio film. ured and is becoming notorious for its sparse crawling for safety while groaning with pain; The mauling scene itself is an astonishing dialogue. the camera is therefore under a huge amount visual achievement and is perhaps the most Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is part of pressure to make this interesting. It is a extraordinarily arresting scene of a film I of a team of frontiersmen and fur trappers virtuoso visual performance, and I yearn to have ever seen. But the role doesn’t exactly which includes Captain Andrew Henry see what the partnership of Iñárritu and show much of DiCaprio’s range; there is a (Domhnall Gleeson, who has had an aston- Lubezki can accomplish in the future. lot of grunting, writhing, and crawling. The ishing year) and the cynical John Fitzgerald Any film that consciously aspires to the ep- Wolf of Wall Street strikes me as being much (Tom Hardy). After having been viciously ithet of “masterpiece” (and every shot of this more of an Oscar-winning performance. If mauled by a bear, a broken Glass is deserted film proves that it does) is inevitably tempted Iñárritu, however, does not win Best Director by both Fitzgerald and a clueless Jim Bridg- by overreach. The middle section could do again, then the Academy Award voters de- er (Will Poulter). The word revenant means with a little tightening; beautiful vistas alone serve to be mauled by bears themselves. “a person who has supposedly returned from cannot hold our concentration for 156 min- In an age where we pretend to have com- the dead”. Glass is the revenant, and Fitzger- utes. Films that lack dialogue often resort to plete mastery over nature, this film is a bru- ald is the unlucky target of his revenge. a surplus of nostalgic flashback scenes. To its tal reminder of who is really in control. The The Revenant has been described as an credit, The Revenant is relatively careful in its Revenant manages to be simultaneously bru- examination of the pitiless relationship be- use of these, but unmistakeable whispers of tal and beautiful, and Iñárritu may one day tween man and nature. This is true enough, spiritual vapidity (which infect so many films be numbered among the greats. but the artistic success of the film depends that have the natural world as their protago- » Image: Fox Press Office more on the intimate relationship between nist) subtract from its great ambition to pres- Jordan Hindson The Coen Brothers: A retrospective Sam Gray takes a look back at the work of the accomplished writer/directors in anticipation of their lastest film, Hail, Caesar! first discovered the Coen Brothers Shining-inflected design of Barton Fink’s people’s heads together like puppets. inspired by Hammet’s The Glass Key, it’s at age 14, when I caught the last hotel. In short: two smart motherfuckers. Picking a favourite is always hard. got a reputation for being dense and con- thirty minutes of Raising Arizo- What characterises their films is a There’s a reason why I keep mentioning voluted - but there’s so much to love, in- na on television. I had absolutely sense that they know how stupid people Fargo, and if I was trying to be objec- cluding a fascinating performance from no idea what was going on; the action are, and how seldom they understand tive about it, I’d pick No Country for Old Gabriel Byrne, a beautiful Carter Bur- was loopy and fantastic, a colourful their emotions: how they interpret in- Men - though they’d have to share the well soundtrack, and some of the greatest I dividual symbols and signs differently, credit with Cormac McCarthy. And I’m dialogue ever written. If Hail Caesar! can phantasmagoria of southern accents, rapid-fire dialogue, banjo covers of often to disastrous effect. This stupidity convinced that the agonisingly melan- even be one-tenth as good Beethoven, and Nicolas Cage. I went bleeds into their other, lighter works, cholic Inside Llewyn Davis will, come a s the Coens’ best, back and watched it again, a few more too, prompting comparisons to Pres- 2020, be seen as one of the best films it’ll be a treat. times, just to be sure this fiercely indi- ton Sturges - though I have to confess, of the decade. Yet ultimately, I’d have vidual piece of work wasn’t all a dream. as time goes on, I’m finding these in- to go for their third film: Miller’s Cross- From there, it was off to snowy Min- creasingly irritating and worthless. Mo- ing. A 1920s gangster nesota, to the cityscapes of Los Angeles, ronic goofballs, often played by George thriller, to the various plains of desolate Texas Clooney, are at the heart and centre of some- for a number of tales surrounding kid- films like O Brother, Where Art Thou? what nap, murder, and plans gone awry. Joel and Burn After Reading. What’s not al- and Ethan Coen, two Jewish kids from ways clear is whether we’re supposed to suburban Minneapolis, became, in my be laughing at or with these characters, world, established deities of cineliteracy, and it’s here that complaints about the whose intimate knowledge of film histo- brothers’ lack of genuine empathy be- ry wowed me as much as it confounded come apparent. So heavily layered are me. Their influences range from the lit- elements of irony, cultural appropri- erary, with films based on works by Ray- ation, and even postmodernism, that mond Chandler, to that of genre; their at the end of the day, you’d be for- critical approach has led them to make given for thinking that the brothers comedies, thrillers, noirs, Westerns, ro- take a rather dim view of human na- mances, musicals and even horrors, in the ture, and a perverse glee in smashing » Image: Touchstone / Disney 34

Editor: Ali Jones Games [email protected]

very so often, the games industry her- death knell came last week, when Oculus, Now you may be thinking ‘Wait a minute, alds the arrival of a new revolution perhaps the most well-known VR manufac- there are loads of other headsets’, but that in gaming that will change literally turer, announced its £499 price tag, far more just isn’t the case. The other headsets are in everything about videogames. These rev- than Oculus had ever indicated that it would danger, perhaps more so than Oculus. Ac- Eolutions came and went however, and they be. That price in itself is steep, but what cording to reports, the HTC Vive is going never really changed much. Mobile gaming makes it even more egregious is the fact that to cost around $1500, and this is without the was meant to be the next big thing. Now it’s to even be able to run the machine, you need high end machinery that you’ll need. That largely a laughing stock. Motion controls a supremely powerful PC, meaning the total leaves the Playstation VR. were declared to be the future, and now the price would likely be over £1000. Only hard- Sony have been slowly upping their cov- Choice of Wii U is a rotting carcass and even Micro- core VR supporters are ever going to accept erage concerning their headset. Key figures soft has stopped bothering to attempt to that ridiculous price point; the average con- have even said the headset will be the future Robots sell Kinect. So perhaps it’s no surprise that sumer doesn’t have that amount of money of Sony for the next 25 years. This is clearly the next supposed revolution in gaming, the to spend on something that at the moment a big move for them, and more clearly, it is advent of virtual reality, already seems to be appears to be little more than a shiny new a massive gamble, and it is one that is like- dead in the water. gimmick. ly to fail. Playstation VR has certain advan- Selina-Jane Spencer For Virtual Oculus is the biggest name in the world of tages over its competitors, namely that you Reality, virtual reality. For the technology to ever be only need a PS4 to play it, which means that the a success, it needed to be popular - cheap, it automatically costs hundreds of pounds isclaimer: I am very bad at easy to understand and something that less. However, what’s salient here is that the this game. I’m failing my even your granny could play. But for PSVR is a peripheral. It’s an add-on that PhD; Ellie doesn’t love me; over £1000, that just isn’t happen- can be used for the PS4, which remains the my robot is too smart to be happy ing. I understand that the technol- core machine. Peripherals don’t have a good Dand my best friend has refused to ogy behind the Rift is high-end, history. They’re expensive and then fade into fund my ideas. and therefore obscurity at lightning speed. For the PSVR As a casual gamer, Choice of Ro- bots appeals because it is bizarrely relatable. I may not have the skills or power to design an autonomous robot which will either instigate or prevent the robot apocalypse, R.I.P but I do know a lot about trying to achieve contradictory aims to the best of my ability and nearly always Joe Clarke straps on his goggles failing. Choice of Robots for me opened with the ultimate failure: the robot to lead the funeral procession that I designed as a PhD student at Stanford came from the future to tell me that I had failed to prevent Virtual Reality the robot apocalypse. She quoted Epictetus, saying “Some things are in our control and others not”. If you thought that robots didn’t expensive, I do. Even to avoid this, it needs to be worthwhile, and know stoic philosophy, think again with all of these fairly cheap. I have no doubts that the ma- –quotations from ancient Greek factors, the price chine will be of good quality, but it’s the price philosophers are not unusual in is still insane, that worries me. For it to succeed, it needs to this game as Choice of Robots is fun- meaning have a reasonable price point that the average damentally an intellectual exercise that, for console gamer will be willing to pay, and I which asks the player tricky ques- the mo- don’t think that they can do that. Realistical- tions about morality and humanity. ment, the ly, anything over £200 will be a lot, but the It consists of 300,000 words of text Oculus odds of them being able to achieve a price and no graphics; making it more is all under that that is unlikely. of a “choose your own adventure” but Virtual Reality has been touted as the fu- novel than a traditional computer dead. ture of gaming for a while now, but, honest- game. ly, it’s not the future at all. The major names The most interesting thing about going into VR all seem to be falling into the this game is that the “winning” cri- same trap of selling their machines at ridicu- teria change throughout the game lously high price points that most consumers based on what you prioritise, both have no intention of paying. They are only in terms of your robot design and going to be accessible to those who have a lot your personal life. This makes it of disposable income. Sadly, that means that very easy to lose, but very reward- the supposed Virtual Reality Revolution will ing when it goes right. be over before it even begins.

February 3 February 5 American Truck Simulator XCOM 2

ave you ever thought that your true calling was to fter the surprise success of XCOM: Enemy Un- drive a lorry across the desert? If yes, then there’s known Firaxis, creators of Civilization, return with some chance that coming to Warwick wasn’t XCOM 2. Perhaps belying the nihilistic tenden- necessarily the best career move. On the brighter side, ciesA of the Maryland developer, the sequel assumes that HAmerican Truck Simulator, which follows on from the the previous XCOM team failed to stop the alien invasion, mysterious success of its European counterpart, lets forcing the team to go underground and fight a guerrilla you realise your dreams without having to go through war against their oppressors. I for one welcome our new al- all the rigmarole of getting your HGV license. It’s out ien overlords, but when XCOM 2 releases on PC the more exclusively on PC. important question will be: Will You? Ali Jones Cameron Clark » Image: Bago Games / Flickr theboar.org/Games | @BoarGames | GAMES 35 The Boar’s Game of the Year Awards

» Image: Bago Games / Flickr

Contributions from Joe Clarke, Joanna Jakubowska, Daniel Kuburoglu, Jack Abbey, Cameron Clark and Ali Jones

» Image: Bago Games / Flickr Game of the Year 2015 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt he Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was always going to be good, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for just how good it was going to end up. Developer CD Projekt Red’s third iteration of the Witcher franchise is, putT simply, a masterpiece. Not only is it stunningly beautiful, but it’s vast open world is simply a joy to explore, filled with fully-fleshed out characters and well realised characters, as well as side-quests just as compelling as the main story. Importantly, while the world of Witcher 3 might be able to compete for star of the show, its main plot is in close contention, being is highly enjoyable and easily able to » Image: reifeeve / Deviantart anchor the huge scale of the game. What’s most exciting is how deeply the game delves into smaller stories; NPCs Runner Up 2015 have complex back stories that slowly come to life; nothing is immediately as it seems, and the complexity and accessibility of these stories is one of the game’s greatest strengths. This ultimatly helps to lend the world a sense Fallout 4 of density and life that many open world games seem to here to begin with Fallout 4? There’s lack; instead of populating the world with a myriad of no denying it has its problems. It’s buggy, often broken, and occasion- arbitrary collectables, CD Projekt Red instead chooses to ally even a chore. But despite all that, people focus on the human element of the world, and the game areW content to pour hours, and even days of benefits for it. their lives into Bethesda’s third run at the post-apocalypse wasteland. Even then, you The Witcher 3 is easily our Game of the Year, and can find yourself lost in side quests ranging fom battling sea monsters to helping a lost Highly Commended will arguably go down as one of the greatest games child get back to his family, all while barely of all time touching the main body of the story. While not exactly the shining jewel of the franchise, Fallout 4 still manages to shine. Undertale Storyline aside, the combat system is excellent. The hat can you say about Under- wide array of monsters, ranging from majestic griffins to tale which hasn’t already been the horrifying botchling, all employing different patterns This game isn’t just an upgrade, but said? The story is unforgettable, of behaviour and attack that must be learned in order to a true evolution for the franchise the gameplay unique and compelling, the save Geralt from a grisly death. The game employs an soundtrackW spectacular and the characters almost rhythmic approach to combat, with counters and endearing and genuine. In many ways Un- attacks needed to be carefully timed and chained in order dertale is a revelation in modern gaming; to attach effectively; a refreshing change from the typical witnessing such an emotionally impactful button mashing. With improved combat, near-limitless and ultimately fun game reaffirms the im- crafting opportunities, and a world so large portance of narrative and artistic vision. To Wild Hunt’s graphics are also stunning, with gorgeous that you can wander around for hours and top it off, the meta-narrative of the game landscapes, elaborate character design, and genuinely fas- still find new things to surprise you, this transcends the conventional play-through, cinating monsters, which meld together with the inter- game isn’t just an upgrade from Bethesda’s shattering the fourth wall in a way not yet weaving storylines to make the world of The Witcher 3 last generation of games, but a true evoltuion seen in gaming. All of this pushes Under- feel deeper and more real than ever before. for the franchise, developing on all the ele- tale to be not only an icon of indie gaming With an estimated 200 hours of consistently excel- ments that made past entries in the series so but one of the most unique and compelling lent gameplay, engangingly human characters and a rich engaging. It’s because of this that Fallout 4 is RPGs ever created. It’s a triumph of heart world to explore, The Witcher 3 is easily our Game of the a title that will continue to impact its genre and passion, of character and interperson- Year, and will arguably go down as one of the greatest for years to come. al relationships. It knows when and how to games of all time. break the rules. It’s fun, captivating, revolutionary and, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a standout game of 2015. 36 | GAMES Best Episodic Game Life Is Strange s an answer to Telltale Game’s nearly vice-like grip over the epi- The chemistry is excellent, the sodic subgenre, Life is Strange is ar- artwork consistently beautiful, guably good win Game of the Year award and the story flows perfectly. inA its own right. The game documents the adventures of Max, a girl struggling with all the pressures of teenage life, as well as Life is Strange constantly sets itself apart, her new-found ability to rewind time. The opting for the still unorthodox practise of chemistry between characters is excellent, utilising a female protagonist, and dealing the artwork is consistently beautiful, and with issues which often hit much closer to the story ebbs and flows perfectly. While home than the far-flung worlds of other other episodic games can stretch them- AAA games. Although the series came to selves thin, the microscopic scale of Life is an end last year, Life is Strange has already Strange allows you to fully invest, turning left a profound mark on gaming. » Image: Bago Games / Flickr every event into an agonising decision. The Sobbing Fanboy Award Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain bjectively Metal Gear Solid 5 is far always prided itself on its ability to meld fair- from the worst game we’ve seen in ly baffling concepts with serious interperson- 2015. Mechanically, Metal Gear excels, al drama, MGS V seems to jump the shark, refining and improving the stealth formula a feat previously thought impossible for the Oto make it one of the best examples available series. It feels both ludicrous and boring, a in the genre. However, narratively, the game feeling further enhanced by the usually char- appears disastrous. After a strong opening in ismatic Big Boss being rendered essentially Act One, the narrative all but collapses; Act mute for this entry. Much of this can be at- Two consists only of disjointed fragments of tributed to Kojima’s fall-out with publisher story and Act Three simply doesn’t exist at Konami, and the rushed state in which the all. When the game does eventually conclude game was finished after apparently running the twist ending, appearing seemingly out of far over-budget and over-time. However this nowhere, leaves the reader feeling robbed, left cannot be regarded as excusable from a series with more questions than answers. What lit- so critically and commercially acclaimed. As tle content does exist feels oddly alien from fans, we were promised the conclusion to Big the series as a whole; the main villain suffer- Boss’ story, the tale of a good man turned evil; ing from a lack of strong motivation and the corrupted by a lust for power. What we were main threat of the game simply too ridiculous instead given was a fucking shambles. to be taken seriously. Whilst Metal Gear has » Image: Konami Best Sports Game Rocket League lthough it doesn’t have the massive budget, or big name sponsors of Rocket League’s premise is EA’s blockbuster Madden or FIFA franchises, Rocket League is one of the best simple: take a game of football, gamesA of 2015 as whole, and is far and add nitro-powered cars, and away the year’s best ‘sport’ game, a feat it see who comes out on top pulls off despite offering only the faint- est of nods to anything resembling actual sport. This game is the dream for people and more extreme extent every year, Rocket everywhere who have ever imagined play- League throws all that completely out the ing football in their cars (or watched with window, with brilliant results. With great » Images: Bago Games / Flickr envy when they did it on Top Gear). physics and a huge amount of creative The game’s premise is simple: take a freedom, Rocket League often feels limit- game of football, add cars, give those cars less, turning the simple task of getting a huge tanks of nitrous, and see who comes ball from A to B into one of the most sat- » Image: Bago Games / Flickr out on top. While other, more mainstream isfying and addictive sporting experiences sports games offer hyper-realism to a more gaming has to offer. The Kafka Award for Buggiest Game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 oor Tony, he can’t seem to catch a break mostly frustrating, moments of calamity as the with his games. After the staggering player is launched across the map upon mak- failures of Ride and Shred – the latter ing contact with a ramp or rail at an awkward selling only 3000 copies worldwide – many angle. More grievously, the floor will at times Pwere hoping Pro Skater 5 would mark a return simply cease to exist, causing the player to fall to form and quality for the series. Sadly this through the world and into an endless void for has not been the case. Rather than as part of no evident reason. If this were not enough, any genuine attempt to restore the series to on the odd occasion that the player is able to its former greatness, publisher Activison in- execute a jump or ollie, the board will take on stead produced title simply as a way to retain a life of its own, flying away from the player’s licencing rights to a property they were about feet and causing them to instantly wipe out. to lose. As such the game feels both rushed For a game dedicated entirely to flow and and incomplete, with simplistic missions and movement, these bugs render the game es- bland levels. However, most glaring are the sentially unplayable, earning it the undisputed game’s bugs. A dysfunctional collision detec- title of the buggiest game award. » Image: PlayStation Europe / tion engine results in sometimes hilarious, but 37

Editor: Carmella Lowkis TV [email protected] Into unchartered waters Carmella Lowkis on why 2016 might change British broadcasting as we know it hile 2016 may promise exciting The BBC license fee will also be up for ing greater public value from (Channel 4) fo- things for our screens, the real reassessment. The Conservative Govern- cusing on privatisation options in particular.” action to watch will be happen- ment and the BBC agreed a six-year license Channel 4 is currently publicly owned but Boar TV brings you the top five television ing behind-the-scenes. For two leading UK fee freeze in 2010, setting the price at £145.50 funded by ad revenue. All of its programmes programmes to watch over this coming Wbroadcasters – the BBC and Channel 4 – this a year. This looks to rise on account of infla- are bought from outside suppliers, with fortnight, as voted for by TV section con- year could change everything. tion. Moreover, currently, people need only £430m being spent on British independent tributors: For the BBC, December marks the dead- pay to watch live TV, but the fee will likely producers last year. The profits made from line for the renewal of its Royal Charter. This expand to cover catch-up services on iPlayer. popular programmes are used to fund public is the agreement between the BBC and the In 2015, 80% of BBC viewing was still live, service broadcasting such as the news. If pri- Suits Season 5.2 UK premiere: government, which sets out the BBC’s con- but this is expected to decrease every year. vatised, Channel 4 may have to focus more on 1 Feb / Dave stitution, including its editorial independ- The BBC is opposed to any form of priva- profit, meaning that its public service remit After a heated mid-season fi- ence and public obligations. The previous tisation, and claim that “the most important could be under threat. There are also worries nale, the popular American legal charter came into effect in January 2007. voice in the debate is that of the public.” this would affect the quality of Channel 4 1 series will make its return to UK As John Wittingdale, Secretary of State Meanwhile, Channel 4 is facing its own output, deterring risk-taking. This wouldn’t screens. for Culture, Media and Sport writes in the talks over privatisation. Although not in- be unprecedented: following ITV’s flotation Public Consultation document published cluded in the government’s list of main assets on the stock market in 1991, its number of Grease Live: 31 Jan / Fox last year: “The last time the government up for sale in George Osbourne’s autumn awards fell from 28% between 1983 and 1993, This adaptation of a beloved ran a Charter Review, the media landscape statement, an official document leaked last to less than 15% from 1994 to 2014. musical features a cast, includ- looked very different.” year stated: “Work should The Channel 4 review is due to conclude ing Carly Rae Jepsen and High This time around, the BBC will have to proceed to early this year. With these changes looming, 2 School Musical’s Vanessa Hudg- take into consideration the integral role that examine who knows what 2016 will bring for the Brit- ens. It’s definitely the one that I the internet, social media, and on-demand the options ish TV industry? There’s something to con- want! programming have in the modern day. of extract- sider next time you’re watching GoggleBox. The Good Wife Season 7 UK premiere: 28 Jan / More4 Another American legal drama 3 – the TV section sure do know what we like.

American Crime Story US premiere: 2 Feb / FX Is it worrying how much we like crime? Maybe. Here’s some more 4 crime, this time focusing on the murder trial of O. J. Simpson.

Super Bowl 50: 7 Feb / CBS It’s the American sporting event of the year, and this year it’s turning 50 years old! If you know » Images: TechnicalFault / Flickr (Left), 5 things about sports, this is prob- 401(K) 2013 / Flickr (Centre), ably for you! and Miyagawa / Wikimedia Commons (Right) Netflix announce ‘ambitious’ expansion Nadeem Lala takes a look behind the streaming service’s latest success and what its future holds uring the Consumer Electronics was once an unknown and risky project has a slew of original Netflix shows that capti- rupt local companies that distribute media Show in Las Vegas on 6 January quickly changed into a profitable vate and are well reviewed such as rights. One major example would be India, a 2016, Netflix announced an ambi- venture, with Netflix having Narcos, Daredevil and – most consumer base with the potential to see Net- tious plan to expand its online streaming made numerous deals to recently – Jessica Jones. flix’s current total of subscribers quadruple. Dservice to 130 more countries, with major increase its digital col- Particularly appealing markets including Russia, India and South- lection of movies is that Netflix origi- East Asia. Netflix has faced many issues since and TV shows. nal TV releases all India’s consumer base has the its transition from selling DVDs to online What has ar- the episodes of a potential to see Netflix’s current streaming during the late 2000s, with the guably given season at once, total of subscribers quadruple concept of streaming TV online alien at the Netflix the which is an in- time. However, ever since the rapid techno- profitabil- novative step logical advancements we have made in just ity and reli- that has led to the past 10 years, Netflix has evolved into an ability fac- Netflix’s rise However, EROS Now, a local company incredible platform for seamless access to a tor has been in popularity. that dominates the Indian digital and cable variety of digital content. the success Given the market, would present a challenge for Net- of releas- ease of ac- flix’s expansion plans. After all, EROS Now ing original cess Netflix has the largest collection of Indian movies Netflix announced an ambitious TV con- provides to and music available online and on DVD, plan to expand its online tent, a con- entertainment, with subscriber costs lower than Netflix. streaming service to 130 more cept that has consumers Nevertheless, it is unavoidable that Netf- countries changed from all around the lix has transformed the way TV works. An revolutionary to world have much outpouring of innovative ideas have accom- normal in just a to look forward to. panied the rise of Netflix and other stream- mere matter of years. However, will the ing services, and with this recent news that In fact the Netflix subscriber base has While the award win- company’s expansion to the company will expand worldwide, it seems sharply risen from around 23.11m subscrib- ning show House of Cards the rest of the world benefit that the age of cable TV has come to a close. ers in the United States in around 2011 to seemed ambitious to release everyone? What could be cause » 69.17m worldwide as of October 2015. What solely on digital media, now there’s for concern is Netflix’s potential to dis- Image: Shardayyy / Flickr Answers provided in next paper

How about a study break?

Across 11 1 Broth (4) Frame for drying laundry on (5) 12 Strikingly strange (6) 3 Submissive - I bend toe (anagram) (8) 14 Dish of meat and potato stew (6) 9 Kind of gloves (7) 16 Photographer’s device (6) 3 5 2 10 Muffler (5) 19 The coldest season of the year (6) 21 Formation of ice on a surface (5) 1 7 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 24 Bring about (5) 8 25 Climate (7) 26 Short respite (8) 5 9 1 7 9 10 27 Bohemian (4) 3 6 Down 11 12 1 Understanding (8) 4 6 8 3 13 2 Speak (5) 4 Hamper (6) 14 15 16 17 3 9 5 Nightclub (5) 18 6 Check out (7) 4 5 19 20 21 22 7 Bean curd (4) 8 Oddball - or wide (anagram) (6) 23 13 Professional (8) 9 2 1

24 25 15 Commendation (7) 17 Breach of the peace (6) 18 Survey (6)

26 27 20 Chirp of a small bird (5) 22 Alternative (5)

T U R N O V E R P A D 7 2 4 8 9 1 6 3 5 R E F A U A U Last A S P I R I N M U S I C 5 6 9 2 4 3 7 8 1 P L I I B T K 8 3 1 6 7 5 2 4 9 Week’s D A Y E C S T A T I C O N H M W 6 8 2 3 1 9 5 7 4 O V E R D O S C H E M E 4 9 7 5 8 6 1 2 3 Answers R M M A R C A V A L I E R S E E 1 5 3 4 2 7 9 6 8 L N R S E U W 2 4 5 9 6 8 3 1 7 I M A G E C H E E R I O 3 1 6 7 5 4 8 9 2 F T N U R G L E Y E A N E W L E A F 9 7 8 1 3 2 4 5 6 50th Anniversary o celebrate Warwick University turning 50 this year, The Boar is running a series of interviews with notable alumni and prominent figures in the world of media. Everything we do here is intrinsically Tlinked to both of these areas, so what better way to celebrate our university finally coming of age?

Jonathan Abbatt Warwick alumnus, and member of the first intake of students in 1965

» Image: Warwick Media Library The Boar (Anaïs Ronchin): Why did you watched his tropical fish perform while we I found that although I enjoyed the power lecture theatre and shared stories over dinner. f irst chose Warwick in 1965 and why did you talked about life and study – very soothing. of maths to illuminate theory, I questioned I love the Arts Centre, the food stalls and want to study economics? the behavioural assumptions and was more brilliant bookshop. We took in several talks The Boar: How were the lectures? The interested in the real-world social, political and events in the Festival of the Imagination, Jonathan Abbatt: Although keen teachers? The nightlife? and historical applications of economics. enjoyable and stimulating. I would like to on maths and the sciences, I wanted to have met up with my closest friend from 65- understand more about how societies work. I recall great lectures from Graham Pyatt, The Boar: What was the f irst graduation 68, but alas he is no longer alive. I also noticed that economics students then a very young professor of economics, ceremony like? had fewer lectures to attend than the hard Christopher Zeeman and his mathematical sciences! I was excited by the idea of coming model of the brain, Fred who was blind and JA: I don’t know, because I chose not to “A group of students bought a to something completely new, and futuristic. taught history with his dog beneath the table. go! This was the summer of 1968 and I hearse [and] came to campus Warwick was not ‘red brick’ but ‘white tile’. I think the first computer arrived in 1968, couldn’t imagine receiving my degree from but when I was learning programming we an establishment figure in a cathedral. I dressed as undertakers” had to punch code onto paper tape and send had been entranced by the student revolts it to a technical college for processing. The in Paris, “les événements de Mai”, “Egalité! The Boar: Was Warwick the best years of “We had no TV but listened turn around was a week and often it came Liberté! Sexualité!” your life? Did those 3 years really help you to exotic music on a Russian back with a compilation error! After working in IT for a couple of years achieve your goals? short-wave radio, smoked roll- There were excellent parties, great music I went out to Kenya on Voluntary Service from bands who later became very famous Overseas, as a Lecturer in Computing, and JA: As Zhou Enlai said, when asked about ups and watched his tropical (Pink Floyd was one) and quite a lot of found myself on the receiving end of tear-gas the effects of the French Revolution, “It’s too fish perform while we talked politics… We went to ‘teach-ins’ (extended, after a student revolt at Nairobi University! early to say”. I’ve been blessed with many informal seminars) on white-ruled Rhodesia I returned with a family from Kenya in good times, and they aren’t over yet! They about life and study” and Vietnam. Mary Whitehouse tried, 1977 to do an MSc in Systems Analysis at were certainly good years and critical to my and failed, to persuade us that TV was a Aston, and was happy to invite my mother personal development. But in my experience corrupting influence. There was always stuff to the graduation and wear all the traditional life is for finding out what you really value, The Boar: Can you tell us more about the happening, like a group of students who gear! and Warwick helped me on that journey. University itself ? I imagine there were fewer bought a hearse, came to the campus dressed Some people like clear goals, I tended to buildings and rooms than there are today… as undertakers, and were denounced from the work in a more intuitive way, acquiring skills pulpit of a local church! which interested me, such as public speaking, JA: There was a lot of space, but most of “In my experience life is for counselling and mediation. I didn’t plan my it was empty. In that first year there were finding out what you really career until my mid-’50s when I left local probably more builders than students - there value, and Warwick helped me government policy work and became a self- were about 400 of us, and quite a lot of mud. “I think the first computer employed Executive Coach. It was my last The plans for a campus the size of Berkeley arrived in 1968” out on that journey” major career move. Although retired now, in the US seemed very far-fetched at the I’m still learning and campaigning, last week time. I marched in London and visited Paris for The Boar: After 50 years, did you recognise the Climate Summit. I am a grandfather, The Boar: Where did you live? The Boar: What was your best Warwick your university? Do you like how the involved in my church and community in memory? university looks now? the Welsh Borders and in a link with Africa. JA: In 1965-6 I shared digs in Kenilworth Perhaps being married 41 years counts as an with a student of English. I skipped lectures JA: As then lecturer at Warwick, Germaine JA: It was the first time that I’d seen it achievement, or else I’m just lucky? Life is to read his copy of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Greer once said: “You’re only young once, but since 1968. I was astonished at the scale of full! before he could. We had a homely landlady you can be immature forever.” the campus, and how beautifully landscaped who cooked us generous breakfasts. I grew up a little bit and discovered more it is. It was as if I’d left a village and returned In my 2nd year I shared a flat in Leamington about myself, the other sex and the world. to a city. I felt quite disoriented until I found with a fellow economics student. We had no I loved the relative freedom to study as I a recognisable Rootes building, and then TV but listened to exotic music on a Russian wanted and to learn about other people’s later on the Gibbet Hill campus where we short-wave radio, smoked roll-ups and subjects, philosophy, science, literature. met with contemporaries in the original 40

Editors: Jess Mason and Stephen Paul Music [email protected] ‘Turn and face the strange’: The many ‘Changes’ of David Bowie 8 January 1947- 10 January 2016 t wasn’t a coincidence that David Bow- when it was extremely rare he achieved something completely new important as the music. It gave Bowie li- ie’s last album Blackstar was full of ref- and dangerous to do so - in music. Musicians had changed their cence to make art with scale and ambition, erences to death and contemplations of even though he wasn’t. image before, such as the Beatles’ and spectacular, new weirdness. mortality – he had been battling cancer for He was soon to declare progression from clean-cut to hip- almostI two years when he recorded it, and, himself an alien sex pie, but Bowie completely invented He added a whole new element to in typical Bowie fashion, told this to his fans god from Mars, even a character. He added a whole new the idea of performance in music: by way of a conceptual art piece rather than though he was from element to the idea of performance something massive, spectacular, stoic public announcement - but I did expe- South London. His im- in music: something massive, spec- rience a slightly strange coincidence on the age was catching up with tacular, hyper-real. It combined hyper-real. day he died. his music, which existed with the music, which found in- beyond any sort of rigid fluence in sources And then he killed off Ziggy. Like the He had been battling cancer for categorisation or rules. from rock music ‘Lazarus’ of his final music video, he was re- almost two years and, in typical And then came Ziggy to old dancehall born. Each rebirth was a different form of Bowie fashion, told his fans by Stardust. Primarily com- balladry, to cre- Bowie that revealed more about the person bining Iggy Pop’s punk rock ate something at its heart. In Young Americans, he became a way of a conceptual art piece decadence with dream-like otherworldly. blue-eyed soul singer, suited and smooth. In sci-fi, he appeared in a It was gener- the Berlin period, we saw “The Thin White chest-bearing, skin-tight ation-defin- Duke”, who was supposed to be cold and I was listening to him on repeat on the shining suit with a ing and the detached whilst singing songs of astonish- train from Euston to Coventry and reading giant gold cir- character he ing emotional intensity; an embodi- one of his many obituaries - in particular, cle painted invented - the ment of both the artificial futur- one by Brian Eno that mentioned how Bow- on his fore- imagery of ism of the music and its themes, ie would sign off each message to him with head, with it - was and the effects of his drug ad- a new invented name, “Mr. Showbusiness”, make-up just diction. Bowie was never static: “Dawn”, “Milton Keynes.” At this exact mo- that passed as again and again, versions of ment, the train pulled into Milton Keynes from androgy- him died and were reborn, station (a place so bland that it would be nous into sur- and his music pushed for- more accurately described as “the opposite real. Here, ward with his imagery. He of David Bowie”) – it was an insignificant didn’t do this to keep up with event, but one that amused me. I no- the times. Rather, as is fitting ticed my phone was low on battery, for someone so influenced by so I turned off the music and start- science fiction, the times had to ed reading Fernando Pessoa instead rush to keep up with him. - a writer who throughout his career in- This idea of assumed personas vented a multitude of heteronyms, differ- and performance fitted perfectly in ent personas (with invented lives and per- cinema. Whether he was the alien sonalities) that he would write from of The Man Who Fell to Earth, or the perspective of. Critics note that the goblin king of Labyrinth, Bow- this technique allowed him to express ie could slide into new identities himself more fully by understanding with ease. These all became more just how difficult the individual ‘self ’ is iconic than most stars can manage to grasp, how multifaceted it is, how an- with their one identity through- yone contains contradicting mul- out their entire career. A famous titudes, how we are perhaps re- GIF which has been circulating ally composed of many ‘selves’. recently shows just how many Then again, I was thinking of there are, and just how distinctive Bowie. each is. It’s an incredible thing to see. If they had one thing in The moment David common, it was that they were Bowie arrived, he was never normal; aided by his odd an invention personality and aesthetic sense, as well as his sharp features and unique mismatched eyes, Bow- The moment David Bowie ar- ie was always an embodiment of rived, he was an invention. He’d weird, an embodiment of something taken the surname ‘Bowie’ over far greater than normal. It might be his actual name ‘Jones’ in tribute gauche to try to attach a greater les- to the Bowie knife - but it took son or meaning onto all of this, but a while for him to really leave the there is something important in ground in the fantastical nature of this: Bowie showed gen- his personas. The first two albums eration after generation saw him flirt with genre after genre, that they could be weird but the third is where he started to pres- too. They could present himself as an artwork: he appears ent themselves however on the front, lounging in a dress they wanted to be. The with his hair grown beyond his alienated had a hero in shoulders. This androgyny this man who referred to was pivotal; Bowie was about himself as an actual alien. breaking down boundaries. He allowed people to be Gender was completely un- whatever they wanted to important; it could be played be.  with at will. He declared Rory McCarthy himself openly gay in an era 8 theboar.org/Music | @Boar Music | MUSICtheboar.org 41 Netsky: “I really like it when people take risks” Favourite Bowie ‘Moments’ Hunky Dory

Billy Perrigo goes backstage with the underground D’n’B phenomenon Hunky Dory is sweeping, addressing Bowie’s artist- ry, the birth of his son and his obsession with other-worldly beings. This incredible breadth of subject matter and execution helped me understand that music could be even more profound than any other art form. In the first album I ever bought, I found my favourite musician, and my current apprecia- tion and love for music. Thank you for that and so much more, David Bowie. Alexei Warshawski ‘Five Years’

Building from a thin, un- assuming drumbeat to an explosive string-laden, pi- ano-slamming statement of apocalyptic emotion, ‘Five Years’ chronicles a snapshot of a bustling metropole in Earth’s final years. Playing like a Renaissance pantomime, it refernces gro- tesque symbols of humanity in desperation. Most curious is the “you” that Bowie refers to: “smiling and waving and looking so fine”. Maybe it’s the listener, allowing them to be heroes, if just for a few minutes. Adam Davey » Netsky knows image: Olivier Bourgi / Flickr Young Americans etsky - underground drum and bass ing out” in the context of ‘Rio’ - the video Inherently, the “risk” being taken by Net- phenomenon turned reasonably-suc- for which is a cartoon of him and a pig fly- sky is a monetary risk. Innovation can, and Collaboration is the heart cessful crossover artist. Depending ing to Rio de Janeiro. I asked whether that does, come from kids sitting in their bed- of Young Americans, with on who you ask, you’ll hear wildly different reflected his music becoming more childish rooms on Ableton. The “innovation” that Bowie recruiting the ex- Nopinions on which of these career choices and mainstream. He wasn’t at all reluctant to Netsky is chasing seems to be from a show pertise of then unknown is superior. Most people at Warwick might answer, but I could sense the question made business standpoint, and there’s no denying Luther Vandross, John answer your hypothetical question with “who him slightly uncomfortable. that his live show is a spectacle. But in my Lennon (who co-wrote the hell is Netsky?” but there’s no denying opinion, it fell flat and bored me. ‘Fame’) and began his that he divides opinion among those who are “Selling out is a term I use when I And, despite his protests, I don’t agree with long standing partnership with guitarist familiar with his material. his opinion that his live band brings anything Carlos Alomar. ‘Right’ is the strongest song, You might recognise him for his most see an artist doing the same thing new to the table. “This tour I can really feel with Bowie’s backing vocals famously flum- recent pop-enthused single Rio, which, al- in his whole career” people talking about the live band, the way moxing even Vandross. Lyrically, ‘Young though not charting in the UK, managed to we play live, and they love how the drummer Americans’ is the highlight, with Bowie call- worm its way into the London New Year’s plays… I see so much social interaction with ing out McCarthyism, Nixon, and lament- firework celebrations. He thought for a second, then contrasted it and I’ve really got a feeling something’s ing lost youth: “We live for just these twenty Some context, then; Netsky emerged on his style with ‘superstar DJs’. “It’s really re- growing the old school way, where people years/Do we have to die for the fifty more?” the scene in the late 2000s, becoming fa- newing,” he said, “to not market a DJ as their have to see a show and they talk about it.” Lewis McClenaghan mous for his ethereal liquid drum and bass. face and being all ‘photoshoot’ and ‘make-up’ It all felt like a bit of a gimmick. At the He signed to one of the largest labels in the and all those things, it’s really nice to just end of the show, for the encore, the MC an- ‘Neuköln’ scene, Hospital Records, in 2009, and his have a childish cartoon of me and Digital nounced “IT’S TIME TO GET BRAZIL- first album Netsky was widely regarded as one Farm Animals as a pig.” ‘Neuköln’ spotlights a dif- of the best releases of 2010. “But yeah, selling out…I mean, for me, ferent shade of Bowie’s Netsky built on his clear talent for crea- selling out is a term that I personally use It all felt like a bit of a gimmick. work: atmosphere and tively naming albums with his follow up, 2, in when I see an artist doing the same thing At the end of the show, for the multi-instrumental prow- 2013. This was a significant departure from in his whole career - just working the kind encore, the MC announced “IT’S ess. It revolves around his liquid material, introducing a more soul- of crowd he has, and the following that he’s TIME TO GET BRAZILIAN” simple three-note pat- ful sound and featuring many collaborations got... Or jumping on the next bandwagon. terns; a solemn and touch- with vocalists. It was even better received, I like artists who just try and take risks, for ing backdrop, while a saxophone sings a wild and Netsky left Hospital for Sony in 2014. example like Jack Ü (Skrillex and Diplo) on IAN”. The band (Netsky, his drummer, and soliloquy. Very few songs capture a setting Since then, Netsky has been quietly work- their own, taking massive risks and doing his keyboardist) then came to the front of the as well as ‘Neuköln’ portrays its namesake: ing on new material, with two single releases stuff that hasn’t been done before: that’s what stage, and began drumming a simple beat, on the Turkish slums near which Bowie lived. perhaps not making as much a mainstream people should be looking at as what should MIDI drum pads, to ‘Rio’. It’s cold, isolated and bleak; demonstrating splash as Sony would have liked, although be going on right now. Instead of sticking to Leaving aside the easy cultural-appropria- the separation Turkish immigrants felt from achieving a number one in his home country ‘your roots’ or doing whatever you’ve always tion shots one might be tempted to fire, that both the country they once belonged to, and of Belgium. done, I really like it when people take risks moment summed up the show for me. Net- the place in which they resided. and experiment.” sky bought some fancy new drum pads with Daniel Kuburoglu Talking to him, I could really tell But his answer left me unimpressed. In- Sony’s money, and is attempting to style his that making music is what he stead of innovating inside the scene, as so own pursuit of fame as musical innovation. ‘Blackstar’ always wanted to do. many stalwarts have succeeded in doing, it To make things worse, ‘Rio’ was one of the seems he has stopped innovating by simply only new songs he played that night. The rest ‘Blackstar’, the title track applying his production knowledge to tired of the performance was mostly old songs, from Bowie’s final LP, re- I managed to catch up with Netsky before old pop formulae. It’s even more depressing performed in much the same way to how I leased just three days be- his Birmingham show last December. to know that he is choosing this direction remember them being performed two years fore his death is excellent: Talking to him, I could really tell that mak- himself, rather than it being forced upon him ago. a ten-minute epic evolving ing music is what he always wanted to do. by Sony. Netsky’s new direction isn’t innovation. from an avant-garde elec- He signed to Sony on the condition that his If he’d answered that he was taking advan- It’s pandering, lowest-common-denomina- tronic dirge into a jazzy artistic development was under his control. tage of his talent to follow his lifelong musi- tor stuff. I’m still interested to hear his new and self-referential mid-section. The track “I didn’t want [Sony] to tell me what kind cal ambitions, I’d be able to accept that. But album, because I know deep down Netsky is typifies Bowie: unabashed weirdness; fusing of music to make, basically.” And it’s hard to trying to stylise himself alongside Jack Ü as a good musician. But so far, he’s been trying diverse genres; an instantly identifiable voice, fault him for taking advantage of his success “taking massive risks” feels like not only a cop and failing to toe the line between main- constantly transformed, manipulated and to work with people he couldn’t have before. out, but an insult to everyone inside drum stream and the underground, and right now pushed to its limits. The track and album He’s spoken on the topic many times be- and bass, who is actively pushing things for- I don’t think he’s pleasing many people at all. are a fitting goodbye from a legend whose fore, but I asked him the question of “sell- ward - as well as to Jack Ü. unique voice will be much missed. Jack Short 42

Editor: Selina-Jane Spencer Science&Tech [email protected]

Black holes have hair?

recent paper, published by Stephen Hawking and other physicists, has suggested that black holes may be surrounded by ‘hair’ made up of ghostly zero energyA particles, and goes on to suggest that some of the information consumed by black holes may be stored on these hairs. The proposal does not prove that all the information consumed by a black hole is preserved, but the ‘soft-hair’ idea suggests that it should be theoretically possible to recover information that existed in the past. The black hole, long a stalwart of sci-fi disaster movies, is a region of space-time that exhibits such strong gravitational effects that nothing can escape from inside it, including particles and electromagnetic radiation such as light. Black holes are, for all intents and It’s back, bigger and better than ever before. In celebration of the re-launch of Science purposes, invisible – they reflect no light – but their presence could be inferred from its Explained, we have two pieces of everyday science demystified for you! interactions with other matter. It was also theorised, by Hawking, that black holes are is made up from hundreds of tiny receptors body is and it not entirely black, and that they emit a small covered with mucus, which collect and ab- might just dis- amount of thermal radiation (an effect that What is smell? sorb odour molecules as you breathe in. Mol- tract you! has become known as Hawking radiation), ecules can also reach the olfactory epithelium Alice causing them to evaporate over time. reshly baked bread. Public toilets. New- through our mouths, taking a route via the Stamp ly cut grass. Smells have an incredible back of the throat. Humans have around 450 influence over us: some leave us salivat- different types of olfactory receptors, each ca- Either the information is ing while others make us wish we didn’t have pable of detecting several different types of not completely destroyed, Fnoses at all. Catching a whiff of your dad’s odour molecules. Any individual smell could or we need to adjust our post-Christmas Dinner fart seems both in- be one of a range of unique combinations understanding of the laws of evitable and unavoidable, but we rarely stop of odour molecules meaning that, using our physics to consider the complex cocktail of chemicals receptors and considering all the possible swirling through the air into our nostrils, let combinations, we can distinguish hundreds alone the process that leads to us wrinkling of thousands of different scents from one What, then, is this ‘hair’? In the 1960s, our noses and kicking him off the sofa. With another. Once an odour molecule reaches a John Wheeler used the phrase “black holes a whole 5% of our DNA dedicated to olfac- receptor cell, the two bind together, generat- have no hair” as a metaphor to mean that tion (the detection and translation of smells), ing a signal which gets sent to a part of the black holes were shorn of all complicated it would seem it’s actually a pretty complicat- brain called the olfactory bulb. This sorts particularities – that is, that all black holes ed process. through the different signals and sends were identical except for their spin, angular Smells start their journey at the source, them on to other parts of the brain. The momentum and mass. with tiny molecules of the stinky substance collection and combination of these dif- The idea of this new theory is that there drifting through the air, often carried by ferent signals leads to us piecing together are in fact hairs on the edge of black holes, means of evaporation. Once these molecules exactly what it is we are smelling. comprised of zero-energy particles – a parti- reach our noses, they are filtered through Sadly, none of this will help you to escape cle with the energy of its ground state. These rows of fine nasal hairs until they reach the from the stenches that make your eyes wa- serve to ‘trap’ information, if you will, on the olfactory epithelium – a tiny patch of skin re- ter, but perhaps next time the bin lorry drives event horizon, making a watermark of the in- sponsible for the sensing of smells. This area by you’ll spare a thought for how clever your » photo: maksim / Wikimedia Commons formation as it passes – think nose hair gath- ering dust, and you’re kind of there. Charged particles crossing the event horizon leave traces of themselves in the form of There’s a lot at steak... soft photons and soft gravitons, which have no energy – it serves as a recording device, saving infinite amounts of information about wrong. The meat, most often beef, used for what went into the black hole. The informa- making the hamburger could contain any tion is therefore not destroyed, resolving the or several of the following major foodborne ‘black hole paradox’: information swallowed pathogens: Clostridium perfringens, Escher- up by a black hole must be retrievable, via ichia coli, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus the laws of quantum mechanics, which does aureus and Streptococcus spp. not tally with our current understanding of Combined, these bacteria can cause gas- the black hole. Either the information is not troenteritis (inflammation of the stomach completely destroyed, or we need to adjust and intestines), diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea our understanding of the laws of physics. and abdominal cramps, within hours of con- Hawking’s paper is open to peer review sumption and can last for several days. The and no-one has found any issues with the most severe cases, however, can last for sever- calculations, but many scientists feel that hen ordering steak at al weeks and cause kidney failure (E. Coli) or this solution is not the final answer to the a restaurant you get a choice even be fatal in immunocompromised peo- question of the ‘black hole paradox’ – it has of how it’s cooked: rare, medium rare ple, like the young and elderly. been posited as akin to using smoke and fire orW well done. However, all hamburgers have Because the of this, the Food Standards to deduce the identity of something that has to be cooked well done in order to be safe to Agency maintains that burgers should be been burnt, with doubts about whether the eat - why? Sim- “cooked thoroughly until they are steaming hair would be rich enough to store all the With a steak, all the bacteria is on the out- p l y searing the hot throughout, the juices run clear and there information. Nevertheless, it has received an side of the piece of meat, leaving the inside outside of the patty, while killing the bacte- is no pink meat left inside”. enthusiastic response, and even if it turns out free. So when a steak is cooked rare, the heat ria present there, won’t do anything to tackle Mya Kad not to be the case, the theory certainly opens effectively kills off the bacteria, and because the bacteria still present in the middle. Thus the door to new ways of thinking about black the inside is ‘clean’ anyway, there’s no risk of the burger has to be cooked properly, at a holes and how they encode information. food poisoning or infection. sufficient temperature, all the way through to Become a Boar writer! However, with a hamburger, as the meat ensure that there is no bacteria left. Email: For those who are interested, the paper is is minced, all the bacteria that was on the And if you’re thinking that a little bacteria [email protected] called “Soft Hair on Black Holes” outside of the meat is now on the inside too. won’t do you any harm, here’s where you’re theboar.org/science-tech | @BoarSciTech | SCIENCE & TECH 43 Eye spy a scientific breakthrough hian Lewis, 49, suffers from a disorder for improving her confidence and independ- called retinitis pigmentosa. This he- ence. She likened simply being able to locate reditary condition gradually destroys a plate and a cup on a table to being a child the photoreceptors in the retina, impairing on Christmas Day! “When I locate some- Rvision. One in 3-4000 people in the UK cur- thing, especially like a spoon or a fork on the rently have this disease. The extent and se- table, it’s pure elation”. verity varies person to person, but in Rhian’s The ‘bionic eye’ is constantly being devel- case, it left her almost completely blind by oped and is currently on its second genera- the age of 16. John Radcliffe Hospital’s new tion. Huge improvements have been made in clinical trial are implanting six patients with the device: the patients, who were fitted with cutting edge ‘bionic eyes’. the first generation device in 2012, could dis- No cure currently exists for blindness tinguish curved lines or straight lines from caused by retinitis pigmentosa but the resto- each other; Rhian is able to read a clock. ration of vision by various electronical visual Rhian and the others who have the implant implants has made huge improvements. Rhi- are able to control the contrast, frequency an was fitted with the implant in June. The and the sensitivity of the implant by using a implant is 3mm2 , contains approximately handheld remote. Some improvements could 1,500 light sensors and works by sending still be made however; the chip has a resolu- pulsed electrical signals to a computer im- tion of less than 1% of a megapixel. planted in the skin. Based on the success of the trial of the im- Interestingly, after years of dormancy, the plant, the device may be offered on the NHS. brain will have to re-learn how to interpret Furthermore, there are hopes that this device these light signals into shapes. This process could also be used in the treatment of other can take a few weeks, but Rhian describes diseases, like age-related macular degenera- her ecstasy to get sensation in her eye again: tion. Given the speed of development of this “there was like this flashing in my eye, which device, it will be interesting to see its status in has seen nothing for over 16 years, so it was optometry in the next five years. like, oh my god, wow!” The device is powered Lacey Read by a small magnetic coil that resides on the surface of the skin and is similar in size and appearance to a hearing aid. Have you been involved The impact of this implant has been huge for Rhian – “it’s been maybe eight years that in any cool research? I’ve had any sort of idea of what my children Let us know at: look like” and she has also praised the device [email protected]

Could immune responses cause Alzheimer’s?

Jordan Hindson discusses research which may revolutionise Alzheimer’s» Image: Chempetitive / treatmentWikimedia Commons

study conducted by researchers at the ogy of the disease, in particular to the loss of disease. The researchers also noted that the reducing inflammation. They have already University of Southampton and Lan- cognitive functions observed in patients. particular drug used did not reduce microglia shown, in this very same study, that the brains caster University has found that there The latest study, the results of which were levels to below the normal level. of post-mortem human Alzheimer’s patients may be a greater link between the immune published in the latest edition of Brain, is the Professor Bruno Frenguelli of the Life contain higher levels of microglia than seen responseA to Alzheimer’s, and the memory most comprehensive yet on the possible link Sciences department at the University of in non-Alzheimer’s patients. and behavioural problems seen in sufferers, between inflammation and cognitive symp- Warwick summarises the findings: “this is a In addition, they were keen to stress that than previously thought. toms. very interesting and comprehensive study ex- the drug has no effect on the amyloid plaques. A characteristic feature of Alzheimer’s amining the controversial area of inflamma- This is crucial; the search for treatments for disease is the gradual accumulation and ag- [Researchers] saw a marked decrease tion in Alzheimer’s disease. Using a mouse Alzheimer’s in the past has focused on these gregation of amyloid-beta plaques, which in the severity of memory and model of Alzheimer’s, the authors show that plaques. Professor Frenguelli goes on to say deposit themselves in gaps between neurons reducing the inflammation caused by an in- that, “anti-inflammatory drugs similar to in the brain. These plaques are toxic to nerve behavioural problems in the mice crease in a type of brain immune cell called those used in the study could lead to novel cells, and have therefore been of huge interest treated with the drug microglia, they were able to prevent damage targets and treatments for this debilitating to researchers who work on this debilitating to brain nerve cells and to improve learning condition.” condition. and memory. These data point thus to an This study may encourage some neurosci- The presence of these plaques, and other Researchers used a drug that curbed the important role for inflammation in the de- entists to redirect their research efforts away neurological effects of the disease, induces an production of microglia in mice exhibiting velopment and progression of Alzheimer’s from amyloid plaques and towards microglia immune response. The brain contains its own symptoms of Alzheimer’s. They saw a marked disease.” cells, or persuade them, at the very least, to immune cells, known as microglia, which decrease in the severity of memory and be- Researchers will now hope to establish take the treatment potential of the inflam- destroy any unwanted material, including havioural problems in the mice treated with that the findings also apply to human pa- matory aspect of the disease as seriously as plaques. It has been a source of contention as the drug, suggesting that the immune-in- tients - the ultimate ambition being the de- this study suggests it deserves. to how important this immune reaction, and duced inflammation is itself a key driver of velopment of a drug that could safely curb its associated inflammation, is to the pathol- the cognitive decline associated with the excessive numbers of microglia, thereby Your career. Your way.

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Editor: Jack Prevezer Travel [email protected] An unexpected journey

The Chinese answer Abbie Neale recounts her bizarre Jailbreak experience to Bestival ometimes, travel can be more about the stopped their car for us. Our casual friendly the sweetest elderly couple, and a Flemish people you meet rather than the places fist-bump suddenly turned into an excited man who we were convinced was an angel you go; for me, it was the blossoming embrace as we celebrated our first successful when he rescued us (except he was an angel ove over bucket hats, glitter of a beautiful friendship between two hitch with strangers. Until we realised it was who smoked a shisha pipe and drove a mil- paint and snorting a line off a hitch-hikers. illegal to hitch-hike on motorways... itary van). dwarf in a Staffordshire field SAlong with my new friend, Sukho (who After spending two hours attempting to This was all after we had to spend the whilst pounding your fist to was wearing a bright pink tutu to catch the cut through a field, slicing our way through night in a deserted service station, which was the heavenly ululations of JME, because attention of drivers), I ventured out into the an aggressive mass of stinging nettles - Suk- beyond weird. Hours passed like days as we Mthe Chinese really know how to hold mu- unknown. We began the journey by dancing ho having to despairingly abandon the tutu drifted half-asleep through the blurry white sic festivals in style. Admittedly, that is a on the roadside, hoping that if our cardboard after becoming ensnared in a trap of thorns realm, the walls emitting a humming sound somewhat exaggerated description of one of signs didn’t work, perhaps they would be en- - we stumbled out into a party of cows. that Sukho and I began to imitate whilst ly- Britain’s favourite summer pastimes, but is a ticed by our intense body-popping skills. We had both attained an attractive selec- ing on the cold hard floor as if we had been necessarily forceful opening when recalling We were so desperate to catch a lift, in tion of scratches down our arms. My eyes confined to a mental hospital for the night. one of the strangest experiences of my life. fact, that we had madly scrawled the words, were watering from the amount of times We sung ‘Day Tripper’ by The Beatles as I had been teaching in Meizhou, a lit- “WE HAVE COOKIES” onto one of the Sukho had allowed a branch to swing back loud as we could before falling asleep side by tle-known town in southern China, when signs in garish highlighters. and smack me in the face, not to mention we side in our shared blanket. At the end of the my lesson was interrupted by an intense English weather was not on our side; the had completely forgotten where the exit was. three days, it was as if we had been friends for wailing and a pounding bassline that could sign was unreadable by the end of the first He spent a great deal of time trying to years: together we had journeyed under the have been easily confused with the horn of day due to the rain pummelling the pitiably climb over a fence without impaling him- ocean and hitched our way through Holland Gondor. When it occurred to me that I, in thin paper which we had stuck to the card- self on the spikes at the top while I watched on two trains. fact, was not a furry-footed hobbit fending board using nothing but a glue stick. This (offering moral support whenever I could, of We arrived in Amsterdam at night, when off foul beasties, but was rather in my class- was probably for the best, though, since by course). It took us about twenty minutes to the bikes that passed were mere specs of room desperately attempting to introduce that point we had eaten all of the cookies realise we were actually able to fit through light, blinking as the cyclists weaved in and my students to the intricacies of black pud- ourselves and the promise on our sign was the bars. Even now, a year later, this is still out of trees. With still an hour left, we had ding, I ventured outside. all lies. one of our funniest memories. made it to our destination and raised over I was informed by my fellow volunteers We wandered helplessly around Coven- You never really know who’s going to be £200 for Cancer Research! that the unholy racket emanating from the try for an hour before a middle-aged couple behind the wheel. We met an army woman, town centre was an annual music festival, lasting the entire day. As my eyes glazed over with thoughts of ‘free love’ and daisy chains, we made an impromptu decision to visit that evening. Now, I wasn’t expecting the likes of Em- Don’t come fly with me inem, Blink 182, or even Brian May sliding down a fireman’s pole (the latter wouldn’t surprise me, he’s everywhere), but nothing could have prepared me for the surreal bed- Claudia Loy explains why there’s no need to get ‘travel envy’ lam that awaited. Stepping up to the main stage was like entering a Dali painting, ex- hen people hear about the ex- For every place I’ve been someone has been America. Looking at their photos, somehow cept instead of melting clocks and mastur- periences you have on a year somewhere ten times better, or at least that’s my travels didn’t compare. bating women, there were toddlers gorging abroad or even hear about how it feels. When someone else is doing Social media encourages comparison; in on bizarre melons, and a disturbing mass of the fact that you’re abroad at something, it always seems more exciting. the same way that seeing photos of clothes people bobbing their heads in silence. all, their first reaction is jealousy. “You’re so you really want, or someone with a body you The music was unearthly. Our interpret- lucky”,W they say, because travelling is some- really want may leave you feeling dissatisfied, er told us that a famous Tibetan singer had thing different, something that they aren’t it’s the photos of people doing hot air bal- begun to perform, and we were greeted by doing. Simply because they’re not doing it, loon rides in the sunset, or seeing rare ani- the desperate banging of a hand-drum and they wish they could. mals up close that sparks that jealousy in me. celestial swathes of white linen on stage, I do feel lucky because I’ve been able to That desire for something different, some- producing a sound that wouldn’t have gone travel to so many amazing places but, I thing better. amiss in a budget sci-fi flick. The crowd re- want to say to anyone reading this who This lack of satisfaction can be damag- mained silent, either awestruck like we were, stayed in England last year, I’m jealous ing though. It’s good to have goals and or simply apathetic to the spectacle in front of you too. There are positives and want to try new things but you have to of them. negatives to everything and it’s the keep it in perspective. I’m definite- Bizarrely, these traditional tunes were soon negatives you tend to focus on. ly guilty of never being satisfied, followed by more familiar tracks, as a boom- My friends who stayed in the but I also think that happiness is box began to emit the screechy tones of Jes- UK didn’t seem to realise the more important than achieving sie J. Having had our inner rave-monkey re- benefits of that, just as I don’t al- arbitrary goals which may seem strained during our teaching, the volunteers ways appreciate the benefits of be- important on a superficial level, but and I began dancing in the crowd (who had ing abroad. I enjoyed it but I’ll be the don’t feature when you think about been still throughout) as ‘Pricetag’ came on. first to admit that, in the back of my what really makes you happy. Apparently, this is what was needed to ig- mind, July couldn’t come too soon. Is it saying you’ve been to a certain nite the passions of the Chinese public, with I am someone who feels comfortable place, or is it things that people have said the crowd beginning to circle us. We were in an environment they know and, al- and done and the memories that you have greeted by a roar of flashes as man, woman though I’ve been able to tick lots of things shared with them that stand out? I know and child alike began to pull out their Apple off my bucket list, I love being back at War- which one it is for me. So from now on, I products and record us. wick. I’m surrounded by the people I know will try to keep my fixation with new places Essentially, if you’re a westerner and you and the campus I am used to. Change can under control and focus on the things that turn up to a Chinese music festival, you’re seem exciting, but it can also be unsettling. really matter. It’s easy to want what you can’t likely to be an internet sensation there. I Social media has changed perceptions of The world is so diverse that there will al- have, but I’ve learnt it’s about the memories don’t think any event in Britain could boast travel. Seeing filtered photos of other peo- ways be new photos or stories that you come and friends you make and not the places the same, if it means keeping your dignity ple’s travels on social media means that trav- across on social media and then want to add you’ve been to that matter. If you’re anything intact and criminal record clean at the same el becomes this itch you just can’t scratch. to your bucket list. For example, I’ve always like me, those are the things that really make time. Young people travel now more than ever wanted to go to Canada, as I’ve only ever you smile. Jack Prevezer and with things like inter-rail you can dis- been to Europe and my friend was able to cover new places relatively inexpensively. fly to Canada, then took a road trip through » Image: Moyan Brenn / Flickr 46 | SPORT | Comment Corner

or over a quarter of a century, the chance to represent their home the most wonderful time of university as a part of something the year for Warwick students bigger, which has historically been has not come during the Christ- a key part of the experience of Var- Fmas break, but a short while after it. sity. Each event regardless of sport Varsity 2016 Sure, they’ve left themselves an es- or standard was no more important say schedule plan that includes 3am than any other, and the feeling of finishes and 5am starts, the heat is significance and inclusiveness that bleeding out of their energy effi- this nurtured bred a community Changing for the better? ciency rated Z student home and spirit across campus as every stu- that extra Ferrero Rocher or twelve dent athlete was given their chance is harder to shift on a diet of noo- to shine. This widespread inclu- dles, chicken dippers and whatever sion made it a statistical guarantee is in the reduced section at ASDA, that each and every student was Sam Nugent muses on the new look competition but there is a magic about Term 2 personally involved in Varsity as a that few outside of these walls of 70s supporter of a friend or a superstar format’s potential consequences for spectators architecture will understand. I am themselves, and is a feature that will talking, of course, about Varsity. surely be missed by many. Varsity is a time when in a univer- Perhaps I, as the bitter old finalist sity so refreshingly and proudly di- wary of change that I have become, verse in backgrounds, opinions and am being too harsh as it must be lifestyles, everyone can pull togeth- said that the streamlining of Varsity er in the same direction to support is not without advantages. As previ- #TeamWarwick. No matter what ously mentioned, fewer fixtures will you think about the Vice-Chancel- give Varsity a sorely needed boost lor, Warwick Sport or the university in competitiveness as, with respect as a whole, during Varsity everyone to the Magenta Army, most tour- can be proud of Warwick. For nine naments have been something of a days we allow sport to provide a foregone conclusion. As each match small respite from the daily grind, now carries a greater significance as we brave the cold to cheer on our in the outcome of the tournament friends and our colleagues when they as a whole, points are crucial and are given the platform to express a shock result or hard-fought win the talent they have honed through can change the landscape dramati- months and years of practice. cally. Spectatorship and atmosphere This year however crucial changes at single events is also likely to im- have been made to the format. With prove from the occasionally sparse a few exceptions including Pool, following of previous years, as a con- Snooker and Equestrian before the centration on weekend events and main competition, Varsity has been single matches of each sport will not shortened down to what is essen- make fans choose which one match tially a weekends worth of action, to attend. beginning with the Ice Hockey on Whether these changes are a opening the show on Thursday and good or bad idea remains to be seen, ending with Rugby in the Ricoh but in my opinion the severe short- Arena on Sunday evening. Several ening of a tradition which many matches have been cut out altogeth- hold dear takes away a crucial part er. of what Varsity is all about: show- Though this will theoretically casing student sporting excellence level the playing field somewhat in at every level. I may not agree with an event dominated by Warwick, everything that’s happening, but these changes play with a formula I’ll still be there in the crowd vain- built over half of the history of our ly writing reports with a foam bear institution and restrict participation. claw on each hand and a W paint- Numerous teams from both War- ed on my bare chest come snow or wick and Coventry will miss out on shine, and so should you. » photo: Tim Nunan Canoe Calamity: BUCS are paddling up the wrong stream

ost people have never women to enter their own separate nament nor are the team’s at an in- noe polo were a bigger sport. As pete without undergoing stressful heard of canoe polo. It team. In a sport dominated by men, ternational it stands, there just simply are not procedures to ‘prove’ their gender. basically boils down to this will seriously affect female par- level. enough people playing to be able to This new format of BUCS seems water polo in a boat. There are five ticipation. exclude any of them from the sport. at odds with the guidelines set out Mpeople on a team who, like most BUCS have given 3 reasons as When women make up a key by British canoeing in their Tack- sports, are trying to put a ball into to why they have made the rule part of many university teams ling Homophobia and Transphobia the opposition’s goal. It is a physical change: it is not fair to exclude them in Sport: Charter for Action contact sport that has until recent- 1. Some universities have from competing with men, BUCS have stated that they “un- ly, allowed all genders to compete complained that others are especially if they are more derstand that this is not necessarily together in BUCS Competition. doubling up on BUCS than capable of play at the the outcome that most university At university level, when the differ- points. same level. At Warwick, clubs were hoping for, however, as ence in gender has no bearing on Some of the smaller two members of our A it stands, this is the most viable op- how good you are at the sport, this universities decided it was team for the last few tion to keep the event running.”. makes very little difference. This unfair that larger clubs, years have been women, With many teams now calling for year, however, the powers that be those whose women com- competing in the A team a boycott of the competition, how- have decided to shake things up pete in both the Ladies and is something all members ever, the event may not run The for the worst.. Instead of having an Open leagues, were getting of the club; both male and University of London Union have Open and Ladies’ league, there will too many BUCS points. As female aspire to do. written an open letter to BUCS in be just Men’s and Women’s teams a result BUCS have decided The change in formatting opposition. This has been signed competing for BUCS points. A that excluding the smaller clubs has also created difficulties by more canoe clubs than the entire huge move that allegedly was made from the competition completely for trans and non-binary gen- total who enter BUCS competi- without the consultation of other would solve the issue » photo: Emma Beaney der identifying people. Previously, tion. More than anything else this university canoe clubs. 2. The ICF international rules people of any gender identity could shows the length to which BUCS This would not be an issue if state that mixed teams are not compete in the open category, vital have ignored the universities opin- the sport was bigger and univer- permitted in international com- 3. To for those who define outside of the ion in their decision. sities could field both a men’s and petitions. - grow participation in BUCS ca- binary of male and female. Further, women’s team. Very often howev- This rule is clearly ridiculous. noe polo. it provided an avenue for binary Emma Beany er, universities do not have enough BUCS is not an international tour- This may have worked if ca- identifying trans people to com- 26 theboar.org/Sport | @BoarSport | SPORTtheboar.org 47 Absolute Boarginners Intramural Football Warwick’s answer to Sunday League Commentary Box Edition Tom Holmes on his time spent with the microphone at Leamington FC

» Image: Oscar Mayhew

ontinuing to take throw-ins Keen to avoid an overabun- despite having suffered a dance of university players and a broken thumb while grind- team picked based on who you ing out a 0-0 draw against French were mates with, HistSoc FC held CMafia on a rainy Wednesday night their own trials this year advertised on Tarkett, it wouldn’t be an ex- through the subject’s society. With aggeration to describe Chris Nott an “army inspired” warm up and as the embodiment of Warwick’s a promise to ban players for three intramural football. HistSoc FC’s matches for turning up to games player-manager has successfully hungover (a joke which flew over guided his three teams to the upper some of the freshers’ heads, includ- echelons of their respective leagues, ing my own), Chris regrets initially which are now organised by War- presenting himself as a tad dictato- wick Sport, where societal and hall rial and insists the side still oper- teams battle it out to be crowned ates on a primarily social basis. ‘best of the rest’. This, all in the face In fact, as the freshers are pre- of assertions from team mates that dominantly (although not exclu- he’s no more than an “OK player”. sively) studying History, the team Chris identifies 4-2-3-1 as his has become a strong social base for preferred formation, although many. Chris claims this to have al- he sees this interchanging with a ways been his intention, although 4-4-2 depending on the context of the presence of a Sociology fresh- the game. Despite finding himself er on the team’s wing who is “too donning a Guardiola jacket on the good to let go” and a “better version » Image: Flickr / Ben Sutherland side-line post-injury, I’ve noticed of Rhys” in Chris’ words somewhat that early season promises of an contradicts this. experimental 3-5-2 or a 4-3-3 have It’s a testament to his focus on f I were to go back in time and feel like part of the club. Leam- ment and if Leamington play this disappeared into the mist. Seem- team social cohesion that HistSoc write my past self a list of things ington felt like a dream place to well every week, a return to the ingly shamefully, Chris admits to FC line up with kits sponsored by that he’d need to know before make our debut as commentators, Conference North or higher seems being somewhat ‘traditional’ in his Kasbah after a bit of Harry Red- his first ever experience of com- on the pitch, we were treated to a inevitable. Moreover, off the pitch, methods. knapp-esque ‘wheeling and deal- Imentating on live football, right at sensational game of football, as the the fans clearly care about the club “If the ball’s on your side as a full ing’, an institution he describes as the top of that list, in big bold let- Brakes put on an excellent display and as a result, there were lots of back, you’ve got the full right to go “the holy grail”. Having first fell in ters, would be: wear two thick pairs in their FA Trophy match against little, beautiful moments scattered forward, but the other one has got love with a Monday night out in of socks. Because on a day where Altrincham. Despite playing op- throughout the day. When the full to stay back… Perhaps that’s a bit Coventry as a fresher, Chris reveals absolutely everything else went position two tiers above them (as time whistle blew, all the Brakes outdated.” that since moving to Leamington, right, wondering how many toes Leamington play their football in fans behind the goal stood up and This may seem a bit too heavy “distance has only made the heart you’d lose to frostbite during extra the Southern League, the 7th Divi- walked to the other end of the on the tactical side for what is es- grow fonder”. time was not ideal. But the bitter sion of English football), the home pitch, so that they could once again sentially social football to the out- Although HistSoc FC clearly cold of a wintery January afternoon side were dominant for large spells cheer from the end that their team side eye. But, with only four uni- prides itself on its socials, there is was warmed up immensely by not of the game, despite falling behind was shooting at. You wouldn’t get versity football teams not able to no doubt that this aspect of intra- only a breath-taking game of foot- early on. And when they took the that at Old Trafford. cater for the hundreds of trialists, mural football is present in oth- ball, but an all-around enjoyable match to extra time in its dying If you’d told me six months ago the standard of matches is often er teams. Providing competitive experience. embers, the overwhelming feeling that I’d be handed the opportunity high at intramural level and players, football with inter-subject and in- was one of excitement for another to test out my commentating skills, like myself, are keen to take games ter-hall rivalries abound, as well as The future looks bright for half an hour, rather than wondering Match of the Day style, at a live more seriously than just a kick- acting as an important side to my the club if we’d have any functional limbs football match, I’d have laughed it about. To many, such as HistSoc and many of the players’ social lives, left by the end of it. off as impossible. So when the op- FC attacking midfielder Dominic in a similar fashion to a universi- Although Leamington were portunity arose, it was one I simply Baker, intramural football is their ty level outfit, intramural football So much credit for that has to go desperately unlucky to lose in ex- had to grab with both hands and sole opportunity to play 11-a-side at Warwick should be celebrated. to the wonderful people at Leam- tra time on the day, the future looks I’m very glad I did. Not only did football at university. Here’s hoping that Term 2 brings ington Football Club. Everyone bright, both for the club and our Leamington treat us to a wonder- “HistSoc FC is a good laugh and more of the same. we spoke to endeavoured to give relationship with it. On the pitch, ful game of football, and hopefully a great opportunity to play a com- Oscar Mayhew us a warm welcome, and make us there were clear signs of improve- there will be more of them to come. petitive and high standard.” 48

Editor: Shingi Mararike Sport [email protected] Pulses pumping on the piazza Warwick lifesaving take part in 24 hour CPR Marathon

» Image: Warwick Lifesaving

n Tuesday 19 January, War- Lifesaving’s President Benjamin dinarily carried out by an individ- cause. Passers-by were incredibly steps to keep warm, wick Lifesaving took part Prime remembers: “it just really ual rescuer for a maximum of eight generous offering both financial As 9am drew closer the club in a 24 hour CPR Mar- enforced why we do this sport and minutes, in extreme circumstances. and emotional support, including pulled together to give it that last athon out on the piazza to raise how important it is for everyone to Most members performed CPR hot chocolate to keep participants push, with warm cups of coffee Omoney for the Royal Lifesaving know just a little bit of first aid, you on manikins in 15 minute turns. warm. sustaining them to the end. By Society. Warwick Lifesaving trains never really know what scenario However, two club members, Nic Wednesday afternoon the club people in First Aid, Lifeguarding, you will find yourself in tomorrow.” Miller and Mike Ducker man- For a small club like managed to raise over £680. Club and Lifesaving and also competes From this the club decided to raise aged to preform CPR continuously Warwick Lifesaving, this Social Secretary and Competition in Lifesaving competitions at uni- awareness and teach people some for over an hour, an amazing feat. was a momentous task to India Pollard stated: We are a small versity, national, and international basic first aid, as well as raising Training officer Andrew Scoones undertake club and this was a great way for levels. money for their governing body said that “after several hours hands us to raise awareness of lifesaving The event was inspired by the the RLSS. and knees were bruised and swollen as well as fundraising for a fan- University of Warwick Lifesaving For a small club like Warwick and fingers were blistering”, while A cold night in January maybe tastic cause. We will definitely try Club’s own experience of the dan- Lifesaving, this was a momentous a member was performing CPR wasn’t the best 24 hours to pick and another CPR marathon, although gers of water last year. In a nearly task to undertake. Shifts were a under the gazebo, other members by 2AM two of the adult manikins hopefully the next one will be in tragic accident, one of the club’s minimum of four hours, but many were talking to people in the piazza had become unusable having fro- the warmer months!” members collapsed at the bottom members stayed in the piazza for about the importance of First Aid zen over, Club members had taken of an unguarded pool. Warwick 15 hours continuously. CPR is or- and asking them to donate to the to running up and down the piazza India Pollard