ISSUE 1620 FRIDAY 4th DECEMBER 2015 The Student Newspaper of Imperial College London The science of How problematic are the Kardashians the sabbs? PAGE 9 SCIENCE PAGE 5 COMMENT BEIT BASEMENT PROJECT DEEMED ‘INFERIOR’Multimillion pound redevelopment “significantly worsened” student facilities report, commissioned redevelopment of the student media on behalf of Imperial facilities. College Union, described With work completed over the work completed on summer of 2014, and spaces opened Beit’s west basement as having gradually during the winter term, createdA a facility “considered to be numerous sound isolation problems very much inferior to that which were identified, with several existed before, with a significant complaints launched by residents portion of it being unusable.” in Beit hall regarding the levels of It also referred to shortcomings in noise coming from the Jazz and the design and construction of the Rock practice room. By the Easter IC Radio studio, Jazz and Rock, and break, complaints had reached such control rooms, which has led to poor a level that the practice room was soundproofing between the spaces. closed indefinitely. Several clubs are housed in the The entire cost of refitting west basement, including Jazz and both the east basement with new Rock, and the Media societies, bedrooms and the west basement and it is these that have been most with new storage and media affected. facilities was around £2.5 million. Planning for the basement The media facilities alone, including redevelopment began in 2013, design, VAT, and furniture cost in when College proposed converting the region of £900,000, with funds Beit’s east basement into additional coming from the College. Imperial bedrooms for Beit Hall. Much of the College Union then spent a further east basement was used as storage £100,000 supplying the space with for union clubs and societies, but equipment. this was to be moved to the west A union representative told side, with the overall size of the FELIX that the union would space for media clubs shrinking to “continue to work with the College make room. In compensation for and Media group societies to resolve the reduction in space, included in the problems that we are facing with the project would be a much needed the facility”. th PAGE 2 THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER 2015 felixonline.co.uk [email protected] Contents A word from the Editor Editor-in-Chief News 3 Grace Rahman Comment 5 News Editor Cecily Johnson Science 7 hat’s a sabb? Your Maybe you just really love clubs Comment Editors Features 10 guess is as good as and societies, really care about safe Tessa Davey and Vivien Hadlow mine, mate. Points spaces and welfare and shit, or you Clubs & Societies 12 if you know that just have a truly unhealthy obsession Science Editors sabbatical officers exist, get paid with the academic representation Jane Courtnell and Lef Arts 15 aW hearty £19,000 a year, are given system. If any of the above sound Apostolakis free accommodation and don’t have like you, it might be worth running. Film 23 to pay council tax. Sounds pretty Hell, it’s definitely worth running Arts Editors cushy. Bonus points if you know (financially, that is – see above). Ever Indira Malik, Jingjie Cheng Food 28 who any of them are, and answers tried to strike up a conversation and Max Falkenberg on a postcard if you know what any with someone in the library cafe Music 29 Music Editor of us actually do. by offering them food with your Cale Tilford As you hurtle down various face printed on it? It’s character TV 32 A-roads on the way home for the building. If you’ve done door-to- Film Editor Christmas holidays, a lot of you door canvassing for your local MP, Fred Fyles Welfare 34 will be wondering what the hell this’ll be a breeze, since presumably, you’re going to do next year. Maybe no-one you’d be campaigning for Welfare Editor Hangman 35 you’re a little behind on the old grad this time is guilty of a war crime. Noor Mulheron job front and you’re getting a bit This week, we’ve featured an to. And essentially they do. I can Puzzles 36 nervous about your life plan after interview with the union president, safely say we’re obsessed with our Sports Editor Josh O’Donnell that Imperial ID card expires. It and it got someone in the comment work and are always thinking about Sport 38 could be this mentality that freaks section a little riled. Do sabbs need student welfare, club budgeting, Puzzles Editors people out enough to print hundreds to be 100% representational of or producing tip-top content for Hamish Beck and Roxana of posters of their own face, make the student body? Should we have millennials. Radu FELIX, Beit Quad, an embarrassing video that you’ll Facebook polls over every desk the We’re paid to care, so use us, Prince Consort Road, forget is on YouTube until someone union purchases? Probably not. don’t abuse us and be kind, because Food Editor London SW7 2BB finds it, and cry in Metric when you We all vote for the sabbs most arguably, we’re just as clueless as to Sanjay Bhattacharya Tel: 020 7594 8072 win/ don’t win/ get confused as to representative of our views and then how to get good stuff done as you Copy Editors Printed by Iliffee Print Cambridge, whether or not you’ve won. hope they do what we want them are. Mattin Mir-Tahmasebi, Winship Road, Cambridge Henry Lloyd Laney, James Registered Newspaper Bates and Paulien Smeele ISSN 1040-0711 Copyright © FELIX 2015 Letters (kinda) In response to ‘Feminism isn’t just Saying ‘I’m a feminist’ really themselves as “feminist” mean identifying themselves and spreads “student trustees”. The truth is for girls’, Issue 1613 says very little about one’s “liberal feminist”. This stemsuntil we have a critical mass. our sabbs do nothing but seal and ideological standpoint. It is no from the idea of equality for all, @Nas Andriopoulos stamp on what they want to do. Dear Ed, more descriptive than saying ‘ I’m irrespective of gender, race, religion, A classical liberal and liberal This is why a lot of major changes I was glad to read the Angry a Labour supporter’. Well are you disability, sexual-preference etc. feminist take place over summer before the Grad’s article “Feminism isn’t just a Blairite or a Corbynite? These which is (thankfully) something new sabbs completely know what’s for girls” in the 13th November issue, views are incredibly different, often on which most people can agree. I I wouldn’t dare put words in happening. There is a real focus on and I could not agree more with contradictory and only loosely fall into this category and I suspect Angry Grad’s mouth, mate. She’s increasing revenue to make all this the sentiment behind the title. The related. The more extreme schools Angry Grad does too. well scary. seem worthwhile, which is why author alludes to the fact that the of feminism (radical, French, Currently the liberal feminists -Ed. FiveSixEight makes over £250k a actions and beliefs of some of the separatist etc) generally call for the do not identify strongly enough. year in profit. This is the money that more extreme schools of feminism whole-scale change of the structure We allow the extremes of any the union says they invest in clubs, not only dissuade people from of society, whereas liberal feminism movement to yell louder, dominate In response to ‘Union spends five but club money is provided in grant associating with the title, but also predominately strive for gender the headlines and often tarnish the grand on desk’, Issue 1619 by the college. The total pot for are often used by opponents of equality in the current society from reputation of the whole movement. money for clubs were increased for feminism to diminish the whole a universal-rights based standpoint. This is putting off would-be [REDACTED] has got the the first time last year but saw a cut movement. Many people would feel deeply sympathisers and allowing the trustee board to increase his wages for the previous five years. There was I would like to share an idea, uncomfortable associating with the opposition to tar all feminists with to over £80k while other staff were a time the total pot was over £400k. which I hope the Angry Grad and more extreme views, and one can the same brush. made redundant to cut costs. Long ‘Anon knows’ (online) others adopt, in order to tear down see how “I’m a feminist” could be If we want to see the income gap term staff were let go and replaced this common straw-man fallacy interpreted in all manner of ways. disappear and an equal number of with inexperienced new people in FELIX can neither confirm nor and evade some of the mistargeted As such, there is much to be gained women in positions of power, then the name of cutting staff wages. deny the above statements. Gee, criticism that the majority of by being more precise about our the mainstream movement needs This is just a small example of the and we thought the £5000 light-up feminists face. It all comes down to views. to identify themselves as such. It control exerted by the top bosses at desk pissed *us* off. a matter of precision. Most people who describe begins with each liberal feminist the union while they hide behind -Ed.