the Phoenix
The hills road student newspaper - summer edition
3
NEWS
Grexit: What happened, what
now, and what next
Ruby Osman
What is Grexit?
Activist Bree Newsome has climbed a 30
foot flag pole in South Carolina in order to
Greece’s elections early this year. Running on a series of
wildly popular anti-austerity policies, Tsipras promised to
Everything you wanted to know about the Greek debt crisis:
The News in Self-driving cars
30 Seconds Nathan Makalena
renegotiate the bailout and put an end to the “humanitarian
crisis” he claimed was plaguing Greece.
So what’s going on in Greece?
Despite falling short of a majority by just two seats, nevOn the 30th June, Greece became the first developed country
ertheless the party has had a huge impact on the country’s
to ever miss an International Monetary Fund (IMF) repay-
politics. Whilst Tsipras is still holding out on negotiations,
ment. The default was not only a marker of the country’s
much as promised, he faces a growing issue: the longer he
struggling finances, it also threatened Greece’s position in
refuses to agree to E.U compromises, the more his country’s
the Eurozone - a prospect that’s led to economic turmoil
economy, as well as its people, suffer the consequences.
remove a Confederate Flag. The flag, which
was being flown over the State House,
sparked controversy in light of the racially
motivated attack at Emmanuel Church
earlier that week. The flag has since been
Google have started road testing their latest self driving car on the
roads around California. This newer, smaller prototypes will be
driving 10,000 miles a week and signify another expanse from the
company into the autonomous motoring industry.
replaced.
It’s been six years and over a million miles since Google started their
project on self driving cars but it hasn’t been an easy road. Despite
not being involved in any ‘serious accidents’ the company has been
across the country.
plagued by accusations and rumors the topic has been covered in
Ever since May, when the government announced they
mostly negative light by the world’s’ media. The safety of Google’s self
What happens next?
driving cars have been a popular subject for press in both the US and
wouldn’t be able to pay back the loan, citizens have been
withdrawing savings in their billions, threatening the
As time goes by there are increasingly few options for
already unstable banks, and many have taken to the streets
Greece. A referendum, which will be held on July 5, plans
in protest. Tourism - a vital part of Greece’s economy - is
to ask voters whether they support the harsh terms laid out
flatlining and shortages of food and medicine are being
by creditors or not. A no vote is widely assumed to mark
reported across the country. With banks all but closed, for
Greece’s exit from the Eurozone. A yes vote, opposed by
the moment Greece finds itself in economic limbo.
Syriza, would likely result in fresh national elections and a
restart to the talks with creditors.
How did this happen?
The party now claims it’s waiting for the result before
During the financial crisis of 2008, Greece was struck
resuming negotiations once again, however this hasn’t
particularly badly. Along with the revelation that ministers
stopped rumours that Greece could be turning its back on
had been understating their deficit for years beforehand,
the Eurozone, instead seeking help from Russia or China.
UK with news sources from Business Insider and Forbes through to
The Daily Mail and the Telegraph quick to dismiss the idea. Headlines
such as “Why Self-Driving Cars Might Make People Sick” (Forbes
Visitors at Grantchester’s historic Orchard
Yet for Greece’s people themselves, whatever the result the
sector’s version of “you can’t sit with us”.
referendum brings, the situation looks bleak. “The choice,”
this month after a naked man “rampaged”
through the cafe. According to witnesses,
he then proceeded to “taunt a dog” on all
fours before jumping into the river.
Monetary Fund injected a vital €240 billion into the economy, but they came with strict conditions. Huge budget cuts
- much to Greece’s despair.
So wasn’t that the end of it?
Not really. The bailouts didn’t solve Greece’s problems as
much as buy them some time. Five years later the country is
still struggling with soaring unemployment and a shrinking
economy - and as long as this continues, there’s little chance
for Greece to get back on its feet and start paying off its
loans.
Minister Yanis Varoufakis
an in-depth analysis. It was found that in every case the other driver
had been at fault and there was no evidence of any received injury.
This combined with the newly in built safety features of Google’s
latest model, including a 25 mile per hour speed cap and a required
Prince donates
money
one”.
Controversial: Outgoing Greek Finance
published 19/06/15 six of the more serious accidents were covered in
swift expanse.
bankruptcy. Two generous bailouts from the International
and steep tax rises plunged the country into severe austerity
In a report by the California Department of Motoring Vehicles
‘safety driver’ at all times leaves the road ahead looking bright for
one woman claims, “is between a sudden death or a slow
Inevitably it didn’t take long before Greece was veering into
(Telegraph 04/06/15).
Tearooms were met with a shock earlier
Greece suddenly found itself shut out from borrowing in
financial markets - effectively the international banking
08/04/15) and “Google self-driving car involved in another crash”
Ruby Osman
A Kickstarter campaign to fund the
Greek Bailout has been started by British
shoe-seller Thom Feeney. Aiming to
provide a bailout “by the people, for the
people”, the campaign would need €30
from every E.U citizen to reach its €1.6
billion target.
A Saudi billionaire has promised to donate his $32 billion wealth to
charity over the coming years. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a business
magnate, plans to channel his fortune through his own organisation, Alwaleed Philanthropies. The donation will be used to fund
programmes focusing on promoting health, gender equality and
intercultural understanding.
“With this pledge, I am honouring my life-long commitment to
what matters most – helping to build a more peaceful, equitable
and sustainable world for generations to come” the prince claimed
in a statement. “Philanthropy is a personal responsibility, which I
At the same time, Greece’s citizens have been growing
embarked upon more than three decades ago and is an intrinsic part
increasingly sick of the austerity measures brought by the
of my Islamic faith.”
bailout, hence the recent rise of political party Syriza.
Although the prince has set no deadline for donating all the funds,
he is modelling his pledge on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
And what exactly is Syriza?
having already worked with Gates on a polio eradication programme.
The prince’s donation is “an inspiration to all of us working in
Syriza, under their leader Alexis Tsipras, seized control in
philanthropy around the world”, Gates claims.
Election 2015:
The Big Picture
Election 2015
The Queen’s
Speech
Soman Nadim
it to live a life with dignity after retirement.
The Queen also addressed the issues faced by Britain
regarding immigration and proposed plans to improve
from the current situation. For this she brought up Britain’s
membership of the EU and the plans of her government to
have a referendum in the coming years.
The reason Mr Skinner did not make his remarks to Black
The moment every student and teacher in the country had
Rod was because there is no longer one large party in the
been waiting for, the former secretary of state for education
opposition side as the SNP have had a clean sweep this time
Michael Gove wearing leggings and down on one knee. This
around. The SNP demanding more powers to Scotland will
had nothing to do with his history in the education ministry,
give this government a hard time in the next parliament and
but it was his duty to present the speech written by the newly
they had a lot of concerns regarding the Queen’s speech.
formed government to Her Majesty the Queen. The event
started with the usual proceedings part of which was Black
One of the unmissable moments was the smirk on George
Rods trip down to the House of Commons where the door
Osborne’s face when the Queen talked about the long term
was slammed ahead of him. Unfortunately this year the
economic plan. The plan that has been on every conservative
remarks from Dennis Skinner were missing on the arrival of
politician’s lips since Mr Brown left 10 Downing Street.
the Black Rod, which is usually a major part of the rituals of
The opposition has never been convinced that the plan has
the event. All the members were then escorted down to the
worked, but the next five years will speak for themselves.The
House of Lords where the queen summoned her Lords and
Queen also repeatedly mentioned it and the whole nation
the members of commons.
wants to hear about the economic stability and success of the
The Queen started the speech by presenting the vision
Great Britain.
for her government and outlining the first few long term
objectives for the coming years. These included reducing
Labour has been arguing about how the Conservative’s eco-
the deficit, increasing living standards and achieving full
nomic plan has failed, with the rise in foodbanks throughout
employment. The Queen also spoke about the apprenticeship
the country, but let’s see how the next five years pan out.
5
Labour Party
Post-Mortem
Jake Davies asks what went wrong
direction.
The Queen finally ended by praying for the nation’s success.
Gordon Brown carried out a much-needed fiscal stimulus
package to jolt the economy after the 2008 crash. Using the
same economic principles, the party made the right decision
in their 2015 manifesto to cut the budget deficit during times
of moderate growth.
On the morning of May 8th, the Labour Party awoke to an
It is also simplistic to blame Labour’s wipe out in Scotland
election result that left the party with a net loss of 26 seats
on the Scottish National Party (SNP) outstripping Labour
from 2010 and the resignation of leader Ed Miliband.
from the left. In fact, the SNP have been more fiscally
conservative than the Conservatives: they have held back
The causes of the defeat were a long time coming. ‘Middle
spending on universities and hospitals while in power in
England’ regards Labour as economically incompetent.
Scotland. Instead, Labour was defeated in Scotland because
Meanwhile, the party has suffered from the rise of the
it represented the Westminster establishment; Scottish voters
SNP in Scotland and the challenge posed by UKIP to their
were wooed by Sturgeon’s battle cry of a “strong Scottish
traditional support base. Whoever wins the leadership
voice” in Parliament.
contest following Miliband’s resignation, needs to address
the complexities behind Labour’s loss.
Meanwhile, Labour shed votes to UKIP south of the border
because they were seen as a metropolitan elite out-of-
So far, the four potential Opposition leaders have ducked
touch with the working-class. In a number of decisive
facing up to these deep-rooted problems. The debate around
marginal constituencies, the Tories triumphed as a result
the party’s failure has been, instead, framed around a Blairite
of UKIP surges eating into the Labour support base. Key
belief that the party lost because Miliband fought the
Labour target seats in the Midlands, such as Nuneaton and
election from the left and thus, lost the support of ‘middle
Warwickshire North, both witnessed an increase in the
England.’ Subsequently, the leadership candidates have
UKIP vote of 14% , allowing the Conservatives to hold their
attacked policies such as the restoration of the 50p top rate of
seats. Ex-Labour voters’ disgruntlement with the party is
income tax, freezing energy bills and the so-called ‘mansion
also rooted in their laxity over immigration when in power.
tax ’ for being too left-wing, in a vain attempt to reclaim the
Labour’s attitude was typified in 2010, when Gordon Brown
‘centre ground.’
publicly referred to lifelong Labour supporter Gillian Duffy
as “bigoted” for airing a question on the topic.
programmes set up by the previous government and the
new steps to be taken to lead those programmes in the right
should defend and continue their Keynesian instincts.
That is a politically foolish strategy as they were some of the
Labour can no longer ignore this UKIP surge. To begin with,
party’s most popular manifesto policies among voters.
they must stop mocking the concerns of 3.8 million voters as
“bigoted” and instead, engage in a proper debate.
Other things that the Queen discussed were the ideals of
her government, her government not being the one for the
rich few, but a government which stands by every member
of the nation. This was mentioned when she spoke about
legislations to be brought forward to abolish income tax for
minimum wage workers working up to 30 hours per week
and freezing any rise in income tax and national insurance
contribution for the full five year term.
Her Majesty the Queen also mentioned the projects that the
next government will work on including the northern power
station and the High Speed rail projects in the country.
Alongside these she also supported Britain’s effort to
enhance partnership with China and India in terms of trade.
Ghost of election present and past. George Osbourne,
Ed Miliband and Tony Blair attend the cenotaph memorial.
Crucially, attacking ‘left-wing’ policies ignores the funda-
English votes for English laws was one of the controversial
mental reason that cost Labour ‘middle England.’ While
To regain ‘middle England’, Labour must be careful not to
parts of the agenda, though the Queen mentioned it in very
the Miliband brothers were fighting over leadership from
ditch some of their most popular policies while they rebuild
soft words saying, “changes will create fairer procedures to
May-September 2010, the party allowed the Conservative
trust regarding their fiscal management. They also have to
ensure that decisions affecting England and Wales can be
HQ to perpetuate the unchallenged myth that Labour’s
win back support from SNP and UKIP who feel the Party is
taken only with the consent of the majority of the members
overspending caused the global financial crash in 2008.
out-of-touch. The best solution to this latter problem may
of parliament representing constituencies in those parts
Labour have been playing catch-up ever since. The party
be political decentralisation. If Labour want to reach out to
of the country”. On the other hand, she also supported the
has consistently lagged behind the Tories in the polls over
lost communities, then rebooting a grass-roots movement
devolving of a wide range of powers to Scotland and Ireland.
economic management. By the time of the election, the gap
could go some way to bridging the gap. Steps like choosing
A lot of emphasis was placed on the reforms in the NHS and
between the two parties’ economic rating was double-digits,
candidates from voluntary activism as oppose to thinktanks
especially on its working on a seven day basis, only time can
a position from which no opposition party has ever won.
may dispel the public’s frustration over career politicians,
detached from the populace . After all, electoral success is
be a judge of how this turns out to be. There was also a lot of
significance on mental healthcare and the precautions to be
The gap would not have narrowed if Miliband had listened
the sum of its parts. The Labour leadership candidates would
taken to improve and stabilise institutions working for it. She
to the left’s voice and completely refuted austerity for the
do well to recognise these complexities.
stressed the importance of bringing in measures to improve
election. That strategy would have alienated ‘middle Eng-
basic state pension and stabilizing it to help people living off
land’ further. It would also be economically foolish. Labour
6
Propagandist
or progressive:
social media as
an opinion
mediator
Charis Taylor
A few years ago, the trigger-phrase ‘social media’ would
cause a myriad of mental associations to flit through the
reader’s head: relationship, friendship, communication, advice, popularity,...many other, mainly positive, associations.
Jihadist, propaganda, Islamic State, and political manipula-
tion are now winners in our queue of mental associations.
media accounts to give the world population a running
to, as site directors say, “let off steam” whilst “shining a light
But what is the true reason behind this new political and
patter on his daily movements, displaying himself as an
on [the] pervasive problem” of sexism in the film industry.
militant wordset?
average citizen burdened a façade of political greatness:
Here we see the use of social media, not for the exploitation
Last year, at the outset of the Ukraine Crisis, US President,
Modi’s heavily-tweeted 2015 visit to China’s President, Xi
of political propaganda, but to mediate freedom of speech in
Barack Obama, tweeted the Russian government, accusing
Jinping, earned him 46000 followers on the Chinese Twitter
non-political citizens.
them of violating a treaty against the re-armament of nuclear
equivalent, Weibo. The Indian think tank, IWCA calls this a
missiles. The majority of tweets contained evidence and
“rare feat by a foreign leader”. Modi took selfies with Jinping,
Considering the recent use of social media – the Islamic
nuggets of information. Russian newspaper, Russia Today,
but the real purpose of their newly-formed friendship was
State’s terrorizing and brainwashing of unsuspecting,
then used the contents of these tweets to accuse Obama of
“a sign of the two nations competing” to show off their
exploitable people; President Modi’s more underhand use
instigating an “infowar” to “discredit” Russian reputation.
so-called “soft power”.
of Twitter and Weibo to win unswerving political support.
These unqualified negatives can be balanced against the
This spin-doctoring of Twitter-mediated information for the
sole purpose of political propaganda is simply the surface of
However, the media can be used to forge support groups
commonplace day-to-day uses of social media; setting
an ever-growing nest of social media-related brainwashing.
and pools of like-minded people. This is a model of ‘liberté,
up online communities (notably, ‘S*** People Say To
égalité, fraternité’ – the most heavily fought for benefit
Women Directors’), or innocuous ‘chats’ on Facebook and
Propaganda goes deeper than chauvinistic media assertions;
of democracy. A (literally) stellar example of this is the
WhatsApp.
social media accounts are being exploited for, potentially,
Hollywood director-run blog, ‘S*** People Say To Women
more subtle propagandist thought manipulation. The Indian
Directors’. Started in May of last year, the sole purpose of
So, is social media propagandist, or progressive? You’ll have
President, Narendra Modi, is using multiple personal social
this blog is for the collective group of female film directors
to answer that one.
Comment:
will peace ever
prosper?
Grace Zeid
Will peace ever prosper?
Peace: sadly to millions of us in this small planet, this seams a foreign concept.
Gunshots that replace birdsong, screams that become new lullabies and
missiles that shoots into the sky like demented metal kites that soar into the
oblivion. And then there’s the blood; the blood that wounds and kills and spills
recklessly, and is an ever present flag of war that stains clothes, hearts and
sadly memories.
There is a famous painting called ‘The Massacre of the innocents’ painted by
Peter Paul Rubens in the early 17th Century. It depicts a scene of murder and
pain and children slain whilst mothers shriek in revolt. These scenes are no
longer just paint on a canvas; they are reality to thousands of mothers, fathers,
children and families: the innocents.
Prayers and hopes, and wishes won’t sustain peace. It won’t even cause a dent
in the war. We need action, practical action to sustain peace. Reflecting upon
the history of medicine, I learnt that throughout most of our past, we have not
Obituary: Charles Kennedy 1959-2015
Dale Hargrove - President, HRSFC Lib Dems
principle and while many politicians followed the spin of the media and Tony Blair’s
cabinet, Kennedy stood strongly against military action based on his principles
known what has caused disease, suffering, and pain, until certain revolutionar-
Charles Kennedy was well known for leading the Liberal Democrats in the 2001 and
and the lack of evidence provided by Blair’s government. It cannot be overstated
ies in ‘The Renaissance’ allowed us to see differently. We eventually learnt that
2005 elections achieving the party’s best results in 80 years when it won 62 seats. He
as to how brave Charles Kennedy was in publically opposing the Iraq war as the
prevention is better than cure, and the quality of medicine, technology and
had got into politics at a fairly young age, including joining Glasgow University’s stu-
Conservative party, Labour party and increasing rumours in parliament that the
medical science improved rapidly. This is what we need now. We need a Peace
dent union where he was studying politics and philosophy. The union only allowed
Liberal Democrats would be in favour of the Iraq war and other senior Liberal
Renaissance. We need change. Living in a wealthy, peaceful country, it is easy
male students to join and when Charles Kennedy became president of the student
Democrat figures were also pressing Charles Kennedy to be in favour of the Iraq war.
to forget and become unwillingly selfish. An occasional advert from ‘Water
union he ensured it allowed women to join as well as men for the first time.
However it was through Kennedy’s strong stance in opposition that was not only a
Aid’ or ‘Save the Children’ will pop up on our screens causing a brief surge of
Charles Kennedy won the seat known as Ross, Cromarty and Skye in the 1983
great moment for himself but for the Liberal Democrat party as a whole, which went
guilt and urge to help, but this is shortly followed by our program starting and
general election when he was just 23 for the Social Democrat Party (which later
on to get its best ever result in an UK election. It goes without saying that Kennedy
so our selfish, materialistic, and greedy characteristics can feed once again.
merged with the Liberals to form the Liberal Democrats), therefore making him the
will be truly missed by not only Liberal Democrats, but by all who support freedom
We are not living in pain. We are not surrounded by it. But does that mean we
youngest MP in the house of commons in that election.
and equality.
should just sit back?
Even though Kennedy was an extremely charismatic and highly popular leader of
In the current Israel-Gaza conflict, since the start of Operation Protective
the Liberal Democrat party, his alcoholism did cause him to be forced from the
Edge on 7 July 2014, 77 per cent of fatalities have been civilians. Of the 138
leadership and brought him to a low in his extraordinary political career.
killed when the report by the UN was completed, 36 were children, and 1,361
A key issue that Kennedy performed very well on was the Scotland referendum of
Palestinians had been injured. This is one small aspect of this conflict, and
2014, alike his party Charles Kennedy supported and campaigned for Scotland to
there have been many others, this report just highlights a needle in a haystack.
stay within the United Kingdom and he was very pleased with the referendum result.
Can peace ever return to conflict stricken areas? Many people will say no as
He had told the “No” campaigners to stay positive throughout the referendum.
‘those that fight will forever remain fighters’. I believe differently. Peace can
return, and I know one day it will, but that day will seem even further away if
One of Kennedy’s finest moments was in 2003 when he was the only major party
we just sit here and pray and hope and dream. Prayers may ignite belief, hope
leader to openly oppose the Iraq war, Kennedy used the facts at the time presented
may allow us to dream, but dreams will always remain dreams. We need to do
by the UN weapons inspector to support his position as the inspector was confident
all we can, and we need to act now before it is too late.
that all the weapons of mass destruction were destroyed. Kennedy was a man of
7
Comment: coding for
girls - too
#distractingly sexy?
Kirsten Rooney
At the start of the year, coding came up in conversation, and I mentioned I was teaching myself to
code. I was sat in a group of boys, and the majority took computing. I was immediately met with
not only laughter but quiz questions! ‘Yeah right, what language?’, ‘Are you sure you mean code
coding?’ and ‘Wow I didn’t know they let girls do that kind of thing, ha-ha!’
Not only were these comments offensive, but sexist. Then it happened again. And again. We all
know and have read about the gender inequality in science and technology related fields. This
isn’t a new topic, but I just honestly never thought it would affect me. After being quizzed by
nearly every person I told (including females, this article is by no means purely aimed at men) I
decided to investigate the issue further. When delving into statistics about women in technology
fields, numbers vary and statistics for women outside the US are difficult to find. According to
‘Girls Who Code’, a US based non-profit organisation aimed specifically at encouraging girls
to code, while 57% of bachelor’s degrees are awarded to women, only 12% of computer science
degrees go to women, and that is actually a fall from 37% in 1985! In the field itself (remembering these are only statistics for the US) only 25% of jobs are taken up by women.
Answering why this is and why girls typically are less inclined to head towards the STEM
(Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields, is difficult as it obviously varies from
individual to individual. Yet, there are some major reasons that I know affected my decision not
to pursue science at a higher level. Firstly, girls lack exposure to female role models in STEM
fields. It’s not that these role models do not exist, far from it; they merely lack accurate media
The future of
cancer treatment
Soman Iqbal
For the majority of us cancer is a death sentence. A few decade ago when
chemotherapy was first introduced it brought with itself hope for the future.
A wide range of cancers have now been classified as treatable, but still there
are many which are yet to be cured. The survival rates from cancer have been
higher than ever before, but still there is a long way to go before we can find a
total cure for it. Finally a few weeks ago a new breakthrough has surfaced and
has been wide spread in the media, the new treatment is called immunotherapy.
The process works by stimulating either the body’s own cells or by the drug acting directly on the tumour and identifying it as a foreign body to fight against
it. It works by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response by
acting against it.
The main trials taking place under the observation of The American society
of clinical oncology have shown mind blowing results. Patients who had been
classified as terminal ill are now leading normal lives. The most lethal types of
cancer such as cancer in the kidney, bladder and the neck have been said to be
stabilized by it. In some cases patients never have had to come back for a follow
up and the rest have just had to have a few extra weekly sessions for a couple
of month.
Professor Peter Johnson, director of medical oncology at Cancer Research UK
said, “The evidence suggests we are at the beginning of a whole new era for
cancer treatments. Not for every type of cancer, but for some of the ones we
representation and exposure. On a similar vein, the type of coding we are exposed to is highly
have struggled with the most.”
It’s been on the cover for every newspaper in the last few weeks as this is said to be the
future for cancer treatment. Professor Roy Herbst, chief of medical oncology at Yale
Cancer Centre in the US, said that immunotherapy could replace chemotherapy as the
standard treatment for cancer within the next five years.
This is a breakthrough because the body’s own immune system recognises cancerous
cells and fights against them. The second barrel in this gun is the fact that it mutates
the cells to identify cancerous cells that previously wouldn’t have been identified as
cancerous by the body.
“For immunotherapies, we’ve never seen tumour shrinkage rates over 50% so that’s
very significant to see. This is a treatment modality that I think is going to have a big
future for the treatment of cancer.”
One of the issues associated with this is the cost of the treatment. As 4 doses of the
drug Ipilimumab which are required in a year cost round about £100,000. As there
hasn’t been in-depth research for this sort of treatment and the budget isn’t high
enough, so there are only a hand full of institutions worldwide which are actually
affective. But still the impact these two drugs Ipilimumab and Novolumab have against
sever types of tumours is just amazing. Dr Alan Worsley, Cancer Research UK’s senior
science information officer, said the combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab
represented a “a powerful one-two punch” against advanced melanoma.
At the moment as this treatment is not very common yet, the only results we have
are from controlled trials and it looks very promising. 56% of patients have had their
Cancers shrunken and or stabilized within twelve months of the treatment.
There are a few speculations at the moment regarding the effectiveness of this
treatment as some organisations and individuals have stated that the effect is not yet
long term. People who had been told before that they had a few months left, no have
a few years on their hand. But still it is yet to improve to a permeant solution. This
breakthrough will lead to many more which would really shape the future.
limited. Chih-Chun Chen, co-founder and CSO of Cambridge Coding Academy and real life
professional female coder believes that the root of gender stereotyping in the industry is “because
many of the examples pertain to interests or subjects that more boys than girls have exposure
to. What people don’t realise is that just because someone can’t code a particular software
application, it doesn’t mean that s/he can’t code.” She also reminds us that: “There are many different types of coding and that they require very different skills. For example, if you’re developing
the physics engine of a game, you would require a good understanding of physics, but if you’re
developing the user interface of a game, physics might be completely irrelevant, and you would
instead require an understanding of human psychology. This is where I think people can get put
off when they learn to code.” This definitely applies to my experience, as until a few months ago I
had no idea that I could make coding relevant for my interest in Humanities subjects.
When I asked about her own experience as a female coder, the answer was surprisingly encouraging:
The battle against
extremism
Jake Davies
gender or background. But one thing I have experienced is developers assuming I am incompetent because I don’t know all the techie terms. This because I learnt to code later in life than many
good developers, who taught themselves how to code at a young age and grew up in the coding
community. But just as in the business world, people who know what they are doing never shy
away from explaining acronyms and special terms, good developers won’t dismiss newbies to the
coding community.
“That’s where we’re trying to make a real difference at Cambridge Coding Academy. We want
people to be able to learn to code in their own way, to develop and perfect their own specific set
violence in two European capital cities: the Charlie Hebdo murders in early
January in Paris were followed just over a month later by a gun attack on a free
speech debate in a Copenhagen café. Subsequently, the events have reopened
the debate about the best approach to combatting extremism.
because of their gender. Unfortunately recent comments by Nobel-winning scientist Tim Hunt
have proved that sexism in science and technology is alive and well. He spoke recently about his
experiences working with women in labs and made the very inflammatory statement: “You fall in
love with them (women).They fall in love with you, and when you criticise them, they cry.” While
his resignation following these comments is being viewed as a mistake by many, female scientists
fought back with humour on Twitter, with many posting photos of themselves in the lab with the
hashtag: #distractinglysexy.
Now while it’s healthy to respond with humour, how can we truly limit sexism and gender
imbalances in science and technology? Easy: try not to go into cardiac arrest when a girl tells you
she likes science and technology, it’s getting old.
“free speech” appear hypocritical. In 2004, French leaders decided to ban the burqa
and any other religious symbols in public. Although it upholds being a secular
nation, this regulation can hardly be deemed as liberal and has understandably
also criminalized anti-Semitism in any form. Charlie Hebdo itself sacked a French
cartoonist in 2008 for making an anti-Semitic remark. Meanwhile, in Denmark,
Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that controversially sanctioned drawings of the
Prophet Mohammed in 2005, refused to print cartoons which mocked Jesus Christ.
If governments preach “free speech” for one set of people while stifling another, they
are in danger of facing a violent backlash. Such inconsistencies increase tensions
The Paris murders were particularly offensive for much of the West, not merely
among ethnic communities.
because of their cold-blooded nature, but because the assassins justified their
actions after cartoons depicting the prophet Mohamed were released in the
satirical publication Charlie Hebdo. A number of political leaders perceived the
violence as an assault on free speech – an important pillar of Western society.
The debate on the necessary limits to freedom of expression that followed the
Charlie Hebdo murders was welcome. Unfortunately, when it comes to free
speech, France, Denmark and indeed the rest of the West, have subsequently
failed to analyse the extent to which they practice what they preach.
of skills, and then to use these to create the things they want to create.”
Thankfully many women like Chih- Chun Chen don’t experience tiresome jokes and jabs
Meanwhile, in both France and Denmark, regulations exist that only make cries of
angered those Muslims who are unashamed of the faith they practice. France has
The first 6 weeks of 2015 witnessed two separate bouts of extremist Islamist
“I think I’ve been extremely lucky in my working life so far to never have encountered people
who were ignorant enough to make assumptions about my abilities from only considering my
powers is that Muslim communities will feel targeted by censorship laws.
The attacks in Paris and Copenhagen should come as a warning sign that certain
Muslims feel increasingly vilified. In the words of the Middle East blogger Juan Cole
, it is an aim of terrorist organisations to “sharpen contradictions” between different
communities. Their intent is to widen the gulf between the Muslim community in
countries like France and the rest of the population, radicalising more Muslims in
the process. Saïd Kouachi, one of the gunmen in the Charlie Hebdo murders, was
a disenfranchised young Muslim who grew up in the banlieues of Paris. He was
a perfect target for Al-Qaida in Yemen. The Charlie Hebdo attackers are a tragic
David Cameron, the British PM who took part in the silent march in Paris
example that the terrorist organisations are winning over disaffected youths.
following the attacks, serves as an example. The phrase Je suis Charlie was
used at the march to defend the publication’s right to freedom of expression.
Yet since the elections in May, which returned a Conservative majority, the
Queen’s Speech included a Counter-Extremism Bill that makes a mockery of
Cameron’s cry to champion freedom of expression. The Bill includes handing
unprecedented powers to Ofcom, the government-approved TV regulatory
body, to vet and regulate broadcasters deemed to produce extremist content.
Such a measure has been attacked by Stephen Wittle, former controller of BBC
editorial policy, for undermining “the commitment to freedom of expression
enshrined in the … Human Rights Act.” The danger of increasing Ofcom’s
So is the best approach to introduce more censorship? This author believes the
opposite is true. Rather than drawing up more regulations on free speech, the West
should scrap rules that appear hypocritical and increase tensions amongst ethnic
communities. Barriers separating communities need to be broken down by dialogue
and a strong narrative that challenges extremist ideology. Assaulting the very same
freedoms that the West professes to uphold will only weaken the counter narrative.
In the words of ex-Tory MP Sayeeda Warsi: “The best defence of freedom is freedom
itself.”
Not so straight
forward: what
it is like to
question your
sexuality
Elspeth Davies
On one sunny day in May, Irish people were asked whether
gay couples should be allowed to marry. Their answer, rather
overwhelmingly, was yes. The following month the US Supreme
Court ruled that same sex marriage would be legalised across
all 50 states, meaning that the 14 states currently with bans
will no longer be able to enforce them. With marriage equality
legislation arriving around the world, it can be easy to forget
that this is not the only goal of the LGBTQ+ movement. While
these changes are important and signify great progress, it is
possible that they may do little to improve the day to day lives
of this group of people. Elspeth Davies talks to members of
Hills Road LGBTQ+ Society to explore how easy everyday life
is for teenagers who are not heterosexual and whether, despite
these leaps and bounds in a positive direction, homophobia is
still an issue.
On May 23th 2015, my television screen was flooded with celebratory scenes of a long awaited step forward in terms of gay
rights in Ireland. It was a day of smiles, tears of joy and rainbow
flags all round. With so much positivity on show, it may be easy
for heterosexual people to forget the difficult realities of life that
those who do not identify as straight may face.
As hard as someone who identifies as heterosexual can try, it
is debatable whether they will ever truly be able to understand
what it is like to question your sexuality. However, someone
summed this up incredibly beautifully for me, when they said
that “questioning your sexuality is like questioning your name –
it is something that has been a part of you that everyone is used
to but you start to realise that maybe your name is not actually
spelt like that. Then, the more you discover your sexuality, the
more you realise that actually is not your name and never has
been - everyone has just been calling you that because that
is what they assumed you were called.” It became clear to me
that this heteronormative manner of automatically assuming a
person is straight can be very damaging, and can make the nonstraight community feel that they are in some way “abnormal”.
Many told me of how isolating it can feel to realise that you are
different from everyone else and the fears that come with that.
One person explained how “they thought they knew who they
were and how their life was going to be and that was totally
turned upside down” after they realised they were not heterosexual. This student said they “struggled” with their sexuality
and experienced mental health problems because of this.
When asked when they first realised they were not straight,
some people mentioned an event that made them rethink
their sexuality, such as the girl who played spin the bottle in
secondary school and realised she wanted it to land on the girls
sometimes more than the guys, or the teenager who fell in love
with their best friend, whereas others responded that they have
always subconsciously known they were not heterosexual. Some
explained how they thought everyone else was feeling the same
Society
way, and that everyone gets crushes on people of the same
gender. One girl said she spent several years telling everyone
she knew that Taylor Swift was the most beautiful person on
the planet but it still took several years to realise that meant
she was not straight.
Once a person has realised their sexuality, the next step
seems to be the delicate process of “coming out” and everyone had different stories to tell on this matter. The reaction
to telling someone about your sexuality seem to vary wildly
too. Whether it is the “your sexuality is just a phase” or the
“it is okay that you’re gay just don’t touch me or anything”
response, it is easy to see why coming out can be a very scary
thing to do. However, others said how much of a relief it
can feel to tell people something you have kept a secret for
so long, and how great it feels to be amongst people who
celebrate all sexualities. Although, it is important to note that
most people do not just go through the process of coming
out once, but many times and to many people over their lifetime, meaning it can be described as “long” and “arduous”.
Further complications arise when a person is not gay or
straight. Sexualities exist on a spectrum, and people may
identify as a wide range of things, including bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual and polysexual. Some explained how this
can make things harder, since others may not understand
that sexuality is not a black or white thing and that far more
than two sexualities exist. One person said that when they
told their friend that they identify as bisexual, their friend
responded by saying “so you’re gay, right?”. Another student
told me that she thinks that her parents will decide that she
is either straight or gay at some point, as if her parents think
they know her sexuality better than she does. Sadly, reports
of this kind of biphobia were not as rare as one may hope
and these prejudices can even come from other members of
the LGBTQ+ community. We must also not forget that other
factors, including race, gender identity and class, can also
affect someone’s experience of coming out and how they are
treated in today’s society.
Questioning your sexuality is complex enough, without
having to deal with discrimination from others. Thankfully,
some students reported that they had never directly been
the victim of homophobia, although many put this down to
living in a progressive city like Cambridge. However, homophobia is not non-existent. Someone recalled how homophobia “defined most of their time at secondary school”,
although often this was unconscious. Others explained how
much easier it would be to be straight and how they wish
sexuality were a choice. The truth remains that a person
cannot choose their sexuality and that questioning this part
of you can be a daunting and complex process. Please see the
“Amigos” feature for wise words of advice for both people
who are questioning their sexuality and straight people who
would like to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ movement.
We should not cover the realities of what it is like to question
your sexuality in rainbow-coloured sugar, though many of
the stories told to me do have happy endings of acceptance,
self-love and diversity. Once people have got over the first
hard step of accepting themselves, then they can move
forwards towards hoping others will accept them too. It is
important to note that achieving marriage equality is not the
only objective of the LGBTQ+ movement, and that it is possible this change will have little effect on the everyday life of
people affected by these issues. However, though we clearly
9
Advice for
LGBTQ+
Students
and Allies
still have a lot more work to do, recent legislation changes around
who needs it, I really do. But unfortunately that isn’t the reality,
the world seem to be a step towards truly celebrating diversity.
so often we have to make do elsewhere. Don’t get me wrong,
Things are just not as straight forwards as some may think.
there’s absolutely no harm in getting involved with the NHS
Remember that Hills Road LGBT+ Society is open to anyone,
mental health services as soon as possible, and it’s the only way
allies and LGBTQ+ people alike. Feel free to come along to our
you’re going to get medication if you need it. But thanks to lack
meetings every Friday in G106 and contact George Fletcher at
of funding and staff I’ve been on a waiting list for NHS therapy
GF121349@hillsroad.ac.uk with any questions.
for a year and a half now, and that doesn’t look to be changing
Thank you so much to members of the society who shared their
anytime soon. If you find yourself in a similar situation (and
stories with me – you are all amazing.
far too many people do) your only option is to get support else-
This edition has been focussed on what it is like to question your
where. I strongly recommend reaching out to family and friends
sexuality. Next, this series will cover questioning your gender
to begin with, scary though that may feel. They may have been
Elspeth Davies
identity, as well as the issue of amatonormativity.
through similar experiences, and could direct you towards local
Following on from Elspeth Davies’ article on the realities of being an
charities that offer support for young people with mental health
LGBTQ+ student here at Hills, members of the LGBT+ Society offer
problems. It’s also really worth doing your research and looking
their wise words of advice to people who may be questioning their
for more information online. A huge host of articles on coping
sexuality.
with various mental illnesses can be found with very little effort,
1)
often with better advice than a GP could give you. The Mind
be really productive as you can “think yourself into a corner” if you
charity’s website is a good place to start.
spend too much time dwelling on it yourself, but choose who you talk to
Love yourself
wisely.
Yes, I know it’s a cliché. But in a world where society shames
2)
people (especially women) for having confidence in themselves;
derstand what you’re feeling and who have been through it themselves.
the media actively encourages our insecurities to sell us
3)
Over the last five years of Conservative/Lib Dem coalition, the
unnecessary products; and mental health issues of all kinds are
different partners. It can take a while to find what you identify as and if
NHS budget for child and adolescent mental health services
stigmatised, self love is a powerful tool to fight back with. Don’t
you come out the other side and realise that you were straight all along,
(CAMHS) was cut by £50 million. The future of mental health
listen to what Katie Hopkins and the Daily Mail say. Don’t listen
that’s fine too. Also, it is okay not to know exactly what your sexuality is,
spending looks ever bleaker for the next 5 years, with austerity
to the government when they try to scapegoat you for their own
since sexuality is fluid and, if you chose to label your sexuality, finding
very much still on the Conservative’s agenda. Given that their
incompetence in supporting young people. Know that you can
the right one can take time.
austerity plans are arguably unfairly skewed to benefit the rich
always reach out to those around you. Life isn’t easy sometimes,
4)
Relax. Everything is okay.
over the poor, it’s ironic that certain people still hold the belief
and we all deserve the best help we can get.
5)
Things do get better.
Youth mental
health: looking
after yourself
Sam Hall
that mental health issues are made up by privileged people without real problems to complain about. The reality is that mental
health problems don’t discriminate - anyone can struggle with
them, and those being oppressed by society in general are at the
most risk. Here are 4 ways you can take care of your own mental
Privilege as a
coconut shy
Discussing what you are going through with someone can
Remember that there are other people out there who un-
Do not worry about questioning and experimenting with
It is also important to offer advice here to straight people who would
like to be allies of the movement for LGBTQ+ rights, as the role of an
ally may not be as simple as first thought. Here are some things you can
do in order to offer your support.
Elspeth Davies
1)
Accept that you are struggling
Imagine a coconut shy. People line up in order to throw balls at
mind that you cannot completely understand what someone is going
There still a huge amount of stigma surrounding mental health
the coconuts on the platforms at the front. They are arranged in
through if you have never been through the same thing, though gaining
problems and sometimes even health professionals won’t take
three lines, with the first row of people a couple of metres from
knowledge and understanding will help.
you seriously when you ask for help. The first time I went to
the coconuts, the second a couple of metres from that and the
2)
a GP with concerns that I was depressed, I was told that my
third a further few metres away. In order to win, all they have to
or values that you may have heard from the media, or even other
behaviour was perfectly normal for a teenager and I’d grow out
do is knock the coconuts off the platforms with their ball. When
LGBTQ+ people, aren’t necessarily shared by the whole community.
of it without support. He meant well, of course, and after all they
told not to move from where they are and to launch their balls,
3)
just don’t have the resources to help every single teenager who
the people at the back exclaim that this is not fair. But, that is
not intended to cause offense.
comes their way. But what I heard was ‘you’re making a big deal
just how the game works, so everyone throws their balls from
4)
out of emotions that everyone experiences.’ My response was
where they are. Most but not all of the people on the front row
conversation going. The best thing an ally can do is normalise it for
to feel ashamed for making a mountain out of a molehill, and
manage to knock coconuts off the podiums with their balls. By
others who don’t understand.
suppress the symptoms of my illnesses. But the fact of the matter
contrast, only a couple of people stood at the back are able to
5)
is this: If you believe that you need help, you need help. With 1 in
do this.
that this may not mean they want their sexuality known to everyone and
4 people in the UK struggling with some form of mental health
Of course, only the people at the back complained about the
in all situations. You should never “out” someone to anyone else without
issue, and almost every one of those people who I’ve spoken to
unfairness of the situation. All the people at the front could see
explicitly asking their permission first.
wishing they’d reached out and been diagnosed sooner, it really
were the coconuts in front of them and so they failed to recog-
6)
is that simple.
nise the advantage they had over the others. This is exactly how
to what they have to say. If someone tells you that something is hom-
Talk about it
privilege works. Privilege is the term used to describe societal
ophobic/transphobic then listen to them and stop doing it, they know
In a society that seeks to silence the voices of young people, one
advantages that benefit certain groups of people over others.
better than you do. Also remember that you are an ally to the movement
of the most powerful things you can do is speak out. Mental
These groups experiencing advantages may be white, cisgender,
not a part of it and it is important to recognise your place.
illness is no more to be ashamed of than physical illness; it’s
heterosexual, able-bodied, male or from a favourable class. One
just more stigmatised. Not only that, David Cameron needs to
of the trickiest things about this situation is that those who are
know that he can’t get away with further massive cuts to the
benefitting often fail to fully recognise their privilege from their
mental health system and he needs to know that we won’t back
sheltered place in society.
down. His approach to austerity endangers the lives of the most
The people at the front need to turn round and look behind
vulnerable members of society including the homeless, jobless,
them. Not so they can feel guilty about the advantages they
and those with disabilities, and we cannot let it slide.
have been given over others, but because everyone needs to
Seek help outside the NHS
understand the way injustice in this system works in order to fix
I wish the NHS had enough resources to give support to everyone
it. We all deserve the same chance to win coconuts.
health despite lack of support from the government.
Try and find out as much as possible. Although, bear in
Listen to everyone, and be aware that definitions, outlooks
Call others out if they say a snide comment, even if it was
Keep talking about the LGBTQ+ movement and keep the
If someone comes out to you, it is important to understand
Take a back seat. Don’t speak over queer people, and listen
Useful Links:
Good FQA on bisexuality - http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/
index.php/HomePage
Another great website with a good FAQ bit - http://www.
youthresource.com/
Laci Green has a good LGBTQ+ bit under playlists - https://www.
youtube.com/user/lacigreen/featured
LGBT helpline - http://switchboard.lgbt/?
10
diseases such as cancer and dementia.
This is a huge investment, but only a ripple in the ocean. The global
pharmaceutical industry generated $1.1 trillion in revenues in 2014 alone.
Yet however fast this technology is being developed, drug creation is
stunted by a long and lengthy process. In the United States, it takes an
average of 12 years for an experimental drug to travel from the laboratory
to your medicine cabinet. That is, if it makes it - only 5 in 5,000 drugs that
enter preclinical testing progress to human testing.
Only one of these five drugs that are tested on people is then approved,
leaving the chance for a new drug to actually make it to market only 1 in
5,000. These are terrible odds, and if it was a horse I would recommend
you withdrawing your bet! But, this isn’t a horse, these are medicinal
drugs that impact lives, with the power to determine whether you die or
survive.
But there is a simple fact unknown to many. Old drugs aren’t dispensable
– they remain vital tools for combatting disorders, disease and infections.
Raloxifene, for example,s was a drug which was initially developed to
treat osteoporosis (a condition which affects bone strength) but since
2007 it has been used to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer in
postmenopausal women.
Protesters and police clash in the USA
Raloxifene is not a singular case however, as Thalidomide has also
Black lives matter
George Pheby
right now. So, I mean, it’s not a game, but it’s either continue
redeemed itself from destructive early beginnings. The infamous
to deal with not being able to just live like a regular person,
drug started out as a sedative in the late fifties, and soon doctors were
and dream, and have an opportunity, or get up and do
prescribing it to prevent nausea in pregnant women, causing thousands of
something about it. And we decided to do something.”
severe birth defects. However in 1998, Thalidomide found a new use as a
treatment for leprosy and in 2006 it was approved for multiple myeloma,
As peaceful protesters raise their fists outside the Baltimore
allows them to be victimised and consumed by a legal
Unfortunately, as powerful as the sentiment of these activists
a bone marrow cancer.
Police Department during a march and vigil for Freddie
system in which being poor is equivalent to an unwritten
may be, the response from corporate state power has, so far,
So why is this important? The reason why these redeemed drugs are so
Gray, it has become clear: the quotidian murders of black
crime. The United States’ prison-industrial complex, which
done nothing to tackle America’s consistent injustice. Mil-
significant is that they show pharmaceutical companies that the stashes of
persons by US police forces have birthed a new movement
is largely composed of ethnic minorities, is a boom industry,
itarised police, elaborate propaganda campaigns, wholesale
‘ineffective’ drugs stored in our cupboards could actually be significant.
of young black militants, with a distinct vision of justice
with mass incarceration of poor people who happen to have
surveillance of all US citizens, and a court system devoid
These are drugs that have passed safety tests, and although they have
for those who have lost their lives at the hands of systemic
committed petty crimes being the elite’s solution to the “war
of legal protection for the poor and those who speak out
failed to successfully treat their targeted disease, this doesn’t mean that
racism. By both honouring the dead and protesting for
on poverty”.
against a corrupt system are but a few methods for creating
they can’t be used to treat something else. Doing so will require academia,
the living, the young activists of the Black Lives Matter
In his 2004 book Death Blossoms, former Black Panther
fear and, most importantly, passivity.
the pharmaceutical industry, government agencies and patient advocacy
movement are leading the charge towards a society based on
activist and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal wrote, “Do
non-racist democracy.
you see law and order? There is nothing but disorder, and
Yet despite all this opposition is emerging from America’s
sufficient funding. After all, a single drug can cost billions to develop.
instead of law there is the illusion of security. It is an illusion
ramshackle internal communities that house the poor. Is
Queen Victoria is quoted as saying “We are not interested in the possibil-
It seems it is finally being understood that the subordination
because it is built on a long history of injustices: racism,
it possible that the US is experiencing the starting point of
ities of defeat. They do not exist.” Both Thalidomide and Raloxifene have
of ethnic minorities in the United States is not merely a re-
criminality and the genocide of millions. Many people say
a revolution? If this is the case, then Chris Hedges is most
found a new purpose, proving that perhaps pharmaceutical companies
sult of institutionalised racism, white supremacy and chronic
it is insane to resist the system, but actually, it is insane not
likely correct when he says, “The next great revolutionary
should not be so quick to accept defeat, especially when toying with the
poverty, but also emerges from the violence and rampant
to.” It seems that with the streets of Baltimore, Ferguson,
in America won’t look like Thomas Jefferson. He or she will
aspects of life and death.
destruction inherent within the framework of corporate
and even cities outside of the US becoming lined with
look like Lupe Fiasco.”
capitalism. Activists are recognising that it is only through
activists, who retain a vision for a better tomorrow, there is a
the exploitative dynamics of capitalism that the systemic
flicker of hope, and Abu-Jamal’s call is being answered with
oppression of entire groups of people continues. The Black
vigour and vehemence. In fact, his call is being answered by
Lives Matter protesters have acknowledged the futility of
bonds of solidarity, comprised of people of myriad colours,
attempting to influence electoral politics, legislative reform
religions, languages, countries of origin and belief systems.
and the decisions of the courts, and have even become disillusioned with the meaningless rhetoric of the country’s black
Hip Hop artist and co-founder of Hands Up United,
representatives. Instead, direct action and civil disobedience
T-Dubb-O, recently sat down with war journalist Chris
are being used for change; to call to account the corporate
Hedges to discuss the involvement of his organisation in
state that has refused to address or, seemingly, even consider
the protests, and how they have established close alliances
the repression of the working poor and persistent police state
with other anti-racist militants in Europe, Latin America
violence against unarmed people of colour.
and Palestine. “In my city every day, [the] police is pulling
somebody over, harassing them, extorting them,” T-Dubb-O
Poverty is a necessity for capitalism. With no large, desper-
told Hedges. “Because that’s what it is—it’s legal extortion.
ate, vulnerable labour-pools, there is no market of workers
When a government is making 30 to 40 percent of their
for the ruling classes to exploit. In the United States,
yearly budget off of tickets, fines and imprisonment, it’s
these huge pools of workers are largely composed of the
extortion. It’s the same thing the mob did in the ’20s. So
marginalised ethnic minorities of the nation, who are seen as
we fight. We can’t go back to normal lives. We get followed,
degenerates, rather than a product of their system.
harassed, death threats, phones tapped, social media
watched, they hack into our emails, hack into our social
The status retained by those in this unfortunate situation
media account, we all got FBI files. They know we [are] here
groups to work together, in conjunction with talented researchers and
Reuse, reduce, recycle?
Teaching old
drugs new
tricks
Grace Zeid
We are in a new renaissance of medicine. Technology is
developing thick and fast in our world and we are both in
awe and struggling to keep up. With major improvements in
health care and public health, people are living longer and
defeating illnesses and diseases that they never could have
years ago.
Recently, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George
Osborne, announced that a partnership led by the Medical
Research Council will invest over £230 million in a range of
revolutionary technologies aimed at identifying the causes of
11
this summer
A pressing matter
Elspeth Davies
In the height of exam season, I found relief in a much underrated
hobby. I sought solace by discovering the beauty of flower pressing
and realised a love for this calming and old-fashioned hobby. I invite
you to try it too so here is my simple guide to pressing flowers.
I use two great methods to dry flowers. The first method is the old
fashioned way. Place your flowers between sheets of newspaper,
and then sandwich these between heavy books. Check them after
a week (although they make take longer). The chunkier the flower,
the longer the drying process will take. Only remove them from in
between the books when they are completely dry.
The second method uses the microwave. First, arrange the flowers
in between sheets of kitchen roll in order to soak up excess moisture
(after using all the kitchen roll, I discovered that toilet roll works
equally as well as a cheaper alternative so in this case arrange the
a window display, there are many things you can create with these
pressed flowers. This is a great way to capture the vibrancy of summer
for your pleasure all year round.
Top tips:
•
Some flowers close at night and open gradually through-
out the morning so choose your time of harvest carefully. I like to pick
flowers in stages throughout the morning so I end up with a selection
of flowers, each opened to a slightly different extent.
•
Put them in water immediately after cutting to avoid
wilting.
•
Remove the stamens from flowers with obvious stamens,
such as lilies, so the pollen does not stain.
•
If you do not have flowers in your garden, weeds work
well! There is something wonderfully metaphorical about making
something beautiful from flowers that are normally killed. Buttercups
and daisies are a good start, and remember that you can also make
some amazing things from drying vibrant leaves too.
flowers on cleverly arranged bog roll). Then sandwich these between
sheets of newspaper. Next, find a ceramic tile or glass plate or
container that has a large, flat bottom and is safe to microwave. Put
the prepared flowers under your container and microwave this for
30 to 60 seconds at a time. You should remove the flowers from the
microwave and cool them in between heating sessions to ensure
that they do not get too hot. Continue this process until they are
completely dry.
Disclaimer: The Phoenix does not take responsibility for any toilet
roll-fuelled microwave fires that may result if you wander off/get
distracted by Queens’ Greatest Hits whilst microwaving half the
vegetation in your garden. Please take your safety seriously.
Be it sticking them on greetings cards, or laminating them to make
How to make
the most of open
days
Kate Watson
Signing up for an open day is near enough the best thing you can
do to prepare for making a university application. Cliché though it
sounds, visiting the site in the flesh and ‘getting a feel for the place’
is exactly what you need in order to feel confident and assured
when applying. No university prospectus can tell you how you
will feel when you test the waters for the first time. You read about
its prestige, how well it could suit you, how 95% of students are
‘content with their studies there’ but then you arrive and it just
does not feel right. So that’s why they’re important- but how do you
make the most of one?
First up, be organised. Make sure you book into your subject talks,
most others for accommodation and student life work on a first
come first served basis.
It’s also important that you print out a booking confirmation, so
that you can simply swipe in your barcode on arrival and save the
hassle of queuing for hours to register manually.
If you know you’ve got specific interests or hobbies you want to
pursue at university, ensure to take a look around the society’s HQ.
Most universities offer sports clubs, performing arts groups and a
student counselling body.
Accommodation is another key component- worth visiting, worth
considering. Do you want an en suite? Shared room? Self-catering?
At most universities, students move outside of halls after their
first year; they start to rent shared houses outside the university
grounds. This opens up another integral part of university life- your
surroundings. When visiting a university, make time to check out
your local area.
With all this taken on board, you’re sure to feel prepared for the
UCAS process. All you need now is some summer reading and to
type that dreaded first sentence.
The ultimate thirst quencher
Alice Perry
Inspired by The National Trust Complete Traditional Recipe Book
Makes 6 glasses
To serve:
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
3 unwaxed lemons
Mint leaves or borage
75g granulated or lump sugar
flowers and leaves
750ml water
First, slice the lemons and put them in a food
processor with granulated or lump sugar.
Mix until you have a fairly fine pulp: the
processing ‘pulls’ the natural oils from the
lemons.
Put the mixture in a glass jug and gradually
add the water.
Chill overnight before use. Serve with ice
cubes and a sprig of mint or borage.
Try your best to visit the places you’re most likely to spend time
in at university, be that the library, canteen or students’ union. If
possible, have a chat with students who are helping out; they’ll give
you insiders details like which club nights are the most worthwhile.
The lemonade will keep for two to three days
in the fridge.
12
Culture
Review: Woolf Works
Madelein Pulman-Jones reviews the ballet
Last year I went to see the exhibition, “Virginia Woolf: Art,
Life, Vision”, at the National portrait gallery. A year later,
having studied her fluid prose in Mrs Dalloway within an
inch of its life, the idea of the culmination and presentation
of a life, or a life’s work, is still fascinating to me. One can’t
help but think of the passage in “Mrs Dalloway”, “holding
her life in her arms which, as she neared them, grew larger
and larger in her arms, until it became a whole life, a complete life, which she put down by them and said, ‘This is what
I have made of it! This!’” That’s how the exhibition seemed
to me, a jumbled conglomeration of thoughts, feelings, ideas
and works that went together to make a life – or as close as
we will ever be able to be to the life of artist, Virginia Woolf.
I was content with that, until “Woolf Works”.
“Woolf Works” is a “triptych” of new ballets directed and choreographed by Wayne McGregor. Each of the
three new ballets, which are all set to new music composed
by Max Richter, attempts to encapsulate simultaneously
the essence of one of “Woolf ’s Works” as well as capture
the overarching narrative of both her creative and personal
life. The first ballet entitled, “I Now, I Then”, is based upon
Woolf ’s 1925 novel, Mrs Dalloway. The second, “Becomings”
is based on her gender exploratory work, “Orlando”. The
final ballet “Tuesday” is based upon Woolf ’s experimental
work, “The Waves”, as well as the last moments of her
own life. The concept is a novel one, not least since Woolf
has been both lauded and critiqued for her “literary” and
apparently “cerebral” writing style. What are we to do with
her stories without the words that so inherently make them
distinctive?
“A fearless plunge
into the full wave
of Woolf ’s artistic
vision”
and are not nearly as rigid as one may think - that they
are in fact as fluid as Woolf ’s indirect discourse itself, or
whatever she wanted them to be. The greatest surprise for
the Woolf-acquainted audience member may be that Woolf ’s
prose, in comparison with the numerous film adaptations, is
most satisfyingly brought to life in the form of dance, which
seems at face value to be the art form farthest from her own
artistic vision.
This device of the use of short verbal prologues to the
ballets is continued in the third, at the beginning of which a
recording of Gillian Anderson reading Woolf ’s suicide note
was played. This leaves us with the unnerving question of
whether Woolf ’s complex feeling was best expressed in her
letter, or whether the letter is merely the surface of the deep
waters the following ballet plunges us into.
The first ballet is an extraordinarily faithful portrayal of the
novel Mrs Dalloway. The pivotal Clarissa Dalloway is portrayed by two ballerinas, one representing youthful Clarissa,
the other the aged Clarissa. This decision highlights the
way that the choreographer has played with the boundaries
of memory and time, ever present in the form of a ticking
clock, as well as the “irrevocable” chimes of Big Ben. One
sees Woolf ’s image of the “leaden circles [dissolving] in
the air” everywhere in McGregor’s work. The simple set is
characterised by three large wooden squares, the shadows of
which, fading and strengthening with the masterful lighting
designed by dancer Lucy Carter, evoke not only this visceral
spection of her work. Gillian Anderson’s uncharacteristically
image, but also the passing of time and the strength and
unaffected reading of Woolf ’s suicide note does not seem
weakness of memory. The tightness of this work is such that
gratuitous or disrespectful as I had imagined, it seemed in
this motif not only manifests itself in the symbolism of the
place and at peace with the slow-motion wave film that acted
set design, but also in the folk-like circular dances which
as a point of comparison throughout for the wave-like cho-
too, in turn, dissolve as the characters drift apart with the
reography. The third ballet is a full ten minutes shorter than
inevitable end of adolescence, and the end of Clarissa’s party.
the other two, and it feels it. It doesn’t have the sprawling
If the first ballet was a tribute to memories and the flow
all-encompassing nature of the other two, and it shouldn’t.
of time, the second, “Becomings” was an attack against it.
There is no need to over-explain tragic moments, and Wayne
Opening with sharp bursts of light, a stage scattered with an
McGregor understood this.
entirely new cast in imposing gold Elizabethan court apparel
Woolf was never a stranger to interplay between the arts. She
was revealed. This ballet was filled with sharp movements
at one time stated that “painting and writing have much to
and the theme of change which manifested itself not only
tell each other.” Though we can find little about her thoughts
in the fluidity of the dancers and the blurred lines of the
on dance, it is evident that when Woolf attempted to evoke
movements of the two sexes, but also in the lighting design.
the fluidity of the soul in her work, she was also influenced
Cool blue bolts of lasers created, coupled with the dry ice,
by the fluidity of expression. This trio of ballets captures all
chilling barriers evocative of panes of glass, through which
of this incredibly. The only sadness is that its run has now
the dancers pushed, as though breaking down the barriers
unfortunately ended. Hopefully, however, its popularity
between sexes and eras.
and innovation have meant that people will have thought of
“Orlando” is a novel usually remembered for its inno-
looking at Woolf and her work in a new light.
vative view of androgyny and its parallels with Woolf ’s
relationship with Vita Sackville-West, however the Royal
Ballet saw it more as a novel within which all boundaries
Firstly, we are not left without words entirely (as is traditionally the case with ballet). The first starts with a recording
of an old Woolf interview about the life of words. In the
interview Woolf states:
“Words, English words, are full of echoes, of memories, of
associations. They have been out and about, on people’s
lips, in their houses, in the streets, in the fields, for so many
centuries. And that is one of the chief difficulties in writing
them today – that they are stored with other meanings, with
other memories, and they have contracted so many famous
marriages in the past.”
This recording establishes the main objective of the work,
which is to emphasise that words are like any other art form
were experimented with. Just as in the first ballet, Woolf ’s
impressionistic modernist style was evoked through art
direction as well as ballet. Single spotlights scattered the
stage while dancers stumbled in and out of the light, giving
us brief impressions of their individual stories, much like the
impressionist paintings Woolf was influenced by. At the end
of this ballet, the lasers that had been used throughout were
shone into the audience to create a web of lasers that touched
all corners of the historic Royal Opera House, breaking not
only the metaphorical boundaries of the Woolfian text, but
also the rules of audience interaction of traditional theatre
and ballet.
The last ballet was the final crash of the wave of Woolf ’s
oeuvre, a devastating yet satisfying full stop to the retro-
Fusion Festival
Eden Harbud reflects on “something
truly special”
A matter of days ago on Saturday 27th June something truly
special happened. This day marked the end of a huge journey
that myself and my colleagues, Finn and Jack, have been on
together for the past 9 months as interns in the performing arts
department. If we did our marketing correctly then hopefully
you already know what this is about...
Yes of course it was Fusion Theatre Festival! A festival created
by young people, for young people (that’s you guys). For those
who don’t know, Fusion was a 12 hour festival of theatre,
music, dance, art work and comedy. The day was spread over
2 brilliant venues being The Robinson Theatre (here at Hills)
and Cambridge Junction, who we are incredibly grateful to be
in a partnership with. Considering that there were around 20
performances throughout the day, the list of people to thank is
in the hundreds and could take up an entire article in itself!
One useful surprise was that it turns out that our organisational skills are actually on top form and so it ended up being
a wonderful day. We even saw some of you there! Many of you
were even involved in the festival as a performer or a steward.
In some cases both! All we can say to those people now is thank
you so much. You know who you are. We honestly couldn’t have
done Fusion without your support and we hugely appreciate
your help. Hills Road related performances included “Metamorphosis” performed by lower sixth enrichment students,
Elevation Youth Dance Company & “Scouting for Boys” by
upper sixth drama and theatre studies students. Many of the
other acts also had ex students involved! I’m happy to say that
the day was a success and many thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
13
If you couldn’t make it to Fusion this year then have no fear!
We really want this to be an annual event, so keep your eyes
peeled for Fusion 2016! To keep updated then like our page
on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @fusioncambridge.
E3 2015
Nathan Makalena
conclusion, this year’s E3 has left me with a positive feeling
who the true villain really is and if the intentions of our
for the upcoming year of video games. Although it always
heroes were truly just. I always enjoy and recommend films
does and I’m always left feeling betrayed and disappointed,
that make you question how much you truly root or hate
video game developers don’t let me down.
the characters conveyed throughout the story. The story is
What used to just come down to power struggle between
wild, almost crazy at points, but the fantastic Joss Whedon
What’s next for us? Now that the mammoth that is Fusion
Nintendo and Sega has opened up to many other companies
(known for Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is able to pull
has been tackled to the ground, our next mammoth is the
as seen by this years busy conference line-up. Each company
off the light-hearted joy of the modern superhero flick,
Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We 3 and a group of 6 others
stepped up to the plate to show off their latest attractions
create Temper Theatre, who featured in the scratch showcase
whilst critics and panderers lined up to give their own takes
of Fusion performing an extract of our current show
on what was on show. Highlights included the inevitable
TRIBE. The show is currently in development and I’m so
sequels of popular franchises (Fallout 4/Just Cause 3), the
excited to see the finished product. To anyone who may be
reintroduction of old fan favourites (Star Wars Battlefront/
in Edinburgh this August, we will be performing between
Star Fox Zero) as well as some promising new announce-
the 16th and 21st in the incredible venue of Zoo Southside
ments from the indie scene (Mighty No. 9/ Cuphead). Fans
(main house). We hope to see you there! But afterwards we’ll
of all genres were positively hyped by the shows put on by
be back - you may very well see these faces again...
the big name companies including guest performances from
Review:
Avengers Age
of Ultron
Chiedza Lunga
Pele and Jason Derulo. Everyone’s favorite childhood games
This is certainly a movie for those in need of some high ac-
June 15th-18th marked this year’s Electronic Entertainment
developer (unless you were the weird Sonic kid) Nintendo
tion, nonsensical fun. The movie begins mid-battle, instantly
Expo. Better known as E3 this prestigious tech fair boasts the
were back again to show off their newest innovations.
throwing the audience head first into the movie, which I did
most interesting and exciting advancements into technology
Announcements contained mostly nostalgic characters with
love, even though initially I was completely unaware of what
and gaming for the upcoming year. Now that it’s finished it
new games in the Metroid, Mario and Legend of Zelda series
was going on. Despite the negatives of this film, it is still a
is time to look back over the event and see what we have in
respectively. In addition the re introduction of the Nintendo
bold, bright action packed romp that most could enjoy.
World Championship for a special 25th anniversary allows
All the beloved characters are back with the same Tony
all keen gamers to try their hand at becoming a nintendo
Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) wise-cracks and Thor’s (Christian
master. Meanwhile, the forefront of gaming technology is
Hemsworth) misguided charm. It’s a welcoming sight, with
also advancing. Oculus Rift have dominated the Virtual Re-
the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) being further developed, helping
ality market and with the addition of new touch controllers
soothe the pain of the ‘always angry’ line that angered
to improve the immersive nature of the experience, they’re
so many comic fans. The heartthrob villain Loki (Tom
still keeping up with the more traditional form of computer
Hiddleston) was greatly missed in this film, but the new
gaming. The market for virtual reality is also finally seeing
villains of Maximoff twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch,
some worthy competition, Sony announced ‘Project
whose incredible range of powers of super speed and mind
Morpheus’ whilst HTC spoke of their ongoing venture with
control, make them formidable adversaries. The new power
Valve to produce the ‘Vive’. As this three horse race begins
of mind control shown by Scarlet allow us to explore the
to gain speed the only real winners will be consumers who
minds of the beloved Avengers, learning more about their
at the end of the day will have an awesome virtual reality
loyalties and ambitions, giving great joy to those like me who
world to explore from the comfort of their own home. In
relish in expanded character arcs. It causes us to question
store to look forward to.
whilst allowing audiences to ponder the political aims of
both villain and hero alike.
However, once I’d been able to calm down from all the CGI
action that was gracing the screen and begin to readjust,
I began focusing on the story, I was bombarded with
characters new and old, cameos, and so many little nods to
the audience I started to worry if Joss Whedon’s neck was
beginning to ache from it all. Not to say that the content was
unwanted, the appearance of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch
was a very welcome one, with such interesting characters
being introduced into this part of Marvel’s universe adding
to the before seen as rather flat lore of the Avengers world.
However, even if all the new characters, appearances and
locations were great, which they were, cramming them into
what seems to be a generous two hour film didn’t fare well.
The main problem I had with the film is that so many great
characters get to little screen time, due there being far too
many people.
Let it be said, I did love this movie and strongly recommend
it to anyone, seeing so many aspects that could appeal to several people. However, be warned that so many aspects may
fall flat to dedicated audiences once the veil of well-designed
action and high octane fun is removed.
“High-action,
nonsensical fun”
14
Review: The
Gaming words
Children Act by of caution
Ian McEwan
Molly Mead
Ian McEwan – The Children Act – Released in 2014, McEwan’s
latest novel explores the moral dilemma of Judge Fiona Maye as she
is forced to reach a judgement concerning the future of Leukaemia
sufferer, 17 year old Jehovah Witness, Adam. His refusal of a lifesaving blood transfusion on religious grounds, and Fiona’s consequent
battle between following the law and resisting her heart, can’t help
but provoke the reader to question their own morals. The real
dilemma arises because Adam is just shy of 18 yrs. old, at which age
he would be free to decide his own future. The novel is highly relevant to us as sixth-form students as it explores the border between
childhood and adulthood, alongside the concepts of independent
thought and decision. Adam’s emotional conflicts are beautifully
and sensitively explored to make them highly relatable: from trying
to be dutiful to his parent’s beliefs, to experiencing intense fear that
by refusing the blood transfusion he will be ending his life, leaving
all the possibilities that the future held, untouched. This compelling
novel eludes the reader until the last page, exploring theme such as,
difficult decisions, responsibility, duty and fear, it is highly relatable,
a definite page turner and has characters that haunt you months
after you’ve read the last line.
particularly prone to framerate dropping, character models
dissolving to reveal grotesque cheekbones and jawlines and
unresolved connectivity issues in online modes within the
game. In reality all of this could have been fixed if another few
months development had taken place, although this would
Nathan Makalena
have then caused the game to be pushed forward to the first
What do Assassin’s Creed Unity, Battlefield Hardline and Watch-
quarter of 2015 and since Christmas is the biggest sales point
dogs all have in common? Well after much hype and preorder
of the year for the games industry Ubisoft would never have let
incentives, they all opened on Day 1 to game-breaking bugs and
this happen. Decisions like these from companies have led to
restricted experiences unlike the ones advertised to gamers earlier
thousands of disappointed fans and mediocre reviews which is
in the year during events such as E3. This behaviour is going
a shame when their games are halfway to being good.
unpunished by the games industry and it’s beginning to turn
The real message here is to not be whipped up in the hype and
away die hard fans and lose this form of media the respect and
make an uninformed purchase on a game you aren’t even sure
legitimacy it deserves.
if you really want. The market has seen a lull of new releases
Preordering used to serve a purpose. There often just wouldn’t be
in these spring months but soon shows like E3 will be putting
enough physical copies of a game, especially for niche titles, so
on demos and screenings of this year’s big releases. However,
if you didn’t preorder you risked not getting the game, or having
these are ONLY MARKETING MATERIAL and you won’t
to potentially wait for weeks. However, as the industry took off
have a full idea of what the game is like until the press copies
and titles release millions of copies to hundreds of thousands of
are sent out just prior to release. Let others be disappointed for
stores worldwide this demand has dropped off. The only reason
you so you don’t have to and instead make the right decision,
publishers push preorders so heavily still is to ensure they have that
although if I do preorder Call of Duty 12 now I do get the
money upfront before either press copies have been released or it’s
Ultra-Shooty Death Cannon… I mean, no one else will have
been released wholesale, this means that no matter the quality of
that come September so it really does seem worth it *click*.
the game they still have your money.
Rant over.
The most infamous example of this occurring recently was in 2013
when Aliens: Colonial Marines opened to an average MetaCritic
time leading up to the release showing teaser trailers and demo
reels that ended up being nothing like the final product. The
resulted in a more than underwhelming experience. In the end,
a suit was filed claiming false advertising of Gearbox and Sega’s
behalf which Sega settled by agreeing to pay 1.25 million dollars.
Now whilst this is an extreme example there are still cases of
problems like this up until this day. Assassin’s Creed Unity was
Callum Bains celebrates a timeless
breakfast classic
It is beloved by the nation, acting as a favourite breakfast meal,
a tasty lunchtime snack and, if you are truly infatuated with its
doughy allure, a supper substitute. I am, of course, talking about
toast. The process of heating sliced bread and spreading margarine
(or butter if that’s your fancy) across it had been practised
for centuries but it was not until 1893 that modern toast fully
emerged, as this year marked the invention of the first electric
toasters will have an adjustable toasting time which should be set
a better texture for spreading than bread made from whole grain
at 2 – 2.5 minutes. To preserve the toastiness the spread should
flour (brown bread) and toasts faster. If your allegiance to bread
be applied as quickly as possible. This not only makes it easier to
type is very strong then the safest, and usually most satisfying,
spread but also means the toast is warm when you eat it.
option is to stick with your regular bread type.
What’s put on the toast has a huge impact. The most popular and
Toast will continue to be an international favourite food, until
rewarding spread is margarine because of its ease-of-use and large
overpopulation threatens grain supplies and the golden age of
supply. Equally, unlike butter, it does not involve the complication
toast is brought to an end. Until then, by considering the four
of pre-heating. Other condiments (jam, marmalade and marmite,
fundamental dynamics of toast (toastiness, spread, thickness and
to name but a few) involve completely different practices, which
type of bread) you can ensure you make the perfect slice of toast
I would not dare comment on from fear of being ridiculed and
every time. After all, toast is the best thing since sliced bread.
alienated by the separate condiment communities if a mistake was
made.
toaster. Profound? Possibly. Revolutionary? Yes. World-shattering?
I think so.
The thickness of the bread should also be considered. Like all the
important things in life, bigger is better. Many people are unaware
Despite the extensive time that has passed since then - time that
has allowed the art of toast-making to flourish and grow - people
are still incapable of making the perfect slice of toast. Many people
are even unaware of the four dynamics that must be taken into
that various sizes of pre-sliced bread are available and the optimum
thickness is ¾ of an inch (perhaps thicker than you had imagined).
This allows the spread to completely soak into the bread and
disperse the taste across the entire surface.
account.
The debate of White Bread v. Brown Bread is one that still rages
The most important issue to consider when toasting is the “toastiness” of the bread. Toast too much and the bread will turn into a
crisp platter of carbon; toast too little and the bread will remain
flaccid so a spread cannot be properly applied. Almost all modern
at the Tate
Modern
Francesco Dernie
score of 45%. Sega and Gearbox the games creators spent a lot of
game released was dysfunctional, poorly written and coded which
A toast to toast
Sonia Delaunay
in the doughy community and is often a personal issue. When
toasting, your feelings towards the bread types are unlikely to
change, as the underlying taste will remain constant. It is a known
A slice of toast with optimum thickness but only satisfactory
fact, however, that bread made from wheat flour (white bread) has
toastiness
Delaunay’s work is a bold and
vibrant visionary experience,
saturated with geometric shapes
and colours. Her journey into
fashion and textiles is juxtaposed with her more famous
paintings, serving to give a fuller
and more rounded exhibition of
her life’s endeavours.
The exhibition closes on the 9th
August. Well worth a visit.
*****
15
2. The Secret Garden Party
The Secret Garden Party (SGP) appears to be the most popular British festival amongst Hills Road students. It is renowned for its
1. Lattitude
edgy house music scene and all night-raves. Feel free to release your inner eccentric; this year’s dress code is ‘childish things’.
By far the safest festival, Latitude is ideal for young children or new-festival goers. It prides itself on being ‘more than just a
When: 23rd-26th July
music festival’, so if you take a trip, be sure to make the most of its eclectic poetry, theatre and dance.
How much: £180
Where: Cambridgeshire at Mill Hill Field, Abbots Ripton
Line-up: Jungle, The Cat Empire, Caravan Palace, Marika Hackman, Darwin Deez
Where: Henham Park near Southwold in Suffolk
When: 16-19th of July
How much: £200
Line-up: Alt-J, James Blake, Warpaint, SBTRK, The Vaccines
3. Reading and Leeds
Of the five, Reading and Leeds are the most hard-core festivals in that they don’t offer
only soft grunge music, instead making their mark in the rock genre. That said, they
remain immensely popular amongst young people who prefer listening to alternative
music, shown in their most recent line-up.
Where: Reading- Little John’s Farm on Richfield Avenue
Leeds- Bramham Park, near Wetherby
When: 28th-30th August
How much: £215
Line-up: Mumford and Sons, The Libertines, Jamie T, The Wombats, Azealia Banks
Headlining the
Headliners
Alice Perry proposes the top 5 UK music festivals this summer
4. Wilderness
Wilderness is the place to go if you’re looking for a culturally enriching countryside retreat; swim in the lake, learn how to meditate and try your hand at forging
metal. Oh, and there’s music too.
Where: Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire
When: 6th-9th August
How much: £190
Line-up: Björk, Ben Howard, Roisin Murphy, Nick Mulvey, Nils Frahm
5. Bestival
This vibrant, lively festival is definitely worth hopping on a coach then ferry then coach
for. Beautiful location, whacky daytime activities and truly great music- what more
could you ask for?
Where: Robin Hill Country Park, Isle of Wight
When: 10th-13th September
How much: £195
Line-up: Tame Impala, Rudimental, Mark Ronson, FKA Twigs, Little Dragon
College update
Blind Date
16
Student Council Update
What have your elected representatives been up to this term?
The Phoenix sent Milly and Louis for a coffee, here’s what
happened next...
Charities
Hannah Foley
Louis on Milly
Milly on Louis
As Charities Officer it’s my job to ensure that students are aware of issues and that the college helps to
What were you hoping for?
First impressions?
the mental health charities; MIND and Centre 33. We are also helping with the MINDEd raffle at the
Someone nice to spend time
Kind of quiet, a little bit shy perhaps, but
with
seemed very polite.
support a range of causes. Recently, the Charities Committee has been organising how we can support
Leavers Ball.
Treasurer
Taha Khan
I’m Taha Khan, the new Treasurer. Since I have been appointed Treasurer, I have been a main contrib-
First impressions?
What did you talk about?
I was very anxious at first but
Just the general getting to know each
place, I stepped up and took on the communications officer duties for a short time to keep the council
she was very easy to talk to
other kind of stuff – subjects, likes and
a tight budget whilst trying to work through my exams at the same time.
which put me at ease.
dislikes, whether or not Haverhill actually
exists (I’m told it does), Shrek.
Any awkward moments?
utor in appointing a communications officer and their subcommittee. Whilst this process was taking
running smoothly. I have also been hard at work in organising the summer event with the difficulties of
Welfare & Equality
Elspeth Davies
My biggest project so far has been co-founding Amigos, our new student-led support system. I am
I had to be reminded to buy her
Any awkward moments?
also working on a number of projects with LGBT+ Society and FemSoc and can’t wait to launch more
a drink.
Surprisingly very few.
asexuality and sexual consent.
What did you talk about?
Describe him/her in three words:
Studies, hobbies, Shrek
This is a really mean question! Clever,
old-school (ie. music tastes, and not being
Describe her in 3 words:
awareness and support campaigns next year, especially focussed around the topics of gender identity,
Communications
Alice Gilby
The Student Council’s Media and Communications team have been working hard on advertising for
the upcoming Summer Event; making posters, choosing clips for promotional videos, and organising
coverage for the event itself. On top of this, we are working towards a longer-term goal of improving
a modern day arse-hole), intriguing.
communications with the student body via updating our existing social media platforms, as well as
What do you think she/he made of you?
Environment
Gorgeous, charismatic, affable
expanding them.
What do you think she made of
I think he thought I was a bit of a ditz,
you? Hopefully nice to talk to.
because I said I did double maths and
This term I set up the environment committee, a dedicated bunch of students who have been working
then failed to add up to 4. Hopefully I was
We will be pushing ahead with our healthy living project in September, and begin advertising cycling
Would you meet again?
interesting, but I tend to come out with
Yes 100%
some really weird things, so I may have
just baffled him
Would you meet again?
Maybe, I think we’d get on well as friends
Francesco Dernie
on several projects across the college, from auditing recycling bins to researching toilet roll dispensers.
bursaries to the lower sixth. Also in September, we hope to roll out Fresh Fruit Fridays!
17
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t
a
cre
could
”
time?
some
“To the girl with the joker converse on the
I long for you every single day
Ely train everyday, just wanted to say I don’t
Though the dragon guarding your heart keeps me away
think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful girl in
When I see your Allstar self I want to be by your side
my life. Can I be your Harley Quinn??”
Even if we were in a swamp I’d stand full of pride
Though your heart may be in a wreck
I long for you like Fiona for Shrek
Chat over some onion rings?”
“To the Parkside girl with golden brown curls, and piercing blue eyes as turquoise as
the seas of bora bora, my burdening lust for you pursues.
“To the man who made that
You defy superlatives, you encapsulate perfection.
I shall not compare thee to a summer’s day, for thou art too iconic to be equated to
short film about making a movie
such natural wonders.
for his EP. I have to say I do like
Thou must acknowledge, you are the blacksmith of my heart, wielded in your design,
your wool coat, and your hair,
to be forever your creation and property.
and your glasses, and so on and
so forth.”
I shall be forever waiting for your acquaintance.”
“To the cute communist in the
hub: I’d invite you over to my
place but I don’t believe in private
property”
D
E
T
T
O
P
S
S
L
L
I
AT H
“To my favourite hipster bean.
You play the drums and keep
a burn book and explain your
feelings using metaphors about
meringues. You make me feel
like the peakiest of all the
French bakery products when
I’m with you. Let’s run away
together.”
18
Useful Apps
Francesco Ridgeway-Bishop reviews apps and websites for students
Universities
Ruby Osman
If you’re thinking of going to university next year, this summer is really the
time to ramp up your research. Parents’ patience permitting, it’s a case of the
Baker’s Dozen useful apps and websites for students
more the merrier when it comes to open days. And that’s not the only way to
do your research. Take a taster session. Talk to current students. Get lost in
We all know that studying can be a long and difficult process. With this in mind, Francesca
Ridgeway Bishop recommends twelve fantastic ways you can use technology in order to help you
along the way.
Introducing Amigos
Motivation!
The Writeometer app (available on the Play Store) keeps a log of your writing progress and reminds
Starting September next year, Amigos will be a student-led support system that
that essay or project for the due date.
you to work on projects every day, showing you how many words you need to write a day to finish
offers friendly and informal help to any student who would like it. We know that
reaching out to student support can be daunting, but by relying on the expertise
Forest is an app that encourages you to stay focussed on tasks by allowing you to ‘plant’ a tree. It
of the students themselves we hope to offer a team of friendly faces who know
will grow for between 30 minutes and two hours, and if you leave the app - say to check Facebook
first-hand the struggles being a student can bring. We understand the pain of
or respond to a text - it will kill the tree, in order to motivate to you keep your attention on one
printer credit. We know exactly which hand-dryers are working in the toilets.
task.
And we have experienced the pressures of exam season. Because of this, we are in
Writing/note taking
Our email address - amigos@hillsroad.ac.uk. Feel free to contact us
with any questions for confidential and impartial advice - nothing is too big or
Drop-in sessions every Thursday that you can pop into in whenever
you please. We can be found in B102.
There are many different things that we can help you with. Be it advice on essay
work with you to identify any additional support you may need. Throughout the
ing able to keep multiple notebooks and arrange pages by sections. Recording audio simultaneously
then maybe consider whether that really is the subject you want to study.
while note taking is also possible, helping those who can’t type as fast as teachers can talk.
Relaxing
Smart Note again is available as either an iOS or an Android app, and is a note taking app that offers
handwriting recognition, if you would prefer to write using a stylus instead of typing.
Productivity
who would like to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ movement.
HabitRPG turns projects into a game, allowing you to make tasks into monsters you have to defeat.
The better you are at keeping on top of things, the better your character does in the game. Again,
this has an Android and iPhone app as well as a web version.
StayFocusd, a Google Chrome extension, either completely blocks distracting websites, or only
allows you to spend a brief amount of time on them before locking access.
Road’s unique torture really ramps up. No doubt you’ll have been inundated
with emails throughout the term demanding your mid-project review, your
MyStudyLife makes a great planner for use on phones or tablets, condensing a timetable, exam
summer checklist and various other files that are lurking half finished on
calendar, to do list, and homework diary into one app.
time to develop new ideas and try out new things (AO3 gold dust) that’ll
make your examiner drool.
And if it’s still getting you down, just remember: Jack Kerouac wrote On the
Road in less than six weeks. You’ve got this.
days. Books - remember those? What was that other thing we used to have? A
social life, was it called?
Although this is likely to be a fairly pressurised holiday, you’ve got six whole
weeks to get what you need to do done. Six weeks is a long time. That’s
181,440 minutes of freedom. There are only so many of those you can spend
fretting about that C2 exam.
That said, it’s good to keep on top of some work if you can. If you don’t have
summer work, try doing a bit of reading on the parts of your course that
genuinely interest you. It shouldn’t be too much strain and will put you in
great stead for September.
Results Day
Ruby Osman
It doesn’t matter whether the Student Room’s unofficial mark scheme claims
you mucked up question 3 - what’s done is done. Your fate is sealed and, hard
Sharepoint. Your intentions were good, but life just took over. Never mind:
pacing yourself isn’t just to avoid that last-minute panic; it’ll also give you
Ruby Osman
Really, we can’t tell you how to relax. Try to think back to carefree, exam-less
leaving notes on each, and lists can be shared with classmates or partners.
is ready to hand in too. So take your time over summer - the advantage to
the least you can do is give them something interesting to read. Tell them the
to do things you don’t want to do, just for the sake of your personal statement
summer and advice both for people who are questioning their sexuality and those
page examination of neo-classical literature as long as by October yours
you. Admissions tutors will be reading thousands of semi-clone statements,
Microsoft’s OneNote allows you to take notes and effortlessly arrange them on pages, as well as be-
Kindle Fire to desktop computers. It allows you to set to-dos and link reminders to them, as well as
It doesn’t matter if the person next to you has already completed their 300
the way the most important thing is that your statement genuinely is about
should give a go? But equally, don’t push it. If you’re having to force yourself
technology in order to help them study, what you should be doing with your
summer is the time to take control again.
don’t staple a fiver to your application form - but once you’ve got these out
statements - have they talked about an interesting lecture or book that you
Wunderlist is a to-do list app, again available across multiple platforms, from iPhone/iPad to the
For the disorganised amongst us, summer is when the pressure from Hills
statements - do have a good balance between academia and extracurriculars,
feature.
through this well-loved newspaper. This edition covers how students can use
Ruby Osman
Ruby Osman
Of course there are some do’s and don’ts when it comes to personal
That said, summer should also be a time to try new things. Look at example
The Amigos Team is also working with The Phoenix to provide advice to students
EP Advice
Personal
Statements
be. If they don’t like it, chances are that wasn’t the course for you.
year we will be running workshops on a range of topics, so make sure to keep an
eye out for these!
weight to research quality. It’s better to identify what you’re looking for from
version, and syncs between them all. Adding sketches, photos, and audio to notes is another useful
writing, revision tips or stress management - or even how printer credit works
- we will do our best to advise you in any way we can. If necessary, we can also
student satisfaction, whilst the Times and the Sunday Times will give more
Evernote is available as an Android and iOS app, as well as having desktop and web browser
too small.
2)
- they can be notoriously subjective. The Guardian’s, for example, prioritises
reasons why you’re passionate, not the reasons why Google says you should
You can contact us via:
1)
Try not to fall into the trap of relying on league tables for all your research
a university first before heading to the league tables.
http://writtenkitten.net/ gives you a picture of a kitten, puppy, or bunny every 100 - 1000 words.
Elspeth Davies introduces the new student
support service at Hills
a unique position to help.
the elaborate maze that is the UCAS website.
Useful
as it may be, there’s no point letting one email dominate your whole summer.
Have a think about how it might affect your plans if your results turn out better or worse than expected, but equally give yourself a break. You’ve earned it.
OneTab, a Google Chrome extension, allows you to condense multiple tabs into one list that then
allows you to restore them individually, as you need them, or all at once.
On the day itself, make sure your inbox has room and keep calm. Whether
you choose to go into college or not, know that there will be advisors on hand
to help you both on August 13, as well as on the mornings of the 14th, 17th,
Duolingo is a website (with iOS/Android apps) that teaches you to speak languages! With most
European languages included and more being added constantly, it uses a mixture of media to guide
you from basic sentences to complex reading, writing, and speaking. If you speak some of the language but aren’t fluent, it tests you on your ability, letting you start from the level you are already at.
18th and 19th.
Don’t panic: you’ve got until September 1st before you have to make any
concrete decisions. It’ll also help if you try not to think about how terrifying
this will all be next year. Good luck.
19
Sport
We need to talk
about Fifa
Nathan Makalena
After the arrests of FIFA officials made headlines, a lot happened in the
world of football in a very short time. Now that a month has passed,
Nathan Makalena looks back over events and at the legitimacy of the ‘non
profit organisation’.
This history of FIFA corruption, to our knowledge, goes back over a
decade when a whistleblower contacted British investigative journalist
Andrew Jennings with news of corruption within the organisation, now
thirteen years later it looks like the overwhelming size of said illegal
activities has come to light. The arrest of seven high ranking officials at
the Hotel Laur in Switzerland on May 27th opened the door for countries
to question this seemingly unstoppable giant in the world of sports and
already Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica and Switzerland are all making
their own inquests into top FIFA officials.
Above: The England Women’s Football team. The women’s football team brought glory
Several major crimes have come out of the investigation, the first
chronologically being the events that led to South Africa hosting the 2010
World Cup. Evidence was found that (then) FIFA general secretary had
transferred $10million dollars that was given to FIFA by the South African
football association to the private accounts of Jack Warner. This on its own
is enough to raise questions about the legitimacy of the bidding process for
the 2010 World Cup but the fact that $1.6 million of this money was then
spent paying off Warner’s personal loans and credit cards, and speculation
doesn’t seem like the right word anymore.
In fact the bidding process seems to be the area of most interest with
authorities with investigations already beginning into the 2014, 2018 and
2022 bids from Brazil, Russia and Qatar respectively. Switzerland started
looking into these back in November 2014 after the release of a corruption
report by U.S attorney Michael Garcia stating that there were “grounds
for suspicion that, in isolated cases, international transfers of assets with
connections to Switzerland took place which merit examination by the
criminal prosecution authorities”. As investigations go on only time can
tell if the future is also riddled with corruption, but with a bleak track
record it doesn’t look good.
UPDATE: Since the writing of this article there have been some major
advances in the FIFA corruption story.
On Wednesday 6th of June the testimony of Chuck Blazer, who was a
FIFA Executive committee member from 1996-2013, was heard by a New
York Court. He admitted to receiving bribes from South Africa related to
the hosting of the 2010 World cup as well as the failing bid of Morocco in
1998. In addition the investigation has been officially extended to cover
both the 2018 Russia and 2022 Quatar world cup bids.
Proof of bribes is only more concrete evidence needed for the improvement of this organisation but the process is taking time. So far Sepp Blatter
has not entered North American soil.
The trial continues.
to the nation. The team had a great start by winning two out of the three matches. This
qualified the team for the next stage matches where they won against Norway and Canada.
This qualified them for the semi-final against Japan which they lost. Finally they went
against Germany to compete for the third place and won the match putting them in third
place.
Below: Dustin Brown the American tennis player who has stolen the headlines after
beating Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon.