FREE FREETake a Takecopy a Talkin’ ‘bout copy

my generation Green eggs Don’t pin all your hopes on young people & vegan ham Features 12 Lifestyle 22

Behind the lens No. 869 White Lies Friday 11th October 2019 with varsity.co.uk Music 20 eatre 22 Cambridge’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1947

Men lead women by 8% in receipt of Firsts

Maia Wyn Davies Co-Editor Charlotte Lillywhite Deputy Editor

33.0% of all men who sat undergraduate examinations in the 2018/19 academic year received a  rst, compared to just 24.7% of all women, according to a Var- sity Freedom of Information request. Conversely, around 58.1% of women were awarded a 2.i, compared to 47.9% of men. 82.6% of women attained at least a 2.i, and 80.9% of men. Since records began in 2011, male un- dergraduates at Cambridge have been more likely to receive a First in their ex- aminations than women, while female undergraduates have consistently been more likely than men to receive a 2.i.

News page 2 ▶ ▲ is week saw new freshers matriculate across Cambridge ANDREW HYNES Cambridge admits record number of Black UK undergraduates

As a result, for the  rst time in the Uni- tistics for BME groups, particularly Black Black male students. A total of 61 Black One huge change has been the Zac Ntim versity’s history, the proportion of Black students. Last year at least 20 courses at students were admitted, 40 Black wom- “Stormzy effect.” In August 2018, News Correspondent students has risen above 3% (3.4%). the university accepted fewer than three en students and 21 Black men students, the award-winning British grime art- Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Educa- Black students. whereas 22 Etonians were accepted. ist announced the Stormzy Scholar-  e number of Black UK undergradu- tion, Professor Graham Virgo, said: “ is Natural Sciences is the largest subject A number of factors are thought to be ship, which funds both the tuition fees ate students starting at the University of record rise in the number of black stu- at Cambridge and in 2018, of the 430 ac- behind the increase in Black students and living costs for two Black undergrad- Cambridge this term has risen, with a dents is a credit to their hard work and cepted UK students on the course only applying and being admitted. Professor uate students each year for the duration total of 91 black students admitted, in- ability: we have not lowered entry stand- three were Black.  is equates to less Virgo praised the hard work by admis- of their study at Cambridge. creasing the overall number of Black ards.” than 0.7% of the total cohort. sions sta across the University and Since then the University has seen an undergraduate students to more than Cambridge University has been exten- Varsity also reported last year that colleges who have run various outreach 200.  is is an all-time high. sively criticised for its low admission sta- Cambridge accepted more Etonians than campaigns and activities. News page 6 ▶

Inside ● Recovery is not a straight line Pg.13 ● The science behind a Cambridge alumnus’ Nobel Prize Pg.20 2 Friday 11th October 2019 Editorial News he fantasy of Cambridge’s Cambridge gender Cambridge has an illustrious history. Cycling down King’s Parade for the irst time – or even, for inalists, for the hundredth – it can be diicult to properly com- prehend how you may even it into this city and its storied past, let alone make your mark here. attainment gap it can also feel quite daunting, almost as though the weight of Cambridge’s history sits uncomfortably on your shoulders. Cambridge has been the home of a long list of trailblazers and groundbreakers, it’s true, but it has also been – and continues to be – the site of Since records a whole host of archaic practices. it is, in some ways, a gatekeeper of anachronistic traditions, traditions which can sometimes serve to impede progress, which should in fact be contrary to the University’s founding principles as a site of education and development. began, men Faced with this history, and Cambridge’s evergreen presence in the popular imagination, the University can initially seem almost untouchable, even after you’ve donned your gown for the irst time. But a long legacy does not equate to a perfect legacy, nor should you more likely to feel compelled to conceive it as such, even sometimes in the face of your own personal experiences here. if a University truly is a site of education, it must by deinition also be a site of change. across Cambridge, among students, academics and staf, new imagin- achieve a First ings of what Cambridge could – and should – be are constantly developing. hese are not threats to the University’s status. rather, they are further opportuni- ties to improve, and build upon the work of those that have gone before us. A Varsity investigation has don’t be afraid to reject the fantasy of Cambridge. it can feel daunting to challenge internal systems as found that from 2010 to 2019, mighty and historic as the structures supporting King’s Chapel. But the goal should not be to acquiesce, to tolerate structures which let you, and those that will men were consistently more come after you, down. Cambridge is changing – as it should – but there is always more to be done. likely to receive a First in exams

Maia Wyn Davies & Stephanie Stacey

last month, where “there is a speciic editors Maia Wyn davies & Stephanie Stacey [email protected] ▶ Continued from front page deputy editors Charlotte lillywhite & rosie Bradbury [email protected] commitment to closing all attainment magazine editor lois Wright [email protected] gaps”. deputy magazine editor lottie reeder [email protected] in the last 9 years. the male lead in CUSU Women’s oicer Kate litman digital editor Jess Ma [email protected] business manager Mark Curtis [email protected] the proportional receipt of Firsts has told Varsity that “the burden of respon- news editors Chloe Bayliss & Molly Killeen (Senior); Christopher dorrell & dropped by around 1.4 percentage points, sibility to reform teaching and assess- Marcus McCabe (deputy) [email protected] news correspondents alycia Gaunt, Bethan Holloway-Strong, Caitlin Smith, from 9.7% to 8.3%. he greater likelihood ment methods and end the disparity dylan Perera, Eileen Brady, Ellie arden, Grace lozinski, Marie langrishe, Mary that women receive a 2.i has dropped by of women’s experiences at Cambridge osborne, Mitchell May, olivia Mustafa, Peter Mumford, Sasi Valaiyapathi, Sophie less than a percentage point. lies with the University and individual Huskisson, Victor Jack, Vincent Wang, Zac Ntim investigations editors amy Batley, inez daltrop & Sophie Zhang last year, as in the 7 years prior, a faculties.” [email protected] smaller overall diference in attainment Faculties must “confront their gen- interviews editors Conrad Barclay & Joanna Heywood [email protected] existed in the lower pass grades: 11.1% der attainment gaps and demonstrate features editors Howard Chae & rianna davis [email protected] opinion editors oliver Moodie & alexandra tsylnitska (Senior); olivia Emily & of men and 9.6% of women received a that they are willing to deploy creative Cordelia Sigurdsson (deputy) [email protected] 2.ii, and 2.4% of men and 1.5% of women solutions and rethink what a degree at science editors Marco oechsner & Jess Sharpe [email protected] received a third. Cambridge has to look like,” litman sport editors Michael Nguyen-Kim (Senior); Chloe Henshaw (deputy) [email protected] a higher proportion of men achieved who received a First was 30.7 percent- violet editors Bethan McGinley, Katy Bennett & Madeleine Wakeman a First in at least 22 out of 37 subject age points higher than the proportion of [email protected] areas, while a higher proportion of women who received the same. arts editors lydia Bunt & Nick Chevis [email protected] film & tv editors anna Stephenson & Miles ricketts [email protected] women received a First in at least 4. Percentage of his was closely followed by archae- music editors alex Bolot & Samantha Pinches [email protected] Varsity was unable to calculate the at- men who got a ology, with a 70% female cohort, where fashion editors Caterina Bragoli & Gabriel Humphreys [email protected] 33% theatre editors Priya Edwards & Sarah taylor [email protected] tainment gap for students receiving First in 2018/19 men led women by 27.3 percentage lifestyle editor Kiran Khanom [email protected] Firsts in the remaining 7 subjects, for points in getting a First. Switchboard producer Belle George [email protected] which the University gave ‘fewer than of these 14 subjects where men had a chief sub-editor Vivi Monasch [email protected] sub-editors alice Bergin, angela liu, Camille Gontarek, Clara tufrey, daniel ive’ as a igure to avoid the risk of iden- signiicant lead on women, 4 were StEM tian, Emma taylor, George Hill, Hania Bar, Kate robertshaw, Moby Wells, olivia tifying students. subjects and the other 9 were arts and Halsall, Soia Johanson, Ziqi Yan in the majority of subject areas, humanities subjects. photography editor Ming Kit Wong [email protected] illustrations editor amber li [email protected] where a higher proportion of men Percentage of he biggest lead women had on men varsoc president Catherine lally [email protected] achieved a First, a higher proportion women who got in achieving a First was in architecture, associate editors isobel Bickersteth, Joe Cook, oliver rhodes & raphael of women achieved a 2.i. However, in 24.7% a First in 2018/19 where the percentage points’ diference Korber Hofman [email protected] varsity board dr Michael Franklin (Chairman), Prof Peter robinson, dr tim Maths, Computer Science, Economics, was 8.8. Following this, the biggest lead Harris, Michael derringer, Caitlin Smith, Noella Chye, louis ashworth, anna and Philosophy a higher proportion of female students had on their male coun- Menin, daniel Gayne, Ellie Howcroft men achieved both Firsts and 2.is than terparts was in land Economy, with a women. percentage point diference of 2.4. Proportionally, more men than noted. Meanwhile, a higher proportion of women achieved Firsts in at least 14 in at least 14 subject areas last year, women achieved a 2.i in at least 26 sub- arts and humanities subjects out of a the proportion of men who received a ject areas last year. possible 24, and 8 StEM subjects out First was at least 10 percentage points he biggest lead women had on men

© Varsity Publications ltd, 2017. all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be of a possible 9. higher than it was for women. in receiving 2.is was in History of art, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission of the publisher. responding to the indings, a spokes- the biggest attainment gap was where the percentage point diference Varsity, 16 Mill lane, cambridge cb2 1rX. telephone 01223 337575. person for the University pointed to in asian and Middle Eastern Studies was 27.0. he widest attainment gap was Varsity is published by Varsity Publications ltd. Varsity Publications also publishes he Mays. Cambridge’s access and Participa- (aMES) examinations, whose cohort was seen, therefore, within aMES, where Printed at ilife Print cambridge – Winship road, Milton, cambridge cb24 6PP on 42.5gsm newsprint. registered as a newspaper at the Post oice. issn 1758-4442. tion Plan, approved by the ofS early 61% female, where the proportion of men men had a 30.7 percentage point lead on Friday 11th October 2019 3 News

NEWS King’s warns students of ‘interloper’ passing as a new fresher

Page 7 ▶

▲ King’s College (LouiS aShWorth)

▲ Of these 14 subjects where men had a signiicant lead on women, 4 were STEM subjects and the NEWS other 9 were arts and humanities subjects (aNdrEW hyNES) What’s the new ucu points ahead. ❝ “Something needs to give, and the Meanwhile, women have been more university must stop seeing elements of ballot, and will there be likely to receive a 2.i than men for at least Something the degree structure as immovable”. more strikes? the past 9 years. needs to “Student academic reps are well he greater proportion of women re- placed to push for changes such as more Page 8 ▶ ceiving a 2.i has dropped by less than a give diverse modes of assessment, course percentage point in this period, from an content which doesn’t relegate women’s 11-point diference in 2011 to a 10.1-point ❞ contributions, and transparent reporting diference in 2019. on gender attainment”. FEaturES Litman told Varsity that “degrees “he Women’s campaign and the Edu- which are overwhelmingly exam fo- cation oicer are working to produce undoing the cussed and courses with unmanageable guidance for Faculty reps to support workloads let down many students, not them in holding their faculties to account whitewashing that kept just women. on gender attainment,” she added. my Pakistani heritage hidden away AMES worst for gender disparity among scholars A Varsity investigation found that Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Archaeology, and Maths had the Page 14 ▶

Linguistics Folu Ogunyeye AMES Voluntourism is a damaging industry History & MML Page 17 ▶

Archaeology

Engineering the proportional receipt of Firsts. ▲ A higher Maths his diference in attainment exist- proportion of ed only in the top two grades: 11.1% of men achieved % men receiving Firsts men and 9.6% of women received a 2.ii, a First in at Music % women receiving Firsts and 2.4% of men and 1.5% of women least 22 out of received a third. his has been the case 37 subject areas since 2011, according to the university’s (aNdrEW hyNES) Classics annual report on the undergraduate examination results of uK domiciled students. History of Art he attainment gap within the top SciENcE grade has closed only slightly in almost a decade. in 2011, the proportion of men Computer Science honouring LGBt+ voices who received Firsts was some 9.7 per- in cambridge’s museums Chemical Engineering he lead in Page 19 ▶ male Firsts as versus female History & Politics 30.7% Firsts in AMES examinations SPort athletics is no longer

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% about the athletes centage points greater than the pro- portion of women who received them. ▶ Graphic by Page 31 ▶ in 2019, men remained 8.3 percentage Rosie Bradbury 4 F  11 O 2019 News

Trexit on Trial

Since it was revealed that Trinity had chosen to leave the USS at a cost of £30m, academics & students have regularly protested. Most recently, protestors gathered on Tuesday as Trinity’s new master arrived

STEPHANIE STACEY  ROSIE BRADBURY

Number theory Probability Numerical analysis Integer factorisation

FRESH THINKING. WITH THE FINEST MATHEMATICAL MINDS. A summer that adds up. Maths and Cryptography Students £20,536 pro rata | Cheltenham Here at GCHQ, we have a clear purpose we want to help protect the UK. e work against cyberattacks, terrorism and espionage. ut we always do it together, supporting each other every step of the way. e’re proud to collaborate, and even prouder to work with purpose. n this nineweek summer placement, you’ll develop your mathematical skills and get an insight into how we use innovative technologies. Collaborating with other students and colleagues across GCHQ, you’ll ssolveolve challenging problems and work on vital projects thathatt are of operational interest to us. No matter thethe project, you’ll keep communications secure and help to proteprotectct the UK.

degree and be on track to achieve a rstclass honours ualication. Curious and passionate about learning, we’ll teach you everything you need to know. o nd out more and apply, visit .ghareers.o.u Friday 11th October 2019 5 News

ART NOUVEAU REMEMBERING AARON Fitzwilliam reopens Fund opened to after renovation honour fellow

Fitzwilliam Museum has opened he family of POLIS lecturer Dr Aaron its doors to visitors after a two- Rapport, who passed away in June, year renovation which has seen have established an endownment at comprehensive work done to Corpus Christi to support teaching and the gallery interiors, including learning at the college. he Aaron M. replastering, new tapestries and Rapport Fund will be used however lighting. he completion of the it is most needed, “honouring and renovation, whose cost has not been remebering Aaron and keeping his disclosed, is being celebrated with an name alive in the breath and fabric exhibition of the works of 17th-century of this ancient college that he loved painters Anthony van Dyck and Daniel so much”, and will last in perpetuity, Mytens. Visitors can also expect to ensuring that “his legacy and name experience collaborative exhibitions will be recognized for as long as the incorporating audio-visual technology. University of Cambridge stands.”

SPOOKY SURPRISE PLASTIC-FREE POP-UP Ghost sighted Students launch outside Mill Road zero-waste food Co-op shop

A Cambridge Twitter user shared the A zero-waste store called SCOOP report of the “unnatural apparition”, has been launched by a group of which was spotted last Friday. Cambridge students. he scheme According to the post, the ghost was is set to sell perishable food items wearing a long cloak and chains, without packaging to reduce plastic though was not sporting any shoes consumption, and will encourage as it was loating. he author of the students to bring their own report couldn’t determine the ghost’s tupperwares. SCOOP claims to be non- age or sex, but described it as “quite proit and will be volunteer-run, with annoying” and its physical build pop-up shops scheduled to appear as “transparent.” he matter has in various colleges. he store is set to apparently been referred to the police. launch this Saturday at Pembroke.

Join the Global Game-Changers Undergraduate and graduate careers in Law

£46K starting salary 70 vacation schemes

50 training contracts 2600 lawyers worldwide

48 global oices 34 FTSE 100 clients

We’re a global law irm solving some of the toughest legal problems around the world. It’s headline-grabbing work – and we do it seamlessly across industries, borders and time zones. For you, that means exposure to all sorts of exciting legal projects that have international, future-deining impact. Question is, are you ready to change the game?

Find out more at hoganlovells.com/graduates 6 Friday 11th October 2019

News CUSU End-of-Year View ‘It should send out a signal to other Black students that they can ind their place at Cambridge’

black students that they can ind their ▶ Continued from front page place at Cambridge and succeed. I hope this will be seen as encouraging to any increase in the number of black students black student who may have been told enquiring about courses and attending Cambridge isn’t the place for them.” Ex- outreach events. he same funding was ternal programmes have also had a posi- also ofered to Oxford university, but the tive impact. Target Oxbridge, a free pro- Croydon rapper claims it was rejected. gramme that aims to help black African Several student societies have also and Caribbean students and students of been actively involved in promoting the mixed race with black African and Car- University to groups of young people who ibbean heritage increase their chances may not have thought of, or ever been en- of getting into Oxbridge. couraged, to apply to Cambridge.Last year Through the programme, A-Level Cambridge launched the video campaign students are provided with advice and ‘Get in Cambridge’, a series of short ilms support and are given regular contact published in collaboration with the Cam- with a black or minority ethnic Oxbridge bridge African Caribbean Society (ACS), graduates to pinpoint their strengths and aimed speciically at year 12 students discuss their aspirations through one-on- from underrepresented groups. Hosted by one mentoring. Cambridge graduate, business-owner and In September Cambridge announced YouTuber Courtney Daniella, the series that more than 68% of its students came was intended to challenge misconceptions from a state school background. he Uni- surrounding the Cambridge experience. versity also participated in UCAS’ Adjust- Wanipa Ndhlovu, President of Cam- ment scheme for the irst time this year, bridge ACS, welcomed the new admission with a total of 67 students from widen- igures, she said: “his is really good news ing participation backgrounds ofered and is a testament to the hard work that places. ACS, as well as the University, has been putting in to break down perceptions. ▶ Matriculation in 2019 (ANDrEW “It should send out a signal to other HYNES) Planned counter-terror Student Sale barrier on King’s Parade Now draws controversy

On! Council should consider other designs Sophie Huskisson that “would cause less disruption whilst News Correspondent performing the same function” such as a A temporary barrier north of Bene’t Street traic-slowing curve in the road, known is to be put in place to minimise harm as a chicane. in the event of a vehicle approaching at Lib Dem Cllr Anthony Martinelli said high speed. he road could be closed for that Councillors for the West Central up to 18 months. Cambridge Area were “unanimous that he decision comes in light of the con- this scheme was not appropriate in its tinued national UK terror threat level of current form”, and that he has written severe, as police forces across the country ❝ to the Executive Councillor and the Chief have ofered advice to councils to increase Executive to the Council’s Strategy and local security. Labour councillor richard King’s resources Committee to “request recon- roberston, Executive Councillor for Fi- Parade at- sideration”. nance and resources at the city council, King’s College, having been contacted told the Cambridge Independent, “We will tracts over by the council, said they have not been provide funding for a temporary barrier eight told of any decision relating to when the and associated installation and signage million barrier will be put in place. hey said it works, to close King’s Parade during an is as of yet unclear whether the closure experimental period.” visitors will afect vehicle and delivery access to “£35,000 will be allocated from the re- each year the college. he college did say that the serves and the remaining 50 per cent will closure should not afect students at the be met by the Greater Cambridge Partner- ❞ college or University, stating that “pedes- ship.” Lib Dem members of the Cambridge trian and cycle access into King’s Parade Joint Area Committee voted against the should be as it is now.” proposal in March, causing the scheme Although there is no speciic threat to to be paused. hey are now calling for Cambridge, King’s Parade attracts over the City Council to rethink the type of eight million visitors each year. It is at barrier used, expressing concerns that it the centre of the university, making it a will impact cyclists and pedestrians. concerning area for the police counter Liberal Democrat Market Ward Coun- terrorism unit (CTU). In particular, large LARGE SELECTION OF SECOND HAND BIKES cillor Nichola Harrison expressed con- numbers of people gather at the Corpus FROM £75.00 cerns that there will not be enough space Clock at the corner of the parade with for safe travel. She suggested that the City Bene’t Street and Trumpington Street. 140 Old Street, London Street, Old 140

No app, no account, no password, no cookies, no survey, no newsletter,

no links, no notifications,

no e-blitz follow-up. No sweat.

quantspark.com/careers

www.desertwinds.co.uk

development.

detail.

the science and software software and science

Get

New edition New

Serious?

application of data data of application

Pioneering the strategic strategic the Pioneering

Special Forces instructors use these ... these use instructors Forces Special

‘Knowledge is additive.’ is ‘Knowledge

ey continued, “I feel that this situa- this that feel “I continued, ey it’s “All , Varsity told student rst-year  takes College e “ emphasised: College, a way.” a

4x4.Varsity ad..qxp_Layout 1 18/04/2019 08:43 Page 1 Page 08:43 18/04/2019 1 ad..qxp_Layout 4x4.Varsity

to be taking it seriously.” it taking be to one situation, the about Speaking King’s at Tutor Senior the Flack, Tim ing, “he’s really brought us together in in together us brought really “he’s ing,

to talk about – some students don’t seem seem don’t students some – about talk to property. College to returns he if hostels”. its of any or College, the freshers”, with another fresher add- fresher another with freshers”, the

really been for us is giving us something something us giving is us for been really him report to instead but him, confront the in business “no had simply he that tion has been a huge ice breaker amongst amongst breaker ice huge a been has tion

son, and strongly advised them not to to not them advised strongly and son, but risk, any present not did person this

King’s contacted students to warn them of the situation on Monday on situation the of them warn to students contacted King’s ▲ per- in and media social via him with that students reassured email e

LOUIS ASHWORTH LOUIS

asked students to cease communicating communicating cease to students asked up. show not did he but

❞ e email sent out to King’s members members King’s to out sent email e communication, of failure a been had

one of the fresher’s group chats. group fresher’s the of one there case in Monday on ce O Tutorial

students

new students and, in fact, had created created had fact, in and, students new the at himself present to opportunity

existing existing

book pages set up in order to welcome welcome to order in up set pages book the given also was He student. lating

nicate with other freshers via the Face- the via freshers other with nicate matricu- a fact, in not, was he certain new and and new

e ‘interloper’ was able to commu- to able was ‘interloper’ e became they ater Porters and Tutor

with some some with

staying in College accommodation. College in staying Senior the with meeting a in college

April by way of explanation for his not not his for explanation of way by April the leave to asked was question in son socialised socialised

begin at the University was not until until not was University the at begin per- the that Varsity told college e

terloper] terloper]

that he had told them that his o er to to er o his that them told had he that Porter. Head

[ e in- e [ of each student. Some freshers also said said also freshers Some student. each of and Tutor Senior the by written email

cally ones which registered the names names the registered which ones cally an in aternoon Monday on students to

❝

attend certain internal events, speci - speci events, internal certain attend out sent was information e events.

undergraduate ater he attempted to to attempted he ater undergraduate freshers during students” existing and

man was not a matriculating  rst year year rst  matriculating a not was man new some with “socialised who loper”

said that they had realised that this this that realised had they that said inter- “college male a about warned

Some  rst-year students at King’s King’s at students rst-year  Some been have College King’s of Members

avoiding unnecessary alarm.” unnecessary avoiding

risk to safety whilst at the same time time same the at whilst safety to risk

Investigations Editor Investigations

terloper was always to minimise any any minimise to always was terloper

Inez Daltrop Inez

“Our priority in dealing with this in- this with dealing in priority “Our

News Correspondent Correspondent News

dents, sta and fellows very seriously. very fellows and sta dents,

Sasi Valaiyapathi Sasi

the safety and security of all of its stu- its of all of security and safety the

masquerading as matriculating fresher matriculating as masquerading

King’s warns of ‘college interloper’ interloper’ ‘college of warns King’s

CUSU End-of-Year View End-of-Year CUSU

News New Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Policy Misconduct Sexual and Harassment New

7 7 F  11 O 2019 O 11 F  8 F  11 O 2019 News

e UCU ballots explained Will there be further strikes?

Eileen Brady News Correspondent Chloe Bayliss and Molly Killeen Senior News Editors

On September 9th, two industrial ac- tion ballots opened to members of the University and College Union (UCU). e  rst ballot demands higher pay and more equality for those who work in higher and further education, and the second rejects an increase in pension contribu- tions. UCU encourages members, who have until voting closes on the 30th of Oc- tober, to vote in support of Industrial Action and also Action Short of a Strike in both ballots. According to UCU, over the past ten years university sta have seen their pay diminish each year. is year sta are facing yet another below-in ation pay Recap: UCU strikes in 2018 o er, e ectively a pay cut, while at the same time being expected to increase the 2018’s strikes saw hundreds of amount they contribute towards their ▲ UCU protestors are a familiar sight along King’s Parade LOUIS ASHWORTH Cambridge sta strike over a pen- pensions. e combination of these fac- sions dispute. e fourteen days of tors amounts to a fall of almost 4% in gender pay gap and other disparities for mental supervisions, and administrative anteed nationally, as it comes on the industrial action were spread over real terms wages. BME and disabled sta . work including marking, similar to the heels of a failed vote to strike for pay last a four-week period from February “As living in Cambridge becomes more Should Cambridge UCU members strikes in 2018. February. While 69.8% of UCU members to March and came in response to and more expensive, we just can’t a ord vote in favour of industrial action, aca- However, in order for this action to go in England, Scotland and Wales voted changes by Universities UK (UUK) another decrease in pay,” Jennifer March- demic and research sta , as well as post- ahead, 50% of all eligible UCU members in support of strike action and 80.5% to employees’ pensions scheme. ant, acting president of Cambridge UCU, doctoral and postgraduate students may must vote, and from those who vote, backed action short of a strike, the voter ese changes would have let a said, noting that the wage reduction strike, beginning any time between mid- 50% must vote yes in order for the strikes turnout of 41% nationwide failed to meet typical lecturer almost £10,000 a would exacerbate inequalities already November and the end of April 2020. is to go ahead. the 50% turnout threshold needed to year worse o in retirement. seen in higher education, including the could have an impact on lectures, depart- is voter turnout is far from guar- take action. Marchant noted that this time, how- 88% of voters backed the strike ever, the result may be di erent in proposal with a 58% turnout. 65 Cambridge as UCU are running “disag- universities saw industrial action gregated ballots, which means that if hit their campuses. locally we reach the 50% threshold we can strike,” she said. “People can see e strikes initially impacted their working conditions deteriorate, lectures and seminars, but then and they’re  red up by the deepening extended to departmental supervi- inequality that creates.” sions. A provisional agreement She added that although the Union between UCU and UUK ended the failed to pass the threshold in February’s strikes in April. votes on a national level, the 50% thresh- old was met in Cambridge.

A closer look at the ballots

e  rst ballot is protesting unfair Ater that our contributions would go up FU wages. According to the UCU website, to 11%, as originally scheduled.” TURE since 2009 the wages of university sta Calling on students to support the have fallen by over 20% in real terms. UCU’s demands on pay and pension At the same time, their workloads have contributions, the National Union of increased to “unprecedented levels”, re- Students (NUS) and the UCU issued a sulting in sta performing “an average joint statement on September 30th. ❝ of two days’ unpaid work every week.” “We believe that the failure to address e ballot is insisting that pay keeps up ever higher salaries for vice-chancellors People can with the cost of living, and also protests and principals, while attacking pensions, the increasing number of “precarious” sends a hugely damaging message to see their  xed term contracts. both students and sta ,” it reads. working Protesting pay disparities, the Cam- Marchant acknowledged that strikes bridge branch of UCU notes that the can be di cult but emphasized the ne- conditions ballot is especially important for the cessity of industrial action in this case. deteriorate institution it represents, due to the fact “Nobody wants to go on strike, and that, whilst the gender pay gap across nobody takes industrial action lightly: 17 & 18 OCTOBER | OLYMPIA LONDON and they’re the higher education sector as a whole is it’s hard on sta , and hard on students; 31 OCTOBER & 1 NOVEMBER | NEC BIRMINGHAM 12%, it stands at 19.6% in Cambridge. but it’s di cult to see how else we can red up e second ballot protests increased bring universities back to the negotiating ❞ pensions contributions, which are set to table.” She added that, in the past, strikes rise to 9.6% in October. UCU described have forced employers to consider the More than just a jobs fair... this plan as amounting to “another pay union’s demands. cut.” “As a result [of February’s failed vote], Book FREE tickets at GradJobs.co.uk Employers did o er to only increase universities have felt free to ignore our the contribution rate to 9.1% rather than demands. Compare that to last year, 9.6% for two years, but the union de- when – ater university sta staged an clined, saying, “ e [UCU’s higher educa- unprecedented round of industrial ac-

MEET COMPANIES INCLUDING*: tion committee] decided that while [the tion – employers suddenly looked se- o er] was a step in the right direction it riously at the data that UCU had been did not go far enough.” presenting on the health of the pension

*CORRECT AT TIME OF PRESS “As well as being too little, it would scheme and found that the Union’s view only have applied up to October 2021. was sound.” F  11 O 2019 9 News

council properties by  tting low-energy LED lighting and better managing en- City Coucil ergy use. Steps have also been taken by the council as part of its Climate Change Strategy to support the city’s residents, cuts carbon businesses and visitors in reducing their carbon emissions. ese have involved, for instance, en- couraging the use of environmentally emissions by friendly transport with the installation of charging points for electric taxis and the improvement of bicycle parking provi- sion in the city centre. a quarter In February, Cambridge’s Labour-con- trolled council was one of many across the country to declare a ‘climate emer- gency’, adopting the more ambitious aim of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030, a Mitchell May move urged by climate activists and re- News Correspondent cently adopted as Labour Party policy. Cllr Rosy Moore, Executive Council- A report released on Monday highlighted ❝ lor for Climate Change, Environment Cambridge City Council’s progress in cut- It is and City Centre, is clear in the report ting carbon emissions from its opera- about the need to further reduce carbon tions, showing a 25.2% reduction over essential emissions, saying, “It is essential that four years. residents, businesses and other large e steady fall through the period [to] work organisations work together with us to 2014/15 to 2018/19 is due both to the together make Cambridge net zero carbon as soon council’s actions and a shit in national as possible,” she said. electricity production from coal- red with us to “We would like to thank residents, power stations towards renewable en- make Cam- businesses and other organisations in ergy. Cambridge for all their e orts to re- is is well ahead of the council’s bridge net duce their own carbon emissions. We reduction target, which had hoped for this year. ▲ e Guildhall with further funds earmarked for fu- would also urge everyone in the city to a 15% drop in emissions by 2021. e zero carbon Since the establishment of a Climate has had solar ture use. ese measures have included think about how to go further in cutting reduction is also in line with a govern- ❞ Change Fund in 2008, the council has panels installed the installation of solar panels on larger emissions, including by consuming less ment target of reaching net zero carbon spent over £1.5m on measures to limit SIMON LOCK council properties including the Guild- heat, less meat, and less fossil-fuelled emissions by 2050, announced in June carbon output within its operations, hall and improving energy e ciency in transport.” THE CAMBRIDGE GREEK PLAY OEDIPUS AT COLONUS SOPHOCLES

DIRECTOR Daniel Goldman DESIGNER Jemima Robinson WEDNESDAY 16 - SATURDAY 19 OCTOBER Pre-show talks available all week at 1.30pm - pre-booking essential. STUDENT TICKETS: £23 Box Office: 01223 503333 cambridgeartstheatre.com 10 F  11 O 2019 News Access Oxbridge founder receives Prime Minister's 'Points of Light' award Bush in 1990 and its UK counterpart was Molly Killeen launched in 2014. Since then it has been Senior News Editor awarded on a daily basis, with the aim of recognizing “outstanding individual e pioneer of Access Oxbridge, a digital volunteers-people who are making a mentorship platform aimed at levelling change in their community.” Recent re- the playing  eld for state school appli- cipients have been active in a variety of cants to Oxford and Cambridge, has been  elds, from social care to championing recognized by the Prime Minister with a global sustainability. Points of Light Award. In a statement Joe, the 1256th recipi- Joe Seddon, a recent graduate of ent of the award, said “I am honoured Mans eld College, Oxford, founded Ac- to receive this award from the Prime cess Oxbridge in 2018 and released the Minister on behalf of Access Oxbridge, program in app-format this year. It was and would like to take this opportunity Seddon’s experience at Oxford, and what to pay tribute to our incredible mentors he describes as the “shock” of discover- and inspirational students.” ing that many of his privately educated “Education has the ability to trans- peers had had long-term tutoring and form lives, and we must continue to intensive interview preparation, which work to ensure that those with incred- motivated him to seek to actively ad- ible talent are able to succeed irrespec- dress the access issue through launching tive of background…every day I wake up this programme. with a spring in my step knowing that Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote, we have the ability to make a lasting im- “I know you do this with no thought of pact on people’s lives, and empower our praise of reward but allow me to o er my students to succeed without limit.” recognition of how ‘Access Oxbridge’ is Writing on the Access Oxbridge web- giving the most talented young people site Seddon says that establishing out- ▲ Joe Seddon, founder of Access Oxbridge, outside his college, Mans eld, in Oxford JOE SEDDON from underrepresented backgrounds the reach programs which encourage state skills and con dence to win places they school students to apply is just the  rst those coming from a private school back- continues to trail far behind recent na- deserve at two of our country’s  nest, Breaking news, hurdle in admissions. ground. tional trends, which show that at least world-leading universities.” around the Beyond this, applicants need resourc- While Cambridge’s state school intake 90% of those enrolling in higher educa- e Points of Light Award was  rst clock es and con dence in order to approach increased incrementally this year, with tion every year between 2013-2018 came established by President George H.W. varsity.co.uk the process on a level playing  eld with a  gure of 68% up from 2018’s 65.2%, it from state schools. University comes under re in Senate House discussion over climate policy

by 2021, and failed to meet 8 out of 13 of Victor Jack their sustainability targets in 2018. News Correspondent Computer Science lecturer Dr Alice Hutchins emphasised as a sta member, On Tuesday aternoon at Senate House, she is “not incentivised to cut carbon Professor Ian White, the Deputy Vice emissions [but to] work in ways which Chancellor, heard a series of speeches can be damaging to the environment”, from students and academic sta on the such as using high capacity servers in University’s ‘response to the climate cri- research and much air travel. sis beyond divestment’. High living costs mean sta oten live Speakers including the Reverend Jer- ❝ far away from the town centre, she con- emy Caddick, Dean of Emmanuel, and [As a sta tinued, and poor public transport make a Special Adviser to the Vice Chancellor sustainable transport di cult. decried the University’s unsustainable member] Fellow Computer Scientist Dr Dan- approaches to growth, local transport iel omas agreed, noting “25% of cy- and relationships with the fossil fuel I am not cle parking is of insecure design, 15% industry. incentivised is in a poor state of repair” and new e discussion comes ater Vice-Chan- road designs disregard cyclists’ safety cellor Stephen Toope announced in his to cut whilst “the University currently pays annual address the launch of ‘Cambridge carbon out £3 million a year to encourage sta Zero’, a new multidisciplinary research to drive.” programme aimed at creating a sustaina- emissions Student and Zero Carbon campaigner ble future. He also pledged the University Ollie Banks called attention to the Uni- would ful l the “science-based target” ❞ versity’s past close links with the fossil of reducing its carbon emissions to zero fuel industry, branding Cambridge an by 2048. “extractive research machine”. “ e inconvenient truth is that if we Chloe Newbold, a student at Catz, fur- are to reduce emissions, we need to ther highlighted how Cambridge Zero drastically reduce growth until we get lists the BP Institute as a key partner in on top of this,” said Ian Leslie, Special its ‘climate repair’ section, something Adviser to the Vice Chancellor with conducting full lifecycle analyses into ▲ Senate House, Northwest Cambridge site, nor do they she argued makes the University “com- special responsibility for Environmen- new buildings, and incorporating their where the encompass indirect emissions such as plicit in a model of economic develop- tal Sustainability. carbon footprints before construction. discussion took sta travel - “an estimated 80% of [its] ment that favours pro t over social and Leslie, also a Computer Science fellow CUSU Ethical A airs O cer Jake place (DANIEL total emissions”. ecological justice.” at Christ’s, highlighted how energy in- Simms further stressed how carbon re- GAYNE) In January Varsity revealed the Uni- e full speeches will be made avail- tensive the University’s expansion of 19% duction targets do not include several versity is set to miss its 2010 target of able on the University Cambridge Re- in the past 5 years has been. He suggests University arms such as the planned a 4% reduction in its carbon emissions porter website next week. CAMERATA MUSICA LUCAS & ARTHUR JUSSEN

“You realise that this is not usual. his is not just two good pianists playing together. hey sense each other’s most small, individual little bit of interpretation.” Sir Neville Marriner

FRIDAY 18 OCTOBER 2019, 7:30 PM Mozart, Sonata in D for Two Pianos, K. 448 Schubert, Fantasie in F minor, D. 940 Stravinsky, he Rite of Spring (Two-piano version, 1913) Tickets: £10 (Students) - £35 from the ADC Box Oice 01223 300085 & online WEST ROAD CONCERT HALL www.cameratamusica.org.uk Features12 Friday 11th October 2019 Talkin’ ‘bout my generation

Siyang Wei writes of how pinning all of our he year between my gradua- I can’t help but feel, however, that tion and return to Cambridge this analysis has got it all backwards. hopes on young people isn’t the way forward was full of strange new expe- Its mistake has been assuming that ‘gen- Triences. I moved back home, erations’ really are a useful framework of living with my family and exploring social or political analysis, rather than a the city I grew up in as an adult for the tactical inversion of reactionary attempts irst time; I got my irst full-time per- ❝ by establishment politicians and media manent job (although still working at outlets to dismiss disillusionment with a students’ union); and, having mostly The news our current political economy as either exited student life, I started spending that I am upbringing-induced failures of character signiicant amounts of time with peo- apparently, or merely youthful folly. While it might ple both younger and signiicantly older be nice to believe that we just have to than I am. technically, wait for the angry teenagers of today A few months ago, the managers and not a to become the leaders of tomorrow to marketing department at my workplace millennial achieve a diferent and better world, it were strongly advised to attend a uni- really rocked also stretches beyond credulity. versity-run lecture called ‘How to talk he reproduction of global class sys- to Generation Z’ — presumably to teach my world tems, structures of oppression, and in- them to communicate with students (al- ❞ equality are not the result of previous though delivered by a middle-aged man). generations’ activists simply losing hope. With all the discussion about genera- When accumulation, legacy, and inherit- tions going on at the oice, I realised I ance are the primary means by which didn’t actually really know what they wealth and resources are distributed, meant, so I had a quick browse on Wiki- the eicacy of individual optimism or pedia. he news that I am apparently, idealism is a pipe dream. he younger technically, not a millennial really rocked generation will replace the older genera- my world. My manager, it transpired, is tion, and Jacob Rees-Mogg will likely be a millennial, and was also learning how replaced by Peter Rees-Mogg. Poverty to talk to me. and deprivation, too, are intergenera- In 2019, the language of generations is tionally inherited. everywhere. While the term ‘millennial’ his is not to say that generational was irst coined in the late eighties, it has discourse can ofer us no insights at all. gained particular cultural momentum While the notion of ‘millennial burnout’ over the past decade or so with stere- is a mostly unnecessary attempt to rein- otypes of today’s young adults as self- vent the wheel of capitalist alienation, absorbed and sensitive. More recently, it’s perhaps interesting to note that even notions of ‘intergenerational mistrust’ relatively privileged young people are or polarisation — particularly between beginning to feel fatigued by neoliberal- reactionary ‘baby boomers’ and progres- ism. But the ravages of economic extrac- sive ‘millennials’ — have come increas- tion and climate breakdown have been ingly to mark our political discourse. evident to working-class people — and It was the iconic social stature of particularly to Indigenous peoples and these two generations that led me to nations of the Global South — for a long, (apparently falsely, although admit- long time. In the West, the radical, anti- tedly half-heartedly) identify with the imperialist, and socialist movements of latter for so long. As a mid-late teen, it yesteryear didn’t simply lose steam or was rare to go a week without hearing lose hope; activist groups were iniltrated about the new ways in which millennials and suppressed by violent force, whole were destroying Western civilisation; as communities were decimated by policies a university student who happened to such as the war on drugs, and potentially have fundamental criticisms of the no- disruptive ideas are continually co-opted tion of ‘Western civilisation’ and also to and neutralised by transformation into use Twitter, the identiier was a diicult trite soundbites. It’s possible the stere- siren song to resist. Given the political otype of older people as establishment transformations of the past couple of igures is somewhat bolstered by the fact years, it seems that I was not alone. that so many radicals were silenced, ex- he past couple of years have wit- iled, or killed. nessed a strange reclamation of sorts. ❝ If we want any hope of turning this Like stepping into a ready-made jacket In 2019, the political moment into one of genuine with ‘radical’ already emblazoned on language of transformation, this is the history and the back, various left-liberal move- material reality with which we have ments from Youth Strike for Climate to generations is to reckon, rather than simply appeal- Our Future Our Choice have embraced everywhere ing for young people as a collection of aesthetics of generational opposition as individuals to remain abstractly angry both a powerful call to action for other ❞ and hopeful. young people and a convenient, prima he problems we face today are not facie proof of the progressivism of their the result of a negligent older generation, causes. but inevitable consequences of global In September this year, the Washing- capitalism and imperialism. ton Post published an article explaining And the language of ‘millennials’ “why baby boomers’ grandchildren will (and generations as a whole) should hate them” for failing to do enough to stay where it largely began: in market- tackle climate change; last week, a piece ing and advertising, in BuzzFeed quiz- in Varsity argued that the recent high pro- zes, and maybe in adults learning that ile of youth protest is a result of “the po- they should talk to young people about litical systems of previous generations... memes for the humour value, if noth- ▲ Illustration by Kate Towsey for Varsity let[ting] us down.” ing else. Friday 11th October 2019 13 FEATURES Features Recovery isn’t a straight line

ple, those who identify as transgender By November, one of my supervisors students showed that 21.5% had an active Relapses happen even when and/or male are much more likely to emailed my Director of Studies to tell ▲ Illustration by diagnosis for a mental health condition, commit suicide than those who don’t. him that they were concerned about the Lisha Zhong for 75.6% of whom reportedly concealed their it seems like you’re doing Painting recovery as one homogenous number of supervisions I had missed – in Varsity symptoms from peers. experience cannot cure the isolation response, I sent him an emotional email he stigma around mental health is everything right, writes which it induces. inally telling him about my illness. gradually being lifted, but much more I was diagnosed with mixed anxiety Cambridge is not an environment needs to be done. Students still carry the Bethan Ruth Moss and depressive disorder when I was 17 that is conducive to recovery. Upon my burden of seeking support and manag- years old. I’ve taken 200mg of Sertraline, arrival, I promptly informed my tutor ing their own mental health conditions. the UK’s most widely prescribed antide- and the college nurse of my condition To make the system work, we need to Content Note: his article contains discus- pressant, every day since my diagnosis, and registered with a GP. I illed out a delegate responsibility for administering sion of anxiety, depression, and mental and have received counselling on and of. pre-counselling form to request an ap- treatment to mental health service pro- health recovery, and contains mention of Although it took a lot of coaxing from pointment at the University Counselling viders rather than oload it onto patients suicide. friends to get me to that irst GP appoint- Service (UCS). I did everything right. themselves. Students need to be better ment, since walking out of it armed with But when you’re in recovery, doing informed about services provided by the f you were to try to graph your a pack of antidepressants, I’ve been pretty everything right is not always enough ❝ University, their college, and the NHS, recovery from mental illness, you proactive about my mental health. De- to stop yourself from relapsing, espe- and the University must facilitate bet- would ind that it’s not a straight spite this, my recovery has been an up- cially when the system itself is riddled I tried ter communication between these three Iline with a constant gradient – any hill battle, in a thunderstorm, with two with cracks that you’re at constant risk to trick providers. Students need to be thoroughly line would cut a thousand corners which broken legs. of falling through. myself into evaluated before they are discharged from you didn’t have the luxury of cutting. Re- When applying to Cambridge, a I had to wait a month and a half to counselling, and regularly checked up on covery can’t be exempliied by any single teacher advised that it “might not be see a counsellor at the UCS. Upon the believing afterwards, as a point of procedure. moment of self-actualisation. You don’t the place for me” because of my illness, third session, the counsellor declared that I was Most importantly, students need com- look in the mirror one day, notice your but this warning only made me crave that it “felt like a last session”, despite my better passion from staf and students alike. I unwashed hair and the bags under your a place more. I didn’t believe that my insistence that I was still experiencing scraped a 2:2 at the end of my irst year eyes, and then decide that it’s time to be application would succeed, so I never frequent anxiety attacks and depressive ❞ despite missing over half of my contact happy again. ❝ fully considered the consequences that episodes Cycling home, I tried to trick hours – some of my peers and supervi- Recovery is a deeply painful, deeply The trek to attending such an academically rigor- myself into believing that I was better. sors were incredibly understanding dur- personal process which must be under- recovery is ous university might have for my health. In reality the only change was that I was ing this time, but some were completely taken alone. When plotted on a graph, it When I actually got here, excitement and suddenly left without support – by the indiferent or insensitive to my recovery would look more like a mountain range lonely anxiety tied my stomach into knots – I time I got to my room, I was in tears. process. than a light of stairs, with yourself and ❞ was convinced that my ofer was a luke My story isn’t an anomaly. We’re all Others actively impeded my recov- your illness the only constant variables. and terriied of the prospect of my men- tired of reading articles about the inade- ery, regarding me as ‘lazy’. We need to Even with friends, family, and profes- tal health interfering with my studies. quacies of mental health support services, see students in recovery from mental sionals supporting you every step of the hese fears were quickly realised. By desensitised to complaints of long waiting illness clearly; they’re doing everything way, the trek to recovery is lonely. week two, I was already struggling to times for counsellors, and familiar with they can to get better, whilst simulta- Everyone’s path to recovery is unique, cope; my anxiety prevented me from at- horror stories of supervisors and tutors neously juggling incredibly demanding and even supericially similar cases can- tending many classes and supervisions. who aren’t sympathetic to students facing degrees. We’re all on our own paths to not be conlated, especially when we A severe case of impostor syndrome and mental health issues. Yet the ubiquity of recovery, but a bit of compassion from consider factors such as class, race, gen- a prolonged bout of fresher’s lu wors- this experience is not exaggerated; a 2018 those around us can make us feel a little der, disability, and sexuality. For exam- ened my depression as term progressed. survey of more than 38,000 university less alone on the journey. 14 F  11 O 2019 Features From ‘too brown’ to ‘not brown enough’

Inaya Mohmood jokes to start.  ey didn’t bother me; I being able to speak to my grandparents laugh at them too and I o ten agree with in their native tongue wasn’t bad enough, re ects on how their reasoning. I can’t speak Urdu, I don’t knowing that I won’t be able to teach my know anything about cricket or Pakistani children the language of their ancestors Cambridge changed politics, and honestly, I hesitate a little is equally di cult. when people ask me where in Kashmir  ere has been something so bitter- her relationship with I’m from. sweet about my time here. Finally  nding her Pakistani heritage But there is a sad truth behind the spaces at Cambridge where I’m not made jokes, my background and being raised to feel like an outsider has been comforting rowing up in a majority-white in a majority white area meant that where and empowering. A part of me is grate- area, my identity as a Pakista- I once stood out as someone who was ful for the chance to embrace the culture ni always took a back seat. I’ve ‘too brown’ to fully  t in within some so- and the country that form a huge part of Gonly visited Pakistan once in cial circles. I now felt as though I wasn’t who I am. But the other half of me wishes my life. I was around six years old, and ‘brown enough’, I couldn’t join in when that I didn’t grow up so oblivious to the the culture shock I experienced as I le t conversations about Pakistani music, or beauty of Pakistan, and that I didn’t spend my large town in England for a small vil- politics came up because I didn’t know so long trying to  t in that I forgot about lage in rural Kashmir was so overwhelm- enough, if anything, about them. I could the country I came from. I know I can’t ing that I’ve turned down every opportu- sit in a room full of ‘brown’ people and change how I felt back then — no one nity my parents have given me to go back still feel out of place. wants to feel di erent, and we’ve all felt since. I found it hard to claim a culture For me, the biggest obstacle that has insecure at some point about whether we that so visibly marked me as di erent. At Cambridge, I found myself in an en- ▲ “I’ve held me back from fully embracing my  t in or not. It was tiring to always have to help vironment where even though I was in the only visited Pakistani heritage is the fact that I can’t I’m grateful that this year, the friends strangers correctly pronounce my name, ❝ minority, there was a minority community Pakistan once speak Urdu. Laughably, when I was at I’ve made and the experiences I’ve had ask for clari cation whenever people I was no that I felt like I belonged to.  rough stu- in my life” school, being able to say ‘hello’ and ‘how have meant that I’m more open to ex- asked me where I was from, and con- dent societies like the Islamic Society and PIXABAY are you’ in Urdu was enough for me to ploring the culture of the country my sistently be the only person in my classes longer the Pakistan Society, I was  nally interacting be regarded by my white friends as bi- family is from.  ere is so much more to to speak up on issues relating to being with people who I could relate to when it lingual. Obviously, now that I’m around who I am than simply being ‘di erent’ BME, whether cultural appropriation or only person came to lived experiences. I was no longer other people of Pakistani heritage, that because of my ethnicity, and I’ve learnt institutional racism.  ese issues have I knew who the only person I knew who was Muslim really doesn’t cut it. I’ve always thought of more about myself this year than I ever always been and will always be really or Pakistani, and knowing that I shared Urdu as a beautiful language, and there is had before. Slowly but surely, I’m undoing close to my heart, but as a 13- or 14-year- was Muslim a background with a community larger something very poignant about sitting in the whitewashing that had kept my own old, being the only person who had the or Pakistani than myself made all the di erence; I no a room full of Urdu-speakers knowing that Pakistani heritage hidden away from me, lived experiences to talk about them felt longer felt alone. there is a massive hole in my knowledge and rediscovering who I am and where I like a burden. ❞ It didn’t take long for the ‘coconut’ of my country and its culture. As if not come from.

A big welcome to all Freshers and hello again to all returning students!

Come and check out our lovely academic bookshop, right opposite the Senate House.

We are delighted to offer members of Cambridge University 20% off all our books* (*no further discounts apply, ID cards must be shown).

If you need a CUP title, we’re the place to come!

1 Trinity Street, Cambridge CB2 1SZ 01223 333333 [email protected] www.cambridge.org/bookshop

Scan to follow us on F  11 O 2019 15 Features When the laughter stops

patriarch that our favourite comedy dad In relationships with other people, Watching  at ‘70s has always so obviously been. But then, there are certain things we feel we can Show, Joe Wills our twenty minutes are up. Some resolu- never say. We spend our whole lives, tion is reached and the credits roll; the sometimes, in negotiation of these blind saw similarities pain is trivialised, swept away to make spots. Sometimes we try to make covert room for the next escapade. Sometimes, languages which can say without say- between the I imagine the characters can see and hear ing. In these languages, a single word can the viewers.  ey play along but inside mean lots of di erent things, or nothing ‘comedic dad’ and they’re thinking: Why are you laughing? at all. Once, for instance, when my dad What’s so funny about any of this? had not gotten out of bed for weeks, he members of his  e comedy dad of at ‘70s Show has said to me: “I’m sorry.” own family been told that young people who smoke When my parents and I still used to go cannabis are no longer themselves. He has to family Christmas dinners, we would also been told that a good father exerts nd them incredibly stressful events. At ’ve always wanted to watch a sit- discipline and makes his family do what these group functions, an atmosphere of com that was miserable. It would he wants them to do.  is power justi es oppressive tension pervades the house, still consist of three cameras, high- the pain he went through as a child, and centering persistently around the gure Ikey lighting, and a laughtrack, but so he sets about enforcing it with brutal of my granddad, our very own dysfunc- there would be nothing to laugh at.  e e ciency. tional authoritarian gure. family in their plastic home-set ght,  e original transgression is forgot- Arguments are constantly  aring up they hurt each other, they betray each ten in his spiralling attempts to prove to and zzling out, not just between him and other, they wish they were married to or his family and to us that he is the man others but among everyone, and always fathered by someone else, and by the end of the household. He might reconsider about minute and inconsequential issues. of the twenty minutes, the credits roll his actions by the end of the episode, but  inking back on this, there was always as usual, leaving us without any pithy the damage has already been done, to be something performative about these din- takeaway or reassuring assertion of the played and replayed in the minds of his ners, not just in the weary pantomiming benign family unit. victims, maybe for their entire lives, and of fun (that was always obvious) but also ▲ Illustration by Kate Towsey for Varsity A few years ago, I became ravenously accidentally displacing itself into their in the bickering or the all-out ghts. It’s addicted to the mean, small-minded sit- own relationships, haunting their actions. as if each person is trying to demonstrate the illicit, of naming the truth, of speaking ter. But in light of what I have realised com at ‘70s Show.  ere’s an episode of But at no point is this ever acknowledged; their awareness of what lies underneath the unspeakable.  ey do not (or cannot) about pain I’m no longer sure if such the show where the boy living with the instead, there is laughter. without ever saying it. say such things as: “this hurts. Why has an exterior state can be achieved, since main family is arrested for buying some We say we nd things funny because When my grandfather has stormed this happened to us? How could this hap- laughter can never really exist outside of weed. When the hateful disciplinarian fa- they are “relatable.” What is funny is what o in what is termed a “mood,” when pen to us?” But they do laugh, turning the thing it laughs at, but always must ther realises that his own son has been at is normal and shared. Yet at the same he is otherwise preoccupied, or when he the horrors of their collective past into be complicit. it as well, he goes insane in an impotent at- time, laughter can bring up issues of mo- has mercifully allowed them to be alone absurd anecdotes. A new status quo, a I see this in the self-deprecating ten- tempt to retain his authority. He demands rality; comedy can be “dark”, jokes can with each other, my mum, grandma, and new normality, is created. Behind the dencies of many of my friends and in that everyone stay inside, watches their be in “bad taste.”  e canned laughter of auntie start talking. Invariably, almost laughter there is silence. my own attitudes to the worst parts every move, and boards up the windows. the invisible audience normalises and ac- compulsively, they reminisce about the “One day we’ll all laugh about this,” of my childhood, this hopeless urge to Even the wife cannot escape his tyranny cepts, but at the same time it binds them pain he has caused in their lives. people say, deferring relief to a vague trivialise and therefore escape. Perhaps as she tries, desperately, to mediate.  e to the object of that laughter, a form of I can never tell if this is the healing moment of shared humorous retrospect. we can and should laugh, but as we do laughs continue, nervously; the atmos- silent solidarity. It does not intervene, it of trauma or traumatic healing, the con- For a long time I was taken in by the we should also be aware of the social phere of dread is palpable.  e comic does not describe or accuse or explain, stant repetition of things that can never sentiment of this platitude, imagining function of humour as an escape, a façade almost breaks down, revealing the but almost perversely, it says: “I know. be forgotten. Even among three grown some shining future where the pains normaliser, and ultimately a signi er of terror that lies underneath: the oppressive I know.” women the conversations have the feel of of life were dulled by the idea of laugh- something which cannot be named. Learning to critique helped me critique my learning

better student. structuralism or post-structuralism (and to women’s bodies is intended to maximise Cait Findley writes I’ve oten been worried about somehow be honest, I still don’t entirely know the their spending on beauty products, but being boring or not ‘academic’ enough di erence) than there is to writing about that the standards of beauty are eternally of her journey of by choosing to write about things that I queer theory or intersectional feminism. changing, which means that consumerism have a personal interest in. I don’t want Shakespeare may form a large part of thrives eternal. Writing about those topics academic discovery, my identity to become my only point of the English Tripos, but that’s not to say was a better use of my time and energy interest academically. I don’t want to write ❝ you can’t nd anything more interesting that forcing myself to cover the same dry from Shakespeare about women or queerness purely because to write about in Aphra Behn or Margaret content that has been done by so many I am a woman and queer. For instance, at I don’t want Cavendish. In fact, certain writers and ar- before me. to queer theory school, whenever a question about women my identity eas have been under-researched, and are I have emerged from the other side and feminism came up in English lessons, to become therefore extremely exciting areas to look of my three years at Cambridge with a began this series of columns last a groan would go up around the room and into.  is is a very English-centric view, vastly improved knowledge of the liter- year by describing it as the non- all eyes would swivel towards me. my only because it’s obviously the subject I know ary canon (although it is still limited to academic lessons that I’ve learned It became a bit embarrassing, some- point of best, but it translates across into other a very Western-centric vision), but the I at Cambridge, outside libraries and thing I would get defensive about — and interest aca- humanities subjects, too. educational byproducts of my studies and supervision rooms. However, it would be when I came to Cambridge, I was deeply  e essays I’ve written on issues that other opportunities I’ve had have been unrepresentative to neglect the non-ac- concerned that writing about queer the- demically I’ve had a personal connection to have of- just as important to me as my degree it- ademic lessons that I’ve learned in spe- ory, feminism, certain authors, whatever ❞ ten been my best essays, at least in terms self. Sports, student politics, and social ci cally academic spaces, alongside the it may be, would somehow diminish my of enjoyment. For my second year portfolio, endeavours have taught me various les- quotations and critical debates that I’ve academic credentials and raise supervi- I wrote about romantic friendships as cov- sons: that showing up for other people spent the last three years considering. sors’ eyebrows. However, I found the op- ers for lesbian relationships in a novel and builds mutual bonds of love and support;  anks to Cambridge’s exam-based posite to be true; students and supervisors Anne Lister’s diary, and it was certainly that looking ater your mental wellbeing assessment style, I’ve crammed a lot of here tend to be more accepting of personal one of the most fun essays that I spent looks di erent for everyone; and that leav- information into my brain in the last few intellectual interests, with the notable time reading and researching for, even if ing your room will lead to either a good months about such di use topics as Aris- exception of one who said we should I never got to hear back about precisely time or a good story. totle’s position on tragic theatre, the role ‘forgive’ Spenser for being a misogynist what mark it got.  e library hours  ew by ❝  e prospectus sells Cambridge as a of architecture in shaping experiences in because he was a re ection of his times. far faster than when I had to read four of package, and it truly is. On one hand you museums, and medieval beliefs about Yes — and a feminist reading is a valid Shakespeare’s history plays in a week. The library get the academic challenge that makes it ghosts and magic. Such is the beauty of modern critique. My second year dissertation was about hours flew the best university in the UK. On the other, an English degree. Most importantly, I’ve By the time I got to third year, though, I the capitalism and the female grotesque by far faster you learn a whole host of things that you learned that following your interests does changed my position. I realised that there is in Margaret Atwood’s novels, making never expected. not make you a cliché — it makes you a no more academic credit to writing about the argument that intense scrutiny on ❞  anks, Cambridge. 16 Friday 11th October 2019 Opinion

Cambridge’s lack of a proper Freshers’ Week sets an alarming precedent

A ive-day our days after arriving in Cam- that time. Of course, incoming freshers ▲ Cambridge discovery from the outset. is simply part of the “Cambridge expe- Freshers’ Week bridge, barely unpacked and al- are unlikely to expect the work at Cam- freshers hese expectations can weigh equally rience” and afraid to admit we’re not is just another ready exhausted, I was having bridge to be easy, and nor would they matriculated this on physical health, particularly in fresh- coping, we paddle frantically onwards sign that my irst ever essay crisis: I had expect to have the irst week of term week (ANDreW ers’ week when the dreaded lu hangs in with a smile on our face and a #blessed F HYNeS) Cambridge just been given a 2000-word assignment completely free for fun and socialising. the air, waiting to strike the unsuspect- in our Instagram captions. refuses to adapt on a 19th century French book I hadn’t But they should not expect to have to ing bodies who run from one venue to Of course, the main argument for this to the needs of yet inished reading, to be handed in in turn down several social events in the the next. Ferociously burning the candle curtailed freshers’ ‘week’ is likely tradi- its students just a few days’ time. irst few days out of sheer impostor- at both ends, attending our very irst lec- tion, with lectures starting on hursdays, Lectures had not yet begun, freshers’ syndrome-driven panic. In the face of tures in the morning, then trying to get and only eight weeks in which to cram events had not inished, but there I was their very irst deadline at the most to know our new college friends in the in almost half a syllabus, no doubt Cam- in the library. his was the irst essay prestigious university in the country, it’s evening, it’s no wonder so many of us bridge feels that either using Week One crisis of many, but it was one that set understandable that some students feel fall ill. In my case, a bad case of fresh- to begin gently or giving students a week an alarming precedent. Such an early they need to make a premature decision: ers’ lu treated with a fear-driven work and a half before term starting would piece of substantial work – accompanied burn out trying to juggle everything, ethic rather than a few nights of quality be wasteful. by initial translation tasks, introductory face the wrath of a disappointed super- sleep escalated into successive bouts of But instead of clinging so tightly meetings and the never-ending read- visor, or prioritise proving themselves laryngitis, tonsillitis, and conjunctivi- to the chaos of our 8-week sprint, we ing list – seemed like a clear message academically over settling themselves tis, interspersed with a sharp lapse into should use our prized analytical skills to that work should come (temporally and mentally. depression. I didn’t get physically well question whether this tradition is suited iguratively) before fun, before society he pressure of a freshers’ week in again until the New Year, and the irst to the needs of today’s students, or if it meetings and before my own wellbeing which we must continually choose be- night back at home, I slept for 12 hours merely adds to harmful stereotypes sur- while settling into a new home. he lack tween work, socialising and mental health straight. My case was not an uncommon rounding the University’s culture which of a proper freshers’ week is borderline also sets up unhealthy expectations for ❝ one among my peers. may serve as a deterrent for talented but irresponsible in this sense: students, the year to come; expectations which lead Moreover, our painfully short fresh- disadvantaged students wishing to make many of whom have never lived away you to believe that spending the night hese ers’ ‘week’ is the beginning of our very an application. from home before, should not be sent the before a deadline in the library until 3am expectations own ’Stanford Duck Syndrome’: looking Our ‘freshers’ ive days’ are just an- message that they are expected to jug- is normal. It would take until exam term around, we know that all of our peers other symptom of a university which gle and catch everything before they’ve for me to realise that such night-time es- can weigh also have plenty of work to be doing, is yet to adapt to facilitate equality of even settled in. say dramas weren’t necessary, that these equally on but they also seem to be attending three opportunity for all its students. We must Whether a college’s welcome events habits were, in fact, counterproductive, diferent societies, playing sport, mak- rethink traditions which are harming stretch beyond the opening Tuesday of and I would work a lot more eiciently physical ing plenty of new friends, and getting an already precarious work-life balance, full term is somewhat irrelevant, even if by giving myself breaks to be human and health a good night’s sleep, too. Far too often, and communicate eiciently to foster the events do not end within the irst few have fun. But I should have been given achieving such a balance is not possible: healthy expectations for freshers across

Emma Turner Turner Emma days, the work inevitably starts during the time to ind my feet and make this ❞ sacriices must be made. Convinced this all colleges. Friday 11th October 2019 17 Opinion Voluntourism is damaging. Period.

◀ Illustration by Alisa Santikarn for Varsity

lighted as a justiication for interven- tion, whilst similar domestic issues are overlooked. It’s clear that the White Saviour Com- plex is a pervasive issue which exists on a large scale, but that does not mean that you can’t do anything to make sure that you’re not contributing to it. As a Cambridge student, you can apply your critical thinking skills beyond your su- pervisions and ask yourself a few ques- tions: 1.Are you qualiied to do the work that you plan on doing? 2.Are you taking away jobs that oth- ers (who are actually qualiied) need to live? 3.Are you doing work that is beneicial in the long run, without your physical presence? It is also possible to help people in need without lying to the other side of the world. Instead of teaching English to children in Africa, tutoring disadvan- taged students from a struggling state comprehensive school can have a greater and more positive impact. In addition, helping local charities and social enterprises overcome their problems by ofering free consulting, or working with local organisations to address seasonal issues (for example, holiday hunger, a condition that occurs when a child’s household is, or will, be- come food insecure during the school holidays) can be an incredibly rewarding use of time and resources. Folu Ogunyeye s exams finish and May Hoping to give their children a better which can have disastrous consequenc- his, and so much more, can be done is the Week draws to a close, the education, parents are scammed into ❝ es: Renee Bach, an American mission- right here in England, and are more efec- International Along break looms over every placing their children at risk of abuse It disrupts ary who moved to Uganda to set up a tive ways of utilising your skills without Development Cambridge student, anxious and exploitation by the orphanage com- local malnutrition clinic, is being sued by two causing any unintended harm. None of Oicer at to ill it with something exciting. Making panies. Ugandan mothers whose babies were this is to say that you cannot or should Cambridge Hub, a positive impact through volunteering In addition, interacting and bonding economies killed under her care, alongside 117 other not support whenever an issue abroad a student-led can sound much more appealing than with volunteers that come and go every by taking infant deaths. Bach has no formal medi- resonates with you. group that ofers sitting in a corporate oice all summer, few weeks can impair the children’s away jobs cal qualiications. his situation would Donating money to locally based and and publicises and even more so is the opportunity to social and cognitive development as be inconceivable were an unqualiied led organisations, who most likely to impactful, combine voluntary work with a holiday they cannot form long-lasting relation- that can be Ugandan to open a medical clinic in the have the technical and cultural exper- Cambridge- in an exotic location. ships. performed UK and treat children. tise to use it efectively without your based It comes as no surprise, then, that From an economic perspective, vol- better and Whilst this may be an extreme exam- oversight, however, is a much more ethi- volunteering an industry exists to provide exactly untourism structurally disrupts local faster by ple, the ability to cause harm without any cal and sustainable way of supporting. opportunities that: the rapidly growing voluntour- economies by taking away jobs that can immediate repercussions is a privilege Technology has enabled the rise of on- ism industry is worth over $2 billion be performed better and faster by local local that applies to all volunteers, regardless line volunteering, which enables you to annually, meeting the demand of a gen- workers, contributing to high unem- workers of the scale of collateral damage. contribute your skills without interfering eration known for being more socially ployment rates. his is clearly seen in Beyond the voluntourism industry, with local autonomy. conscious and globally interconnected voluntourism projects involving con- ❞ this racial bias can also be seen in the For more information on alternatives to than ever before. For volunteers, the struction work, carried out by individ- media and foreign policy, where prob- voluntourism, visit: https://nowhitesaviors. experience provides many beneits: cul- uals with no prior experience, which lems in non-Western countries are high- org/resources/ tural enrichment, self-discovery, im- then has to be torn down and redone pressive CV content — all whilst helping by qualiied local workers, if the extra those in need. Yet, as global inequalities costs can be aforded. In the long term, between wealthy and poorer countries voluntourism reinforces an economic persist, we need to ask, “Who is really structure that is dependent on foreign beneiting from voluntourism?” intervention rather than autonomy. Although intentions can be well- How can so much damage come from meaning, it has been proven time and a seemingly innocent desire to do good? time again that voluntourism not only One major factor at play is the White beneits the volunteers and Western- Saviour Complex, which is the under- based organisations the most, but also lying narrative that drives the volun- damages the local economies and indi- tourism industry. In short, it centres a viduals that were meant to be ‘helped’ ‘hird-World’ victim in need of rescuing, in the irst place. with the position of ‘hero’ occupied by As an industry with no form of in- white people from the West, determined ternational regulation, there are no to help those who cannot help them- rigorous measures in place to protect selves. the communities from exploitation by he narrative then revolves around voluntourism companies or the volun- the perspective of the ‘White Saviour’: teers themselves. For example, orphan- motivated to make a diference abroad, age tourism has led to children who are heartbroken upon witnessing poverty not actual orphans being bought from irsthand, but eventually enlightened their parents in order to meet the in- about the privilege that life in the West creasing demand for volunteering op- ofers. With this focus, the needs of those

Folu Ogunyeye Folu portunities. supposedly being helped are overlooked, 18 Friday 11th October 2019 Opinion Reading lists full of convoluted academic writing are exclusionary he convoluted efore Cambridge, I always ro- bates will of course require background writing style of manticised academia: a life reading, but ensuring language can be many illed with long, complex books understood by a broad audience allows academic texts Bthat you somehow understood, more people to actually learn, and more as if part of an elite club. Once at Cam- eiciently. In his book Free Will, for ex- can be over- bridge, I spent ages staring at the pages ample, Sam Harris – a public intellectual whelming for of Hannah Arendt, aiming to decipher and philosopher – writes simply, using students them, before reverting to SparkNotes. analogies to make his point clear, while coming to When complaining about the density of simultaneously producing a fantastic university with- her writings to an academic, he chuckled reading experience. It’s incredibly short out that form of and responded: “I ind her to be perfectly for a non-iction piece and I found myself cultural capital clear.” I was left wondering whether I was devouring it in a single afternoon. alone in toiling through near-incompre- Academic books might not always hensible books to get to the point. reach a point of mass consumption, but I later discovered that my course mates simple explanations of complicated ideas also found Arendt to be a dire read. Her are often frowned upon by professors. ideas were intriguing, but actually discov- Long winded, complex sentences have ering them was a colossal task. Academic become an elitist tradition, preventing books can be sheltered from criticism in thoughts from being as easily understood society, often seen as too lofty and intel- or critiqued. A supervisor once told me: lectual to even comment on. he writ- learn about intellectual topics from these to-earth style was extremely encouraging. ▲ “Academia “we read these people for their ideas, not ing is frequently illed with jargon, which sources. Academic texts are frequently Why can’t more academics aim for this? has become an for their writing.” Yet I continue to read seems infallible to all but a few. How can presented as mysterious – so genius that Books shouldn’t be so dramatically dis- elite club” (INES essays, articles and books from current we expect students to analyse books that only a few great minds can truly under- tanced from how we talk in reality. LETELLIER) academics that follow in the same style. can seem as though written in some inac- stand them. But if this is really the case, his imposter syndrome once led me Academia has become an elite club. cessible code? aren’t the ideas just being poorly com- to believe a career in academia was not Students without the cultural know-how Cambridge, or any university, should municated? for me. I began to view academics as des- ❝ can become overwhelmed and unable to be a place where intelligent people thrive. I have always struggled with con- perate to peacock around, continuing a analyse these books – containing ideas Yet by continuing to assign masses of centration. I often feel distanced from culture of convoluted debates that are Ideas they are perfectly capable of engaging books that overwhelm and confuse, aca- the knowledge being presented in these separated from reality. Of course, not all of should be with – due to overly louncy, poor writ- demics can add hours to the workload books: it’s so overly complex that it them are like this. In my experience, some ing. Being incomprehensible shouldn’t of people who generally struggle with doesn’t feel as if it has been produced do aim to make academia accessible to all, accessible be the aim of any writer, and writers concentration. Athough not diagnosed for me. When an academic’s words aren’t explaining concepts in simple terms and shouldn’t target their work to an audi- with a learning diiculty myself, I un- engaging, it drains the excitement out relating to their audience. I think many to anyone ence of fellow academics; instead, they derstand that such issues can be com- of learning. degrees would beneit from introducing with an should lay their ideas out simply, so as pounded for many people with learning his left me with a sense of imposter reading that caters explanations to audi- to ensure everyone can engage with and diiculties such as ADHD or dyslexia. his syndrome: a feeling that that I wasn’t sup- ence understanding: we need to make interest in challenge them. hinkers must focus on is extremely exclusionary. posed to be in Cambridge as I couldn’t academia more human. them making their writing accessible to any-

Aisha Niazi Aisha If students struggle, then it must feel connect with the academic style. Finding Ideas should be accessible to anyone one with an interest in the subject mat- even worse for non-students who want to a rare author who wrote in a more down- with an interest in them. Some niche de- ❞ ter – not just the elite. Decisions inside colleges profoundly impact students. hey must be pushed to evolve. Individual love my college. Actually, I think good. Instead, the competitive Cambridge – but we would do well to draw our focus of students admitted coming from state- colleges, as well my college is the best college. he culture that afects so many students is to changes at the collegiate level. schools – and Churchill saw the highest, at as the Univer- grounds, the colours, the bar, even often literally encouraged by colleges that Indeed, there are an increasing 76.5%. hese diferences persist in terms sity, should be I the Plodge. But everyone I know still ofer monetary rewards and higher number of things to be proud of on this of academics. Supervisions are largely in Cambridge will say the same things places in room ballots in exchange for level. Many colleges, often under pressure organised by college, which results in big placed under about their college – we all feel an un- exceptionally good grades. his can have from their students, are inally making variations – when your reading list is full public pressure conquerable amount of pride. We all race serious consequences on wellbeing, but beneicial changes. Various colleges have of men, as a woman you can often ind it to check whether our college has come we can feel bad asking for help because committed to divestment in some form. hard to feel as though you belong. up decently in Camfess rankings, argue everyone else seems to also just be stay- ❝ My college, Jesus, recently did the same – It’s a diferent kind of impostor syn- with our out-of-college friends about ing aloat. In a survey conducted by Eli- Often, we most likely in response to the student-run drome, but impostor syndrome all the the beneits of our own, and hype every ane homa-Stemmet for Varsity earlier Jesus Divestment Campaign set up earlier same, and we criticise the lofty University redeeming quality up ten-fold on open this year, 89% of students interviewed can in the year. We also just welcomed our for making us feel this way, when in real- days to prospective students. said that they had experienced feelings of create new master, Sonita Alleyne, who is the ity some of the most impactful changes Although my criticisms of the Univer- imposter syndrome at the University. his irst black person, and the irst woman are made on a college level. Indeed, when sity often overshadow the issues I have on is an adage to the feelings of inadequacy change of colour, to be appointed head of an Ox- we live, eat and sleep in colleges, it is their a college-level, it sometimes feels wrong that seem so widespread at Cambridge, bridge college. responsibility to make us feel at home. to be so proud of my college when Cam- perhaps because of the intensity, the most But for many students, it can be a Sometimes it feels like Oxbridge, bridge is so lawed – in access, in student workload, and the endless comparison effectively struggle to feel at home in their college, though supposedly full of the nation’s support and in its attitude towards the to other students. Much of the time, we and where you are admitted can have a brightest minds and future leaders, is environment. criticise University-wide institutions like by rallying signiicant impact on this. he traditions, decades behind the rest of the country. Sometimes, it feels false to tell stu- the University Counselling Service (UCS), our colleges varying across colleges, can feel stufy, es- Sonita Alleyne shouldn’t be the irst black dents to pick a college that still asks forgetting that our colleges could – and pecially to those from under-represented head of an Oxbridge college – that should bursary recipients to send thank you should – be doing more to help their stu- ❞ backgrounds. his year, 68% of incoming have happened years ago. cards, and has indirect investments in dents on a college-level. freshers to the University are from state here’s a lot wrong with Cambridge. unethical corporations. Only last year, Often, in fact, we can create change schools, a igure that is increasing slowly Your experience is deined, often more so Varsity revealed that seven colleges still most efectively by rallying our colleges. but steadily, year on year. than any other factor, by the college you had a total of £20.7m invested in compa- We rightly criticise the toxic environment To echo the University, this is “deeply attend. With more applications being nies engaged in oil and gas exploration, Cambridge’s competitive culture often encouraging” – it is something to be made to Cambridge every year, now is production and reining. cultivates – it is, indeed, absolutely ridicu- proud of. However, this varies largely the perfect time to be making changes. When bragging about how rich our col- lous that some of the country’s suppos- across colleges. For example, St John’s And it inally feels like, to some extent leges are, it’s sobering to remember that edly brightest students don’t feel at home saw the lowest state school intake in the – and even if the University isn’t – some

Olivia Emily Emily Olivia their money isn’t always being used for in a room full of similarly clever people 2017 admissions cycle – with only 48.6% colleges might be starting to listen. Friday 11th October 2019 19 Science Drug-resistant tuberculosis, the small bacterium that could make a big comeback

42.4%

3

Tuberculosis cases with single drug crowding, problems with sanitation and team of professionals to monitor and ▲ Illustration by of Cambridge are currently involved in poor ventilation, as is often the case in manage the infection, to prevent it from Emily Senior for drug discovery, and Cambridge seems resistance are on the rise in the poorer areas, greatly increase the risk becoming even more resistant. Varsity to be on the path towards inding a new of transmitting the bacteria. Once the he new treatment now takes be- drug targeting M. tuberculosis. UK, writes Judith Zarebski bacterium is inhaled, resulting malnu- tween 9 and 20 months. his intensive Research by the Abell Group, in Cam- trition and a weakened immune system regimen is far less efective than the bridge’s Department of Chemistry, is f you have lived in the UK for your makes it harder for the body to ight usual one, with only 35% of patients experimenting with ways to inhibit key entire life, chances are you’ve never the bacteria. responding positively to the treatment. enzymes in the drug-resistant strain. really worried about tuberculosis. Should we be worried about a small he remaining 65% either stop the treat- his approach, which attempts to dis- IYou probably did not even get increase in cases of tuberculosis in ment, do not respond to it, or die. What rupt protein enzyme interactions, could vaccinated against it, and mostly heard the UK? Yes and no. After all, the UK can be done to prevent it? also have implications for cancer re- about it only in Crime and Punishment, ❝ management of TB involves a 6 months he NHS ofers vaccines to health- search and treatment, that interfere in Jane Eyre or other literary classics. A dis- The new multidrug regimen, proven to be very care professionals and individuals certain protein-protein interactions. ease widespread in the UK during the eicient for citizens whp have con- likely to come in contact with someone Despite the creation of new innova- industrial revolution, single-drug tuber- treatment tracted it, for instance, on holidays in from a country where tuberculosis is tive drugs, tuberculosis is still a pan- culosis has now made a slight comeback at-risk countries. he answer is a four- prevalent. However, this vaccine is far demic with fateful consequences. he in the UK after years largely absent from now takes letter acronym: DR-TB, or drug-resistant from truly efective. It reduces the risk ❝ bacterium is becoming resistant to new the news. between tuberculosis. of infection by just 20%, far from the The drugs, and the creation of further new So what is it? From the moment My- his term encompasses many types impact of other common vaccines, such drugs is merely a band-aid on a very cobacterium tuberculosis gets inside the 9 and 20 of M. tuberculosis strains that have de- as the MMR vaccine, which is found to creation serious issue. lungs, it invades the macrophages and months veloped immunity to the drugs used to be 97% efective against rubella. he best solution would be to ful- hijacks them to hide from the rest of the treat it. his can be due to several factors, his is due to a late response by the of further ly monitor the treatment in patients immune system. Once it has proliferated ❞ such as a treatment given for the wrong immune system, around 12 days, which new drugs sufering from tuberculosis and make enough or the immune system has been length of time, poor quality of the drug gives plenty of time for the bacteria to sure that they follow the treatment compromised, it comes out of hiding. It given, or the early termination of the spread and avoid total destruction by is merely a to completion, in order to prevent the then leads to a wide array of symptoms, treatment by the patient. he bacteria the immune system. Due to the nature band-aid development of drug resistance by the chronic cough, night sweats and weight are therefore not eradicated and can now of the bacterium, designing a more bacterium. loss are the most well-known, but TB develop resistance to the treatment if it successful vaccine appears to be com- on a very On a larger scale, informing popula- can also infect many other organs. were to be administered again. hese plicated, and scientists have focused tions about the importance of inish- Tuberculosis (TB) is a prevalent dis- strains are now present in the UK, with mostly on developing new drugs to cure serious ing the treatment might be the most ease in low and middle income coun- dozens of cases as of 2019. existing cases of tuberculosis instead of issue cost-efective solution to ensure that the tries, registering 95% of active cases. Managing drug-resistant tuberculo- trying to prevent it. disease exists only in memory, and in here are several reasons for this. Over- sis is far more complex and requires a Several researchers at the University ❞ the pages of our literary classics. 20 F  11 O 2019 Science Honouring LGBT+ voices in Cambridge’s museums Jess Sharpe visits Cambridge museums’ ‘remixed’ Varsity explains exhibitions Who won this n September, the doors of ve of Cambridge’s museums – includ- year’s Nobel Prize ing two museums with scienti c Icollections – were opened for a in Medicine? group of 25 student, sta and volunteer contributors to ‘remix’ their collections. Following the success of the 2018 Muse-  is week, the Nobel Prize in Physiol- um Remix event, which centred around ogy or Medicine was jointly award- the experiences of BME researchers and ed to Sir Peter Ratcli e, William subjects, this year’s event followed in- Kaelin Jr, and Gregg Semenza, for stitutions across the UK in showcasing their work on how cells sense and LGBT+ stories. ‘Remixing’ art and history respond to  uctuations in oxygen museums which focus on creativity and availability. One of the recipients, personal experience is perhaps an easier Sir Peter Ratcli e, read medicine at task. In contrast, how can you ‘remix’ a Gonville & Caius. collection of scienti c instruments or A few minutes without oxygen specimens? and things go downhill very quickly. While gender and sexuality are dis- Mitochondria in our cells use oxygen cussed in some form within the walls to allow for the large-scale produc- of many museums, scienti c collec- tion of ATP from food and our energy tions oten seek to present the truth reserves, something all eukaryotes and certainty of scienti c discoveries, have in common. not the personal lives of practitioners or Oxygen sensing is important for the variety of experiences embodied by regulation of erythropoietin, a hor- each object. Yet, silencing conversations mone which stimulates the produc- about sexuality and gender means also tion of red blood cells (which bind silencing critical discussions of power and transport oxygen to tissues). and discrimination. No museums are One of the early results from this neutral spaces. group of scientists, was precisely how For a head start on the daunting task oxygen is able to control the produc- of ‘remixing’ just a fraction of the Uni- tion of EPO at a molecular level. versity’s ve million artefacts, Bridging ideas of gender, sex and sexual identity what about the experiences of those ▲ Students, When oxygen levels drop, a tran- Binaries volunteer guides led tours of through zoological study, and why this who fall outside expected categories of sta and scription factor (essentially a protein each participating museum. is important. sexuality, who may slip through the gaps volunteers complex) called hypoxia-inducible At the Polar Museum, the tour guide  ey compared the sexual behaviours in, for example, accessing sexual health ‘remixed’ factor (HIF), binds the DNA segment came to a halt opposite a display case of penguins, bonobos and humans to treatment? items from next to the EPO gene, and increases holding two penguins and recounted reveal our shared similarities, and to Attempting to simplify these ques- across the its production.  is means that when the experience of a polar explorer and ultimately re ect on what the animal tions does more than exclude personal University’s oxygen levels are low, this helps us his observations of penguin behaviour. kingdom can show us about how we experiences: it directly limits the power collections produce more red blood cells, use- He noticed two penguins mating, dis- categorise ourselves based on sexual of scienti c knowledge able to be pro- CAMBRIDGE ful if you want to climb Everest, and mounting, swapping positions and mat- identity. duced through this inquiry. UNVERSITY long exploited by athletes training at ing again, and came to the conclusion  e temporary exhibition also fea-  e experiences of those outside a MUSEUMS high altitudes. that they were displaying homosexual tured objects from the Polar Museum, white, straight, cisgender and middle-  ey then discovered hat this par- behaviour. In response, he recorded this with a display seeking to demonstrate class norm must be integrated into ticular mechanism was actually ac- section of his eld notes only in Ancient the inextricable nature of decolonising museum spaces in order to represent tive in numerous cell types, and is a Greek. science and museums, ‘queer’ as an in- those long excluded, to produce truly highly conserved gene transcription Museums are spaces where we can tersectional lens, and climate justice. valid research drawing on all relevant ex- programme. When cells have high uncover and rediscover stories that have  e Polar Museum is an active site of periences, and to widen the accessibility oxygen levels, there are low levels of been suppressed due to their exclusion research, with a focus on polar environ- of museums beyond those who already HIF-1, as oxygen directs its active from expected norms.  ey allow us ment, glaciology and climate change, feel comfortable in such spaces. LGBT+ degradation. Yet when oxygen levels space to recognise that scienti c work alongside the study of the culture and experiences are just one element of this, in the cell drop, this degradation is in- will always embody these norms.  e societies of the Arctic. An Ammassalik and can provide a lens to these broader hibited, and HIF can accumulate and veil of truth, accuracy and validity held carved wooden map displayed along- perspectives. Science museums are criti- bind to its targets in the nucleus.  e over ‘science’, in museums and practice, side coloured labels revealing di erent cal spaces for these changes. exact mechanics of how degradation can obstruct diverse, evidence-based re- aspects of its story and noting how the Here in Cambridge, some of these occurs, is inhibited, and regulated, search. Instead these experiences need to ❝ landscape this object once represented shits are already starting to take place, comprised a majority of this group’s be reframed as essential and integrated No is now widely di erent, due to melting with volunteer-led tours and live action research, and is a fundamental con- into the body of scienti c knowledge. ice.  is object therefore provides key games starting to rewrite the shape and tribution to biology.  e challenges of achieving this were museums evidence of the value of the experience place of science museums. Now, you might think this only re ected in the temporary exhibition of climate witnesses, who experience In the new year, the Bridging Bina- of use to those wanting to win the curated by the end of the Museum Remix are neutral climate change rst-hand. ries tours will expand to the Whipple Olympics, but hypoxia signalling is event.  e Polar Museum and Zoology spaces Capturing this knowledge requires Museum of the History of Science and critical in a number of physiologi- Museum displays grappling with broad centring, respecting and understanding the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences. cal and disease processes, ranging thematic ideas of how we view the rela- ❞ identity through a variety of lenses and Operation Survival, a live game where from exercise, fetal development, to tionship between science and identity. perspectives. one seeks to help humanity survive the renal failure and cancer progression.  e Zoology Museum ‘remixed’ dis- As another example of the value of challenges facing our environment, also  e wide range of processes that are play was based around the quote from exploring this ‘queer’ lens on science, currently runs across four museums, in- impacted by hypoxia signalling also the University of Bath sociologist Eric consider the research around the search cluding the Sedgwick Museum, Polar means that we may be able to use this Anderson, “Animals don’t do sexual for a ‘gay gene’. How many of these stud- Museum and Zoology Museum. Watch to ght against a number of diseases - identity, they just do sex”.  e team ies consider the existence of a spectrum out for any future pop-ups of the LGBT+ or to nally climb that mountain. considered what we can learn about of LGBT+ experience beyond ‘gay’? Or, Museum Remix exhibition. Vulture

▶ LIFESTYLE GOING VEGETARIAN TO SAVE THE PLANET ∙ ▶ ARTS ART AS HEALING∙  ▶ MUSIC THE CHALLENGES FACED BY BLACK MUSICIANS∙  Illustration by Lisha Zhong 22 Vulture     Lifestyle Vegetarianism, the planet & me In her first column on making lifestyle changes in the face of the climate crisis, Jess Molyneux discusses adjusting to a vegetarian diet, both at home and in Cambridge

obody ever seems to know what I’m talking about when I say, with Na sigh of wistful nostalgia, ‘Billy Bear meat’. Available from the deli counter in all good Manchester supermar- kets, this sliced sandwich meat in the shape of a bear’s face (with pop-able eyes!) kept my sister and I placated for hours of weekend food shops. From munching this questionable delicacy to routinely ordering meat feast calzones, I was de nitely a childhood carnivore. Later, getting more nutrition-conscious, the red meat craving was quelled, but my mum’s chicken curry or turkey burgers still took top spot. Family teas were meat and two veg, with the occasional experimental venture of cheese or Quorn. I can’t place the turning point precisely; university didn’t convert me immediately, but I pretty quickly found myself opting for the vegetarian option in ca as default. Only my dislike of absolute rules (what if, just one time, I really wanted chicken?) was holding me back. Until, that is, my identical twin sister tried the six-week veggie pledge, succeeded, and ❝ e ease of going meat-free at Cambridge made my transition smooth ❞ decided to carry it on into the new year. Well, I couldn’t very well let her win on ethics, so vegetarian for 2019 it was. One ▲ “I uctuate between thinking that we’re on the way and feeling that I must be in an echo chamber.” ILLUSTRATION BY BELLA BIDDLE FOR VARSITY goodbye Christmas dinner, and we were o . Who knew twin rivalry was so events, in college societies), real impact, it’s demoralising to realise that vore there’s as little use trying to gain the good for the environment. where there are more vege- environment-friendly eating is still a minor- moral high ground over friends and family as So far, I’ve been having a tarians and vegans around ity movement. there is beating yourself up about not doing ball. My tendency to ob- than I’d ever met before,  en there’s the pressure from the other more. What anyone who’s at least listened sess and stress over choice where almost everyone side, the feeling that you haven’t gone far to a TED talk on the environment knows is evaporates when there is of the right age to enough, that you should cut dairy too, cam- that we need everyone to make ty, sixty, are only two options on feel that the future of paign about food waste, buy more locally, or seventy percent of the e ort, rather than an a menu.  e ease of going the planet depends on eat everything raw. ordained few going all the way. meat-free at Cambridge, them. I’m learning to accept that there’s always too, made my transition But I  uctuate be- more I can do, and also that it’s no good smooth, and luckily my tween thinking that ❝ shouting at people who don’t feel climate parents are happy to get on we’re on the way and I'll probably try veganism, responsibility pressing upon them yet. board back home. feeling that I must be in My climate-consciousness conversion was But I know I’m in a vegetar- an echo chamber. My whole but it'll take a while to accelerated by the environment I was lucky ian bubble: this summer, with a household has changed; I see enough to be in, and rather than get angry or group of friends who are all uni-bound, many friends following suit; there are wean myself o halloumi demotivated, the best we can do is stick to all concerned about the climate crisis, I was veggie Prets in London and, now, in Man- our own resolutions for small-scale change, shocked to nd myself the only vegetarian chester. But I also see major opposition to ❞ and contribute to the pro-environment dis- when we arrived at Edinburgh’s best hog proposed meat-free Mondays in college hall, course with information and encouragement roast establishment. My sneaking suspicion and blank faces, or chuckling dismissal, I’ll probably try going vegan, but it’ll take wherever possible. is that most of them will go more, if not fully, when I explain that I’m an environmental a while to wean myself o halloumi.  ere’s Happily, I don’t miss Billy Bear meat all meat-free at uni. vegetarian. Given the necessity of collec- a temptation to measure your own impact that much, and even Nando’s isn’t a struggle There’s something about the univer- tive action for dietary solutions to have any by the metric of comparison to those around anymore. As long as we have sweet potato sity environment where conversations are you – but with the medley of options be- fries on the side of the environment, I think constantly taking place (in hall, at speaker ▲ILLUSTRATION BY LOIS WRIGHT FOR VARSITY tween religious vegan and dedicated carni- there’s hope.     Vulture 23

Pause, and bring yourself back to the present Mindfulness is more than a buzzword – at its core it is about being completely in the present moment and bringing awareness to our bodies, explains Charlotte Newman

hen was the last time any of us as a ‘ x all’, that can solve our stresses without  e principles of mindfulness originate Recognising that we are thinking is the  rst truly stopped? As a student at ever really looking at the true causes within from Buddhism. At its core, mindfulness is step to practicing being in the now, in the Cambridge, with all the work- our environments and ourselves. Oten these about being completely in the present mo- present moment. Eckhart Tolle’s book Prac- Wloads and expectations placed commercialised methods avoid confronting ment bringing our awareness back to our- ticing the Power of Now addresses practically within the system and perpetuated by it, it the self and the understanding that internal selves and our bodies. how to start living in the moment. can sometimes seem like an impossible task stillness and re ection can provide us Mindfulness is about bringing our to simply stop and be here with ourselves in with the answers we seek. awareness back to our bodies the present moment. At a time when there in the present moment ❝ Truly stopping is not the same as a relaxing is so much negativity and recognising the Our minds are constantly ‘distraction’ such as watching something on on social media present is all that Net ix or scrolling through social media – or and in the news, we have. How moving, constantly con- even reading a book. Truly stopping and being I hope to o er oten when still is incredibly di cult. a small piece eating some- suming and turning over of calm, thing does and an al- our mind new information ❝ ternative think Truly stopping isn't the to the about ❞ main- our next same as a relaxing stream essay, consen- a dead- It all begins with coming back to our bodies 'distraction' sus of line, through observing our thoughts and focus- how we some ing on breathing.  e  ve senses are useful ❞ should course- in bringing us into the now and out of our carry out work or thoughts.  is can be as simple as being aware Mindfulness can help us be still. It is a word our day-to- the latest of the sound of bird song, or feeling the wind that has become mainstream, the go-to phrase day lives. trouble in the against your skin – is it warm? Is it cold? When and solution for life’s stresses and problems. What I write news? you eat a snack become aware of the taste, the However, many of these adaptations of the about is nothing Our minds are sensations in your mouth, if it is hot or cold, principles of mindfulness (such as the count- new, the principles constantly moving, spicy or sweet. It may feel unnatural at  rst less quick- x advice books and physical anti- and messages have been constantly consuming to try but this reconnection with ourselves stress exercises) can miss the point, as they passed down for thousands of and turning over information opens the way for dealing with the di cult attempt to alleviate our stresses without ever years and I still have much to learn, but so that oten we are never actually emotions and feelings of worry that can arise allowing us to understand the root causes of I hope to o er some insight into some teach- present in the here and now. At Cambridge, in our busy lives. our stresses and su ering. ings that may be useful to others and may the problem is exacerbated by the high work-  e Western approach to ‘mindfulness’ can inspire you to start a journey of discovery loads and preconceived notions of what peo- ◀ “Mindfulness can help us be still” be super cial and has become commercialized within yourself. ple believe they ‘should’ be doing here. ILLUSTRATION BY LISHA ZHONG FOR VARSITY

Connection has never been easier — so why is dating this hard? Laura Curtis delves into the tricky dynamics of relationships built through our screens

heoretically, dating has never been all the boxes, an army of right-swipers are a text, goodnight messages or lack thereof, city, met up, and things were over ater the easier.  e swipe-right world that we waiting in reserve to  ll their place.  is on- emojis, and length of time to reply are all clues  rst encounter. Was it too real? Was it too live in means we can secure a Sat- tap quality of dating apps has the potential used to decode the meaning of the myste- much like hard work? Whichever the answer, Turday night date by e ectively just to make us act carelessly and callously with rious words.  ese replace the traditional there undoubtedly appears to be a growing twiddling our thumbs. A selection of attering regard to our interactions. aforementioned codi ers of language, tone trend of apathy among young people towards photos showcase a smiley individual with an of voice and gestures, which are so blatantly real-life relationships. If you conduct your active social life, while in reality  e Swiper lacking in what has potentially become our relationships the virtual way for too long, can oten vegetates alone on the couch, staring ❝ primary channel of communication. Shock- the real way become too scary, and entail too down at a phone from an expressionless face When one match doesn't ingly, these pointers are far from fail much e ort? Online interaction can balanced on several chins. Hook-up apps have safe, and end up sending us round of course be bene cial: it facilitates given us the power to convince people we’re tick all the boxes, an army in circles rather than guiding us and encourages communication, sexy without even getting out of our PJs. I’m through the fog. can make long distance bearable, calling this a win, right? Well, perhaps not.  e of right-swipers wait to ll Possibly the scariest aspect of and eases the stress of making technology which makes it so easy to meet our online relationships is the plans and meeting up. Used as an people can actually make resulting interac- their place loophole they create for the less additional dimension to relation- tions all the more di cult. Both Tinder and emotionally available among us. ships, rather than a replacement texting are riddled with complications, such ❞ You can, literally, keep someone of face-to-face interaction, the in- that they might hinder romance just as much at arm’s length by conducting a ternet can have an enriching po- as they facilitate it. Perhaps we feel the need to scrutinise our relationship largely through text, tential. So type, Skype, and swipe In fact, it is this very ease of online interac- text messages due to their inherent ambigu- thereby avoiding all the ‘scary away. Just don’t swipe away real- tions that can undermine them: there are 50 ity. Texts are so easily misconstrued; with- stu ’: commitment, rejection, ity in the process. million of us on Tinder, with 12 billion swipes out body language or tone of voice, a simple e ort. I spoke to someone online per day – we are all in nitely replaceable. “okay” could be read as angry, excited, or everyday for 4 months before we ◀ “Can the real way be too scary?” When one match is no longer quite ticking apathetic.  e number of kisses at the end of  nally found ourselves in the same ILLUSTRATION BY BELLA BIDDLE 24 Vulture Friday 11th OctOber 2019 Fashion Reinventing a narrative through costume and nudity in Dada Masilo's Giselle

Anastasia Kolomiets explores the transformative power of costume, and the lack thereof, in this classical ballet's reinvention

ashion doesn’t only have the function Tswana dance moves, as well as making the of dressing us in our day-to-day lives. leader of the Wilis a Sangoma (a traditional It has the power of visually changing healer), Masilo transforms the ballet’s original Fthe body, and a lot can be told through context. She even worked with the South Afri- the way fashion is used. Performance-based can composer Philip Miller to rewrite Adolphe art forms frequently use costume to enhance Adam’s score. the messages they put across, as it provides he second act moves into the land of the another, distinctly visual layer to what’s hap- spirits, where Giselle is summoned from her pening overall. Dada Masilo’s Giselle does that grave by the Wilis – vengeful ghosts of women brilliantly. who were also betrayed by their lovers. hey Masilo’s production is raw and visceral. he seek revenge on the ones who wronged them South African choreographer, who also dances the main part, reinvented this traditional bal- let and made it contemporary. Apart from for- ❝ mal innovations, such as combining classical Masilo paid attention not dance moves with contemporary ones and traditional Tswana dance, Masilo paid atten- simply to how the body tion to how the ballet can be changed visu- ally; not just through how the body moves, moves, but to what adorns but also through what adorns the body, or it, and what does not doesn’t. Nudity and unconventional costume helped Masilo tell the story. Giselle is a story of love and betrayal, but is traditionally emo- ❞ tionally muted and idealised through formal mechanisms. he heroine, Giselle, falls in love by killing them. In the original, the Wilis wear with Albrecht, who deceives her, and when white tulles, a colour traditionally associated the deceit is revealed she dies of heartbreak. with purity and innocence. Masilo, however, Masilo’s Giselle is a young South African girl, dresses her Wilis in red, as she wanted them to and through the incorporation of traditional look “as if they were drenched in blood”. heir violence is shown not only in their powerful ▼ Dada Masilo's Giselle (SADler_WellS/INSTAGrAM) movements, but also on their bodies. his is, as Masilo says, a tale with “no forgive- ness”. Masilo also un- dermines the orig- inal’s heteronor- mativity – there are male Wilis ▲ Dada Masilo's Giselle (SADler_WellS/INSTAGrAM) too. hey wear the same dresses as breaking the female versus male opposition the village dwellers ind out about Giselle’s the female Wilis, so prominent in the classical ballet. Masilo intimacy with Albrecht, they disrobe her in while their leader also focused on the body and lack of cloth- a degrading and disconcerting act of “slut- Myrtha is per- ing in her production. When Giselle reaches shaming”. he naked body is on the stage, formed by a man. puberty, her mother opens her top to reveal but the audience is shocked not by the nudity his disrupts the her breasts, introducing a South African ritual but by the unkindness of the people. Once classical narra- into the narrative. everyone abandons her, Giselle continues to tive, which seeks dance only in her underpants until she fades to assign Giselle a and dies, showcasing the purity of the nude traditionally femi- ❝ body, and how the body should not be a so- nine role of a lov- cial taboo. ing, forgiving and he costumes subvert the Masilo is saying that the body is not some- soft character, an female versus male thing that is wrong, what is wrong is people’s embodiment of attitude to it, which is a fashion statement the expected val- opposition so prominent in in itself. Dada Masilo’s updated Giselle is a ues of femininity beautiful and powerful production, with raw at the time. the classical ballet and real emotions. The costume his power certainly rests in Masilo’s amaz- subverts the valid- ❞ ing abilities of storytelling through dance, but ity of binary gen- is also enriched by what the dancers’ bodies der distinctions, Nudity in Giselle does not stop there. When are (not) wearing. Friday 11th OctOber 2019 Vulture 25 Arts Can art make us healthy? Joanna Neve explores the potential positive impact of art on our health and wellbeing

admire as they navigate the often sad urban It seems to me that, with time, recupera- jungles of UK hospitals. tion procedures will begin to incorporate Furthermore, research has shown that art more and more art programmes, such as activities can play a key role in easing lone- those organised by the charity Arts and liness and supporting those with depres- Minds. Many people and professionals are be- sion. Alhough exhibiting art in hospitals may ginning to recognise the role of art in health, have its downsides, it deinitely channels even as some remain sceptical. this increasingly-accepted ideal of artistic Perhaps we’ll even see more art on the experience as a form of recovery. walls of Addenbrooke’s soon enough.













▲ he art displays "lightened the hospital corridors a bit" (ILLUSTRATION BY YAN SHI FOR VARSITY)

rt has long been suspected to play I would begin to spot pieces I hadn’t noticed a role in both our mental and our before. physical health. he Cambridge- When in a bit of a rush, for example, you Help Children in Kenya Ashire-based charity Arts and Minds, might walk past the striking mechanical CHANGING LIVES for example, organises artist-led workshops, structure printed on one of the ground-loor With The Nasio Trust FOR GOOD and cites evidence to support the value of its walls. Why on earth is that crane there? he work on its website, noting that in previous question bugged me as I queued in line at participant surveys, 76% of respondents re- Costa. hen I read the accompanying plaque. ported an increase in wellbeing. And though he piece was by Simon Ryder, and attempted with a diferent group in mind, this year’s to link coastal structures to hospital patients: Cambridge Festival of Ideas will feature a talk “If you imagine the atrium space between the on using art in prisons as a form of rehabili- old and new hospitals as the hames Estuary, tation. But what about using hospitals as an then outpatients can be seen as the coastline artistic venue to display pieces? Perhaps this of Essex, with its four entrances, network of could improve health and well-being too. corridors and waiting areas taking the place When staying in hospital or visiting rela- of estuaries, rivers, channels and lagoons.” tives, walking the sad and seemingly endless His tenuous link didn’t do much for me, clinical halls can soon become a miserable but I nonetheless found the project an inter- and pessimistic chore. hat’s why Broom- esting one. Carol Farrow had some unique ield Hospital in Essex decided to start an art looking abstract paintings in one of the project, lining the corridors with photography, ground-loor waiting rooms, and when I was prints, drawings, etchings and paintings. In heading back up to the second loor, I noticed doing so, they hoped to “reduce stress, speed some minuscule etchings by the lift. Also by up recovery and aid the healing process” of Simon Ryder, the small pieces were Perspex their patients. he rumoured £400,000-plus postcards featuring sketches inspired by his investment didn’t please everyone, though. coastal journeys. One critic remarked: “If people donate art- While I could understand the frustration We believe children should not grow up in institutions in isolation from work for free then fair enough, but that money of previous critics, I wasn’t too sure how I society because of poverty, sickness, disease or death of parents. should have been spent on things that really felt about the Broomield art project. Sure, help sick people – nurses, cleaners, equipment when they bought the pieces in 2010, the al- and drugs.” leged £400,000-plus cost was a lot to spend. Volunteer With Us For So I felt guilty that, for quite a while, I his summer, my grandad’s MRI scan came didn’t even notice the artwork around me at around a week later than normal after one An Amazing African Experience Broomield when I went regularly to visit my of Broomield’s expensive machines broke. grandad this summer. As soon as I did though, Could that money have been saved for even- From 10 Days To A Whole Gap Year | From £685 Per Person the cofee run became a pleasant experience: tualities like this? I’m not sure. I was captivated, peering down each corridor But what I do know is that the project Find Out More At www.volunteerforcharity.org to see what type of work they might have on lightened the corridors a bit, and that ini- UK Registered Charity #1104542 display. Even in the most unusual of places, tiatives like this give patients something to 26 Vulture Friday 11th OctOber 2019 heatre Tips on taking centre stage in Cambridge

Are you keen to get involved in Cambridge’s exciting theatre scene? CUADC’s Lucy Tiller has all the information from the city’s largest theatre and its resident dramatic society

hether you’ve been on stage since Wyou could walk or have never stepped foot inside a dressing room, if you’re interested in getting involved in theatre, Cambridge is the right place to be. With over 40 shows entirely run by students every term, the Cambridge stage is varied, vibrant and shaped by students, and there’s always something to match your interests and availability. he community is welcom- ing, warm and large, and ranges from actors to production team, front of house to techni- cians. his is the perfect place to try out some- thing new and exciting in the theatre. As publicist of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club (CUADC), my role is to work with the rest of the committee and ADC heatre management to support the shows we have chosen to fund, and more gener- ally to help people get involved in theatre in ▲ Orlando at the Corpus Playroom in Lent 2019 (WILF rAkE) Cambridge. So, what can you get involved in, and how? company – rather than maintaining a perma- Cambridge. Other regular venues include the chat to someone in the ADC bar on Freshers’ he theatre scene at Cambridge can seem nent company who take part in every show. Corpus Playroom (owned by Corpus Christi Friday (11th October), or send an email to any complicated, with so many diferent organisa- Several colleges run a theatrical society, and managed by the ADC), the Fitzpatrick of the CUADC committee. tions, venues and roles available. Instead of like the Pembroke Players (Pembroke) and Hall in Queens’ College, and the robinson having a single theatrical society, Cambridge Fletcher Players (Corpus Christi). here are Auditorium, although there are many more ❝ has many. Most of these organisations func- also larger societies operating between col- all over the city. tion as funding bodies – they provide money leges: CUADC is the largest and oldest, and If you want to put on a show in Cambridge, he community is and support to directors and producers who is a resident company at the ADC heatre, applications open midway through the term apply directly to them and build their own on Park Street, which is the biggest venue in before. You can apply as a producer, director welcoming, warm or actor, and if you’re pitching for the ADC or ▼ Angels in America, an ADC main show in Lent 2019 (LUCIA rEVEL-CHION) Corpus Playroom, you’ll be interviewed by and large an applications panel. If they like your pitch, you’ll be assigned a slot for the next term! ❞ You can then apply to the theatre societies for funding. One way to get involved if you’re new to If you’re interested in getting involved in theatre is through CUADC’s freshers’ plays. acting, or want to apply to work on a show as hese are made up of students new to the a technician, creative or production role, then theatre scene, freshers or otherwise, with Camdram is the place to look. his is a web- support from the CUADC committee. hey site which lists all of the opportunities cur- run midway through Michaelmas term and rently open, how to sign up for an audition are a great way to get started! Applications or how to apply, and some contact details if for production team members will open you want to get in touch with the organisers. on Friday 11th October, with auditions and interviews taking place at the ADC heatre ❝ between Wednesday 16th and Sunday 20th October. he Cambridge stage is Don’t worry if you miss them, as there are loads of other ways to get involved – just keep varied, vibrant, and an eye on Camdram, or get in touch. CUADC, Cambridge University Musical shaped by students heatre Society (CUMTS) and the Cambridge Footlights are also running theatre trip so- ❞ cials throughout the term, which are perfect if you want to see some theatre, but you’re Usually all opportunities plus some other worried about turning up alone! During the bonus content is posted in the Cambridge irst few weeks of term CUADC and friends heatre Facebook group, and weekly email from other societies will be running socials lists can be subscribed to through CUADC’s for BME students, female and NB technicians website. If it’s all a bit daunting, come and and members of the LGBTQ+ community.     Vulture 27 Film & TV e Politician might seem over the top, but so is our reality In this new satire, Gabriel Humphreys nds a hilarious show that makes us look, and think, twice

he newest o ering from Pose, Feud and ences, so much so that the race to be high disdain, I think we should embrace. Yes, the char- realms of possibility. American Horror Story creator Ryan school president feels like the actual race to be acters and situations seem unrealistic, pastiche e interplay of the real and created in this TMurphy follows the political career President of the United States, replete with in- even. So what? All the better, in my opinion. series penetrates into the characters’ psyches: and aspirations of Payton Hobart, an a uent tense and cold-hearted advisors obsessed with e plot twists and turns: backstabbing, Payton, for example, performatively cries at Santa Barbara teen set on becoming President polling data. Payton has his perfect high school controversy and betrayal all come knocking the end of It’s A Wonderful Life only because of the United States. sweetheart as his would-be First Lady, her cos- at Payton’s door, sometimes in frighteningly he feels he ought to. It’s billed as “a comedy with social com- tume drawing an immediate and unmistakable quick succession. But these extremes are mentary”, and having seen the trailer, my comparison with Jackie Kennedy. trademarks of analytical satire, and at a time ❝ hopes were, frankly, sky high. Ben Platt had Many reviews have condemned the show when mass media has never enjoyed so much blown audiences away playing the titular role for being too confused, contrived or convolut- power and nations face daily political turmoil,  e world of the wealthy is in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway, and the ed. But what some seem to treat such fast-moving events hard- premise of the show felt just right. In a time with ly even seem carefully built shot by shot of increasing political ambition, polarisation out of and uncertainty, it feels more than ever like the ❞ time for a healthy dose of medicinal politi- cal satire. In the opening minutes, the jokes Authenticity and politics are hardly com- come thick and fast. We, the audience, are all fortable bedfellows; Payton’s main aim in the at once thrust into the world of high school  rst episode is acquiring a running mate who politics. It won’t be for everyone – there are will make him seem more genuine. And yet intensely surreal moments, and sometimes I the show continues to prove that the two are wasn’t sure whether I should be laughing or utterly incompatible. Political machinations not. e world of the wealthy is carefully built, brutally crush personal events. shot by shot. e lingering images of their For all its comedy and surreal cynicism, the lustrous California homes, dining tables that show reminds us of the dangers of irrespon- seem miles long, and endless pools, stables sible politics dominated by personal attacks, and country clubs. underhand tactics and vaulting ambition. e show is littered with political refer- ▲ “A healthy dose of medicinal political satire” ILLUSTRATION BY SUZANNE LAMBEEK FOR VARSITY Sound familiar? he Mays 27 A book of the best new student writing and art from BUY ONE the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. GET ONE FREE EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

JUST USE CODE: PIZZA241 AT THE CHECKOUT

“I was struck by the variety of the entries, some of which even provoked a pang of envy in me, alongside the admiration. hese pieces of work are a pleasure; I am glad that I THE OFFICIAL FOOD OF had the opportunity to read them, and for that I thank he Mays, and wish it a long and creative future.” Louis de Bernières STUDENT LIFE “As an emerging poet, I found inspiration and companionship in past issues of he Mays. I ind myself impressed and heartened by the beauty and lyricism in these pages, and hope you will join me in celebrating the success of these writers.” Mary Jean Chan 34 HILLS ROAD, CAMBRIDGE 113 HISTON ROAD CAMBRIDGESHIRE, CB2 1LA 24hr CAMBRIDGE, CB4 3JD On sale now in all good book stores 01223 355155DELIVERY 01223 359333 and at: www.themaysanthology.co.uk/purchase/ /DominosPizza @Dominos_UK StudentsOfDominos Click Tap the app

*Buy one get one free on medium & large pizza only. Valid online only. Free pizza must be equal or lesser value than the first. Not valid with any other offer. Offer can be withdrawn without notice. Available in participating stores only. Student ID required. EXP 31-5-20 28 Vulture     Music Black pop artists still Vulture’s PLAYLIST FOR face obstacles on SETTLING IN their way to the top by Vulture Music In the rst instalment of his column, Kwaku Gyasi explores the barriers that black performers and producers face in breaking With the beginning of term just starting, anticipation for the new academic year is high. Whether you’re a fresher into a genre meant for mainstream consumption or a returning Cambridge student, we at Vulture Music have put together a playlist to guide you through the op culture is o ten derided as frivolous EDM (electronic dance music) became the adjustment period that is freshers’ week, helping you Por meaningless, when its accessibility dominant style in uencing pop, these starlets ease (back) into life at Cambridge and all its quirks. is precisely what makes it such a use- faded from the limelight.  e strong legacies ful tool to re ect on our society.  at being they le t behind ultimately had a negative From chill-out tunes for relaxing a ter a long day to said, in recent years consumers and creators e ect on any artists who had come of age on songs for pres, we’ve got it all covered! alike have been more open to discussing the that ‘urban pop’ sound and were now trying inequalities that are rife in the music indus- to break into the mainstream. try, with topics like cultural appropriation In the past two decades, few other black becoming hot-button issues. Another nota- women performers in popular music have ▼ Illustration by Bella Biddle ble pattern is the myriad of ways in which been able to thrive without premature and black popular artists are treated di erently incessant comparisons to Beyoncé or Rihanna. by record labels, chart companies, critics and  is forces black women into a mould they the general public. might not  t into, while also putting sing- Two decades ago, the barriers which con- ers a few years into their careers on par with tinue to hold back black artists were a lot less seasoned performers, setting impossible ex- visible. Backed by a booming pre-streaming pectations. music industry, which could fund futuristic In 2014, Tinashe had presented herself as a music videos and innovative production, real contender to replace the vacuum le t by and with R&B reigning supreme as the most Rihanna’s hiatus from music and Beyoncé’s Cola popular genre, a generation of black pop ascension to iconic status.  at was, at least, Arlo Parks stars thrived in the ‘90s and early 2000s. until Elle Magazine ran the headline ‘Watch “Now I don’t really care/ ‘Cause you’re runnin’ R&B-leaning pop music had appeal both in Out, Beyoncé, here comes Tinashe’, unneces- ’round over there.” Soulful and honest, Parks’ the mainstream and on the so-called ‘urban’ sarily pitting the two against each other and track explores the idea of moving on and charts, with various performers from that era, permanently damaging her legacy. In addition is perfect for mellow listening, providing a such as Beyoncé and Aaliyah, still relevant to various label missteps which attempted to welcome break from the chaos of adjusting and in uential today.  is is perhaps why so box her into an outdated niche, this essentially to life in Cambridge. many contemporary black artists continue to le t the now 26-year-old performer’s career pay homage to aesthetics and sounds from stalling. Free Room that era. But, as the ‘00s came to a close and Today, this pattern is being repeated. Nor- Ravyn Lenae (Ft Appleby)

With smooth lyrics and a beat that you can’t help but dance to, listening to Free Room is recklessly fun and freeing. While moving to university can feel like a leap into the unknown, funky tunes like this can help you ground yourself!

Lullaby Barney Artist, Tom Misch

“Overloaded poems in my mind/  ll up all the spirit with the light.” Tom Misch’s silken tones combine almost magically with Barney Artist’s careful lyrics to create a layered and ethereal track. Lovestained Hope Tala

Up-and-coming artist Hope Tala’s album Sensitive Soul is full of gems. Lovestained is a tune that is alive and kicking, and will have you listening on repeat. Contemplative yet fun, it’s the perfect tune for unpacking your room/ wandering around Cambridge.

Follow us on Spotify: musicvarsity

▲ Normani exploded onto the VMAs main stage with her debut single Motivation this summer YOUTUBEVMAS Friday 11th OctOber 2019 Vulture 29

mani, former Fifth Harmony member and bud- heart.” he consistent connection between ding star, exploded onto the VMAs main stage black genres such as hip-hop and R&B with with her debut single Motivation this summer edginess, brooding and frosty detachment in a clear attempt to vie for the pop crown. But often denies upbeat, peppy and corny music everything from her curated ‘perfect’ aesthetic from being considered truly “black”, especially to her dance moves has provoked certain fans because pop music and the aesthetics that ac- to label her a Queen Bey copycat. While she, company it are often considered ‘soulless’ for like many of her peers, gushes over Beyoncé these same traits. and her inluence, she has been careful to assert Black artists can’t seem to win, with the her own artistic identity, noting in an interview critiques they face always cutting both ways. on the Zach Sang Show, “I’m excited to see At the time of writing, Lizzo’s hit Truth Hurts what it is that I have to ofer as well.” has spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot he reality is that the expectations placed on 100, earning it the record as the longest #1 by a black popular artists come from all diferent female rapper. And yet Lizzo’s song is, in fact, directions, including from black music fans quintessentially pop. that want to see themselves represented in popular culture as authentically as possible. ❝ As far back as 1988, Whitney Houston was infamously booed at that year’s Soul Train he expectations placed on ▲ Lizzo’s hit Truth Hurts, at the time of writing, has spent six weeks at #1 (INSTAGRAM/LIZZoBeeATING) Awards for this reason: her pop sound and pol- ished public persona was perceived by black black popular artists come or ‘singer’. his becomes even more insidious, their personal artistic expression. audiences as “not black enough”. In fact many as Pitchfork contributor Briana Younger notes, he truth is, black artists in pop will continue performers who reach pop royalty are often from all directions as “white artists can assume the pose of “other” to face pigeonholing and stereotyping, since by accused of selling out or pandering. by embracing certain sounds—rap to achieve deinition success in this genre requires appeal- Lizzo is the latest of many artists to face this ❞ edginess, R&B to project tenderhearted soul— ing to the masses, and being part of a minority criticism, with her hip-hop style often dubbed without necessarily sacriicing privileged po- puts you at a disadvantage. Regardless, there is ‘corny’. Just as Whitney Houston was, Lizzo has Billboard’s categorisation of Lizzo in this way sitions in pop”. his lexibility is not aforded a lurry of ambitious young performers ready been aware of her fanbase’s demographic for is particularly troubling in an industry in which to black artists. he insistence that all black to take over the music scene in the years to a while. Recently, she wrote in an Instagram there are many others who also both sing and music be considered R&B or rap, no matter how come, aware of the challenges their predeces- caption: “For so long I felt like my music wasn’t rap, but are white, such as Post Malone, and are eclectic or experimental, not only limits black sors have faced and ready to push past the reaching black people and it was breakin my not bound exclusively by the labels of ‘rapper’ artists’ exposure to broader audiences, but also limits of genre.

Seater Single Deckers Up to Seater Doub Up to 61

84 le Deckers 32

for 32 years.

Email: [email protected] 30 F  11 O 201931

e freshers’ guide to procrastinating your way through a Cambridge degree

and go for a leisurely walk around Serena Smith offers King’s to guarantee a whole day of valuable advice on how wasted time. I’m a fresher and I’m worried about the Cambridge workload. to procrastinate your way Q Is it really as bad as everyone says? Hit the gym through Cambridge Make the most of your college’s facilities by visiting the gym. But be Looking for more ways to put o careful not to apply this logic to vis- First things rst: the workload is de nitely manageable. It might take some time work? Have a read of my top tips iting the college library, obviously. for you to get used to, but the main thing is to try and stay organised. If the work below and get ready to extend was impossible, no one would be getting a degree! Even those with horri c time those essay deadlines to your Hit the river management skills almost always make it through. We all know a procrastinator (if heart’s content. Want hours of your life to be A you don’t, chances are that it’s you!), and yet we’re all still here. Ask the older years eaten away? Take up rowing to ef- in your college for advice – they’ve been in your position and have probably gone through similar problems. You might even get lucky enough to be on the receiving Visit your friends’ colleges fectively sign o 90% of your time end of some of their old notes! Keep telling yourself: ‘you’re at to shivering in the freezing cold on Cambridge, you need to make the the river. You’ll spend the other 10%  ere may be a week or more where the workload just gets a bit much, whether most of it and explore as many col- talking about the fact that you do you’ve been ill or just hit that Wednesday Cindies a bit too hard, and that’s okay. leges as possible’ to keep the guilt rowing.  ere are a multitude of options - talking to your supervisor, tutor or director of at bay. Bonus points for visiting a studies, asking a course friend to bail you out with some reading notes, or simply friend’s college for a formal and Read just handing in an essay plan instead and emailing your supervisor to explain sacking o a whole evening and Nothing relevant to your course, that you simply couldn’t do the work this week, and have tried your best to get morning’s worth of work in ex- of course. Like this article!  ere’s something in.  ey’ve seen it all before.  ey understand that in your rst year, and change for drinking and hanging, nothing like the sweet guilt of read- especially rst term, you’re just trying to settle in, and you won’t be expected to ace every essay you write. But one thing is for sure: you will master the art of deadlines respectively. ing something trivial when you’ve (or asking for extensions) – even if it means bashing out an essay ater a night of got a 200-page book let to read for drinking. You got in, so clearly someone who knows all about the course and its Become a tourist the next day. demands thinks you’ll be just ne. Trust them! What’s the phrase? ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’. Everyone’s Stare at the ceiling wondering Got questions? sick of dodging tourists when how you got in to Cambridge Get in touch at you’re just trying to get to a super- Nothing better than a huge wal- [email protected] vision, so why not put o work by low in impostor syndrome to dis- becoming one of them? Hit up any rupt even the best-laid plans. Now combination of the local museums go back to step 1 and repeat. e trials and tribulations of student cooking a.k.a contending with the Cambridge gyp

Katey Parker explores instead oten referred to as a ‘gyp’ form of trial. the smashing sounds of cutlery at for reasons I do not know nor care to I have not been without my own regular intervals. Yet our new ar- the trials of cooking with ever nd out – and there’s no guaran- di culties – I started Cambridge as rangements have brought with a microwave and living tee that your gyp is even going to be a meek, uncertain fresher, but as them many triumphs. It appears without an oven functional. Got a microwave? Great! the year went on, my con dence that with this minor improvement Now try and use this contraption to in all areas of life began to spring to facilities, we may all just manage Student life at Cambridge is odd, heat up your Alphabetti Spaghetti up. Sadly, my new found con dence to survive another year. from the confusing complexities just as someone else enters wanting got the better of me when it came So, glossing over what may have of the college system, to terms so to boil the kettle, leaving to the kitchen. My attempt to ◀ Illustration by been a weak bout of food poison- short you question the point of ever ❝ you to ght over the sin- cook fresh chicken Lois Wright ing three days ater arriving back, I leaving home in the rst place. But gle available socket. in the microwave for Varsity would say my new start to student it is the living arrangements, and Got a Now imagine doing ended with me cooking life has been an undeni- in particular the cooking facilities microwave? this in a room more marinating an able success. I have only managed available, that truly take the biscuit apt to being labelled entire staircase ❝ to slice my nger once on a dropped Great! Now – no pun intended. a cupboard. One step with the scent of Glossing wine glass (meaning I’ll be taking Firstly, you have the option of try and use to the right and you’ll burnt electrics mugs to pre-drinks from here on in), securing your scran from a wood- be making awkward physi- and a chicken over the burnt just two slices of toast and ru- it to heat panelled hall lined with frowning cal contact with your fellow fillet somehow bout of food ined only a few friendships with the old men, questioning your decision up your chef. No one wants that. more raw than when I dodgy looks I gave to their ‘pasta’ to get both chips and sautéed pota- I have been to colleges had rst put it in, sending me poisoning, concoctions. Alphabetti toes in one sitting. But if you don’t with frankly unnecessar- cowering back to the buttery my new But I remain alive and thriving, fancy being judged by these immor- Spaghetti ily large kitchens, but these until the end of term. and that alone is a feat in such a talised academics or eating nosh ❜❜ pose their own dangers. Ten  ings have improved. Since start to testing environment.  avoured solely with salt (if you’re people sharing one space?  e moving into o site accommo- student It’s when someone comes in from lucky enough to get any seasoning odds on being able to pop in at an dation for second year, we have the corridor to tell you the place at all), your only other option is to ungodly hour to wolf down that been granted the git of hobs (not cooking has smells ‘insane’ that you know you’ve muster up a masterpiece in your craved-for tortellini without being ovens though, that would be far too been a truly made it in the student kitchen. student kitchen. seen are low. It’s clear that whatever kind).  is has inevitably resulted in Believe me, my ego has been con- Remembering this is Cambridge, their arrangement, using kitchens a lining of charred food constantly success tinuously swelling ever since. I am, this isn’t actually a kitchen but is in Cambridge always entails some coating the worktops, along with ❜❜ now, literally unstoppable.  22 F 2019 Sport

Despite British successes, the World Athletic Championship o ered a concerning glimpse into the fragile future of athletics

including suggestions of bribes around pecially when sports must now compete the choice of Doha. For a sport already for attention with virtual entertainment mired in doping scandals, and a country and social media. already accused of human rights viola- Furthermore, the lack of crowds tions in relation to immigrant labour, this points to a more sinister conclusion – does not sit well with athletes or fans. athletics is no longer about the athletes. And yet last week, Lord Coe, Presi- ❝ e crowds in Doha provided little sup- dent of the IAAF, claimed that “on ath- port or atmosphere for the competitors, lete performance this is the best World The lack and the weather conditions actually Championships we have ever had.” But of crowds proved dangerous, with several long- athletics is a spectator sport. “Athlete distance runners collapsing. And, if the performance” may be currently thriv- points to French prosecutors are to be believed, ing, but without crowd turnouts, how a more the awarding of the championships to can this momentum continue? A sport Doha suggests that the very ‘point’ of tainted by  nancial corruption, human sinsiter athletics has now shited – the athletes su ering, low crowd turnout and dop- conclusion and fans are no longer front and centre, ing scandals suddenly becomes far less but rather a few wealthy individuals, marketable to a new generation. — athletics nations and companies who are intent Despite the brilliance of Asher-Smith is no longer on maximising their own pro t. and Johnson- ompson, the sport needs With question marks hanging over more than a few individual superstars about the the 2021 Championships in Eugene and to survive. Indeed, for British Athletics, athletes its ties to the global conglomerate Nike, this was their worst medal haul at a ❜❜ as well as continued doping violations Championships since 2005. Sport needs and, at home, a lack of international of free tickets were given away, as well ▲ Cambridge and grassroots participation, and grassroots British medals, athletics faces a turning Posy Putnam exposes the as children, much of the crowd was long Oxford competing participation is fuelled by the adrenaline point. In future years, will the crowds - decaying future of athletics gone by the late hours of the night when in Varsity Athletics of witnessing these incredible athletic and the integrity of the sport - return, or a ter the World Athletics most  nals were scheduled. Attendance DEVARSHI LODHIA feats. is is not something that can sim- is this the start of a slow, painful decent Championships in Doha only averaged 20,000 people over the ply be replicated through the screen, es- into irrelevance?  rst eight days of the Championships, despite more impressive turnouts over wo new British World Athletic the  rst two. Champions were forged under It is true that concessions and com- the sweltering heat in Qatar promises must be found if athletics Tlast week. eir individual tri- wishes to remain a global sport, reach- umphs are a feel-good story, their grins ing a global audience. now splashed across national papers. Traditionally, World Championships But their moments of glory serve as a have largely been held in Europe, so it stark contrast to the state of athletics is understandable that, recently, e orts as a whole. have been made to challenge this. In In Doha, Qatar, at the 2019 Interna- doing so, local weather and time zones tional Association of Athletics Federa- must be considered. tions (IAAF) World Athletics Champion- However, what is the point of such ships, Dina Asher-Smith took home gold concessions - or indeed hosting an ath- in the 200 metres, silver in the 100-me- letic championship - if there is no one to Could you be ters and a silver in the 4×100 metres re- watch? Whilst Qatar itself may bolster its a match for Varsity? Email lay, while Katerina Johnson- ompson global standing, it certainly does not re- our sport team triumphed in the heptathlon.  ect well on the IAAF, the governing fed- at sport@varsity. Both women deserved these mo- eration of athletics associations, or the co.uk to get ments of global success, having ex- health of track-and- eld as a whole. involved perienced their fair share of athletic is begs the question, why Doha? hardship – for Asher-Smith, a  th-place Both Barcelona and Eugene bid for the  nish in Rio 2016, and Johnson- omp- 2019 Championships, and yet Doha pre- son, despite a promising London 2012 vailed, despite its lack of infrastructure and junior career, missed major global and hostile weather conditions. e an- medals in 2015, 2016 and 2017. However, swer, it seems, is money. Currently, Lam- what should have been a moment to ine Diack, President of the IAAF when celebrate their achievement fell dev- Doha was awarded the Championships, ▼ 144th Varsity astatingly  at. is being investigated by French courts Athletics CHLOE Watching Johnson-Thompson’s for corruption and bribe-taking in rela- MERRELL post-victory interview, the silence of tion to international athletics, notably the crowd was deafening. Empty seats lined the background. Her joy was gen- uine, and her smile was infectious, but this only served to accentuate the fact that the Khalifa stadium – designed to seat 40,000 spectators - was virtually barren. e story was the same for Asher- Smith. According to the Guardian, fewer than 1,000 people witnessed her 200-metre victory. Her mother claimed she had seen more spectators at a na- tional age-group athletic champion- ship in Bedford. Although thousands 32 Friday 11th October 2019 A race against time: he alarming picture painted by the world Athletics Championships 31 SportSport

City 12

University 20

CURUFC survive last-minute City surge

digits within 18 minutes. to ground beyond the line, only for the ▲ Cambridge boost to their Varsity campaign, which Joseph Powell Shortly after, referee Jake hill bran- referee to deem the ball had left play RUFC get the had previously sufered pre-season loss- Sport Reporter dished the irst of the evening’s four beyond the goal line. feed against es to Loughborough and Durham. hey yellow cards to Light Blue prop Charlie Minutes later the Light Blues picked CURUFC on are next in action again at Grange Road Preparations for the men’s rugby Var- MacCallum, giving City the hope of a up the fourth and inal yellow of the Monday night against welsh Academicals on 12th oc- sity Match are in full swing with the fault in what had so far been an impen- evening, with Tom walton sent to the (JoSePh PoweLL) tober, whilst City face Canterbury away Light Blues prevailing in their latest etrable line. he one man disadvantage sin-bin for a technical ofence, before on the same afternoon. pre-season hit out against town rivals was, however, negated by the Univer- City were inally awarded dividends for Cambridge University: Gatus; Jem- Cambridge RUFC. In a game deined by sity’s collective fortitude, with their goal- the hardy scrum work which deined phrey, Russell, Mackle, Story; Bell, Glik- resolute defending from the Light Blues line defence holding strong. their evening. Fred Betteridge got the sten; MacCallum, huppatz, Miller, van and rapid accelerating wing attacks his led to the game’s irst lash point, ❝ Blood and Sand on the scoreboard in the der Merwe, Beckett, walton, McMahon, from the townsmen, CURUFC held on with a large group of players coming CURUFC’s 54th minute with a missed conversion Leonard. in the dying minutes to take the annual together, arms aloft, as passions boiled bringing the game to 17-5. Replacements: Schusman, harbone, Town vs Gown ixture by the narrowest over and exchanges became heated. win was he Light Blues then opted for fresh horwill, hargreaves, Smeaton, Laing, of margins as their opponents were left After spending several minutes regain- a much legs, bringing on four changes in the pack Mullaney, elms, Lovelace. to rue a missed conversion. ing control of the game and consulting including former harlequins second row City: Patrick; Phoenix, Lewanituva, Clinical kicking proved to be the with the touch judge, referee hill elected needed and wallabies captain James horwill. Simonds, Bean; Rayner, Duin; Meek, diference on a drizzly Monday night to send both CURUFC’s Rowan Beckett boost to City responded with some silky work Priestley, Copeland, hill, Clarke, Dick- at Grange Road. he Light Blue ly half and City’s Matt Meek to the bin. Again from their backline, with George Laing’s inson, Dawson, Betteridge. Chris Bell scored from two conversions showing no signs of their numerical their charged-down kick being grounded for ▼ Flip van der Replacements: Rukhadze, Rayment, and two penalties, while Lawrence deiciency, the Light Blues were able to Varsity a try by Rayner in the 76th minute. he Merwe (JoSePh Napier, Marshall, Venni, Traynor, Chiv- Rayner for the Blood and Sand nar- kick to touch before putting together a number 10 then converted his own try PoweLL) anyge. rowly missed his maiden conversion rapid catch and drive movement from campaign with a swift drop kick and brought the from 10 yards by inches – a moment the resultant line out. hooker Miles hup- ❜❜ score to 20-12 in the 76th minute. that was made more salient by the patz slammed over the line for another Sensing opportunity amid what had eventual one-point margin. he irst try and subsequent conversion by Bell previously felt like consolation, City half saw the University, playing east to bringing the score up to 17-0 in favour of mounted a series of attacks in the closing west, frustrate City defensively whilst the hosts at half time. minutes, with some solid scrum work also piercing through opposition lines Despite being shut out in the irst half, leading to another try, this time by Ram- on two occasions early on. First came a City displayed no signs of discourage- az Rukhadze. his was, however, to be forceful run from debutant and former ment after the break. A series of scrums the last action of the game, and relieved South African international Flip van were won conidently, with City gradu- Light Blues fans erupted with noise char- der Merwe before a tidy pass to Bell ally gaining favourable ield position. acteristic of both sets of fans throughout for a 9th minute try. Bell converted, and City fans thought their duck had been the evening, who had come out in strong subsequently secured and converted, broken when a fumbled pass from a slip- numbers for another year. a penalty to bring the score to double pery ball saw Miles Bean pounce and get CURUFC’s win was a much needed