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Monday 14 May 2018 Issue 1370 Free
thecourieronline.co.uk
Interview Saffron Kershaw-Mee speaks on gender, fame and Genderquake Page 23
TV Sick and tired of other people calling the shots, we run our own awards Page 28-29
Gaming Have a look into our crystal ball, as we look on to 2018/19 Page 37
The independent voice of Newcastle students
Est 1948
Deposit nightmare for student tenants Student tenants not given prescribed information James Sproston Editor Student tenants of ATS Properties have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after deposit disputes with the Newcastle-based landlord and agency. Complaints have been made concerning the company’s malpractice surrounding deposits, as students have been unaware that their deposit in protection (DIP) scheme expired after a matter of months. The complaints against the company are rooted in the insufficient issuing of prescribed information about the deposit scheme that the student tenants have signed up to, with employees of the company delaying deposit payments and being found difficult to contact. ATS Properties employees are known to offer a ‘knockdown’ price in order to satisfy tenants, but for most this can still be a figure upwards of £500. Mr Taylor, a former ATS Properties tenant that preferred not to give his full name, remembers: “After continued assurances of deposit return for several months, three months down the line there was no response to e-mails texts or phone calls. “Following advice from the Student Advice Centre, we found out that three months had already elapsed, which was the window to open dispute, therefore our deposit had already been released to the landlord as we had missed our window.” The tenancy deposit protection scheme outlines that the tenants must be “protected in an authorised scheme”, and that “the tenants must be provided with Prescribed Information about where their deposit was protected and how the tenancy deposit protection scheme operated.” The landlord is obligated to provide this information to the tenants within 30 days of receiving the deposit. All of this information is initially outlined in the 2004 Housing Act, but was further amended by the Housing Order of 2007, clearly defining the contents of the prescribed information that landlords should provide to tenants. Crucially, this amendment not only outlined that tenants should be thoroughly informed about the scheme that they have signed onto soon after it is protected, but this information should also include “the procedures that apply under the scheme where either the landlord or the tenant is not contactable at the end of the tenancy.”
In the case of ATS Properties, this has been a consistent story. Having not been given any deposit information until 15 months after his deposit was protected, Mr Jones, another former tenant, was left waiting for over a month for evidence that the prescribed information regarding the deposit protection was provided and when. He had still not received the information when he contacted the City Council about the dispute. Tenants’ deposits are not the only issues that have been reported about ATS Properties, with the quality of the properties and poor maintenance also being called into question. Mr Jones suffered issues relating to damp and roof leakage, whilst Mr Taylor moved into a house in a dirty state, with mould coating many surfaces, bins filled with refuse and a dysfunctional central heating system. Both experienced cases where ATS Properties were unresponsive to requests to fix these issues, and were subsequently charged out of their deposits at the end of their respective tenancies. Newcastle University Students’ Union’s Student Advice Centre (SAC) provides specialist housing advice for students, and deals with multiple cases each year relating to students that are either current or former tenants of ATS Properties. Most of these cases are not able to be resolved, with the housing charity Shelter advising not taking the incidents to court. However, SAC advisors have made efforts to register ATS Properties on the City Council’s rogue landlord database at the earliest opportunity, though they fear that may come too late before students start to sign for a place to live in the 2019/20 academic year. The SAC’s housing advisor, Ruth Gibson said: “The SAC monitors the cases that come forward, which allows us to identify where issues are reoccurring. We use this information in various ways including notifying all students of the issues and by informing relevant authorities especially if it concerns breaches of legislation or regulation.” Sarah Craggs, the Union’s Welfare and Equality Officer, encourages students to spend time doing some research into who they’re signing with: “It is very easy for students to rush into signing for a house due to the pressures from housing agents from November. There’s no need to be so early when signing for a house, and deciding who you want to live with for the next year, so we recommend that students don’t panic, and not to sign a house until after the Christmas break.” We have been unable to get in contact ATS Properties for a comment.
Image: Jordan Carr
Summer shoot: The Courier Fashion head to Jesmond Dene House for an all-female photoshoot p14-15 Inside today >>>
Affordability review
PTO Elections
Ronnie Reid’s ‘Affordability Agenda’ is put under the microscope News, page 6
Read through the manifestos of five of the candidates running Elections, page 7
Stressed Out Students
Winding down
Take a look at the events and planner for the upcoming campaign Voice, page 10
Make sure that you give yourself time to destress this exam period Lifestyle, page 12
The meaning of beauty
Changing tastes
Lois Johnston explores how ‘beauty’ is different for each individual Beauty, page 19
Four of our Music writers recount how their tastes have changed at uni Music, page 24
Eco-friendly enzymes
2017/18 in review
Lily Holbrook digs deeper into the enzyme that can eat plastic Science, page 39
We celebrate the highs and ignore some of the lows in our timeline Sport, page 44-45
Image: Leslie Deng
It’s time to Travel: Be inspired by our best holiday photos p20-21
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thecourier The Courier is a weekly newspaper produced by students, for students. It’s never too late to get involved in the paper, whether you’re a writer, illustrator or photographer. Just visit thecourieronline.co.uk/about for more information. Editor James Sproston Deputy Editor Alex Hendley Online Editor Jared Moore Copy Editor Laura Staniforth Current Affairs Editor Sunil Nambiar News Editors Valentina Egorova, Hanson Jones, Louise Hall, Isabel Sykes and Zoë Crowther Comment Editors Jamie Cameron, Caitlin Disken and Alexandra Sadler Life & Style Editor Izzi Watkins Lifestyle Editors Sophie Henderson, Jaymelouise Hudspith, Lauren Sneath and Victoria Young Fashion Editors Chloe Bland, Sophie Schneider and Zofia Zwieglinska Beauty Editors Laura Greatrex, Lois Johnston and Susanne Norris Travel Editors Charlotte Hill and Talia Gillin Culture Editors Zoë Godden and Ciara RitsonCourtney Arts Editors Scarlett Rowland and Carys Thomas Music Editors Toby Bryant, Charlie Isaac and Ally Wilson TV Editors Jacob Clarke, Joel Leaver and Alex Moore Film Editors Helena Buchanan, Daniel Haygarth and Christopher Wilkinson Gaming Editors Gerry Hart, Georgina Howlett and Richard Liddle Science Editors Jack Coles, Christopher Little and Ciara Ritson-Courtney Sports Editors Mark Sleightholm, Courtney Strait, Tom Shrimplin, Sydney Isaacs and Matt Proctor The Courier NUSU King’s Walk Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8QB Tel: 0191 239 3940 The Courier is printed by: Trinity Mirror Printing, Barton Road, Riverside Park Industrial Estate, Middlesbrough, TS2 1UT Established in 1948, the Courier is the fully independent student newspaper of the Students’ Union at Newcastle University. The Courier is published weekly during term time, and is free of charge. The design, text, photographs and graphics are copyright of the Courier and its individual contributors. No parts of this newspaper may be reproduced without the prior permission of the Editor. Any views expressed in this newspaper’s opinion pieces are those of the individual writing, and not of the Courier, the Students’ Union or Newcastle University.
From the archives
2 YEARS AGO
Newcastle leaves NUS
Just six weeks before the UK voted to leave the EU, Newcastle students voted for Nexit, from NUS. Although the election of Malia Bouattia sparked disaffiliation campaigns in several universities, Newcastle’s campaign focussed instead on the perceived ineffectiveness of NUS and in particular its conference. The winning No to NUS campaign was led by Matt Wilson-Boddy and heavily supported by Courier Editor Victoria Armstrong, who both represented Newcastle at a dramatic, unproductive and hostile NUS conference. Just 6% of students voted in the crosscampus referendum, but since two thirds of these voted to leave Newcastle announced its disaffiliation, which came into effect in January 2017. Many of the Part Time Officers campaigned to remain in NUS, citing the support they received from the institution, whereas the sabbatical officer team was largely against continued affiliation.
Newcastle stays in NUS These days Newcastle is constitutionally bound to hold a referendum on NUS affiliation every three years, but the issue has been a recurring theme in Newcastle politics for much longer. One of many occasions in which Newcastle students wanted to disaffiliate from the NUS came in 1955, when the NUS wanted to disaffiliate from the IUS, it’s international counterpart. Set up in the aftermath of the Second World War, the IUS quickly became a solidly communist organisation and was heavily supported by the USSR. Western members retaliated by establishing the International Students Council, which was eventually disbanded after its CIA connections were revealed. The NUS just about remained part of the organisations on both sides of the Cold War, but calls to leave the IUS were frequent, much to the dismay of Newcastle students, who strongly supported the communist IUS. In 1955 Newcastle threatened to leave the NUS if the NUS left the IUS, although this never actually came to anything.
Spoons rant leads to end of the Crescents
A four-hundred year old Cambridge society has disbanded after a student was filmed mocking “inclusivity”. A video posted on Facebook of the Trinity Hall Crescents, an all-male drinking society, during a social event at Wetherspoons shows a student – who the Crescents state “was not a member” standing on a chair making a speech. As well as comments about paying for swimming lessons, he jokes that the “single biggest problem facing the Crescents in the modern age” is “inclusivity”. When other members of the group noticed the incident was being filmed, one asked the person filming to stop, saying “it’s not really on”. Trinity Hall has opened an investigation into the matter, and cancelled the Crescents’ annual garden party before the society decided to disband.
Channel 4’s new home
Barbara Strang dies
63 YEARS AGO
CROSS-CAMPUS NEWS
LOCAL NEWS
36 YEARS AGO
Much like Stan Calvert, Barbara Strang was far more than just a name to previous generations of Newcastle students. One of the University’s most prestigious and well-known academics, her career spanned over three decades and achieved notoriety among students for her stern, authoritative manner. Strang’s sudden death in 1982, at the age of just 56, prompted tributes from staff and students and the Courier, but her status within the University was demonstrated best by the reaction to a controversial Courier article three years earlier. Features editor Nick Morrell, under the pseudonym of Dave Niklaus, had published a quarter-page personal attack on Strang in the paper, describing her as “a remnant of an oppressive past” and her lectures as “painful torture”. This prompted a full page worth of letters to the editor in the following issue defending Strang. Strang joined the University in 1950 and became a professor of English language and linguistics in 1964, quickly becoming one of the country’s leading linguistics experts. Her husband was also a Newcastle professor, of philosophy, and died just after the Bedson Teaching Centre was renamed in his wife’s honour in 2014.
Monday 14 May 2018
Professor Barbara Strang taught at the University for over 30 years Image: The Courier
Newcastle and Gateshead are hoping to become one of three new regional bases for Channel 4 as the broadcaster prepares to move some of its operations out of London. Government pressure to move to a different part of the UK has prompted the organisation to invite cities to bid to host one of three new “cultural bases”, one of which will be the channel’s new national headquarters. Over 300 jobs will be created outside of London as a result of the move. Newcastle and Gateshead are launching a joint bid, joining the likes of Birmingham, Manchester and Brighton. Local MPs Catherine McKinnell and Chi Onwurah, who used to work for broadcasting regulator Ofcom, have backed the bid, with the final decisions due to be made later this year.
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@TheCourier_News courier.news@ncl.ac.uk thecourieronline.co.uk/news Current Affairs Editor Sunil Nambiar News Editors Valentina Egorova, Hanson Jones, Louise Hall, Isabel Sykes & Zoë Crowther
Uni shop rewards recycling to reduce waste Mark Sleightholm Newcastle could soon become the first students’ union in the country to introduce a deposit scheme for plastic bottles, as part of a plan to tackle plastic waste on campus. Reducing the Union’s waste is a key objective of Graham Hattam, Director of Commercial and Marketing. While the Union already has a good, even award-winning, environmental record, plastic bottles are a stumbling block to sustainability that are attracting increasing amounts of public attention. From September the Union shop will give students and other customers who bring back their empty plastic bottles a discount on their next purchase, much like the discount Eat@Newcastle outlets now offer for hot drinks if students bring their own reusable cup. The shop aims to collect the equivalent of 50% of the plastic bottles it sells,
meaning that at least half of the plastic bottle waste the shop currently disperses, through its sales, over the city will be collected and recycled by O’Briens, the Union’s waste contractor.
Plans for similar schemes at UK supermarkets were outlined by the Government earlier this year and have achieved widespread success Plans for similar schemes at UK supermarkets were outlined by the Government earlier this year and have achieved widespread success in countries across Europe. Recycling from the Student Union and
the University is collected by O’Briens, one of the North East’s leading waste and recycling companies and familyowned until its sale to Biffa last year. With a combination of manual and automated sorting techniques O’Briens are better equipped than most to deal with commingled recycling, explaining the Union’s shift away from separatelycoloured bins for different materials in recent years. The Union’s environmental policies have seen it consistently awarded NUS Green Impact Gold Awards prior to its disaffiliation last year, and it has already committed to phasing out plastic drinking straws, with plastic bottles the next target. The use of plastic cups in Luther’s is required by licensing regulations relating to live music venues, but the Union is investigating more environmentallyfriendly alternatives. Hattam is keen to push further, however, and is looking into more sustainable purchasing options for NUSU. Eve-
rything from compostable cups to glass water bottles – which, like the increasingly popular glass milk bottles, can be returned and reused – is under consideration, as the Union aims to balance sustainability with a range of affordable options for students.
A growth of the market for sustainable, plantbased or healthier food options makes this a much more profitable area than it was even a few years ago While the majority of food options within the Students’ Union are provided by chains such as Starbucks and Subway, each of which has its own waste and re-
cycling policies, the Union is exploring ways of introducing more healthy and locally sourced food options as well. McKenna’s, the company behind the Northern Stage café, could play a key part in this provision, with its focus on sourcing food from local suppliers. Hattam points to a shift in student demand when it comes to food. Previous attempts to introduce “healthy” options have proved short-lived due to low sales, but the growth of the market for sustainable, plant-based or healthier options makes this a much more profitable area than it was even a few years ago. Regardless of the political impacts, one advantage of Newcastle’s recent disaffiliation from NUS is its ability to negotiate its own suppliers, rather than being bound to NUS purchasing agreements. In many cases this works out cheaper or offers greater choice to the Union, and the introduction of new vegan and healthy food options is just one consequence of this.
Students will get a discount for returning their empty plastic bottles Image: Pexels
Exeter students expelled over racist WhatsApp comments Charlotte Boulton
It is not yet known how many students have been expelled Image: Wikipedia Commons
Multiple Exeter University students have been expelled following an investigation into racist comments within a Whatsapp group chat. The comments were exposed by Arsalan Motavali, a student who was a part of the Bracton Law Society group chat. He shared screenshots on Facebook where they quickly went viral, sparking an internal investigation by the university. According to an email circulated to the university’s staff and students, there were expulsions, suspensions and other sanctions for those involved. It is not known who or how many of the students have been expelled. The comments included racist slurs, dark film references and “awful things said about rape”. Motavali was appalled by the comments, saying: “It got too much for me so I just left the group chat and forwarded the messages to some of my [nonuniversity] friends. I told them about everything that had happened and they
were horrified.” He chose to publish images of the comments on social media for people to see the contents of the Law Society’s members views. He defended his choice to publish these by saying: “You should know the consequences of the statements you’re making.” The university handled the investigation with a focus on ensuring students understood that this behaviour would not be tolerated or ignored. Vice Chancellor Professor Sir Steve Smith said there was “no place” for “unacceptable racist, sexist and bigoted behaviour”. Exeter University has investigated various other incidents of racism and prejudice before, including a case of swastikas being carved into doors during Freshers’ Week 2016 and students wearing “Don’t speak to me if you’re not white” t-shirts. University spokespeople maintain that “any form of racist or discriminatory behaviour is unacceptable.” They have created a ‘Provost Commission’ to improve the diversity and equality message of the university community.
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Labour strengthens majority in Newcastle Isabel Sykes News Editor
Local elections took place across the country on Thursday 3rd May. Since the creation of new ward boundaries in Newcastle, all 78 seats council seats were available for the first time since 2004.
“Labour in Newcastle has been standing up for our communities, really standing up to the government’s austerity programme” Nick Forbes, Labour Leader of Newcastle City Council
Overall it was a victory for Labour, who extended their majority to 56 seats, an increase of two. The Liberal Democrats won 19 seats, which was a decrease of one, and independent candidates won 3 seats, which was also down one. It has now been 22 years since the Conservatives have had a Newcastle councillor. Three independent candidates won in the Chapel ward, the Lib Dems held on to Gosforth despite a challenge posed by the Conservatives, and Labour regained seats in South Jesmond and Walkergate. One of the closest results was in the Ouseburn ward, where the Liberal Democrat councillor Gareth Kane lost his seat to Labour’s Stephen Powers by just 12 votes after a recount. Nick Forbes, Labour Leader of Newcastle City Council, was elected to serve
the Arthur’s Hill ward on Thursday. According to the BBC, he said he was “delighted” with the result in Newcastle. He said: “They’re a real endorsement that Labour in Newcastle has been standing up for our communities, really standing up to the government’s austerity programme which has had such a huge impact.” In terms of the national picture, polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice told the BBC that the local election was a ‘draw’ between the Labour and Conservative parties in terms of their national performance, with the BBC’s projected national vote share at 35% for both parties. Overall, turnout in the local elections was predictably poor in comparison to the 2017 national election, which saw a 62.9% turnout in the North East. This reflects findings in the Electoral Commission published in October 2017, which reported a ‘continuing lack of engagement, particularly among young people, with the local elections’. The report also said that one third of respondents to a survey, including nearly half of 18-34 year olds, did not feel that they had enough information about candidates to make an informed choice. This year, just over a third of the North East electorate voted in the local elections. In Newcastle specifically, 38% of those eligible turned out to vote. The most engaged ward was Chapel with a 57.2% turnout, and the least was the Monument ward where 26.2% of the electorate voted. As the North East’s turnout for the 2017 national vote was nearly double the turnout in some places this year, it appears the problem of engagement remains unresolved.
Turnout was poor compared to the 2017 national election Image: Flickr
Stu Brew launches Precarious work plagues PhD Combustible Lemons students at Newcastle University Dan Jordan
On Friday 4th May, Stu Brew – Newcastle University’s very own student-led brewery celebrated the start of summer with a brand-new beer – “Combustible Lemons” a collaboration with local boys, Errant Brewery. As well as the new beer, it gave everybody a chance to meet the new committee – a team that are going to take Stu Brew in a bold and exciting direction for the next year. Now, if there’s two things you can count on students and brewers to do, it’s to make decent beer, and hold a decent party. And so, it proved. With a whole variety of Stu Brew’s finest and newest beers, and cracking food in the form of Greek souvlaki and gyros, good beer and good times were had by all.
The new beer, Combustible Lemons, is aptly named. I say this because the moment the first splash of golden wonder passes into your mouth, you’re hit with a crackling twist of lemon zest. It’s a delicious pale ale, designed for summer – but at 5.4%, it’s very deceptive, it’s so smooth and mild you’d be no fool for thinking it was a soft drink. And with this gorgeous weather, you’d be wary of drinking more than a couple if you want to get other things done with your day! The alcohol helps to give it a smooth finish with notes of lemongrass and fresh flowers. If this sounds like your kind of thing, you can try it at Errant Brewery’s Taphouse, The Town Mouse, or contact either brewery to find out where it might head next. If you’d like to get involved with the society, you can sign up on the NUSU Societies page or contact Stu Brew through their website.
Stu Brew’s brand new flavour Image: Stu Brew
Scott Houghton When I first came to Newcastle University in 2013, my only experience of university life had been what I could cobble together from TV shows and films, despite the odd school university visit. I was surprised then when during my first week, the professor taught us in a big three-hundred seat lecture theatre, and my seminars were taught by what looked like more junior staff. After another week I noticed everyone was taught by someone different. I was surprised further when these people said they would be marking my first-year exams, and, a few weeks in, went on strike.
Many of the PhD students who were approached for this article declined to comment, even anonymously I hadn’t thought much about it until now, and it was only until around the end of my second year that I discovered they had been PhD students. Yet, after reading an article in The Guardian Higher Education Network this week, which claimed that PhD students who do work are often paid either nothing or below the minimum wage – at £5 an hour when factoring in preparation – I was shocked. Were these the people who taught me all those years ago at
undergrad? Research by the University and College Union in 2016 would say that, on average for a student in the UK, it was likely. The study paints a dismal picture of precarious work in higher education, citing such examples as: “when the use of atypical academic staff is factored in, 54% of all academic staff and 49% of all academic teaching staff are on insecure contracts,” and that “If you are an undergraduate in a UK university, it is very likely that you are being taught by someone on an insecure or precarious contract.” Moreover, the writer of The Guardian article decided to author the piece anonymously, perhaps fearful of repercussions. Many of the PhD students who were approached for this article declined to comment, even anonymously, about their working situations. One PhD student who I spoke to revealed that he had been paid for teaching but would not allow his name or subject to be published in this article. One PhD student described how, although they had never taught on behalf of their department, the teaching they did for summer school was very generous. They did have an issue with how payment was processed however, saying that many students wouldn’t be able to wait that long to be paid for their work.
Even if funding was given, it was a case of the lowest fare Another PhD student claimed that the funding for conferences was whol-
ly inadequate, leading many students to self-fund. Even if funding was given, it was a case of the lowest fare and lowest cost accommodation. Another student said that payment for running conferences and organising workshops is precarious as some are paid while others are not.
The rise of zerohour contracts in the fast food and retail industries are an example of how this attitude has crept into our everyday lives This is all extra stress adding to the work of finishing a PhD. The lack of funding available for PhD students amongst most university departments is especially shocking considering that Russell Group universities typically earn around £688 million a year. Of course, this is not just a problem for one particular institution or collection of institutions. It is a rather a particular economic worldview which needs to be changed. This is not just prevalent within academia either: the rise of zero-hour contracts in the fast food and retail industries are an example of how this attitude has crept into our everyday lives. This results in more precarious work, which the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says is one of the root causes of poverty in the UK today.
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Monday 14 May 2018
Home Secretary under fire over visa language tests Hanson Jones News Editor Home Secretary Sajid Javid has been criticised and urged to review the treatment of foreign students in the UK after accusations from the Home Office that thousands cheated in language tests as part of their visa status.
Up to 4,000 students from abroad may have been falsely accused of cheating on language tests according to one immigration lawyer
Home Secretary Sajid Javid has been criticsed for the cheating allegations Image: Flickr
Up to 4,000 students from abroad may have been falsely accused of cheating on language tests according to one immigration lawyer. This resulted in foreign students being barred from their course at university, visas being cancelled and forcing them to return to their home country. Almost 40,000 visas were revoked by the Home Office after a US-based company which ran the testing system reviewed voice files and declared over 50,000 of the results to be “invalid” or “questionable”. This began in 2014 as Theresa May was Home Secretary. Students were told that they could appeal the decision to revoke their visa,
but only after leaving and returning to their home country. In some of these countries such as China and India however, there was no way to do this. Labour MP Stephen Timms declared the Home Office’s stance and actions as “hostile” and “scandalous”, commenting that students’ lives have been ruined by the decisions. The Home Office has defended the actions, stating that their investigations into the testing system showed widespread cheating and organised fraud.
“Action should be taken only against individual students or institutions if there is clear and compelling evidence of abuse of the student visa system” A spokesperson for Universities UK
A spokesperson for Universities UK commented, “Home Office research shows that levels of visa abuse involving university students is very low and universities take their compliance responsibilities seriously. Action should be taken only against individual students or institutions if there is clear and compelling evidence of abuse of the student visa system.”
NUSU launches confidential disclosure form
Student accommodation profit revealed
James Sproston Editor
Following a freedom of information request, The Courier has been granted access to figures showing the operating profit of Newcastle University’s student accommodation. The data shows great fluctuation over the past decade, but indicates that the university’s halls of residence have generally been of great profitability, with an operating profit of £1.8m being recorded for 2015/16. These figures add fuel to the fiery debate over university accommodation costs, which has drawn national attention but has struck Newcastle particularly hard. In 2016, North-East property consultancy GVA published a student housing report which placed Newcastle’s average student rent as being £140 per week. This 4% rise from the previ-
Newcastle University Students’ Union has launched a new accessible online disclosure system that covers sexual harassment, sexual Violence, discrimination and bullying. In conjunction with the Union’s Student Advice Centre (SAC), the disclosure system will remain confidential and anonymous, meaning that the University will not be informed of the report. The new form replaces the ‘It’s Not OK’ system, which reported all cases directly to the Union’s Welfare and Equality Officer, who more often than not signposted to a different service. In contrast, the new form incorporates signposting into the form itself, giving detailed information on support for each case, as well as providing the option of confidentially disclosing information to the SAC through the form or booking an appointment with the SAC for professional advice. It also includes a link to Northumbria Police. The new disclosure system has been supported by the It Happens Here Society, who offer peer-to-peer counselling, having been trained by Tyneside Rape Crisis. The form can be found on the ‘Support’ section of the NUSU website, under the name ‘It Happens Here’. Sarah Craggs, incumbent NUSU Welfare and Equality Officer, stated: “The process has become a lot simpler for students to get independent professional support, as well as having a lot more resources on the form itself to help signpost anyone that might need it.” The change comes during the University’s ‘Changing The Culture’ policy, which is currently being implemented across campus following the UUK’s 2016 report “examining violence against women, harassment and hate crime affecting university students.”
Grace Dean
ous year is at double the rate of national inflation.
With continually increasing numbers of students in Newcastle, the future of the city’s student accommodation remains uncertain Newcastle’s student population has seen a boom over the last decade, with more than 43,000 now residing in the city. While the number of students in higher education grew nationally by 16% 2000-2015, Newcastle’s student population grew 68% in the same time period.
This huge growth has been attributed to both the government’s removal of student intake limits on universities, and the growing popularity of the city’s two universities to international students, who now total 10,000. Consequently, student accommodation in Newcastle is in high demand, with only 38% of Newcastle students having access to purpose-built student accommodation. This fuels a need for new development. Recent student accommodation developments include the 134-bed Albert Place in Shieldfield, which was sold to real estate specialists Kout Advisory in April 2018 for £104m. The project was completed ahead of the 2017/18 academic year, and the accommodation is expected to reach full occupancy of all 134 beds in the 2018/19 academic year due to its proximity to the Northumbria campus and high-quality, modern interior. Additional recent student hous-
ing developments in Newcastle include those by Tyne Student Living and Vita Student Newcastle. Other significant recent property transactions in Newcastle include the purchase of St James’ House for £16.5m and the sale of a portfolio of student properties to a major Singaporean private property developer for £40.6m. This evidence reinforces Newcastle’s reputation as a growing investment hotspot. The student accommodation market is increasingly popular with investors because of the low risk levels and promising profit levels compared to many traditional commercial and residential plots. Critics however fear that the city is reaching saturation point, with GVA ultimately concluding in their report that this could lead to oversupply. With continually increasing numbers of students in Newcastle, the future of the city’s student accommodation remains uncertain.
Increasing numbers of students means demand for accommodation is high Image: Geograph
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Monday 14 May 2018
In review: ‘The Affordability Agenda’ James Sproston investigates NUSU President Ronnie Reid’s manifesto pledge to students to “make your money go further”
Library meal deal
NUSU microwave
Food on campus has always been a talking point among students, with prices across the University being considered too high. Since the University benefit from VAT exemptions from food, it is thought that eating on campus should be cheaper than other parts of Newcastle.
Reid managed to secure a revision in the cost strategy of food across the University, introducing a meal deal in libraries for the first time. With students having saved over £10,000 since its introduction, and more eating on campus that ever before, it is thought to be a win for both parties.
Placement fees
Though students on placements do not pay full tuition fees, Newcastle students have typically paid £1000 for the support they receive from the University on their year off campus. In support of these students, Reid op-
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Rent paper Increasing accommodation costs is one way in which the student experience has changed over the course of the last few years. With the demolition of Richardson Road and the potential closure of St Mary’s, there has been a movement to higher-end accommodation that offers en-suite rooms.
In University meetings, Reid has been unable to stem the tide of the accommodation strategy, however he has managed to ensure that a 3.5% price rise in St Mary’s was prevented, and that Marris House and Castle Leazes will remain in the price band within which they currently sit.
Sports membership For many, being a member of the University Sports Centre, in either a gold or a silver capacity, can be a heavy financial burden. Paying fees in lump sums has been an issue for many, and
Reid in his own words: The scrapping of maintenance grants and overall societal increase in the cost of living has clearly affected students. With recent studies revealing the extent to which so many students financially struggle, students’ unions must identify and deliver creative strategies to cut the cost of living. Students should be focused on essays, exams and their social life, not whether or not they can afford lunch. This year, we can be proud of the progress we have made. NUSU have presided over an affordability agenda which seeks to benefit the student from St Mary’s to the Jesmond library goer, and in the process we’ve helped put over half a million pounds back in the pockets of students. I hope that NUSU can build on the progress of this year, and highlight to the University the difference that the elimination of hidden costs can have on student life and wellbeing.
also puts many students off joining the gold membership scheme. To tackle this, Reid raised the issue in the first sport strategy meeting of the year, with the aim of having a more fi-
Students spend a lot of money on sport Whether this deters some students is debatable, but there have been some cases of unwitnessed noise complaints being unfounded that could potentially lead to fines. Other sanctions have been discussed, such as community service as an option instead of fines, however there is a danger this will create a divide between those students that can afford fines, and those that can’t. There doesn’t seem to be a clear solution, but it will be interesting to see how that progresses in the future. Whilst most students understand the purpose of library fines, there is a feeling in some corners of the student community, that some purposefully
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off food & St Mary’s 50% discounted grad buses gown hire
For many of the first year students residing in St Mary’s, travel to and from University is a considerable financial burden. Following his motion passing through Student Council, Reid lobbied the University for a bus service for those students. As a result, a £34,000 deal was struck with Stagecoach, providing a free service for St Mary’s on the Number 36 and 63 buses.
nancially friendly method of payment. Details of the student saving are set to be revealed when the University’s new sport strategy is announced.
Affordability: where next? Over the past year, it would seem that there have been some big strides forwards in terms of affordability, but where can progress still be made? One topic that has been hotly debated in recent years is the disciplinary process of anti-social behavior in residential areas. Currently, the University sanctions students a fine of between £30 and £300 if they are found to have caused anti-social disturbance.
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posed the 76% increase to this fee for domestic students, and the 400% increase for international students. Through his role on the Student Finance Committee, Reid was able to voice this opposition and scrutinise the increase.
delay the return of books because they need them for their courses. Some academic resources and text books can cost hundreds of pounds, so should some form of subsidy or ‘book swap’ system be in place to help students foot these costs? Another area in which student tend to spend a lot of money is sport. Though Ronnie Reid is yet to reveal the exact nature of the savings that he has achieved through the sport strategy meetings, there remains a significant cost to some students of playing regular sport each week. Though most will not argue with the actual match fee itself, playing in locations such as Cochrane Park and Longbenton leaves many out of pocket on travel. It is believed that this is already on the agenda for Reid, aiming to enact a similar system to that used by Northumbria to send students to Coach Lane Campus, potentially utilising the links already established through the St Mary’s bus service. Attention will therefore turn to promises by the incoming AU Officer Maggie Elstob, who pledged to lobby for a free shuttle bus to these sports grounds, so time will tell whether the policy is followed through.
Last week, Newcastle University Students’ Union announced via Facebook: “We’ve secured 50% OFF all food and drink @ NUSU Starbucks, including the Marjory Robinson Library, Walton Library, Philip Robinson Library, Business School Café.” It is also believed that there will be significant discounts on gown hire in July and in December. Reid said: “The Students’ Union were consulted on how best to use the pay withheld from staff members involved in the recent strike action. As in previous years we have worked on the principle that the money should be reinvested in the student experience, and things that would directly benefit students. As such they put forward a number of measures for consideration and a number are now being implemented.”
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Monday 14 May 2018
THE PART TIME OFFICER ELECTIONS Grace Algar RUNNING FOR:
STUDENTS WITH FAITH OR BELIEF OFFICER
My name is Grace and I am a non-denominational Christian. Faith representation within the university matters as university can be a difficult time for students of faith as they move away from their home faith communities. In my role as Faith and Belief Officer I would aim to: -Encourage university transparency about resources for students of faith -Represent the views and experiences of students of faith to the Students Union Council -Seek to improve reception and implementation of criticism from students of faith -Work with faith societies to coordinate faith
campaigns on campus -Organise and coordinate activities across campus to promote the awareness of the issues faced by students of faith at university -Help to further signpost resources available from the university chaplaincy service -Investigate ways to campaign for diversity on the chaplaincy team and push for these changes -Aim to hold monthly office hours so that students of faith can confide in me in person alongside my online availability Intersectionality is also very important to me; the experiences of people of faith are also influenced by other aspects of their identities, it is important to diversify the image of people of faith.
I’m Haaris and I’m running for Students with Disabilities Officer. For context, I’m physically disabled, including mobility issues and autism, and have neurological disorders (including sensory) and mental illnesses. I’m very aware that my own experiences alone aren’t enough to adequately represent the range of disabilities students at Newcastle will have, which is why I’ll endeavour to hold feedback sessions and drop-ins a couple of times a month find out if there are any issues which need addressing that I’m unaware of. In preparation for running for this role, I’ve already spoken to my two immediate predecessors
and the Disability and Neurodiversity Society (of which I’m also a member) to gain some insight into issues which I should address should I be elected. I also intend to use my communications and marketing experience from previous society positions and working in student media to ensure that my work, campaigns and my assistance is advertised to as many of the disabled student population as possible. My role as a PTO is more significant and relevant the more I would operate in in conjunction to the needs of the students I represent, hence why engagement will be one of the priorities for me.
elections
Haaris Qureshi
RUNNING FOR:
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES OFFICER
My name is Joel Atkin and I’m running for Students with Disabilities Officer. MY PLEDGE TO STUDENTS: Give students a voice! Get ALL departments to USE Recap Improve Sexual Violence Matters within Student Wellbeing Enhance Disability Awareness Week. Make it easier for students to understand how they can claim their DSA from the university Help students who haven’t been officially diag-
RUNNING FOR:
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES OFFICER
Joel Atkin I pledge to help remove the stigma of mental health nosed with a disability or mental health issue. Help remove the stigma of Mental Health www.facebook.com/YESWECANNUSU2018/ YES WE CAN
Pablo Charro De La Fuente My name is Pablo Charro De La Fuente and I am running for International Students´ Officer because I believe I have the experience and ideas necessary to ensure that all international students feel equally and fairly represented. I think that now, more than ever, the Student Union needs an International Officer that strongly defends the rights of international students. I aim to protect the rights of the European students after Brexit, and express my opposition to any policy that tries to reduce their rights to study at our University. Besides this, I will endeavour to prevent action by the University against our fellow International students, and I will therefore be firmly
opposing the policy trying to cap the hours Tier 4 Visa students can work. This academic year I have held the role of Business School Rep, and I believe that in this time I have successfully helped enhance the inclusion of international students. I have organised events celebrating multiculturalism, and have increased conversations surrounding the needs of international students. If I become your new international officer I will endeavour to create a more democratic and humanitarian Union that supports the development of a comfortable learning environment for all students.
Hello! My name is Christopher Wilkinson, I am a Second Year Classics student, and I am running to be your next Racial Equality Officer. I believe that as your Racial Equality officer I could promote an anti-racist ethos on campus, and reach out and show Newcastle University as an influencer of equality in the city as well as among other Universities. As shown by the recent celebrations of Martin Luther King’s visit to Newcastle, our University has always been one of the most progressive in the country, and this is something that we should be proud of and recognise. Problems can, however, arise, and I believe that I am the best candidate to resolve these problems. I would campaign against the hateful groups that seem to appear out of nowhere with the help of organisations such as Stand Up to Racism, and
promote diversity in the many different societies we have whilst strengthening communication between the Union and the different cultures and ethnicities which make our campus so vibrant and unique.
Christopher Wilkinson RUNNING FOR:
RACIAL EQUALITY OFFICER
I would campaign against the hateful groups that seem to appear out of nowhere As both President of the Classics Society and an editor for the Courier, I believe I have the experience working in the Union to be Racial Equality Officer.
RUNNING FOR:
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ OFFICER
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Monday 14 May 2018
@CourierComment courier.comment@ncl.ac.uk thecourieronline.co.uk/comment Comment Editors Jamie Cameron, Caitlin Disken & Alexandra Sadler
Flashing Amber Rudd green
Following Rudd’s resignation as Home Secretary, our writers debate if she was simply a scapegoat for someone else’s mistakes James Davies
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o me, it actually seems quite unfair on Amber Rudd. Despite her actually being quite a weak politician, she was stronger than Theresa May. Theresa May was the one who didn’t show up to the debates, and in fact the one who set the targets that caused this Windrush scandal. Despite that, because Theresa May is no longer Home Secretary, the blame fell to the person who was in the position at the time all of this came out. Someone had to fall, had to be sacked. Once again, Theresa May has managed to stay in a role I don’t believe she deserves while those around her take the fall for her.
She was stupid, but I don’t think that Rudd was as evil as everyone made out I’m not saying that Amber Rudd was perfect. She did, after all, very nearly lose her seat in the last General Election, and she did flat out deny the allegations at first, but in my view, she suffered the same fate many politicians in our country do. To an extent, most Conservative politicians probably feel like they’re being lead by someone who can’t run a bath, let alone a country. It’s really making people angry. The Tories seem to have less support with every passing day, the main reason being Theresa May being incapable. What I’m trying to say is that Amber Rudd was just a victim of a leader who is clinging on to power in whatever way necessary,
not supporting her cabinet by accepting responsibility. It’s no wonder that senior party leaders continually turn on Theresa May. Putting parties aside, Amber Rudd was, in my view, a good Home Secretary. I really do feel quite sorry for her that she’s resigned under these circumstances. She was certainly stupid, but I really don’t think she was as evil as everyone made out. I certainly don’t think she wanted to send people back to countries they’ve never been to, but I also think she was reckless not to look into the scandal further, and certainly she was reckless to deny it.
Philip Armstrong
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mber Rudd mislead, either deliberately or accidentally, the Home Affairs Select Committee about her knowledge of quotas on deportations from the UK. Deliberately misleading is a serious offence in Parliament and, as there is no way to prove if it was deliberate or not, Rudd had little choice but to resign. What’s more, individual ministerial responsibility dictates that a minister is ultimately responsible for the actions of their department. So regardless of whether she did or did not know of the quotas, she should have. Thus, her department has clearly carried out a policy with serious negative impacts on UK citizens and she must take responsibility for this. However, these facts lead to an entirely different issue. The real debate is not whether Amber Rudd should have resigned, but whether anyone else should also take responsibility for the “Win-
drush Scandal”. The most high-profile example is the Prime Minister, Theresa May. As the Home Secretary when the policy was first enacted, it is Theresa May who first brought to life the “hostile environment”. Aimed at forcing illegal immigrants, who lack an indefinite leave to remain, to leave the UK of their own accord due to a “hostile environment”. Unfortunately, this policy has also led to those dubbed “the Windrush Generation”, who should have had the right to remain in the UK, suffering from unacceptable treatment by the UK government, including denial of NHS care and welfare benefits. A synonymous situation can be seen in the devolved government of Northern Ireland, where the Renewable Heating Incentive scheme saw the loss of nearly half a billion pounds of taxpayer money. The similarity is that the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment Minister, who was in charge when the scheme was enacted, went on to become the First Minister, Arlene Foster. As the impact of the failed scheme came to light, many in the devolved legislature felt she should resign as First Minister, citing Individual Ministerial Responsibility. Foster refused, and the government subsequently collapsed.
Rudd had little choice but to resign With such catastrophic results in Northern Ireland, the question has to be asked. What damage could Theresa May cause to the UK government if she refuses to step down over her involvement in the Windrush Scandal?
Images: Flickr, Wikimedia Commons and Pxhere
Genderquake: a conversation? With the release of new C4 show Genderquake, our writers discuss notions of gender identity, and if gender roles are outdated Georgia Corbett
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ender politics has been shaking up the modern world for the last two hundred years, and what started within a binary is now expanding. With that expansion, so comes the inevitable questions of why gender identify at all? And do the roles that any gender encompasses actually represent any of us?
Gender is how you feel, not how you appear to the outside world As Saffron Mee explains, those outside the binary don’t want to erase or invalidate anyone’s gender’ rather it seems to be more that the definitions need to get a lot looser. So, gender is how you feel, not how you appear to the outside world. It is actually about how you personally identify. To appear ‘femme’ or ‘masc’ or ‘andro-‘ is merely a stylistic choice that has little to no bearing on your gender identity. However, is that reality translating into our modern society? Saffron claims not quite. This progress in the last 100 years, although monumental, does not equate to the breakdown of these roles. Saffron argues our minds should be focused less on the dismantling of gender as an entire institution, and more on ‘challenging the ‘norm’ and being the vanguard for more inclusive and progressive views on gender.’
It is this notion that is exactly the premise of new show Genderquake. This is a show to open our minds to what is beyond our own experience. Representation on the show ranges from a straight cis woman to our own Saffron who identifies as nonbinary. Why be mutually exclusive? Gender roles are out, but gender is here to stay.
John O’Carroll
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udging from the trailer of this ‘documentary’, it will most certainly not be worth your time. It has the etchings of another left wing circlejerk vanity project whose sole aims are to score political and identitarian points; to allow the creators, and those who subscribe to the point of view that gender is a spectrum and not diametric, to gloat in a mire of their collective self gratification. With regards to gender roles being ‘outdated’ and ‘unhealthy’, I think it quite dangerous to consider that they are either. The moment they are gone, we are doomed as a culture.
The moment gender roles are gone, we are doomed as a culture Gender roles are valuable for the success of any society. Here in the west we are seeing a disruption to, and a lack of respect for the long standing tradition of gender role. As a consequence, but not totally because of, we are seeing declining birth rates
and ever-increasing dissatisfaction with life across the wider population. Where gender roles no longer play a part in normal life, we see cultures and populations on the decline, particularly in Scandinavian countries, and to a lesser extent our own. Along with our culture, our history and achievements will go along with it. The state of where we are now is as Churchill said of the second battle of Alamein: “this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Make no mistake, our hegemony will not last forever and the end is nigh.
The same goes with traditionally feminine outfits, such as skirts and dresses, being seen as signifiers of female identity or feminine traits. The truth is, at the end of the day, both ties and skirts are bits of f*cking fabric,. They are heavily embroidered with archaic notions that personal expression is equal to identity. A skirt can be used to express masculinity. A bow tie can make someone feel feminine. I know right? Liberating.
Saffron Mee
What you wear does not have to have one single iota of alignment with your own identity, and assumptions should not be made about an individual because of how their clothing on their backs is stitched together. Gender should be about what you feel, not what you wear. Many people, myself included, feel they have to ‘pass’ on certain days as a binary gender, to feel safe, included and welcome in any particular space. But why should we? As a trans person, I’ve begun to embrace how much I confuse strangers on the street in regards to my gender expression. Just because I wear ‘masculine presenting’ clothing, doesn’t mean I feel like a man deep down. Actually, I feel like me, an androgyne mess, and I aim to keep it that way. To narcissistically quote one of my own poems, the world “looks at our genitals, slap our arse and declares our identity. I don’t remember my vagina containing instructions on how long my hair should be.”
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he words “are you a boy or a girl” have been flung at me in public toilets, walkways, across the digital playground, you name it. This is most probably due to the fact that I present myself in a way which doesn’t fit with the gender role assumed upon me at birth, due to having a vagina. When leaving the house wearing a suit and tie, I am bombarded with strange looks, assumptive heckles and terms of address such as ‘alright man’, ‘thank you sir’, and my personal favourite ‘d*ke’. This whole discourse centres around the misconception that what you look like, or your gender expression and style, determines your gender identity. People think that those who choose to wear stereotypically masculine outfits, such as suits, identify themselves as male, or embody masculine traits.
What you wear does not have one single iota of alignment with identity
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Monday 14 May 2018
Deliberating on drugs Is it the duty of universities to combat the rising number of students using recreational drugs? Grace Dean
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he University of Buckingham has been caught in a national media storm following its controversial attempts to become Britain’s first drug-fee campus. The university is planning to request all students to sign contracts promising to not consume illegal drugs on university property. This has come following The Sunday Times reporting that the number of UK students penalised for drug-related felonies has increased by 42% since 2015. Acclaimed drug policy advisor Tom Lloyd, who formerly served as Cambridgeshire’s chief constable, is critical of the proposal, suggesting that the university is “infantilising” students with its “naïve” beliefs.
The university must get to the root of the problem and offer pastoral support His viewpoint mirrors many major arguments in drug policy debate. If the university genuinely wants to discourage use of illicit substances, merely prohibiting them from campus won’t achieve this aim. Students would undeniably continue taking drugs, merely in different, and potentially more dangerous, locations. Is the university suggesting this policy just to cover its own back and protect the reputation of the campus without caring for the wellbeing of its students? To discourage substance abuse, the university must instead get to the root of the problem and offer pastoral support. Students need to be consulted to establish their own personal drug-related concerns, and in liaison with drug policy professionals the university can establish a progressive policy, which acknowledges the reasons for students’ substance intake. Tom Lloyd furthers this by encouraging the presence of drug-testing organisations such as The Loop on university campuses. Ultimately recreational drugs are an integral part of modern student life, and any attempts at prohibition, however well-meaning, will just fall flat. People will always find a way to meet their needs. Instead, the University of Buckingham should adapt a forward-thinking approach which prioritises safe, controlled and responsible drug use and puts the mental and physical wellbeing of students in first place.
far removed from reality that the present situation comes as no surprise. So why shouldn’t universities step in where the
John O’Carroll
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nyone with a semblance of morality will not want to see the lives of our young people squandered through, not only the carelessness of the self, but also due to an absence of care by the state. As any classical libertarian like myself should believe, the state should have as little interference in people’s lives as is possible. However, interference in certain areas is necessary so that the quality of life and the general wellbeing of the society as a whole is not compromised. We have seen a marked 50% decrease in drug arrests since 2010. What sort of message does this send to the would-be drug user or despicably criminal drug supplier? It seems like a green light to me: go on, go ahead, ruin your life, break the law. It’s not as though there will be any real penalty. Students see no real consequence for drug abuse. Many of them are studying for degrees they care little for and are of ever decreasing value. More and more of our young people are being hoisted
Universities evidently have more sense and sympathy than the law state has failed? They evidently have more sense and sympathy for the young minds they cultivate than the law seems to. What this has lead to is a generation with more drug addicts than ever before and a severe and purely evil corruption of our young’s mental health. To quote Peter Hitchens, a distinguished author on the subject: “wouldn’t it therefore be wise to deter them from doing so by a stern and effective criminal justice system which actually persuaded them it was unwise to take drugs in the first place?” If the state won’t step up and save this generation from ruin, as it should, then well done to Buckingham University for taking a stand.
Images: Pixabay and Flickr
Lost in Translation
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Jack Coles
eah, so French President Macron has been getting a lot of shade recently for describing the Australian prime minister’s wife as “delicious”. How could a politician on the centre-left that supposedly champions personal freedom be using such sexist language to describe a woman? Well, because he made a mistake. And not one of those “oh, I thought it wasn’t that sexist” mistakes, but rather “’delicious’ and ‘delightful’ are the exact same word in French” kind of mistake. My dad almost made a similar faux pas in Spain when I was growing up. He was carrying my 3-year-old sister, and a passer-by said “¡ay, qué mona!” This was slang for “wow, she’s cute”, but my dad thought it was the more literal “she looks like a monkey”. My point is, don’t automatically assume the worst. Take a minute, step back, think about the intent. An ounce of translation is worth more than being pounded. Or something.
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on the education factory meat hooks like chattel, discarded and unwanted by the state and by the multitude of politicians who are so
Images: YouTube, Public Domain Pictures, Wikimedia Commons and Geograph
Scott Houghton assesses the value of local elections, and if students should be more engaged
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COMMENT’S HOME OF WEEKLY RANTS
Brits Abroad
Elections, elections, elections
he local elections on the 3rd of May were significant nationally and locally. Although many people dismiss them as unimportant, local elections decide what council you live under but also act as a
SOAPBOX
barometer at the national level. From local election results political parties and journalists can survey the mood of the country. Accumulatively, it would be difficult to weave together a narrative out of the 2018 local elections. Labour didn’t do as well as it expected, although in some areas (especially in London) it had the best results since September 1971. On the other hand, the Conservatives managed to hold on better than expected, and the Liberal Democrats did very well – taking two wards in Sunderland, for instance. Perhaps one of the few big indicators of the night was the enormous collapse for UKIP, whose vote share collapsed across the country, confirming the popular adage that new parties “are like bees. Once they sting they soon die”. However, by the time the next election comes the local election results are unlikely to be indicative of the general mood of the country, due to low turnout and the fact that these elections were limited to specific localities, rather than nationally. In Newcastle, Labour held onto the council with a voter share of 41.4%, with the Liberal Democrats coming second at 20.2%, and the Conservatives coming fourth, behind an independent, on 12.3%. Overall, much will stay the same for university
students, given that Labour have controlled the council since 2011. Students can, and do, play a big part in local election results. On election night whenever a big city gained a higher Liberal Democrat vote share than was expected Twitter was alight with people asking “students?”. Indeed, the high percentage of Liberal Democrats in Newcastle may be down to its large student population and activist base.
Students can, and do, play a big part in local election results I think that students should play a role in the local elections simply because they are elections, and everyone has a hard won right to vote, something that is denied to many across the world. But, for those more politically inclined, local elections do seem to show that student populations can have an impact on election results. For instance, think of the Green Party’s only MP, Caroline Lucas, who owes her seat in Brighton Pavilion largely down to students.
Alexandra Sadler
’m pretty sure that when I go on holiday I look about as classically British as it is possible for a tourist to be. However, there is a difference between travelling abroad, and fitting into a stereotype, and being disparaging about, or disrespectful to, other cultures and customs. I’m talking about the tourists that waltz around temples like they’ve just strolled into their best friends house, the tourists who refuse to respect local customs, and the tourists who loudly disparage people’s cuisine or dress. Whether or not you are religious or spiritual, places of worship and sacred monuments should be respected, simply because this shows respect towards those that live there. If you don’t like the food or drink you’re trying? That’s fine, but constantly complaining is not. If you wanted everything to your specifications you should have stayed at home. It’s not that hard to consider other people, particularly when you are being welcomed into their culture, lives and customs. Being considerate costs nothing, and being rude endears you to nobody.
Gigging with Giants
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Gaitlin Disken
f you’ve ever been to a gig and aren’t the tallest, you’ll have experienced the frustration of having your view blocked by some lanky giant positioned at the front. It seems that no matter when you arrive, or where you end up standing, someone over six foot always manages to slither their way to the front. It’s only if you’re wiling to be crushed up against the barrier that you’re able to avoid this huge annoyance. I know people can’t help how tall they are, and everyone wants the best view possible, but a little consideration for those not so blessed with regards to height would be nice. Even worse than this is when people right at the front decide it’s a good idea to get on one another’s shoulders. I don’t want to be a buzzkill, but unless you’re in a sunny field at a festival or genuinely can’t see, then what’s the point? If you’re in a sweaty, sticky and claustrophobic venue, then you’re just an inconvenience for everyone behind you. That being said, as long as there’s good music and a good atmosphere nothing can really ruin a gig. After all, what matters most is what you hear.
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Stressed Out Students When? Where? Why?
Wellbeing Fare
Yet again, Stressed Out Students brings you an exam period filled with entertaining, relaxing and downright wholesome activities to make sure you don’t crack under the pressure like paving slabs under the sun. The events will be across campus, from the Robbo to the Students’ Union to the Sports Centre, you’ll never be far away from something to take your mind off that 2,000 word Portuguese Revolution essay. Starting on the 21 May and lasting right through until the 8 June, there won’t be a day going by without a dog to pet, or a massage to get.
Get yourself down to Venue on Friday 1 for a double dose of the Wellbeing Fare and Doggy Days. Under your very own union you will find student led stress and time management workshops with Watch Your Head, the Student Advice Centre will be there and so will Student Wellbeing. Find sport relieves your stress? Representatives from the Sports Centre will also be there to talk you through how they can help. ‘Who else?’, I hear you cry. Well, ASK (Academic Skills Kit) will be heading down from the Robinson Library to talk you through some exam and essay advice. RAG will be there, the bleedin’ Courier will be there, and Give it a Go too. Not to mention Manoj the spine surgeon, who will be there to give you self-awareness on stress and how to help yourself.
MASSAGES Every Wednesday and Friday (23 May - 8 June) there will be free massages available in the Students’ Union from Wan, starting at 2pm
Free Sport Classes You’ve seen them advertised through Give It a Go all year round, but if you’ve not been before, now is the time to start. Not only will there be Body Pump, a high octane fitness class sure to get the blood pumping both to your body and your brain - just imagine you’re punching through that looming deadline. If you’re a little more ‘zen’, then take up yoga. Cross those legs, get those arms on your thighs and let your breathing pattern take your thoughts away from the fact your experiment’s data just doesn’t match the proven physics. The text books are probably wrong anyway... If it’s dancing you’re after, look no further than zumba where you can dance your stress away. Abs blast will be available on Saturday 26, while spin takes place on Wednesday 23 - as well as there being spin bikes outside the Robbo on 21 and 22. Email welfare.union@ncl.ac.uk to book a space!
Petting Zoo Ever wanted to stroke a python or hold a rabbit round your neck? The petting zoo is the place for you. The worlds of scales and fluffs come together in the most ambitious crossover event in history as right here on campus you can check out your favourite beasties to snatch you from the jaws of exam defeat. The animals will be here on the 25 May, a Friday, therefore a massage from Wan while holding a four legged friend is not completely out of the question (definitely not possible). A comprehensive list of the period’s activities are on the study planner below.
DOGGY DAYS As part of the Wellbeing Fair and the Stressed Out Students campaign, some guide dogs will be coming to Venue in the SU to help destress all of you librarybound students
Monday 14 May 2018
Free this summer? Get volunteering at the Great Exhibition of the North
The journey
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ne of the biggest events in the country will be opening its doors to visitors and volunteers alike this June. Lasting 80 days, the Great Exhibition of the North is a free summer-long celebration of the pioneering spirit embodied in the North of England. During the exhibition there will be live performances, displays of innovation, new artworks and unforgettable experiences. Essentially, the ‘journey’ on offer consists of picking a starting point - the BALTIC, the Sage or the Great North Museum - and then moving between the three through connected trails. Each of these ‘hubs’ will have its own unique array of activities on offer, and the trail in between will stop at hotspots such as Ouseburn, the Life Science Centre and the Old Town.
Spotlight...
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here’s plenty to see, but here are the picks of the bunch - the Great Exhibition of the North is sure to have something for everyone. Lauren Laverne’s Great Northern Soundtrack mixes up a week of gigs, showcasing the best music the North has produced in recent times, from Newcastle down to Manchester and Sheffield (you know who we’re talking about.) The UK’s largest water sculpture will perform hourly every day of the exhibition’s 80 day lifespan. After dark, the fountains will be combined with a stunning light display. Finally, the Danish geniuses at LEGO will produce a timeline of Northern Innovation, with over 50,000 bricks making up an exceptional display of the area’s creative history.
Get involved
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he exhibition will require thousands of volunteers to give visitors a proper Geordie warm welcome, and the more students getting involved the better! You will be trained and volunteer opportunities, as they should be, are flexible so that you can commit as much or as little time as you can. You’ll be rewarded for your comittment with exclusive invitations to previews, social gatherings and special events. All in all, this summer is an incredible opportunity to throw yourself head-first into the Toon!
the courier Monday 14 May 2018
life & style
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@CourierLifestyle c2.lifestyle@ncl.ac.uk thecourieronline.co.uk/lifestyle Life & Style Editor Izzi Watkins Lifestyle Editors Sophie Henderson, Jaymelouise Hudspith, Lauren Sneath & Victoria Young
Blind date revisited Success Story: Susanne & Tom
Susanne Norris and Tom Milner share their story following their blind date - and they might just be our only lucky couple Susanne Norris, 20, 2nd Year English Literature
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hings have been going well since my blind date! Me and Tom have been on a few more dates and they’ve been going really well, and he hasn’t got sick of me being really boring and always choosing to go for drinks so that’s all good! We’ve been going out a fair bit in Jesmond and it’s been good to get to know him better. He has loads of interesting stories and I feel like conversation always flows really well, we seem to have a lot in common. It’s really cool that we do the same degree and share lots of interests too. I met a couple of his friends over the weekend too and they’re really nice. I think we’re planning to meet a few more times before I go home for summer and he graduates, and I’m looking forward to seeing where things go. I have really enjoyed getting to know him and I’m hoping that can continue!
Tom Milner, 21, 3rd Year English Literature
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hings have gone really well since the first date. We’ve met up a couple of times since. We’ve even started talking about adopting a dog together. I think she’s the one, might pop the question on our next date.
I think she’s the one, might pop the question on our next date Blind date was great fun and you have nothing to lose! You never know, you might find your future wife like me.
Fancy a date? We’ll be back next year to set you up. Email us at c2.lifestyle@newcastle.ac.uk
Our scoreboard
We’re here to take a look back at this year’s results, so here’s to the top-rated blind daters of 2017-2018. Recognise anyone?
“We did say we might be friends but haven’t spoken at all since”
Ellie Churchill 8/10 and Andrew Cleare 9/10 Murray Gove 10/10 and Jack Westerman 7/10 Emma Jelpke 8/10 and Thomas Placidi 9/10 Emily Bamforth 9/10 and Harrison Askew 7/10 Charlotte Butter 8/10 and Hugo Storey 8/10
“It wasn’t exactly succesful! I guess I am glad I had the experience.”
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life & style lifestyle Monday 14 May 2018 Recipe of the week Rowena Tylden-Pattenson advices you on all the best ways to de-stress during exam season
Wind down, switch off , de-stress
Strawberry, Almond and Honey Cake
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his is the perfect cake to welcome the summer, lightly scented with lemon zest and spices and making use of beautiful seasonal fruit. I’ve used strawberries in this version but have also tried it with raspberries and peaches and both were delicious, so you could use whatever summer fruit you prefer. There’s no endless layers or extravagant decoration so it’s simple enough for an afternoon snack with a cup of tea, but special enough for a celebration too - graduation cake anyone? The ingredients list may sound a little weird, but using almonds in place of some of the flour and oil and honey instead of butter and sugar makes for an incredibly tender, moist crumb that I love. I like spelt flour because gives a little more of a nutritional boost and has a lovely, slightly nutty flavour, but plain should work fine too if you prefer.
Ingredients - Serves 9 100g ground almonds 150g spelt flour 1 tsp baking powder a big pinch salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg finely grated zest of 1 lemon 2 eggs 60ml honey 60ml olive oil 1 tsp vanilla extract 200g strawberries, cut into 2cm chunks optional, to decorate: 30g flaked almonds
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease and line your cake tin with baking paper. I used a 20 x 20 cm square tin, but a round one of similar size should work fine too. In a large bowl, combine the almonds, spelt flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and stir to combine. Set aside. In a small saucepan or in the microwave, gently heat the oil and honey together until it’s a runny, pourable consistency. Once it’s cooled a little, add into another bowl with the eggs, vanilla and lemon zest and whisk thoroughly for a couple of minutes until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Take the dry ingredients and add them to the egg mixture, stirring gently until everything is just combined and smooth. It might be a little thicker than your average cake batter, but that’s because the strawberries release a lot of moisture so don’t worry too much. Next, fold in the chopped strawberries until they’re evenly distributed throughout the mixture and pour the batter into the cake tin, coaxing it with a spatula or spoon to fill the tin in a nice, even layer. Scatter over the flaked almonds, if using, then transfer the tin to the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until it’s golden and springy on top and cooked all the way through. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before lifting carefully out of the tin, removing the baking paper and cutting into 9 squares. Or if you made it in a round tin, you can cut slices accordingly. And you’re ready to eat! It’s delicious as it is, but also goes beautifully with a scoop of Greek yoghurt or vanilla ice cream. Because it is summer after all. Hope Coke
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xam season is one of the most stressful times of any students life, and we all deal with stress in different ways - if we deal with it at all. Lets avoid copious amounts of alcohol and instead follow these five top tips on how to best wind down and switch off during revision or after exams this semester.
Do some yoga or go to the gym
Exercise is a sure-fire way of relaxing, and it’ll help prevent the aches and pains you’ll get from typing, writing or sitting slouched over a book all day in the library. Even something as small as a few wrist stretches or a ten minute step by step YouTube tutorial can do the trick but if you need a real boost head to your gym push yourself with some free weights or cardio, all of which can really help clear the mind. Couple this with meditation using an app like Calm or Headspace, and the stress will be melting away.
Bake
Procrasta-baking is one of my biggest faults, but having that small break of having to concentrate on a recipe definitely always helps my mind take a well-needed rest from uni work. Even if you’re not a culinary genius, there are plenty of easy recipes on the Internet, from rocky road that takes 10 minutes, to cake in a mug and a pre-mixed box recipe, to macarons that’ll really test your skills
Procrasta-baking is on of my biggest faults but having the small break helps Dance party
If you’re running short on time, but just can’t concentrate, then its dance party time. It’s time to get up, put your favourite old school cheesy singles
Image: pexels
on repeat, I’m talking ABBA’s dancing queen or whatever gets you up and moving. You can dance away your stress like nobody’s watching., just make sure you close your curtains before your neighbour see you bust out your dad dancing.
Have a bath with a book
Baths are a great way to relax. If you’re sick of reading, stick on some relaxing music, add some bath salts, light some scented candles, you know the drill. Personally I would recommend avoiding your favourite tv shows or films, as you might find yourself distracted in the long run, rather than chilled out. Plus, who needs the hassle of stacking
up towels to balance your laptop at the right height.
Take a walk
Nothing clears the head like getting out to a park and enjoying the spring flowers for a little while, especially given the unusual amount of sunshine Newcastle has experienced at late. Even just taking a walk around the block will wake you up again, and help prevent eye-strain. Look around and enjoy the green of spring, rather than stressing about the next exam - it’ll help. Leazes Park and Exhibition Park are right next to university, both with lakes that only take 30 minutes to walk round. There are ducks too!
Clock your health: top fitness watches
Charlotte Cooper searches the market to give you the low down on the best fitness watches around
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ealth and fitness has taken over in the last few years. From expanding gyms to designer fitness brands, you can’t escape the craze. The newest fitness trend seems to be a wearable sports watch, which can monitor your every move from your heart rate to your sleeping patterns. I’ve lined up my top 5 picks of 2018 so far.
For the Big Spender: Fitbit Ionic £239.99
Being the most expensive watch on my list it must have some pretty good features for such a grand price. 50m water resistance means you’re safe to get you swimming costume out and hit the pool. Not only will the Ionic track your GPS, but it will also track your sleeping patters - time to turn off Netflix or your watch will judge your 4am bedtime. Keeping this Fitbit style on all the time will give you indication of how many hours you were a sleep for and a breakdown of all the stages of sleep including REM detection. This state of the art fitness watch is up to date when it comes to technology, allowing contactless payment straight from your watch as well as getting smart phone notifications including those from social media. For a pricey health device, it does have some of the best features including tailoring your own clock face for free whenever you please.
Time to turn off Netfilx before your watch judges your 4am bedtime The Penny Saver: Moov Now £59.99
This extremely light weight 15.1g watch is a highlight because of the amazing cost. If you are like most students and don’t have a lot of cash to play with, this is the fitness watch for you. With a 6-month battery you won’t need to worry about carrying a charger around with you. Features of this time teller includes impact tracking which keep injures minimal giving notifications such as ‘land softer’ to alert you to change up your exercise
Image: unsplash
style. If you’re after something to track your everyday exercise. I would recommend the Moov Now as it detects running, swimming, boxing, cycling and circuit training. It’s the perfect accessory to add to your workout.
For the All-Round Health Bods: Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro £209
Another water-resistant fitness tracker of up to 50 meters, this is just what every exercise lover needs on their wrist. With tracking abilities from location to nutrition and sleeping to activity intensity this Samsung technology had to get a place in the top 5. Like all these watches, automatic activity tracking is one of the attractive features and this watch even stores and allows music to be played, handy when you need some music motivation.
For the Pro-actives: Garmin VivoSmart HR+ £199.99
At only 10 meters water resistant, this watch perhaps is not the best for you swimmers out there. However, it is perfect for the outdoorsy type. GPS tracking with pace and distance monitors allows you to monitor your fitness progress. Unlike the other watches on this list, the VivoSmart HR+ will automatically adjust your goals as you start to improve your fitness levels nudging you that little bit further towards a healthy lifestyle. Another
added bonus of the Garmin includes free access to the online community giving you opportunities to challenge other users.
Nokia steel HR looks just like an ordinary watch - perfect for you fashionistas For the Fitness Fashionista: Nokia Steel HR: £169.95
Certainly, the sleekest watch on the market at the moment, the Nokia Steel HR looks just like an ordinary fashionable watch - the perfect option for you fashionistas. Instead, it tracks your fitness and sleeping patterns whilst looking elegant and stylish on fitness lover’s wrists. With a 25-day battery life the Nokia fitness watch also receives smart phone notifications allowing you to keep updated on the latest news and gossip whilst getting in your daily exercise. 50 meters water-resistance is more than enough to allow you to take a dip in the pool as well as being able to track more than 10 different activities.
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lifestyle life & style
Monday 14 May 2018
the most of Which NUSU society is right for you? Making your last semester
The next stage at uni is approaching. Alistair Geear helps you choose which society is for you
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t’s towards the end of the year and exams, general deadlines, all things stress are setting in. Maybe you’ve aced this year and are happy to rinse, repeat, from September 2018 onwards. However, if you’re looking for a little more, or simply something different, give a glance over the 160+ societies there are to consider at yours truly, Newcastle University. First, I’d like to set aside sports clubs for now, since sporting opportunities aren’t always as accessible and the options are not always as rogue as the available societies. Aimed at the average student to start the list: Insert the society for your respective course, EngSoc, SocSoc, you get the gist. This might seem the obvious place to start but it’s worth getting stuck into considering your options, you never know when you might need those connections you’ve made or when you’ll receive some words of
Image: Nottingham Uni
wisdom, or perhaps you’ll even be the one to give them. It’s less risky as plenty of your course mates are likely already a part, even if out of some sense of expectation alone. It is understood, however, that the quality of course societies vary, and can be a big disappointment. Why would it be amiss on our list, given a quick search of ‘best university societies UK’ will tell you too, that Newcastle’s 20 minute society is one of the most unique and acclaimed societies in the country. At an unsolicited moment you’ll receive a text to meet at an unknown location and you guessed it, you have just twenty minutes to arrive! What are you going to do once you arrive? Who knows? In the past it’s been comedy clubs, paintballing, pub golf, a trip to Durham’s Lumiere. Not to forget the legendary 20 minute mystery holidays, and new to this year, the 20 minute ball. Of the big societies there’s RAG (Raising and Giving) is one to consider. Their goal of charitable giving is achieved in all sorts of inventive and fun ways, often offering a good time makes the raising and giving part feels effortless. It’s deemed worth joining just for their RAG week, alone which, like Freshers’ Crew, offers a great way to meet new friends. Popular among chemical engineers and regular pub-goers, it’s Stubrew! Student brewing is the first and only student-run microbrewery in Europe. There are many different aspects to it, including: manufacturing, distribution and marketing. They hold beer tasting sessions, professional lectures and trips to breweries. At any rate, you can treat yourself to a pint out the tap at the SU, it’s about 5%+ and costs £2.50. Finally, we have the Debating Society. A safe
choice that is not especially alcoholic orientated with plenty of advantages. You can develop speaking and debating skills for one, but also meeting people, exploring key issues (i.e. getting woke), and likely a big hit with certain future employers. They meet weekly and travel for tournaments.
For more information take a look at NUSU’s society page and the a visit to the Fresher’s Fair For more information take a look at NUSU’s society page or take the time to visit the Freshers’ Fair in September. You never know what might appeal to you and end up being a valuable part of your university experience! Personally, enjoy it while you have another year or two under your belt and don’t risk the regret of missing out.
Honorary mentions:
Cocktail society Film society Music society Poker Fellwalking Sexpression Skiing and Snowboarding Club Cheese and Wine Caledonian Marrow
Jesmond local community festival Victoria Young gives us the low down on the upcoming Jesmond Local Community Festival
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esmond Community Festival is running this year from 5th-27th May. Whilst the festival is renowned for showcasing Jesmond’s Communtiy and culture (notably that of the food, poetry, music and apples!) there are also many Community events perfect for Jesmond students. We picked out our top 5 festival events to encourage you to get involved in the Jesmond Community and relax and unwind during the exam season - plus, did we mention most of them are free!
Whilst there is no specific charge for this event, there will be a collection at the door A TASTE OF THE NATIONS
Saturday 12th May 11:00am-1:00pm Jesmond Methodist Church is hosting a free food event and are welcoming students and residents alike to come in and socialise over some international food. There will be home cooked food from around the world... Indian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Polish, the options are endless!
Sightseeing
Go and see a famous landmark that you never got around to visiting. The North East has many locations to offer, from the Instagram worthy Alnwick Gardens to the most iconic landmark the Angel of the North. The city sightseeing bus makes regular stops around the town over the weekend too, making it easier to fit in all the must-sees in one day!
Nightlife
Let’s be honest, you’ve never been on a better night out than the toon. Make the most of the nightlife that Newcastle hosts, especially as a student. Go to digi Monday’s not worrying about those 9am lectures and dance on the tables at Bierkeller. Let your hair down and stock up on those 3 trebs for a fiver, you’ll never know how much you’ll miss it until it’s gone. If the toon has tired you out from the past few years of club nights, then why not have a chilled cocktail night and reminisce about uni days gone by. From the calm surroundings of the Botanist and the Pitcher & Piano to the 2 for £12 pitchers at Spoons, it’s up to you.
Events
Whether it’s events at uni, student events (for those freebies) or events around town, make the most of them! Check out the NUSU web page to find out about all the events at uni and give them a go, it’s your last chance! Why not book a gig at the O2 Academy, City Hall or the Metro Radio Arena? Even catch a free gig further afield at Bents Park, South Shield from Scouting for Girls to Atomic Kitten. There are a host of events around Newcastle as summer commences with the popular ‘Screen on the Green’ outdoor cinema retuning to Eldon Gardens. There’s something to suit everybody.
Take advantage of all the best eating spots in Newcastle. The city offers something for everyone
JAZZ NIGHT
Saturday 5th May 7:30-9:30 pm Jesmond’s Residents Association is hosting an evening of authentic Jazz music at the Jesmond Library, St. George’s terrace, which will be accompanied by drinks and other refreshments. Music will be played by members of the Newcastle University Jazz society, where they will be showcasing a number of their Swing numbers. Whilst there is no specific charge for this event, there will be a collection at the door. Whether you’re a music student, Jazz fan, or just can’t wait to get a fair share of Glenn Miller, this is the event for you. If you can’t make the Jazz night, Northumbria University are hosting a ‘Philonious Funk’ night at the library the following week, where they will be playing some of their best Funk numbers.
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he end of your final year at uni can be very stressful, but it’s important to make the most of your time left as a student. We’re here to help you have fun in your last semester in the midst of all the endless essays. So, before you have your last walk under the arches and cheers your pint of diesel at Luther’s Bar, here are the top things to do before leaving Newcastle:
Eat
Image: Jesmond Community Festival
So whether you’re interested in mixing with the community, trying some foreign foods, or if you’re simply running to the end of your food budget, this is the event for you!
BREWERY TOUR
Sunday 13th May 11:00am-12:00 noon Jesmond Community Festival often includes specialist beers and breweries in some way or other. This year, a tour has been organised around the Wylam Brewery, Palace of Arts, Exhibition Park. The tour is completely free and lasts for an hour, and those taking part need to meet outside the brewery a little before 11am. There will also be the opportunity to purchase some of your favourite craft beers.
OPEN MIC NIGHT
Sunday 20th May 6:00-8:00pm Cake Stories, Brentwood Avenue is hosting a free open mic night, where there will be storytelling, reading, singing and performance. As it is an open mic evening, Cake Stories is open to a variety of interests behind the mic, so whether you’re good at drama, impressions, stand up comedy or simply just want to go and listen, this is the event for you. As it’s hosting at the delicious Cake Stories there is also the opportunity to purchase cakes, food and drink which are available from the bar.
WINE & CHEESE
Wednesday 23rd May 6:30-8:00pm The mini Waitrose (the one we never get our shopping from because it’s too expensive and Tesco is just around the corner) is hosting an evening of tasting specialty wine and cheese. There’s a selection of Waitrose favourites and some additional wines and cheeses for the evening, and the event is listed as free. Again, there is the opportunity to purchase the wines and cheeses tasted over the course of the evening. Arguably, this event could turn out a little more pricey, but if you’re feeling more cultural as the semester comes to an end, perhaps this is the event for you! To find out more about Jesmond Community Festival 2018, and to see a full list of events and activities, please visit their website. In addition to this, student run news site ‘JesmondLocal’ can keep you up to date on the Festival News page.
Image: Jesmond Local
Take advantage of all the best eating spots in Newcastle. The city offers something for everyone: for the best burgers the Fat Hippo Underground is always a winner, Zaap Thai for authentic Thai street food and Pizza by the Slice in the Granger Market for a taste of Italy. Even pay a visit to your favourite coffee shop that has made essay writing that little bit more bearable like Les Petits Choux or the Quilliam Brothers’ Teahouse. Take a trip to the local food markets in Jesmond and Sundays on the Quayside to visit independent stalls. Keep an eye out for Hatch76, you’ve never had anything like their loaded fries, or even The Doughnut Guy for the best sweet treat.
Celebrate!
The diss is done and so are you, it’s time to celebrate all your hard work. Get together with your fellow uni pals and wave goodbye to your studies (and perhaps Newcastle). Make a night of it at the likes of Lane 7, offering something for everyone: bowling, food, cocktails, mini golf and a few tipsy pictures in the photo booth to remember the night. Or alternatively go out and do all of the above, celebrate in your own way. Hopefully this has given you a few ideas to fill in the rest of your time as a student in Newcastle. But whatever you decide to do for your final days at
Image: Flickr
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feature fashion
c2.fashion@ncl.ac.uk Fashion Editors Chloe Bland, Sophie Schneider and Zofia Zwieglinska
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Monday 14 May 2018
girls just have
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Monday 14 May 2018
wanna sun
@CourierFashion c2.fashion@ncl.ac.uk
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fashion feature
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the courier
feature fashion
Monday 14 May 2018
behind the scenes Our Fashion Editors thank all of those that contributed to making this shoot so successful
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ith the end of year looming, the exam season in its prime and for some of us, our time in Newcastle drawing to a close, we fashion editors decided it was time to celebrate what’s really important… the longawaited return of SUMMER. In our shoot this year we wanted to celebrate not only this glorious time of year but the beauty and array of all young women and display ‘girl power’ at its finest. With the summer season we wanted to express the confidence, sass and power of not only our gorgeous models but every fashionista out there – We’ve all got it, so it’s about time we flaunted it!
(courtesy of The Yesterday Society in Grainger market), alongside looks from both ASOS and our own wardrobes. I am a firm believer that with fashion, sharing is caring. Our fabulous models: Jan Coker, Kirin Gallop, Natalie Mile Halaseh and Federica Mazzilli have done nothing but justice to both the clothes and young women in general – you are all fabulous. The shots were captured by the great eye of our photographers, Jordan Carr and Karim Shaltout who provided us with the perfect polaroids. In terms of the make-up, we have to give a massive shout out to Scarlett
Rowland and Lauren Sneath, who managed to accomplish a flawless highlight and produce the faultless shimmer and shine. Inspired by Dua Lipa’s ‘New Rules’ music video, we believe that this shoot represents not only the excitement and fun behind fashion, but fashion as a shared collective passion for girls of any and every background. We hope you enjoy browsing the shoot as much as we enjoyed organising it – and from your fashion editors: Chloe Bland, Sophie Schneider and Zofia Zwieglinska, stay sassy and thanks for an amazing year.
The shots were captured by the great eye of our photographers, Jordan Carr and Karim Shaltout The shoot took place in the beautiful location of Jesmond Dene House, as we explored the gardens and took advantage of nature at its finest. This environment for us inspired a 60s vintage look, surrounded by florals, denim and of course accessorising. Fashion is all about self-expression and having fun, an idea at the forefront of our minds when playing with and matching different items to create individual looks. We played with patterns, denim, layers and our favourite – adding sunglasses to every outfit
our fashion picks O
ur fashion pieces came from Asos and The Yesterday Society, a beautiful and tiny vintage shop based right here in Newcastle! Known for some of the best vintage pieces around, we used their lovely dressed and retro sunglasses to really bring out that summery Lolita look. We focused on summery pieces including shift dresses, denim jackets and skirts and a retro palette of reds, blues and pastel yellows. Asos have
also featured some illustrated pieces that have really caught our attention, and the range of models from all ethnicities and body types let us enforce female body positivity across our pages. Asos: ASOS DESIGN Tall denim dungaree in stonewash blue, £42 Fashion Union Tall Slip Dress With Button Side In Satin, £22 Urban Bliss Distressed Trucker Denim Jacket, £38
Urban Bliss Distressed Denim Skirt, @28 ASOS DESIGN Curve Paper Bag Waist Boyfriend Jeans With Rope Belt In White With Contrast Stitch, £38 ASOS DESIGN Check Co-Ord Bralet, £25 ASOS DESIGN polka dot button through linen mini sundress, £25 Reclaimed Vintage Inspired T-Shirt With Kissing Faces Print, £20 ASOS DESIGN swing cami with double layer, £12
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@CourierFashion c2.fashion@ncl.ac.uk
Monday 14 May 2018
Swipe to buy this outfit #Ad Jenny Franken explores the world of fashion on Instagram with the luxury of just the one click
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or fashion enthusiasts, big brands always appeared so exclusive and expensive, so much so that us regular people didn’t feel like we could even afford the cheapest item in the collection. However, with Instagram now at the height of the fashion world, the old days of browsing through the Vogue dreaming of a parallel universe are over. Everyone can now be part of it; fashion is inclusive rather than exclusive. Instagram is the new medium to search for fashion inspiration and latest trends. You can personalise your news feed by following Instagram bloggers who embody your fashion idol and they will provide you with the opportunity to mimic their outfit. In their Instagram story they will present to their audience, completely selflessly (#noad), with a link to copy their looks and transform your wardrobe within a few days. And the only thing you have to do is ‘swipe up’. The influence of Instagram bloggers on especially the younger generation quickly became obvious,
that even high-end fashion brands are looking out for collaborations with the new ‘It Girls’. Just by posting a picture with the brand’s latest fashion and a matching caption, the influencer can make their Instagram account their fianncial income and before-forgotten companies can experience huge growth. That means that front rows during fashion weeks are not only taken by celebrities but by Instagram bloggers… Instagram has opened the curtains for us to get a glance into the exclusivity of the fashion world. When the fashion influencer has a great reach, some companies even offer them the chance to design their own collection. Instagram is their digital marketing strategy, more reach and a larger new follower group. In contrast to models, they are approachable and interact with the consumers. They don’t need to be perfect but likeable showing us the followers that a ‘normal girl’ can look fashionable. Big names like the Italian blogger Chiara Ferragni launched her own company after cooperating with
many big names like Swarovski, Pantene, Amazon Fashion in Europe and has been photographed for the cover of magazines including Vogue Espagna. The German fashion blogger Caro Daur even found herself on the catwalk of Dolce& Gabbana and creating her own lipstick for Mac Cosmetics. Instagram has transformed the industry; if in a positive or negative way- that’s your decision. The industry has become more accessible and therefore has lost its charm to some extent. It’s always the secret and the exclusivity which makes people want to know more about it. Instead of inviting 100 people to their show, the already have 1 million people watching it with one big influencer streaming the event on their Instagram story. When the fashion is not the centre of attention anymore but the actual show around it to get more reactions on social media, the actual benefits of Instagram on the fashion world are lost.
Instagram: @chiaraferragni
ASOS Fashion Discovery Ugne Rinkeviciute discusses the fresh competition for emerging young designers in the UK
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his April and May, ASOS is holding the final stage of their Fashion Discovery competition to celebrate young talent and help two promising designers grow their brands. The prize involves all that they’ll need to make it happen, including a £50,000 grant, 50 hours of one-on-one mentoring, and a chance for their collection to be sold at ASOS. As the competition is coming to a close, ten finalists have been shortlisted. Among the leaders, with over three thousand votes, is the bright and playful CARBS. Young, Wild and Free. The name of Wiz Khalifa’s hit song can very well be used here to define her fun and colourful collection. Think Katy Perry meets the 80s. Not far behind CARBS is also Bans Illustration, showcasing white, soft pink and checkered designs.
dominating unusual shapes, large flowers, and bright pink and yellow hues. What’s more, all of the brand’s leftover fabric is recycled to be made into accessories. Lively, feminine and environmentallyconscious. No wonder Desree Akorahson is the
voters’ favourite contestant. It seems this year’s Fashion Discovery has attracted a pool of bright and brave young brands. Who will be the lucky two to win the contest will be announced on the week commencing 7th May.
ASOS Fashion Discovery
fashion life & style
LET’S GET ETHICAL Manic Soul Machine
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he question Marine Serré sets out to answer with her third collection Manic Soul Machine; “Why does the world need another fashion brand?” According to her “It´s about designing a new reality. One that doesn’t compromise but simply reacts to and works with the real needs, situations and fantasies of garments today.” Her work sends a political, cultural and environmental message but it stands apart from previous eco brands because the clothes are also stylish and attractive. Today Marine Serré works in her studio in the heart of Paris. In the past she has had internships and posts at Alexander McQueen, Maison Margiela, Dior and Balenciaga. This followed her graduation from La Cambre Mode(s) with highest honours. In a short time she has been very successful and her brand is now stocked by Dover Street Market, Joyce, Opening Ceremony, the Broken Arm, H Lorenzo and Galeries Lafayette. Her designs channel many different influences and there is no one inspiration for her collections. Instead they combine tailoring, flowing materials and athleisure to fit her futuristic ideology. Moreover, each of her looks is unique and irreplaceable due to the upcycled materials she uses. Unlike a lot of her competitors Serré gained popularity early on, starting with her first fashion show in 2017 Radical Call for Love, which featured her now distinguished symbol of a semi moon. In this case she chose the symbol for its link to Islam, as her focus was on supporting victims of the terrorism attacks on Paris at the time. However, this symbol has been adopted as a logo by the brand, as it is linked to a large number of cultures and religions, but can also be appreciated as a cute and iconic symbol.
Reusing materials shares an environmental message, but it is so subtle that it will never go out of fashion This is what characterises her brand. Taken at face value, you are looking at a cute and commercial garment, but woven into the seams is a deeper meaning which could also be the solution to the world crisis of next season. By combining a mixture of floaty vintage silk scarves with upcycled wet suit material and old shirts to fashion a more structured athleisure look, Serré gives the brand a very modern aesthetic. Reusing materials shares an environmental message, but it is so subtle that it will never go out of fashion and it represents a sustainable move towards more conscientious living. It’s great to see designers and producers like this, who create a more aware consumer and enable the environment to come into fashion. It’s no secret that the fashion industry is one of the biggest problems in terms of global warming. Not only does the manufacturing process require water and resources, but the wear once and throw away mentality of today means it`s one of the largest waste producers. For this reason, upcycling and buying second hand clothes is a really effective answer to the eco crisis. The looks Serré creates are both eco friendly and wearable and their popularity represents the decreasing prejudice towards wearing second hand or upcycled clothes. Miranda Stoner
The competition is one of the top competitions in the country. There was a shortlist of ten emerging designers all aiming for the ASOS discovery reward to sell their collection online
However, although it’s the ASOS judges that will make the final call, voters seem to favour Tolu Coker and Desree Akorahson over everyone else, as they’ve given each of them over four thousand votes. Street-inspired Tolu Coker’s designs aren’t just bold and attention-drawing. According to the creator, they talk to people about the changing political and social climate through newspaperpatterned outerwear, combat boots and a generally ‘over-sized’ theme. Just a couple hundred votes ahead is rainforestinspired Desree Akorahson’s collection with
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Instagram: @CARBS
Image: Vogue
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life & style beauty
courier.beauty@ncl.ac.uk Beauty Editors Laura Greatrex, Lois Johnston & Susanne Norris
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Monday 14 May 2018
Beard beauty: Your guide to growth
Editor of the Courier James Sproston discusses the history, maintenance and popularity of beards in his Courier Beauty debut
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or some men, the beard is the be all and end all. They think it’s the final piece of the jigsaw, the cherry on the top of the cake, the last tango in Halifax. And they’d be right. Firstly, it’s probably good to clarify that there’s no miracle growth or proven way of making facial hair grow faster. Unless you make a late pubescent surge and end up like Gandalf overnight, you’ve got your lot so you have to work with it. Though beards are typically ‘masculine’ and beauty processes are typically ‘feminine’, it’s important to rubbish those
Image: @lorealmen
daft labels and remember that there are plenty of options out there to get your beard to suit you. Beard groomage has stepped up a level since I’ve been in the game. For those that know me, they’ll know that my beard style is born out of laziness and hormones, but there’s a wealth of grooming options at my fingertips if I wanted to put a small amount of time and effort in. Probably the best place to start is skincare. There’s no point trying to look dead cool if the skin underneath isn’t looked after, because not only is
that more important, but you’ll likely as not end up with beardruff. Stick with a good diet, wash and moisturise regularly, and your beard should look better for it. However, don’t buy into beard washes or beard shampoos, what you put on your barnet in the shower is good enough for your face fungus as well. If you’re keen to start stepping your beard game up a level, I hear that a good place to start is with 5 or 6 drops of beard oil when you get out of the shower. I’m not going to suggest any brands because I’ve never tried them, but I do know that a good oiling makes your beard much softer and shinier, which is never a bad thing. Once you’ve got a decent bit of growth, you’ve got a few good options as to how you can shape your beard. Before you start shaping, you’ll probably want 4-6 weeks’ growth, just so you’ve got an even canvas to work with. Those with a squarer, angular jaw should go for a shorter on the sides, fuller on the chin look, whilst those with longer, rectangular faces should do the opposite. Those with more circular faces should aim of a bit of length on the chin strap, whilst keeping the sides nice and short. No matter what style you go for, do remember to cater to the moustache. Whilst a good trimmer does a good job on the beard, invest in a pair of grooming scissors. Maintaining the look is also a day-round job, so a comb or beard brush can go a long way in helping you keep your shape. A well-groomed beard these days is quite a popular choice, especially among the more edgy members of the community. We’ve started to see impeccably waxed taches and world class fades, but why? Beard beauty is nothing new. If you look through history, beards were thought of very differently in
different civilisations. In Mesopotamia, thousands of years ago, beards were oiled to look at their finest. Similarly, the ancient Greeks had great respect for their facial hair, with a close shave being a form of punishment for being a coward in battle, though Alexander the Great was a fan of a cleanshaven look. As were the ancient Egyptians, who believed that any body hair was a sign of uncivilised people. As did the Romans, who had a shaving ceremonies for young pubescent boys. That may be because Celtic and Gaul people never shaved, and often doused their facial hair in lime, which would eventually bleach it.
The ancient Greeks had great respect for facial hair, with a close shave being a form of punishment for a coward in battle Back in Medieval times, tugging on a beard was grounds for a duel, which is probably why beards became taxed under Tudor reign. Popularity declined through to WW2, because a bare chin was required for a gasmask to work, but beards have been on the up ever since. Apparently, beards reached their peak popularity in 2014, so they could become increasingly rare. But the fewer of us that have beards, the better it is for us. I’ve heard that when beards are rare, they become significantly more attractive. Get in.
Fabulous festivals Flaws or flawless
Festival season is fast approaching. Sophie Hindhaugh talks us through her favourite products and looks for this summer
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estivals are a conundrum. The best festival make-up looks are the ones that appear effortless, yet are actually more extra than your normal make-up routine or even a face full of glam. This is because festivals open up a whole new window of make-up opportunities for you to play with– including glitter (not just for your eyes), gemstones, more exposed skin (so body make-up is a must!) and more minimalistic looks such as graphic or coloured liner (or both?). So, I thought I’d provide you with a list of my definitive festival make-up looks and products. The OG - Glitter: Glitter is a festival staple and not only that; it’s cheap as well. Ebay do wonderful types of glitter and have the biggest range you will find, and due to its price, you can use it liberally all over your body too. Consider using it in your hair (along with festival appropriate space buns and hair chalk) or, if you prefer to play it safe, opt for the classic cheekbone placement: Gemstones: I was only introduced to this trend last year, after seeing The Gypsy Shrine (who do an excellent selection of gemstones) go viral on Instagram. Gemstones manage to be even bolder than glitter, and can be quite literally placed anywhere. I’ve seen everything from gemstones on the booty to being the perfect censor for your nipples. If you’re feeling more conservative, simply wear whatever top you were planning and place the gemstones in the exposed area, such as along your collarbones. But, if you want to take it up a notch, the gemstone bra is definitely something to look at. For the really brave-hearted, covering your behind with gems is (apparently) this year’s biggest festival trend. Exposed skin: If that’s all a bit too much for you, then simply accentuating your own skin is an effective way to channel your inner Coachella babe. Remember to exfoliate, tan and moisturize your skin so you have the perfect base to begin contouring it and making it glow. Run your bronzer under your collar bones and the top part of the shape of your chest, to achieve a perfect looking décolletage. After that, either go ham with your highlighter across your collar bones or add a sprinkle of glitter for a golden glow that will photograph beautifully. Remember to highlight in between your breasts if wearing plunge top, as that
will accentuate the shape and make your skin look glowing. The products I would recommend for this include the Fenty Bodylava, as well as the cheaper and more affordable Barry M Tahitian Tan. Graphic liner: And if this is all too much effort, but you do want to do something a little different, then your eyeliner is your friend. Perfect for waking up in a tent, looking in your tiny compact and doinggraphic liner is the way for the truly effortless lazy chick. Simply dot your eyeliner once under your eyes, or add a few to the end of your wing. This simple look is sexy and cool, as exemplified by Zoe Kravitz. You can always try your own spin on any of these looks- by changing up the colour of your eyeliner, by adding gemstones and glitter to god knows where (just keep it away from anything internal, please) and by experimenting with hairstyles you could never wear any other day. It’s a festival- have fun with it and get those perfect Instagram shots!
Image: @thegypsyshrine
Miranda Stoner investigates the world of editing pictures on Instagram, looking at whether this damages self-esteem
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licking through a magazine today, it’s often easy to tell whether an image has been edited or not. Photoshopping and picture editing has long been subject for debate in terms of false advertising and setting unrealistic beauty standards. However, this has been taken to the next level by Instagram, which has made photo editing easy and accessible to anyone with a smartphone. This has opened up new questions about whether we should edit our images or not. A recent study found that up to 68% of people edit photos of themselves before posting them, yet this is almost equal to the number of people who agree it’s wrong for magazines to edit images. This just shows how normalised editing has become. This is a problem because whilst we have become accustomed to dismissing adverts and magazine features as romanticised versions of reality, when we see images on Instagram, we link them to real life. Instagram is also a platform where we see pictures of friends and events we have attended. In essence: we become the celebrity. The issue with this is that we create an image of our lives and ourselves that isn’t reflective of the truth. It’s fine if you can look at a picture of your friend posing like an insta influencer in front of the birthday banner, when you know that four hours after that photo was taken she was confessing her undying love to the plate of chips and gravy half spilt down her front. However, influencers themselves, who edit their photos, are sometimes unaware of their reach and they don’t realise that, by showing unattainable perfection, they are damaging the self-esteem of their followers who they have never met in person. The irony is that in some cases, they themselves choose to use filters not out of vanity but out of their own insecurity. I recently added @effyourbeautystandards to my followed list; they are a breath of fresh air amongst last year’s Love Island contestants and upcoming models. Their realistic images of beauty have made it scarily clear how used to overly staged and edited images we have become. I admire the honesty of an unfiltered Instagram post, as it removes the stress of feeling the need to look perfect all the time.
It’s not hard to see why editing is so popular though. Posting a photo of you not looking your best makes you vulnerable to other people’s judgement. In our society, where we are so conscious of how other people perceive us, it’s natural to want to look as much like the pictures in magazines as possible. We are all guilty of making small tweaks to a photo. But hitching up the brightness or turning up the temperature don’t alter you beyond recognition. These are just like putting on foundation or wearing makeup - they are a conscious choice. What’s more, these touches can be used for a more artistic than egoistic purpose. They are an easy to use and free tool that allow people to create more professional looking images. This is great for creating a virtual photo album of your life that you look happily back on. The most important factor to consider before editing a photo is why you are doing it. The saddest thing about editing is the final product, because it shows that the person feels they aren’t beautiful enough. We need to realise that often we are at our most beautiful when we look natural and happy.
Image: @effyourbeautystandards
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@CourierBeauty thecourieronline.co.uk/beauty
Monday 14 May 2018
What beauty means to me
Beauty Editor Lois Johnston discusses what is it to be beautiful, why she’s no longer basing it on the opinions of others and her definition of the word that means something different to all
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eauty. What does that word mean? I think it means something different to everyone. For some, it means being skinny, for others it means having a tan, and for others it means being youthful. But generally, there are a set of rules one must follow in order to be seen as beautiful. For example, silky hair, white teeth and absolutely no love handles. I haven’t quite made my mind up on what the word beauty means to me yet, but The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses”. So what is it about Victoria’s Secret models and Holly Willoughby that ‘pleases the aesthetic senses’, when incredibly inspirational people such as Frida Kahlo and Adele don’t? Are they less beautiful? I don’t think so. The beauty industry and everything it stands for are a bit of a tricky subject for me. I am a selfconfessed make-up addict, not in that I beat my face à la Kylie Jenner on the daily, but come to me with your make-up/skincare woes and I can recommend at least 5 products to help you. But even more than that, I love to debate the deeper things that come with the paradigm of beauty. I don’t subscribe to the belief that beauty is a concrete ideology, but is that hypocritical of me bearing in mind my make-up collection looks like a stand in Sephora, and do I perpetuate this idea by working for the beauty section of a newspaper? Having had to deal with acne for the best part of ten years, I know all too well the confidence that a good, heavy-coverage foundation can bring. I suppose it’s like wearing a mask, and I’ve always felt for the boys that suffer from acne and who society says can’t wear make-up to cover theirs. I won’t lie and say that there hasn’t been a time I’ve
felt too embarrassed to leave the house without make-up, either due to my acne or my evergrowing eye bags, because there have been several. I couldn’t dream of doing an Alicia Keys and going sans war-paint. At one point I couldn’t even dream of wearing a vest top because it would showcase my bacne.
Image: @fridakahlo
Yet, I feel as I’ve grown up, I’ve become more and more comfortable in myself. Not just with who I am as a person, but also how I look. Don’t get me wrong, every now and then I’ll have a little whinge about my weight and spend a good 20 minutes choosing which photo to Instagram, but really, I’ve come to terms with the fact that my self-worth
isn’t based on how fleek-y my eyebrows are or how snatched my contour is. Instead, I’m investing the time I previously spent criticising myself in the mirror doing things that make me happy and that bring only positivity to my life. That being said, I said I have felt the pressure from both sides of the make-up war. I can’t deny the joy that make-up brings me. I don’t just wear make-up to enhance my confidence, I just thoroughly enjoy the whole process – the artistry, the creativity, the excitement of trying a new product, it’s addictive. I can predict that my relationship with make-up will out-live my relationship with any man. But whatever your choice, whether you wear make-up or not, you face criticism. Studies have shown that women who wear make-up in the workplace are seen to be more professional and as a result, tend to earn more. Yet, if you wear a lot of make-up, you’re ‘too made up’ and it has negative connotations. I’ve had friends say to me “But you look beautiful without all that, you don’t need it!” But I already know that. I already know that the make-up on my face does not validate me, but if I want to spend half an hour doing my make-up in the morning, I can. Likewise, if I want to spend that half an hour sleeping, that’s my prerogative. I think it’s important to remember that things only have power over you if you let them, so if you put your beauty within the hands of another, then you’ll never be happy in yourself. It’s been said a million times, but if you are confident, that will shine through. So, what is beauty to me? Well, I’m still not 100% sure. It would be a cop-out for me to say ‘it’s whatever you want it to be’ so I’m just going to say this: They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And I agree, except the only beholder of my beauty is me.
Mile high make-up tips
Travelling this summer and wondering how to keep yourself looking fresh and fabulous on a flight? Nimra Rafique shares her best advice for keeping make-up looking magical for flying Skincare is a must when travelling. Airplanes can cause your skin to become drier than usual, so it is essential that you keep your skin moisturised. Definitely try and take a few moisturising skincare products with you on your flight (remembering to keep them 100ml or less). The first product I would recommend is make-up wipes. If you decide to wear make-up to the airport you might want to take it off during the flight, especially if you have a long journey and plan on sleeping. After all, it’s never a good idea to sleep with makeup on, as you don’t want to start your holiday with breakouts. Make-up wipes are an easy and quick option to choose to take on your flight as opposed to micellar water, for example.
Flying causes your skin to experience conditions it may not be used to in everyday circumstances
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Image: @ebruerkut
ummer is almost here and Uni is almost over, which for many of you means plenty of travelling. Whether you’re going to be lounging on a beach soaking up the sun, exploring a beautiful city, or even skiing in the snowy mountains, one thing you will probably have in common is that you’ll be taking a plane to your destination. Airport beauty is very important because flying, especially long haul, causes your skin to experience conditions it may not be used to in every-day circumstances. Airplanes can cause your skin to become very dry so it is essential that you take care of it when travelling. There’s nothing worse than being on holiday and your skin acting up, so here are a few tips that may be useful to you.
The next product I would recommend is a moisturiser. This is pretty self-explanatory, but the dry air in the plane means you need to take extra care in moisturising your skin so it doesn’t get dehydrated. The same applies for your lips, the dry air will also cause your lips to become drier and even crack, so pack a lip balm or Chap Stick to apply during your flight. The final product that I would recommend you take on your flight is a facemask. I would say a sheet mask would be the best option. Sheet masks are easy to pack in your carry-on luggage and simple to use, there’s no need for a brush to apply it with and you don’t need to wash the mask off with water like some face masks, it really is the perfect option for a flight. Sometimes when travelling you might not like to wear make-up, or just like to hide your face behind big sunglasses. But there are times where you may want to apply make-up when going abroad. If you do wear make-up to the airport one thing I would
advise is to keep it simple. Instead of wearing a full coverage foundation, maybe opt for a tinted moisturiser, as this will also help with the dry conditions on the plane. Concealer is also a good idea. To prevent a dull look, apply some bronzer or blush, to give you a flush of colour and healthy glow. One of my favourite blushes at the minute is Hot Mama by TheBalm as it has a lovely sheen too it, so if don’t want to wear highlighter to the airport but still want a subtle glow, a bronzer or blush that has a glow incorporated is the perfect option. Use a tinted brow gel to create a natural, fluffy brow look and, to prevent you from looking too tired, apply mascara to open up your eyes. Finally, for lips simply use a lip balm, maybe a tinted one if you want to add some colour to your lips. So in just a few steps you can achieve a quick, simple and easy airport makeup look that will make you look effortlessly flawless for your journey.
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beauty life & style Beauty brand lovin’ Urban Decay
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ounded in January 1996, offering a line of ten lipsticks and twelve nail varnishes, Urban Decay has always been on the most wanted list, having switched owners multiple times over 22 years. Being a brand that wants to please everyone and pretty much succeeds (bar the few products that are a shambles, but we can forgive them for that), in 2009 Urban Decay was awarded with the fifth annual Best Cruelty-Free Cosmetics Line by PETA. Though in 2012 Urban Decay announced that it would begin selling products in China, a country known for its cruel animal testing, just a few months later Urban Decay stopped selling their products there. Proving themselves conscious of their ethics, Urban Decay goes straight back into the good books. In 2014 it was officially confirmed by PETA and CCIC that Urban Decay does not use animal testing, and even offers 100% synthetic makeup brushes, an alternative to using brushes made from animal hair. Now onto the products. Offering eyes, lips, face, nails, and tools, Urban Decay has vastly expanded since being founded in ’96. The brand has even started to offer gift sets! There are multiple options for all genders, skin tones and preferences within make-up - for example the NAKED range, which we all know and adore when we fancy a natural vibe. The NAKED range has now expanded its products to a non-natural vibe with products like the NAKED Smoky coming out. The foundation and concealer shade ranges cater for all skin tones, from porcelain white to deep dark, especially the NAKED Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Foundation. The eyeshadows also show up well on dark skin tones. This is frequently unachieved by beauty brands - often names like Dior and YSL release Spring/Summer pastel collections that literally look like grey powder on dark skin. Urban Decay also don’t discriminate between who can and can’t wear their makeup. Their Instagram, urbandecaycosmetics, features men and women of all different styles and skin tones. On their website (www.urbandecay.co.uk), they have also clearly labelled their vegan products, giving a little helping hand to those who want to join this evergrowing lifestyle. So as an inclusive brand that tries to cater for everyone, Urban Decay are definitely in my good books. Being a high end brand, some might say that Urban Decay’s prices are what stops them purchasing, so the brand isn’t completely inclusive for all. However, with it’s popularity, Urban Decay have influenced other retailers to sell products just like theirs. Yes, it isn’t the real thing, but for someone on a budget (like all of us students), a similar alternative might be the only option. Just at the end of April, supermarket giant, Aldi, announced that they are going to start selling products “inspired by Urban Decay’s Naked palettes,” with 12 shades for just £5.99. Having conquered the food industry with good produce at purse-friendly prices, and providing a successful dupe of Liz Earle’s hot cloth cleanser, it wouldn’t surprise me if Aldi pulled this one out the bag too. Urban Decay, a global, inclusive, cruelty-free beauty brand that manages to influence even food retailers – where can you go wrong? Emily Cartwright
Image: @urbandecaycosmetics
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feature travel
the courier
courier.travel@ncl.ac.uk Travel Editors Talia Gillin & Charlotte Hill
Monday 14 May 2018
Your Best Photos After a year of Courier Travel, we take a journey from France to India as we look back by sharing your photographs from your travels across the globe
Ranthambore ,Susanna Kiernan
Lisbon, Bianca Ionici Shiori Ozawa
Amsterdam, Bianca Ionici
Paris, Bianca Ionici
INTERRAILING Find global interrailing packages online from £188 to see all of Europe’s best cities at your own pace.
£188 Shiori Ozawa
Paris, Leslie Deng
SKYSCANNER Use Skyscanner to explore and compare the cheapest flights from all over the world. https://www.skyscanner.net/ Florence, Leslie Deng
Shiori Ozawa
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@CourierTravel thecourieronline.co.uk/travel
Monday 14 May 2018
Taj Mahal, Susanna Kiernan
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travel feature
Dublin, AlexandreAmaral
Old Dehli, Susanna Kiernan
Lake garda, Alexandra Sadler
Copenhagen, Caitlin Disken
Tbilisi, AlexandreAmaral London, AlexandreAmaral
Paris, Leslie Deng
Ericeira, Charlotte Hill
Ericeira, Charlotte Hill
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the courier
life & style travel
Monday 14 May 2018
Lovely Lisbon A year of travel Charlotte Boulton reviews her trip to the capital of Portugal
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ince finally getting a passport a few years ago, I’ve been visiting new countries and taking in new cultures. My most recent adventure involved the capital of Portugal, Lisbon. My boyfriend and I had been searching for a cheap European city break, and Lisbon ticked all the boxes, so off we went.
When travelling, I don’t like to feel pressured to see all the sights; we ended up stumbling upon the Elevador de Santa Justa and Rossio Square! The architecture and statues in the city were highlights for me, and Lisbon is home to some incredible graffiti and art installations, which made for some great photographs and memories to take home.
Shiori Ozawa reflects on the top highlights of her year of travelling and all of the lessons she has learnt along the way
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he perks of being an exchange student in the UK (pre-Brexit, importantly), is that you have a great chance of travelling around all of Europe and its nearby countries. For a travel lover like me, who’s constantly dreaming about getting around somewhere, being able to book an incredibly cheap Ryanair flight and wander around the world was a heavenly experience. Among the 11 countries (including Britain) I’ve been to this year, these were my top three destinations.
ly reasonable price. The old town district, Plaka, offers so many options of shopping, satisfying whatever your needs are. Exploring the nature is another thing you must not miss. The spectacular ocean view from Cape Sounion is unforgettable, with the bright Mediterranean Sea sparkling bright under the perfect sunshine.
Budapest, Hungary
Image: Charlotte Boulton
Lisbon is a beautiful city. I first saw it properly as we came up from the underground to a bustling street with gorgeous architecture and sunshine. The streets are often rustic and uneven (a novelty which quickly wears off) and the buildings are coloured and patterned. We stayed in the Chiado neighbourhood; Lisbon can be split into smaller areas each with their own reputation. Chiado is the main shopping area of the city, with traditional and global designer stores mixing in the streets. Although we didn’t do much shopping, it was a great place to be based as it was close to many of the main places of interest. We spent a lot of time simply exploring Lisbon. It’s hilly in many places, which was exhausting, but finding a hidden bar or a friendly street cat in an odd corner made the upwards struggle worthwhile.
On a day trip we also explored Sintra, which has a brightly coloured, straight-out-of-a-fairytale castle up a huge hill. Looking out over the castle walls was mind-blowing as we saw Lisbon stretching out below us. Taking a trip out of the city gave me a new perspective of Portugal, and I highly recommend it. The food throughout our trip was amazing, which is surprising as we’re both vegetarian and Lisbon is known for its fish and meat. The Time Out Market is a must-see, with so many stalls of amazing food in one place! You can find any dish you want in Lisbon, and vegetarian and even vegan options weren’t too difficult to find. And of course, the traditional pastel de natas are to die for (egg custard tarts are better than you may think!) You’ll fall in love with them – and the city.
Just like you’ll never forget your first love, your first solo travel is a life-lasting memory. When you have no clue how to get to the city, struggle to order food and encounter all the party animals in the hostel; all these become sweet memories when looking back. The city itself was amazing, with an extraordinary aura. The architecture, the iconic parliament, churches and other buildings, were so pretty, and possessed an aura of nobleness at the same time- which makes the city incomparable to anywhere else. The Danube River flows elegantly throughout the city, creating a calm but gracious atmosphere. I think I will never forget the panoramic view from fisherman’s bastion, where you can observe the whole city glowing at its sunset. It was a pleasure being able to see the Christmas Market set up almost everywhere in the city. Although not the authentic German (Nuremberg or Munic, iconically) Christmas market, the atmosphere itself was pleasant, surrounded by cheerful people enjoying the time.
Athens, Greece The birth place of democracy is still full of livelihood today, despite the economic crisis in 2009. This city was the most all-rounded in terms of what it had to offer. First, you cannot miss all the ancient temples and monuments. Though you may assume that it’s just going to be plain rocks and pillars (like I did at first, to be honest), standing right at the place makes you wonder how long it actually took to create all the massive construction, and the ancient life. If you are a student studying in European Union countries, you get free access to most of the historical sites! Food wise, the city has a wide range of authentic Greek cuisines, which you can enjoy at a relative-
Image: Pixabay
London, UK Last but not least, the UK itself has so much to offer, especially the significant mega capital, London. The city is a patchwork of so many different vibes, each area has a distinctive characteristic of its own. Some say that each person has their own favourite area and things to do. My picks were Shoreditch, Camden and Brixton, the core cultural hubs. Each area has its own colour, Shoreditch as the leading one, Camden the classic rock and vintage culture and Brixton having the atmosphere of start-up and multiculturalism. Getting yourself lost in the crowd, and exploring all the narrow streets and smallest shops was like a small adventure in such an urban environment. Why do I like travelling so much? Why do people go travelling? I would simply say it’s the best kind of experience you can have to learn many different lives. Although some people say that traveling is a mere run away from your daily troubles, I believe it is still a worthy experience. To immerse yourself in an unfamiliar environment, to absorb, learn and enjoy the difference will surely be an encounter that will shape who you are. After all, my whole year was a kind of “travel”, being away from home but knowing that I will have to be back at some point. I feel that it probably has not solved all the problems I was facing when I was at home, but surely will lead me to a different step of life.
Words of the Week For the last issue of the term, we thought we’d say ‘goodbye’ in... Spanish- Adios French- Au revoir German-Auf Wiedersehen Dutch- Vaarwel Czech- Ahoj Croation- Doviđenja Howaiian- Aloha Filipino- Palaam Icelandic- Bless Indonesian- Selamat tinggal Image: Charlotte Boulton
Italian- Addio Malay- Selamat tinggal Swahili- Faida Portugese- Tchau Vietnamese- Tạm biệt Scottish Gaelic- mar sin leat Turkish- Güle güle Hmong- Sib ntsib dua Punjabi- Alavidā Russian- Proshchay
Monday 14 May 2018
student activity
culture 23
the courier
editor.union@ncl.ac.uk thecourieronline.co.uk Culture Editors Zoë Godden and Ciara Ritson-Courtney Student Activity Editor: Alex Hendley
Interview: Saffron Kershaw-Mee Zoë Godden speaks to the non-binary activist, former NUSU Marginalised Genders Officer and star of Channel 4’s Genderquake Hi Saff, great to have you! The documentary seems to have gone down really well. What were your feelings in the build up to it airing? Hello! Rad to chat to you my love. To be honest this whole thing still doesn’t seem real, and I’m just pretending to act cool, calm and collected. Just so you know. Thank you so much for saying that. Obviously I was there during the time of filming and it’s always a worry thinking about how events will be edited and construed to the general public, and that was one of the feelings that stayed from filming in September last year. When you’re being constantly filmed you start to almost think like a producer, and you can start to notice potential narratives and storylines emerge from real life that they could choose. Furthermore, as someone who would call themselves a serial worrier, I was ruminating about people’s reactions, how the press would deal with it, how my friends would see it. Also the amount of times I belched in that house, you’ve got to worry about what footage they pick… but yeah the build up to airing was painful, as I just wanted to shout about it online whenever I had an interview or a press event. All of my friends had been talked at for 8 months about this ‘so-called documentary’ I’d done, I bet they began to wonder if it was even real at all!
I remember very poignantly telling Markus that doing so was a very dangerous action How was the overall filming experience? Was it anything like you expected? And who did you become most close to? I can honestly say, without a shadow of a doubt, that the filming experience was the best, but most intense week of my entire life. I’ve never partaken in a reality TV documentary before, and you hear things online about the process and the amount of control producers have over your actions and decisions etc. I little to no point of comparison for my experience there, and so it was absolutely nothing like I expected. When you go into the house they put a mic on you straight away, so you can be heard the moment you wake up, until the moment they decide to wrap for the day; that could be any time from 10pm – 3am the next morning. You have to be so careful with what you say sometimes as anything you do say could be misconstrued or picked up as more than it actually is. Also there were certain things I went into the house that I knew I wouldn’t talk about, but when you’re having a conversation, things always come up organically, so I’d run to a producer and tell them not to include it. It’s a strange, but novel way to see life and social interaction. I’d say I became closest to
Image: Saffron Kershaw-Mee
Tom, surprisingly, the straight guy from Barnsley. We had that Yorkshire connection instantly and to say he’d never heard of non-binary gender, he just took it on straight away and by the end of the week we were bezzie mates! Me and Cambell are also still very close, and talk online all the time. So how exactly did you get offered a place on the show? It was the most surreal thing, I got a message on Facebook from the casting company, Optomen, saying they’d seen my Tab article I wrote about being non-binary, and that they were filming a documentary about gender identity and sexuality, and would love for me to get involved! From then on I had skype interviews, a few trips down to London for more formal interviews, contract signing, and it was only a few weeks before they were due to film that I knew I was definitely doing Genderquake, and filming was perfectly timed with Freshers week! The most dramatic moment from Monday’s episode was the outing of a trans housemate. How did this affect the group dynamic and how should it have been handled differently? Oh god, that was an awful night. We’d just arrived back from the night out in Brighton and the altercation happened very much out of the blue with no warning. Obviously the outing affected the whole dynamic and divisions started to happen. I was completely with Romario, who I remember very poignantly told Markus, the person who outed him, that doing so is a very dangerous action, and places someone in a very vulnerable position. What Markus did was unforgiveable, and a very dangerous action for someone to commit. It was handled very badly by Markus, who seemed completely oblivious to the meaning behind that action, and just because he’d been cheated on and lied to in the past, doesn’t give him any excuse for placing Romario as a subject of gossip and hearsay. I remember shaking with anger and frustration when it all came out, and shouting at Markus telling him that he has no idea of the power behind what he has done, and that he has no idea how that can make someone feel. In the end it was resolved and everyone talked it out and, to be honest, regardless of what was shown on screen, we all handled it pretty maturely. You’ve campaigned for non-binary and gender non-conforming people at Newcastle for a while now, including winning Campaign of the Year last year for your Beyond The Binary Week when you served as Marginalised Genders Officer, and appearing on BBC3’s web shows. Would you consider yourself an enby BNOC? Hahahahahahaha…shut up man! I really don’t see myself as that. I’m a little overwhelmed by all this stuff if I’m honest, but I feel so proud that I’ve
Image: Saffron Kershaw-Mee
achieved this much, which I was never expecting when I started university in 2013 as a shy straight girl! I am just glad that non-binary gender is being put out onto a mainstream platform, and it’s all worth it for the messages I’ve received from nonbinary kids who feel like they’re being represented, and that their family have watched the documentary and have started to understand it. Why is a show like this so important to air on a network like Channel 4? I cannot comprehend how valuable this show is to young people and anyone else who thinks they have to pretend to be someone they’re not. People underestimate the power of popular culture and tv shows in changing the societal opinion and allowing those who would never normally come into contact with gender non-conforming and trans people to hear authentic, real stories, hardships and struggles. I really do think that anyone who watched the docco saw a fresh take on gender identity in the 21st century and will hopefully, if their child, or partner, or relative comes out as trans or non-binary, that they’ll be that little bit more understanding and respectful. Also, shows like this could even readdress archaic language and the lack of inclusivity in law, such as the 2004 gender recognition act, which still uses terms like
‘transexual’ and medicalises trans identity. Hopefully, Genderquake will contribute towards bigger changes. Have any new career opportunities come about because of your appearance on the show? A few awesome things are in the pipeline. I’ve been asked to model for a ‘genderless’ makeup company, I’m appearing on an online talk show in June, I’m being featured in an online magazine, and a few more things! If anything though, all I want is to continue making content online for my YouTube audience, and continue to reduce to ignorance and dismissal of anyone who rejects the two-box rule of male and female in society. And finally, do you think you could go through the experience all over again? Ooh god that is a hard question. It was a very difficult week, but I’ve made friends for life, made non-binary feel validated in their identity, and even made a few people laugh! I’d say I would do it again, but only for the right reasons, only to continue campaigning for trans and non-binary rights. I’m not quite fame hungry yet, but come back to me in a few years when I’m begging for a spot on Loose Women or a DJ night in Slough and I’ll let you know if my mind has changed…
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culture music
the courier
c2.music@ncl.ac.uk Music Editors Toby Bryant, Charlie Isaac & Ally Wilson
Editorial: Our Last Song
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ad times, it’s the last Courier of the year but what a year it’s been. Thanks to Sprosto himself for being such a great chappy, to NSR and Meg Smith in particular for working with us each week and MUSSOC for their help with the ‘On Campus’ column – that is one very talented society. It’s been quite the nine months for music with more releases than the three of us could possibly keep track of and an ever-growing gig scene in Newcastle. I have to put up with constant mocking for my ‘awful’ mainstream music taste, so I apologise if that has grated on you this year. That said, there really is a host of fresh, exciting talent in pop music, a lot of it led by females who aren’t getting the attention they deserve, Charli XCX, Raye and Alma to name a few. I really hope we’ve shone a light on them in the section. Amongst all the positives this year, a realisation of just how bad sexism still is in the industry has hit me and trying to stay aware of that is important. I mean, come on, what is up with all these festival lineups, it’s 2018… Most importantly, ta to Ally and Charlie too, they’ve been absolute gems. Toby Bryant
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his year has really gone crazy fast, but that just shows how much fun it has been. It’s been great to immerse myself in the Student Media (would recommend to anyone who hasn’t done it yet- whether it’s NUTV, NSR or The grand old Courier, I would recommend them all- everyone is lovely), and make plenty of new friends along the way. As lame as this no doubt sounds, it has actually been a fantastic year. Cheers to all who were involved. In terms of music taste, a lot has changed, mostly thanks to my housemates. What initially started as a pretty massive hate relationship with the thumping tech bass from next door, has become a deep love of disco-tech. I am now a sucker for a remix of a funky 70s disco hit, and I’m not ashamed of it- I’ve even made a playlist dedicated to this scene. Fab for revision. Aside from this, there’s been some great new albums out this year, from the likes of Wolf Alice, Sam Smith & the big man Ezra, as well as a highlight of seeing and meeting Newton Faulkner and Sundara Karma, absolute perks. Due to Toby’s above comment, I now feel obliged to thank the two lads who’ve taken on this section with me. Yeah, you’re alright I suppose. Ally Wilson
Monday 14 May 2018 Image: list.co.uk
Lucy Lillystone: from Rock Bands to ‘God’s Plan’ Music taste is important to me. It tells me a lot about another person so when I first came to university I was excited to see what everyone’s music taste would be and if it would be similar to mine. Let’s just say it is VERY different. From the many pres I have been to, not once have I heard my favourite bands (Panic! At The Disco, Green Day, Don Broco and more). I was adamant that my music taste would not be changing, no matter how many times I had to listen to ‘God’s Plan’. And yet… here I am, today, listening to Dua Lipa’s ‘IDGAF’ and ‘New Rules’ on repeat. I find myself singing along to George Ezra’s new song ‘Paradise’ and with the amount of times my flat mates have played ‘Rockstar’ by Post Malone, I find myself starting to finally like it. NEVER did I think I would be listening to cheesy pop and rap before I started University.
Rory Ellis: From Indie Pop to Boilershop
It’s actually embarrassing how predictably my music taste changed once I came to uni. Throughout senior school I listened largely to indie music as well as mainstream pop that got played in the common room. Occasionally I would listen some bassline and garage that featured in local clubs on the weekend. And when I arrived at Uni it initially wasn’t too different. With the usual stuff that gets played in Soho and Digi Mondays I noticed little change. However, I think it probably changed once I went to an event at Boilershop, and then later Cosmic and started to become interested by the more minimalist side of techno. A year later, like a typical student, I generally avoid a night out which doesn’t involve some house or techno.
Charlotte Paige Boulton: from Sheer Pop to Queer Pop
How have my music tastes changed? Honestly, they’ve just got more gay. I suspect my regular visits to Powerhouse have influenced this, but also the influx of great queer artists and even just ‘gay-friendly’ artists in the past few years. Hayley Kiyoko’s one of my new favourite artists, thanks to her songs celebrating and loving women. Aside from her, Janelle Monae’s new album – which came with her sharing her pansexuality – is beautifully gay (check out ‘PYNK’). St Vincent’s recent Coachella reworking of ‘Slow Disco’ gave me a renewed love with its 80s gay disco vibes. Lorde, Troye Sivan, Ariana Grande, even Little Mix are all gay culture heroes. I unapologetically love the cheesy fun pop played on the scene in the city and embracing queer artists wholeheartedly has made my music taste more vibrant, Image: Wikimedia Commons meaningful and unique.
Changing Tastes
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In honour of the final Courier issue of this academic year, we asked Courier Music writers to discuss how their individual university experiences have altered their taste in music, and how their journey has taken them there
Biggest perk: Landing a free Enter Shikari ticket (a favourite of my teenage years), whilst managing to escape interviewing the irrelevant support act (cheers Eloise Doherty, for taking that one). Worst experience: Spending over an hour Photoshopping Stu Mackenzie of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard to be sitting off the side of an album cover (it looked better than it sounds, I promise) only for it to turn out inexplicably pixelated beyond recognition when it went to print. Strangest experience: Pissing off a band that has had multiple top-10 hits through my incompetence (or so the PR guy claimed, in the angry email he sent after I forgot to inform a writer they were sorted to review Squeeze at the City Hall) Best discovery through the role: Henry Cow, an example of ‘rock in opposition’ that popped up in the ‘A Love Letter To’ (obscure genres) column. Worst Discovery: Maroon 5’s ‘Red Pill Blues’. Just the thought of that godawful album still makes me cringe. Greatest Achievement: Our musical nativity for the Christmas edition, largely nonsensical but glorious nonetheless. Advice to Next Year’s Music Editors: Don’t be afraid to experiment with the layout – some of our most interesting pages resulted from us ditching the standard set up. Also, sorting the gig reviews is boring as hell; get ‘em finished and out the way asap at the beginning of each month! Charlie Isaac
John O’Carroll: from Spotify to Blues Live
n liu of a standard couple of paragraphs, I have decided to do a Q/A with myself. Also, obligatory (but massivley desreved) cheers Ali and Toby, you’ve both been incredible!
My music taste has not changed so much since starting University, but how I consume it has. In these past few months I have discovered a venue where all lovers of blues may go and enjoy the music that inspired The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and The Animals to first take up music and which inspired them to great early success. Billy Bootleggers is the place. They play host to a band with a residency of the first Friday of each month - ‘The King Bees’ who take their name from a Slim Harpo hit subsequently covered by the Stones. The five-piece group play a selection of the finest Chicago Blues from Otis Rush to Louis Jordan and Little Walter. They comprise of those whose virtuosity on their instruments of choice that surpasses that of any other I have seen live. Their residency is complemented by other blues bands of equally high standard. So, if you’re ever out drinking on a weekend, it’s always worth heading down for some of the finest blues this side of the Atlantic.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Gerry Hart Hart: From the Ramones to the Roses
Image: YouTube
This year’s been kind of an odd one. I suppose that’s to be expected when its your last at uni but I can’t say I’ve been a fan of the air of finality hanging over everything, least of all because the stuff I’m listening to now will probably end up haunting me in my old age. My music taste hasn’t changed a great deal this year, though I have been trying to broaden my horizons somewhat. Like last year, I’ve been listening to more and more punk of varying types, ranging from The Ramones (cheers dad), Crossover Thrash and New York Hardcore which I often ended up playing in The Courier office (sorry about that guys). But out of all the music I’ve been exploring, the band that stands out the most are The Stone Roses. I can’t quite pin down why I like them, especially seeing as most of the stuff I like repels most people. I guess they’re just easy to listen to, and sometimes that’s all you need. Plus they’re pretty decent for panicked, caffeine fuelled essay cramming.
the courier
@CourierMusic thecourieronline.co.uk/music
Monday 14 May 2018
25
music culture
Girli: Punk-Pop, Safe Spaces and Girli 2.0
Music Editor Toby Bryant spoke to Girli about her journey from fan to famous, going from clubs and open mic nights to headline shows
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our years ago a 16-year-old Girli stood on the stage of The Garage in Highbury, London, having paid for the right to play with her band. Now, in 2018, the venue is a sold-out sea of colours, pulsing as the 20-year-old stands confident, her pink hair glowing, during her own headline show. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. The venue is filled with the energy of a young generation, a diverse crowd where not one person looks the same, yet there is such an incredible ease amongst the fans. Before the show, a pink (of course) jogger-wearing Girli is waiting in her dressing room to chat to The Courier Music, she’s just finished directing the position of the lights on stage. “I think gigs should be a safe space. I strive to do that. They’re such an escape and always were for me.” Without doubt, Girli succeeds in this and it’s her willingness to speak about and stand up for the issues that face her fan base that creates this safe space. In the past the singer has described her music as “political pop with an element of punk” and that’s clear to see in tracks such as ‘Hot Mess’ and ‘Girls Get Angry Too’ whose upbeat pop-punk pack a political punch.
I’ve been harassed at gigs before, I’ve seen homophobia... I want the gig to feel safe, like a home “This tour has made me realise that young people are looking up to me which is really overwhelming but really important as well. I remember when I was 15, I listened to bands way more than my parents, or politicians, or my teachers.” “It angers me when people with such a massive platform don’t use it. I’m learning more to respect people’s decisions who don’t want to be political artists but when it’s a big scale… think about how many votes Taylor Swift could have shifted if she said something [about Trump’s election].” As a host of late-teenage artists are finding success through writing openly about their experiences growing up, Girli is no exception. She’ll talk about the big topics and tackle issues that the in-
dustry has tried to ignore for so long, with a ferocity you hear shared by young music fans in the queue. “The music I’ve come out with, I’ve still been figuring myself out and who I want to be which happens between the age of 17 and 20. I just happened to do it while I was signed and making music.” When we tell Girli just how many people are sat outside the venue queuing already (it’s only 4pm) and have been for hours, you can’t fake the disbelief on her face. For an artist selling out venues across the country, the 20-year-old couldn’t be more down to earth yet, at the same time, is hyperaware of who her fan base is and what they look for. “They’re so cute aren’t they. You see that’s me like six years ago doing that, queuing for my favourite bands. It’s so fucking weird.” “A lot of kids who come to my shows are LGBTQ, are young girls, are vulnerable people in other gig situations. I’ve been harassed at gigs before, I’ve seen homophobia and I would just hate one of my shows leaving someone feeling vulnerable or upset. I wanted gender neutral toilets. I wanted zero harassment tolerance. I want the gig to feel safe, like a home.” The singer’s journey from star student at school to outspoken pop-punk has been a fascinating one. Despite acing studies she always hated schoollife and knew her calling may lay elsewhere. At 15-years-old, as the stress of GCSEs started to kick in, she formed her own band and after that fizzled out went it solo, undeterred. “I was like, this will happen. And I started Girli.” “When I decided I wanted to do music I devastated all of my teachers and even my parents at the time were like, ‘you’re going to throw all of this away?’. I told them, ‘I’m not throwing this away, I’m doing something I want to do’. That’s the delusion, we prioritise other things over the arts. You go through school and you’re taught that’s a hobby – there should be equal opportunities for whatever you want to do.” Girli cut her teeth on “seedy clubs” and open mic nights, singing on top of some beats she’d been playing around with or had found online, confessing that she “shat my pants every time”, as five guys with acoustic guitars would look on unimpressed. As Girli’s career continues to go from strength to strength, she’s not afraid to experiment on the formula that has been so successful for her. ‘Play It Cool’ is the artist’s latest single and the most poppy
Image: Half Time Music effort to date, with a light-hearted focus on a oneway relationship. “I was just sleeping with this guy who was being a dickhead. I had this realisation that he was just a wanker. A lot of people have that, they idolise someone, put someone on a pedestal. They will give you attention but just the right amount so that you keep wanting more from them.” “‘Play It Cool’ is an interlude between the Hot Mess EP, which is more punky, and the stuff I have coming out in the next couple of months which is a lot more alternate pop. I’ve been going to America to write a lot of music and I’ve found my groove working with people who are pop writers in bands, collaborating with other people expands your knowledge.” “A lot of the music I’m writing now isn’t very political but I still talk about politics on stage and on social media. I can’t just go to the studio and be like, ‘I’m going to write a song about Donald Trump today’. I might want to write a song about falling in love or being called a bitch… something dumb.” It’s a brave sonic move for Girli, but all suggestions so far are that it will really pay off. We move on to speak about upcoming single, ‘Day Month Second’, teased at the end of the frolicking ‘Play It Cool’ music video and played live later that night, she refers to the new sound as “the first of Girli 2.0”. It’s the latest step in an incredibly success-
ful year, highlighted by the success of 2017’s ‘Hot Mess’, which nears 500,000 streams on Spotify. The track’s upbeat baseline rallied the crowd into a shouting frenzy to close the night but the song’s tongue-in-cheek lyrics on sexism in the industry can’t be laughed away. Girli tells The Courier of her first festival experience at Reading 2014 and we talk lack of female headliners since Paramore that year. “I think it’s [sexism in the industry] changing. Reading is quite an old festival from a time when it was NME magazine, it wasn’t really social media. I love NME, I used to collect them, but I have a collection of about 50 and I think maybe four of those covers are women. Now NME isn’t even being made anymore and the older ways we consumed music have changed to social media which is changing things. A lot of old school publications and festivals are struggling to catch up, and they need to. Times are changing completely.” Times really are changing and that couldn’t be a healthier thing for the music industry. It’s outspoken artists who aren’t afraid to change it up that are spearheading this. Girli is one of them and from the start of our interview to the closing song that evening, The Courier Music couldn’t have been more blown away. The bright pink, high-strung pop-punk sound Girli has crafted is so much more than what comes out of the speakers for fans and the industry alike.
Meet :PM, the 5 Yorkshire lads playing arenas :PM are the latest band to get the Toby Bryant treatment, as they settle into a life on the road supporting The Vamps at sellout venues
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istening to the recording of my interview with :PM, it opens with one of the five boys whistling carelessly, the others discussing the ‘vintage’ voice recorder I’ve laid on the table. They’re young, they’re fun and they are gathering fans very, very quickly. :PM is formed of Dan, Joe, Alex, Josh and Harry and the band have just finished a huge arena tour supporting The Vamps. They are stopping off at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, the city’s biggest venue on offer. “It’s the first time we’ve ever played venues this size, it’s great getting out there. We just look at each other and do the same thing that we would do in Alex’s parent’s garage when we were little. There’s just more room to run around!” Alongside :PM on the tour are youth phenomenons, Jacob Sartorious and Hrvy, both of whom have shot to stardom over the last years thanks to their presence on social media. The Yorkshire-
Image: ChuffMedia
born band tell The Courier just how much they are leaning from everyone: “We watch The Vamps with a microscope because their career has done amazing. You have to learn from bands like that.” “Jacob and Hrvy are really sweet guys. They’re really talented and their sets are really great as well. Everyone on tour is really cool, it’s a proper family.” Although :PM may seem to be only on the start of their journey, it’s been more than a decade in the making. Josh recounts the story of when he and Harry, both guitarists, first approached lead-singer Dan: “Me and Harry were 12 years old, in our first year of school. We ere in the same form group so were best mates straight away.” “It must have been 2 or 3 months later when we saw Dan in assembly. He was going to play trumpet and last minute he got the guitar and decided to play ‘Hallelujah’. He smashed it and me and Harry
went up to him in the break time and asked if Dan wanted to join the band. He was like uhhh, maybe.” Dan chuckles but can’t have been to hard to convince as he fills in, “We did a little practice in a tiny room and we gelled straight away. From there the team formed. Alex lives next for to me and he went to school with Joe.” Since then, the youngsters have enjoyed a number of experiences that has seen them hone their music to the confident sound they boast now. When 15-years-old :PM won a competition called the AMP awards and were gifted the chance to record in Johnny Depp’s Hollywood studio. Whilst none of that music recorded at such a young age was released, the chance to play a show at the Whisky a Go Go club was also relished. Now, the band record in North London’s Konk Studios, the birthplace of The Kook’s sophomore record Konk. “In the studio the energy is always there, nothing really changes, no-one gets bored. It’s more like let’s get it done. When we are in the studio we already have the song, so if we love it we just smash it out and have a blast.” The cheeky group are all smiles as they joke about the million songs they plan to release and million destinations ahead of them this year. “You’ve got to go with the streaming hype you know”, one voice chimes in. However, joking aside, there is a lot for fans to look out for. “We’ve got an EP which we are releasing on the tour. And then we are going to have a new song coming out with some headline shows after the tour is finished which is cool.” “We love touring, we had a day and a half at home and none of us wanted to leave. The response [on tour with The Vamps] has been great. When we go onto our social medias now and there are people
saying when can we get tickets for our shows it’s amazing. We’ve even had a few tweets saying that people have bought tickets for another Vamps show to come see us which is the most surreal thing.” In terms of influences, the band cite an eclectic mix including Arctic Monkeys, The 1975 and Justin Bieber but, when listening, that mix does come through… “Big old guitar and pop hooks. You’ve got Arctic Monkeys on one side with the big riffs and then JB with the big old pop song chorus.” ‘Grown Ups’ is the band’s debut single, released in 2017, and their biggest success to date with that sound coming through strong in lyrics such as, “I wanna buy a haribo ring and marry you”.
The band cite an eclectic mix including the Arctic Monkeys, the 1975 and Justin Bieber “It does have a big place in our hearts. It wasn’t going to be the first single originally and it just sort of came out and we just put it out. We all put so much into it and it means so much to us. When we see the streams going up or see people singing it it’s insane.” It’s a success the boys will have to get used to. Touring with The Vamps is proving a phenomenal success. When they talk of their growing social media popularity, they aren’t joking, fans are flocking in their direction. 2018 is a huge year for :PM, and they won’t have any complaints with the success of the first half of it.
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culture TV
Amy Gildert’s Queer Eye
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the courier
c2.tv@ncl.ac.uk TV Editors Jacob Clarke, Joel Leaver & Alex Moore
Bitter
f you’re here for fashion tips, I wouldn’t follow by example from the ‘Fab Five’, because some of their outfits are WILD. One particularly memorable outfit sees Jonathan in a romper that feels less like Jungle Explorer and more like Budget Plumber. But hey, whatever works for you my dude. Structurally, the show often feels imbalanced with the guys’ different segments. Whether this is to do with the editing or the actual content I’m not sure, but I often wonder what Karamo, the so called Culture expert, does half the time apart from being unbearably handsome and being a personal hypeman. Similarly, Queer Eye’s Antoni’s role in the team is food and wine, and while he tries his damnedest to convince you that he is a Cooking Expert, don’t you believe that for one second. It’s less professional cooking tips and more hot dogs covered in carrots to convince people that they’re fancy. I see you Antoni, you’re not fooling me with your beautiful hair and sliced melon. One of the side effects of a makeover show like this is the fact that while watching it, you will almost certainly feel like a gremlin. As the Fab Five critique the corners of the man’s life, you will almost certainly become acutely aware of every pile of clothes that you haven’t put away yet, every unwashed dish that festers near your sink, and that hole ridden tank top you’ve been wearing as pajamas for the last week. If you think these guys wouldn’t roast your life, then you’ve got another thing coming to you.
Monday 14th May 2018
Steve Irwin receives Walk of Fame star
Sophie Hicks celebrates the legendary crocodile hunter’s deserved posthumous achievement
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ore than a decade after the tragic loss of Steve Irwin, he finally got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This is significant as it shows how despite the loss of his life, his legacy and work as a conservationist has had a significant impact over a whole generation of people. In tradition with Irwin’s love of reptiles, his family brought a snake to place on top of the star, showcasing his love for animals in a touching tribute. If you don’t know who Steve Irwin is, you may recognise the title The Crocodile Hunter. Irwin’s passion for animals started from a young age when he grew up on a wildlife park owned by his family, eventually creating a career out of his passion for creatures. Irwin’s passion was not for the cute and cuddly, but rather for reptiles. By the age of nine he was helping his father catch crocodiles around boat ramps that were causing the public distress, and relocating them to better areas. His love
and lack of fear of these animals sparked interest, starting the show The Crocodile Hunter. In
Did You Know? A fatal accident occurred in 2006 when Irwin was pierced in the by a stingray, tragically cutting his life short Image: Australia Zoo Pty Ltd
this show, he would showcase the animals and handle them, as well as sharing knowledge and perhaps unravelling initial perceptions of these animals. At its peak it was aired in over 200 countries, and became a part of many of our childhoods. Unfortunately, whilst filming a new show in 2006, he was pierced in the chest by a
200
Number of countries The Crocodile Hunter was aired in at its peak
Since his death, his family have preserved his memory and enthusiasm for wildlife. His wife Terri Irwin is still the owner of Australia Zoo, and in 2006 received a Special Recognition Award by Sir David Attenborough. Their son Robert Irwin has been in the public eye and became an Internet sensation after showcasing animals on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon numerous times. His uncanny likeness of his father is showcased through his enthusiasm and current career choices, such as being an ambassador of Scouts Australia, which is to encourage children to be involved with conservation. His daughter Bindi Irwin has followed a similar path to her father by also being a TV personality and being invested in wildlife welfare. She was voted Young Conservationist
It’s amazing that 12 years after his death, Steve Irwin has received a star on the Walk of Fame of the Year by the Australian Geographic Society in 2014. It’s amazing that 12 years after his death, Steve Irwin has received a star on the Walk of Fame. With his family’s help, his memory has not been forgotten, but rather embraced as a symbol of conservationism. Although The Crocodile Hunter has ended, his dedication to the cause and the knowledge he shared with the world has not been forgotten. He has inspired a generation to see all animals as equal, not just focusing on the ‘cute’ ones.
Sweet Queer Eye lures you in with the pretext of being a cute makeover show, but what I didn’t expect from it was how serious it would get at times. Over the course of eight episodes, the Fab Five address loneliness, institutionalized racism, and homophobia in the church. I for one was pleasantly surprised by the intelligent way they discuss these issues.
stingray and passed away. Whilst tragic, his death was not in vain as he is remembered as an educational figurehead for animal rights, and his work supporting numerous charities is not unnoticed. In honour of his memory, November 15th is now Steve Irwin Day.
Image: @robertirwinphotography (instagram)
Netflix Random Generator: Dark Danielle Brier delves into Netflix’s new hit, an intense German-made science fiction thriller
Image: YouTube
The show is also surprisingly emotional, and not in a staged way either. The guys that are nominated for this show feel like real people who are each dealing with their own problems and struggles. The pure amount of heart in each episode is truly touching. In one episode, grooming expert Jonathan says, “You can’t allow yourself to numb your feelings, if you try to numb the vulnerability, you also numb the joy, happiness and connection”. If that doesn’t show the emotional nature of the show then I don’t know what will.
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ark is a science fiction thriller and is the first series on Netflix to be in German. If you do go to watch it, and I recommend you do, Netflix will automatically play the dubbed English version. If you’re anything like me, the out of sync mouths prove to be annoying and distracting, so I recommend that you watch the original German version with English subtitles. You will more than likely forget that you are reading them anyway. The show is set in 2019 in a small town called Winden, where a 15-year-old boy has been missing for two weeks and the police don’t seem to have any leads on his whereabouts. Most people just assume he had run away from home, like he had done previously. However this is not the case, but
it isn’t until a second boy aged only 11-years-old goes missing that people realise something ominous is going on. The characters that have lived in the town the longest are the ones who start to see that the town’s twisted history is beginning to repeat itself, as these same events also happened 33 years before.
The atmosphere is dark, shocking and a little unnerving Dark is a prime example of a show that does exactly what it says on the tin. Straight from the get
go the atmosphere is dark, shocking and a little unnerving. The show is brilliant at building tension
90%
Despite being a German production, almost all of Dark’s audience comes from outside of Germany.
through its choice of soundtrack, and switching from present day to the past and back again within the episodes. Throughout the duration of the series, the story sucks you in and sends you through so many twists and turns it forces you to finish all ten episodes, as there are so many questions that need answers, and because it’s just ridiculously good.
The Verdict For me, Queer Eye stands apart from other makeover shows by the way it takes a simple concept and uses it to address a variety of serious societal issues. And, although I know the Fab Five would roast me as I watch it on a Friday night, surrounded by sweet wrappers with a pile of laundry to do, the shows unyielding heart earns it a Sweet rating.
@thecouriertv @Courier_TV
Image: YouTube
the courier
@CourierTV thecourieronline.co.uk/tv
Monday 14th May 2018
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TV culture
Winter still isn’t here... But something else is coming
Amy Gildert shares her thoughts on the news that Game of Thrones will be receiving not one, but five new prequel series!
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he final season of Game of Thrones is set to air in 2019, at which point I assume we will all fall into the post-show depression where our lives briefly lose all sense of meaning. But never fear! HBO is looking out for us and is looking to fill that Game of Thrones shaped hole in our hearts with a series of prequel shows. There are currently five spin-off ideas floating about in various stages of production - although none with any set timeline for release.
extremely profitable series, but they simultaneously can’t keep the current story going forever. The answer ladies and gentlemen, lies in the spin-off. A spin-off show allows producers to cash in on the success of Game of Thrones without compromising the original story arc. The question now is what sort of stories are these new shows looking to tell.
It’s better to have a solid conclusion to a story rather than letting it drag on
Did You Know?
The upcoming prequel Fire and Blood is not a novel but is a 1000 page encyclopedic “definitive history of the Targaryens in Westeros”
Game of Thrones is one of the biggest shows around, boasting a budget of 15 million dollars per episode in the upcoming season and, according to the New York Times, makes about 1 billion dollars annually. Obviously, HBO don’t want to lose this
While not much has been said about the upcoming shows, it’s clear that none of the spin-offs will be a continuation of the current story or characters. While this means no more Tyrion or Jon Snow, it could be for the best. Although it’s always
Preview
Reviews
Arrested Development Netflix
Britain’s Best Home Cook
sad to come to the end of a show and let go of your favourite characters, it’s better to have a solid conclusion to a story rather than letting it drag on for the sake of making money. Instead of releasing the last instalments in the Song of Ice and Fire series, author George R.R Martin seems more keen to expand the history of Westeros; releasing a series of novellas and an upcoming book named Fire and Blood, which aims to provide a detailed history of the Targaryen rule. While this isn’t the continuation of the story that fans are desperate for, it’s possible that HBO may follow a similar direction and set these spinoff shows somewhere in the complicated history of Westeros. Back in January HBO president Casey Bloys confirmed that there may be ‘familiar bloodlines’ in one or more of the upcoming shows, and given the importance of the family in both Game of Thrones and Martin’s upcoming work, I think we can expect to see some Targaryen ancestors on our screens.
The New Legends of Monkey
BBC One
Image: YouTube
Release Date: 29/05/18
A
rrested Development, a Netflix favourite, will soon be returning with a new series. The show creator Mitch Hurwitz took to the show’s official Twitter account to make the announcement. Arrested Development follows the Bluth family, a wealthy but dysfunctional family who struggle to adapt to life after the patriarch is arrested for corrupt property development deals in the first episode and they lose their wealth. If you haven’t seen it, now is the perfect time to catch up. Alongside the new fifth series, teasingly arriving “like real soon”, Hurwitz made another exciting update. The fourth series had a remix released on 4th May, entitled ‘Fateful Consequences’. The remix comes after the fourth series’ experimentation of each episode being focused on one character of the Bluth family was met with mixed reviews, as it differed from their traditional cross-character storyline style. Hurwitz hoped the reimagining of the series would lead to new humour and perspectives being found, treating it as a “comedic experiment”. The return to the recognisable Arrested Development format is an interesting choice and brings the Netflix distributed episodes into line with the previous three series which were originally broadcast on Fox.
Now is the perfect time to catch up The premiere of series five will be announced shortly. I’m excited to see what the latest series brings but am also curious to see how the show handles the time difference between the last series. The original three series’ were filmed between 2003 and 2006, with a seven-year break before the Netflix episodes were filmed in 2012. With actors like Michael Cera and Alia Shawkat having aged visibly in season 4 from their original teenage characters, the show handled this with a time jump to place Cera in college. Just how far will the show jump this time? Find out, on the next Arrested Development… Charlotte Boulton
Netflix
Image: YouTube
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he sun is out, the beer gardens are open and everyone is trying to pretend their exams aren’t two weeks away. Given the impending doom of sweaty exam halls, this review offers a show to nibble and not devour. We are not talking duvet day binge show, but pure BBC One brilliance that you can tune in to every Thursday at 8pm. Britain’s Best Home Cook will bring Mary Berry right back to your screens. Think if Great British Bake Off had a baby with MasterChef - Mary Berry is the cute grandma and Claudia Winkleman (host of the show) is your nuts auntie. Mary is joined by two new judges who are essentially a young John Torode and Greg Wallace given that, like John and Greg, one is a chef and one is a “produce expert”. The programme starts slow, but when you learn all the chefs will be living in a house together you can already smell the beef. The format of the show allows the cooks to show their cooking flair and the first round saw the amateur cooks make their take on a burger. The winner of the first-round picks between two options for the vital ingredient of the second round.
The format of the show allows the cooks to show their cooking flair I personally took great delight when the winner of this week’s first-round picked nuts over berries -especially given the low-key bitchiness of the other cooks at this choice. In the last round, the worst chefs of the first two challenges are given a recipe they must follow exactly. But the twist is that ingredients are only provided to create the dish once. No whipping up an extra Hollandaise because theirs curdled because they’ve only got once chance. Maybe it’s not as good as Bake Off. But I must stress how fab it is to have Mary back on our screens and I have a lot of hope the co-habitant nature of the show could stir some serious goss. Alice Dixon
Image: YouTube
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fantasy tale of a loveable rouge hero with demi-god powers, who is imprisoned for 500 years until freed by the foretold warrior monk Tripitaka. Unfortunately, this monk is secretly an orphaned girl who has a fantastic ability to charm gods and find trouble. We are amused as Tripitaka befriends two slightly odd gods to help on a quest to battle the demons, who currently run the world.
This series has an easy going and light humour that is perfect to watch whilst revising
HBO executives have stated that while development of the spin-off shows is underway, they are looking to conclude the final series of Game of Thrones first, meaning that fans shouldn’t expect to see any definitive prequels until 2020 at least.
Image: BagoGames (flickr)
The Editors’ Summer Selection
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Jacob Clarke
his summer, I’m most looking forward to new seasons of returning TV shows, such as the much-anticipated return of Arrested Development.After a five year hiatus and many promises of a return to form for the show, the Bluth family is ready to come back and spectacularly fail at whatever scheme they have their hands on this time. Also returning is AMC’s Preacher, coming back for a third season. This time Jesse and his gang aren’t necessarily the only source of anticipation, Eugene has escaped hell with Hitler, so Hitler is very much on the loose in 21st century USA… This could get strangely interesting. One new show I’m looking forward to is Cloak and Dagger, An expansion of Marvel’s huge cinematic universe, this time following the adventures of two teenagers who find out they have superpowers.
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Joel Leaver
favourite of mine is the incredible Natalie Dormer. A fantastic British talent, Dormer is soon to appear in Picnic at Hanging Rock, to air on the BBC this summer. The drama, set in the early 1900s, follows the mysterious disappearance of a group of schoolgirls. Speaking of a female ensemble, Big Little Lies’ second season is most definitely something I’m looking forward to. The Reese Witherspoon drama recently added Hollywood legend Meryl Streep to the cast so it really needs to hurry up and air already! Last but certainly not least, who could forget the show I’ve been impatiently awaiting for months; Castle Rock. An accumulation of characters and themes from the work of Stephen King, the show will be a mysterious and dark addition to the summer season. Set to premiere in late July, Castle Rock will star King alum’s Sissy Spacek (the titular character in Carrie) and Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise/IT in 2017’s IT). Not much is known about the show itself but it looks to be interesting, dark and one hell of a literary adaption.
Monkey, who is released from a stone prison is an amusing hero as he is robbed of his key powers, but left with his arrogance and vanity; his companions are Pigsy, a God who suffers gluttony and has been led astray by his larger than life demon mistress and Sandy, a god with an affinity for water and ditzy mind who has been left on her own for too long. Tripitaka is our unlikely heroine stepping up into the assumed leader, Monkey’s shoes and keeping the foursome together through their madness and comical bickering. Based on the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en, this series has an easy going and light humour that is perfect to watch whilst revising. It’s 20 minuet episodes are full of banter and an easy story-line to slip in and out of. The diverse cast and Australian setting an enjoyable break from the usual fantasy Hollywood blockbuster. A small side note is the lack of Chinese actors, the production does have a diverse cast as already mentioned, but no Chinese actor graces the series. The fact that the setting of the tale is in a stylistically inspired Chinese land just about manages to avoid any major issue.
ahrenheit 451 (HBO, May 19): Right, I know this is technically a film, but it’s a TV film so I’m claiming it (and hey I’m an editor, who can stop me). Michael B. Jordan stars as the protagonist Guy Montag - a ‘fireman’ tasked with burning books - in this anticipated adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic dystopian novel. The Handmaid’s Tale (Channel 4, TBA): Whilst the second series of the critically acclimated dystopian drama, based on Margaret Atwood’s award winning novel of the same name, has already begun airing on Hulu in the states, Channel 4 is yet to announce a premiere date. After my initial rage at the announcement of a second series, which I took to be little more than a typical cash-grab as the first series aptly ended Offred’s story as Atwood does in the novel, it will be interesting to see what direction her journey takes beyond the cliff-hanger.
Phoebe Fielder
The TV editors would like to thank everyone for all of their contributions this year!
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Alex Moore
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feature TV
the courier
c2.tv@ncl.ac.uk TV Editors Jacob Clarke, Joel Leaver & Alex Moore
Monday 14th May 2018
The Courier Taskmaster James Acaster After making countless appearances on numerous panel shows since 2014, Acaster has recently stared in his own Netflix special, Repertoire, consisting of four stand-up shows filmed in 2017. It is currently the highest rated of Netflix’s recent bout of stand up specials, beating Ricky Gervais and Greg Davies with a score of 8.3/10 on IMDb.
Black Mirror Netflix Charlie Brooker’s dark dystopian drama topped the polls in a shock victory, beating the insanely popular Stranger Things, Westworld and Peaky Blinders. The show’s move from Channel 4 to Netflix has only increased its popularity - and with a fifth confirmed series in the works, it doesn’t look like it will be slowing down any time soon.
Best TV Drama
Best Comedian
Dave
Entering its sixth season with a new line of comedian Taskmaster shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Pu ting out multiple seasons per year, Alex Horne’s absurd sion has become an unexpected hit for underdog chann Dave. It’s so successful and American version is the wor let’s hope they don’t botch this one up.
Best TV Gameshow
Mel an present Th TV award for by Y
Image: @taskmaster (Instagram)
Image: YouTube
Images: @melgiedroyc (Inst Image: YouTube
Images: Hana Chramostova (PublicDomainPictures.net), Lib
the courier
@CourierTV thecourieronline.co.uk/tv
Monday 14th May 2018
TV feature
r TV Awards
ns, utvinel rks,
Brooklyn Nine-Nine Fox/ E4 Andy Samberg’s sitcom about a police precinct has defied the odds and become one of the most popular comedies of recent years. The cast of quirky characters has the potential to become even as iconic as the cast of Friends. Winning multiple Golden Globes, an Emmy and a GLAAD award for its representation of minority characters, this is a new comedy you cannot afford to miss.
nd Sue he Courier ds - voted YOU!
Thandie Newton It was a close competition, but Melanie Thandiwe “Thandie” Newton has just taken the top spot for best actor/ actress of the year. It’s not just the people of The Courier who have recognized her talent either: from the Emmys to the Golden Globes, Thandie has been nominated for a host of awards for her role as the sentient android Maeve Millay in HBO’s psychological sci-fi thriller Westworld, and DCI Roseanna Huntley in the BBC’s Line of Duty.
Blue Planet II BBC ONE
After four years in the making and over 7,000 hours of filming, Sir David Attenborough’s undersea odyssey won the title of best documentary with a landslide (tsunami?) victory. With some of the most impressive and ambitious filming ever seen in a wildlife documentary, Blue Planet II brought the impact of human waste on our planet and the importance of conservation to the homes of over 14 million viewers - deservedly making it the most watched show of 2017.
Best TV Comedy Best TV Actor
Best TV Documentary
Images: @brooklyn99fox (Instagram)
Images: @thandieandkay (Instagram)
tagram)
bracesp (Pixabay), OpenClipart-Vectors (Pixabay)
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Image: www.dfat.gov.au (wikimedia commons)
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culture film
c2.film@ncl.ac.uk Film Editors Helena Buchanan, Dan Haygarth & Christopher Wilkinson
Golden Oldies Image: YouTube
the courier Monday 14 May 2018
Chicken Run 2 announced Everyone’s favourite poultry-based animation is getting a long-awaited sequel; Jack Gill reports
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Taxi Driver (1976)
first saw Taxi Driver at probably the wrong time. I was a little too young and a little too ignorant, and the film that I was about to watch was a little too breathtaking and unexampled for a 14 year old to really comprehend. But a few months ago, after watching Martin Scorcese’s recent masterpiece, Silence, I decided t give it another run through. Over forty years after it was first released, it would be an understatement to say that this film still has the capacity to blow the viewer away. Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) is a veteran, honourably discharged from the recently concluded Vietnam War. He drives a taxi around New York City at night, depressed and unable to sleep, taking notes and reflecting on the state of his city. He encounteres murderers and psychopaths, politicans and porn-cinemas, but it is an encounter with the child prostitute Iris, played by Jodie Foster, that provides what Travis percieves to be the true manifestation of the city. It is corrupt, it is stagnant, and it needs to be cleansed.
They lose their power to amaze by being referenced over and over again The issue with Taxi Driver is that you have to watch the film having educated yourself about it beforehand. As with all films or works of art or cultural symbols that have threaded themselves into the cultural consciousness, they lose their power to amaze by being referenced over and over again, all of the time. You would be hard put trying to find someone who doesn’t know the line ‘you talking to me?’, made immortal by the improvised genius of Robert De Niro, just as you might find it hard to find someone who doesn’t know the lines ‘Hulk Smash’ or ‘I’ll be back’. But what is additionally annoying is that people rarely know where the famous line came from. Then again, this is what makes Taxi Driver so brilliant and insightful. Christopher Wilkinson
Image: YouTube
@NewcastleCourierFilm @Courier_Film
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lmost two decades after the critical and commercial success of Chicken Run, production company Aardman have announced that our favourite feathered friends will be getting a sequel. No release date has been confirmed yet, but there has been rumours circulating that work will begin once the Aardman have completed Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon, which is set for release in October of next year. Interestingly, that film will mark Aardman’s first ever feature film sequel, meaning it may also become a benchmark for our expectations of the Chicken Run sequel. As the first Chicken Run gained countless nominations for Baftas and Golden Globes, and earned the title of highest grossing stop-motion film (£161.3 million at the box office), it may come at a surprise that it has taken eighteen years for the film to get a much-awaited sequel. Nonetheless, with everyone’s favourite feathered friends in the making for a return, children and adults worldwide now have a spectacle to look forward to.
success through its intertextuality and cinematic references to some of cinema’s greatest action adventure films.
Chicken Run was further proof of the capabilities of stopmotion animation After the renowned success of Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit series in the ’90s, Chicken Run was further proof of the capabilities of stop-motion animation. Since the release of both of these projects, the company have found continued success with equally enjoyable films
and programmes such as Flushed Away, Shaun the Sheep and, most recently Early Man. In the latter, Nick Park’s prehistoric comedy displayed the casting capabilities of the franchise, with roles being voiced by actors including Tom Hiddleston, Maisie Williams and Eddie Redmayne. As such, audiences have already queried whether the sequel will see Mel Gibson reprise his lead role, and make a return to life on the other side of the director’s chair. While the original film saw long-time Aardman collaborators Nick Park and Peter Lord co-directing the action, this is set to change for the sequel. Nonetheless, with Sam Fell (ParaNorman) set to direct and Paul Kerney (Shaun the Sheep) producing, the duo can be sure that whatever they hatch up will have fans flocking. Image: YouTube
The film follows an adventurous cockerel who sparks revolution among hapless hens against evil owners The film won the hearts of audiences worldwide with its loveable characters, including Rocky (Mel Gibson), Bunty (Imelda Staunton) and Nick (Timothy Spall) and its blend of British and American humour. The film told the tale of Rocky, played by Gibson, an adventurous cockerel who lands on a chicken farm, and sparks revolution among the hapless hens against their evil owners; a family of farmers. As the film drew parallels with the 1963 war classic The Great Escape, it also won critical
Harvey Weinstein exposé to be made into a film Caitlin Disken discusses the news that a film concerning last year’s Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal is set to be produced by Annapurna Pictures and Plan B Entertainment
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ack in October 2017, The New York Times published a story documenting allegations of sexual harassment against Harvey Weinstein, American film producer and founder of Miramax, which produced indie classics such as Pulp Fiction and Good Will Hunting.
The film will explore how investigative journalism, broke a seismic Hollywood scandal The exposé, which sparked the downfall of Weinstein and prompted the worldwide #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, was the work of New York Times investigative reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. After working on the report for just under five months, the revelations prompted a staggering eighty-four women to come forward, all accusing Weinstein of sexual harassment. Now, Annapurna Pictures and Plan B Entertainment have gained the rights to a film documenting the i nv e s t i g at i o n . Stressing that the film’s focus will not be on We i n s t e i n , or even his
victims, the film will instead follow the story of Kantor and Twohey’s seminal journalism. In the same vein as 2015’s critically acclaimed Spotlight, it will explore how investigative journalism led by an all-women team broke one of Hollywood’s most seismic scandals. Yet, with no director or writers on board yet, at this stage the production could go either way. A shift away from Weinstein is paramount to the film’s success, enabling a more nuanced exploration of the incredible work of Kantor and Twohey without giving more attention than necessary to Weinstein’s despicable acts. However, by diverting attention from Weinstein’s victims, who have already been brave enough coming forward against one of Hollywood’s biggest producers, it runs the risk of losing the importance of standing up against sexual harassment. The writers, directors and producers will have to work together to avoid glamorizing the story in its fictionalisation. As Plan B Entertainment have already succeeded in producing outstanding films such as 2016’s Moonlight,, which explores sexuality and identity, I have high hopes that once again they will
Image: YouTube
triumph. They have the opportunity to transform a horrendous situation into a piece of art that celebrates the integrity of women against sexual harassment and misogyny. As long as they acknowledge the bravery of the survivors, alongside Kantor and Twohey’s courage, they may well produce one of the most emotionally affecting films of the decade. With events still so raw and recent, the film’s release will have to be carefully considered. At the time of writing, no release date has been set. Let’s hope the production companies take their time, rather than quickly botching together a film that could potentially drag up bad memories for those survivors way too soon. There’s no rush to release the film. Hopefully this will be realised, and time will be allowed for the scars left by Weinstein’s acts to heal (as much as they can) before the film is broadcast to the world. And, let’s not forget the lasting message Kantor and Twohey’s exposé left on the world: that sexual harassment and assault is never okay.
Image: YouTube
the courier
@Courier_Film thecourieronline.co.uk/film
Monday 14 May 2018
I Feel Pretty
Harry Parsons reviews Amy Schumer’s comedic effort
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hen walking into I Feel Pretty you would be forgiven for expecting a nice, easy simple comedy that brings a few laughs, a straightforward plot and not a huge amount to think about afterwards. If only I could tell you that it were that simple. Amy Schumer plays Rennee, a girl obsessed by body image, working in the online department of a giant cosmetic company. She constantly feels inadequate to what she views as far superior looking women around her at work, in the media, at the gym and pretty much everywhere she goes. Shortly after referencing Tom Hanks’ Big (a cheap joke that is one of the few that actually lands), Rennee knocks her head and wakes up to believe
she has transformed into a person who looks entirely different from her former self and is now ‘beautiful’, and with a newfound confidence her upwards spiral begins. The point of the film is to create a world of perfection, that many of us may see, and slowly tries to shatter and break it down by creating making the audience see through their own judgemental eyes and the main character idolise things that shouldn’t really be idolised. It kind of achieves this but probably to a greater extent to what it was hoping. Rather than your typical ‘switch bodies’ concept it is slightly smarter, the viewer and the world sees the same Amy Schumer, but Amy Schumer thinks she looks like someone
Image: YouTube
The Strangers: Prey at Night (15)
End Game (12)
Image: YouTube
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else entirely. The dramatic device is carried out well and sets itself up nicely for some gags and character development, despite these gags not being anywhere near frequent enough. The social commentary in the film is colossal, and it couldn’t really be timed at a better moment. The cast is almost exclusively female and the topic of body image, self perception and what it means to be ‘beautiful’ all being much needed additions to the cinema landscape. With Rennee created to be an obvious flawed character obsessed with image, the audience can’t help but sympathize with how she got to be like this. But something still doesn’t fit right as the supporting cast and characters are either two underdeveloped or just too ridiculous to make the commentary seem applicable to Hollywood today. Despite the timing, it feels as if the two directors were too nervous to make it too complex, so leave it hanging for us to try and figure out for ourselves. The frustrating part comes with the fact that there is not one single moment in the film that makes you actually care as to what happens in the end. The storyline is so close to being the perfect anti-rom-com but is constantly drawn back to simplistic, uncreative, stereotypical dialogue and plot progressions. It makes for a stilted 110 minutes with the concept probably lending itself more naturally to a 22 minute sitcom than a motion picture. The outcome of all of this? A confused romantic comedy that refuses to admit that it is a romantic comedy, with underused actors playing oddly developed parts, that makes you laugh just slightly to infrequently, makes you cringe at all the right moment and makes you ponder as to just how deep of a comment on society it was trying to make. Honestly, it’s so confusing trying to work all of that out I don’t think it’s worth your time.
Tully (15)
Image: YouTube
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fashionably late follow-up to the 2008 horror success, The Strangers: Prey at Night is the latest arrival in the catalogue of not-so-eagerly awaited slasher sequels. A couple of things have changed this time around; it’s bye-bye to the overdone homeinvasion format and hello to the overdone 80s slasher imitation format. Once again, we see the eponymous strangers stalk a family, but this time they are transporting their youngest and arsiest to boarding school. The domestic setting is out, a foggy trailer park is in. Fans of the original might be disappointed by the execution of Prey at Night, as the tension and nastiness of the original is eschewed for nods towards yesteryear. There are some jumpy moments tossed in for good measure, as well as a couple of entertaining action sequences, but they’re too few and far between to sustain the menace of the original. In the absence of scares, the most shocking thing about the film is that it hasn’t gone straight to DVD. It’d feel like a conscious effort to disappoint if there were people out there actually interested in seeing a sequel to The Strangers ten years on. The first one – despite the bit where Dennis from Always Sunny gets his head blown off – was a fairly self-serious home invasion horror. Prey at Night has an altogether sillier approach, riffing and mocking a range of video nasty era fan favourites instead of the Funny Games cruelty of its predecessor. These influences will be appreciated by genre fans, but there’s little to recommend here for others, including fans of the original. Prey at Night is exactly what you might expect from a slasher sequel; gutter-grade, soon-to-be streaming service filler that suffers from a serious dearth of shocks. That being said, its vaguely satirical edge and familiar genre violence might make it a worthwhile for admirers of old-school slashers. Anyone unfamiliar will find themselves feeling estranged.
ot to be confused with the conspiracy ridden 2007 Endgame written and directed by professional nutter Alex Jones, this new Netflix Original short film tells a poignant story of life on the cusp of death. Set in the University of California, San Francisco Medical Centre, the documentary follows five terminally ill patients and their families as well as the medical practitioners who are trying to change the way they think about dying. Thank God the film was only 40 minutes long because it was incredibly emotional and dealt with a very uncomfortable subject. Doctor Steven Pantilat, said that, ‘when we are healthy it’s easy to think about how we want to die, when we are sick, we just want to live’. This documentary shows the resilience of several patients who have to make that difficult choice, of how, where and when they will die. Mitra, who was the most prominent figure of the documentary, was seen often in horrific pain. But the real heart-breaking moments came from seeing her mother and husband discussing whether she would be more comfortable in hospice care, and learning that her son had asked who would look after him when his mother dies. Whilst bleak, End Game does serve to show that although death is a part of life, it does not have to be something totally uncontrollable. Pat, one of the patients in the documentary, had cancer of the womb. Yet, she said that every day she was still alive was a blessing and continued fighting the cancer for as long as she could. Other subjects of the documentary also got to die on their own terms; Thekla, another patient, died at home with her husband. End Game is a powerful documentary about death which shows the immense strength of the human character, and is ultimately life-affirming.
his summer Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman have teamed up once again to create Tully, a film ostensibly about the trials and tribulations of motherhood. The pair collaborated on the critically acclaimed comingof-age drama Juno back in 2007, cult favourite horror-comedy Jennifer’s Body two years later, and the criminally under-watched Young Adult in 2011. Charlize Theron excels as Marlo; a 40-something HR employee who is already a mother of two and expecting her third child any day. The audience first sees Marlo’s pregnant belly dramatically protruding from her body, boldly announcing this is a film foremost about motherhood. Marlo brushes her son’s body, to soothe him and bond with him, a starkly affecting display, as the opening credits scroll across the screen. Marlo is a woman pitied by her insufferably privileged in-laws, her son’s school administration, and even her ex-girlfriend, and she patiently endures quiet indignities from those oblivious to her needs until an immensely satisfying confrontation. It’s no secret that Cody is a master at writing complex women: her characters manage to challenge preconceptions, simultaneously seductive, hilarious, and devastating. The best film characters contain contradictions, not unlike actual people. Mackenzie Davis, as the titular character, known for the ground-breaking “San Junipero” episode of Black Mirror, manages to steal scenes throughout Tully: at a glance, Tully is an exasperating Manic Pixie Dream Nanny, but as the story progresses her character is revealed to be far more intriguing and Davis’ performance is enchanting. Tully is a enrapturing cinematic experience, at 96 minutes it could have lingered longer on certain characters and themes. It may prove to be divisive amongst audiences, but it’s one of the most surprising and subtly radical films of the year so far.
Finar Oliver
Steven Ross
Kelly South
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film culture
International Film Medea (1969)
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hile watching the ever overwhelming Velvet Goldmine recently, an Oscar Wilde quotation triggered a curiosity, saying how Dorian Gray felt the whole world had happened inside his imagination already; this reminds me of a modern poem on Euripides’ Bacchae, declaring “previousness is something a god can manage fairly well, but mortals less so.” The 1969 film Medea, directed by the Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, is nothing like a ‘play adaption’; indeed it’s nothing like what I’ve ever watched before. It’s a realistic fantasy, in which language is minimised, images are disturbingly raw and confusing, and the whole tone was stripped off any romanticism of a tragedy. Instead of a drama of words and performance, Medea is more like a drama of cinematic language and landscape. Medea and Jason became embodiments of the landscapes that nourished and sculptured them. The film opens as a wordy centaur lecturing to a young boy in a hermetic island surrounded by calm water; and as the boy grows, the lectures became philosophical, discussing deity and mortal. Then a quest is bestowed upon the grown-up hero. This is the upbringing of Jason, in an arcadia landscape above human society, and what he personifies: a charming outsider who’s not caught in secular struggles. Very abruptly, the film then cuts to a vast landscape breathing with hot sand, against which are people wearing strange costumes preparing religious ritual. I can’t help noticing the shaky handheld shots that almost feel amateur; and teaming with atonal chanting, the atmosphere appears most eerie. The ritual turned out to be a human sacrifice. Most interestingly, the sequence is shown like an anthropologic observation, raw and unpolished, with gory details sure to disturb audience; yet there’s no dramatisation intended, the whole ceremony is as seen from Medea’s perspective, who is the princess of this landscape. The conflicts is thus embedded between one who has travelled and see the ‘previousness’ of human existence, and one who stays in a permanent ‘previousness’ and was forced, by her own desires, to tumble ahead. Medea’s world is stark with language, no conversation passed between them until after their separation in Corinth, whose stone towers and trimmed meadow form a huge contrast with the hills and sand of her motherland. And it is here Medea tried and failed to negotiate with Jason verbally(which is not a tool of hers)— landscapes finally clashed, resulted in an ultimate fire. Pasolini didn’t simply position Medea as a victim of patriarchy, nor a fighter against it, but a self-asserted women troubled by shifting realities that is not of her, nor any single person’s ability to determine: it is all in the process of happening, and the cycle of happening trembles on. Medea is a dense film that deals with the huge subjects of religion, desire and civilisation, while the arrogance of the ‘culturally superior’ depicted is especially relevant, as the king of Corinth said after announcing Medea’s exile: “It’s not your diversity I’m afraid of, but the safety of my daughters.” Leslie Deng
Image: Wikimedia
the courier
Monday 14 May 2018
@CourierArts thecourieronline.co.uk/arts
c2.arts@ncl.ac.uk Arts Editors Scarlett Rowland and Carys Thomas
Exciting summer art shows from all four corners of the country
Amy Baird previews the nation’s best exhibitions for you to check out these summer holidays
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Frida Khalo: Making Her Self Up
The Heart of the matter
Where: RWA and Centrespace Gallery,
Where: V&A Museum, London
Bristol
When: 16th June - 4th November
When: 14th July – 19th August 2018 Cost: £6.75 (with NUS/Student card)
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he Heart of the Matter is a fusion of art and medicine, it reflects on the complexity of the human heart. While the heart can represent romantic love and poetry and is seen as the centre of human emotion, it is also the body’s engine room. Through 3D printed human hearts, animation and artworks inspired by patients, their families and the health professionals who care for them, the exhibition invites the visitor to discover the extraordinary nature of this organ.
Cost: £14 (with NUS/Student card)
Image: Instagram
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he V&A will present a collection of personal belongings and clothing of the iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Having been locked away for 50 years after her death, the collection has never been exhibited outside Mexico and the exhibition looks set to be extraordinary.
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Image: Geograph
Image: Instagram
The Edinburgh Art Festival
What’s On:
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Where: Edinburgh
Image: Instagram
Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune @ Northern Stage, 21 May - 2 June, 7:30pm In a 1980s New York City apartment, two down-ontheir-luck middle-aged lovers are on a first date.
Evita @ Theatre Royal, 22 - 26 May Following its smash hit runs in London, Bill Kenwright’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita returns to Newcastle.
Missing Time @ The Baltic, 9 Feb - 28 May
Serena Korda works across performance, sound and sculpture reconsidering aspects of communion and tradition in our lives.
Half Breed @ Live Theatre, 9 Feb - 28 May
Natasha Marshall’s dark comedy about being mixed-race and finding your voice
@TheCourierArts @thecourierarts
When: 26th July - 26th August
The Great British Seaside
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dinburgh Art Festival is the platform for the visual arts. It is an annual city takeover celebrating the best of visual art, featuring leading international and UK artists alongside new emerging talent as well as a programme of newly commissioned artworks that respond to sites in the city.
Greenwich, London
When: 23rd March - 30th September Cost: £10.50 (with NUS/Student card)
arts culture
Sweet Column Roman Sculpture GERRY HART
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o last year I discovered Mike Duncan’s “The History of Rome” podcast and being a collosal nerd I have since become obsessed with everything Roman, including their sculpture. Scuplture, or more specifically portraiture, was an integral aspect of Roman culture. In a pre-photography world, sculpture was a way of immortalising yourself (well for the rich at least). It was also a means of displaying power, particularly for the Emperors. My favourites are the statues of the Emperor Caracalla. Ruling from 211-217 CE, Caracalla has a reputation as an angry brutal, tyrant and Christ does he look the part. Whereas previous emperors were depicted as aloof and scholarly in their portraiture, Caracalla’s statues are intense, almost confrontatinal. His short hair and trimmed beard mirror those of a soldier and he scowls like you just nabbed his seat in the library. And therein I think lies the modern power of Roman sculpture. Historians, both classical and modern can detail past events. But actually seeing the faces of these great figures, however idealised, allow us to put a human face to history (literally in this case).
Cost: Free!
Where: National Maritime Museum,
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Photobox Rheinschwimmen RORY CAMERON
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ere is an exhibition presents a selection of photography ranging from the 1960’s to the present day and examines the ambiguities and absurdities of seaside life. Sharing their love of the seaside the Photographers’ collaboration reveals a playful and often too accurate representation of the British by the sea.
Image: Wikimedia
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And Breathe...
Image: Rory Cameron
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Where: Manchester Art Gallery When: 16th March 2018 - 15th March
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2019
eaturing artworks from Manchester Art Gallery’s collection co-curated with Manchester based mental health groups and primary school children, the exhibition explores the relationship between art, positive mental health and wellbeing. The exhibition is designed to encourage visitors to slow down, appreciate art and ultimately enhance their own wellbeing.
Image: Instagram
his photo was taken in last summer in Basel, Switzerland. Basel is a very traditional town, filled with people who can tend to be insular and conservative. However, during the summer months, there is the daily opportunity to take part in ‘Rheinschwimmen’, which means to swim in the river Rhein which flows through the heart of town. All over Basel, you can purchase ‘Pfisch’ which are waterproof bags which will contain your clothes and shoes, and roll up to also form an air pocket that you can hold on to as you float past the grand cathedral, alongside the medieval houses, and under the seven bridges. The banks of the river are packed with carefree people having a barbeque, playing music, and enjoying the sunshine together. This photo reminds me of how Rheinschwimmen represents how good weather can disarm us and lift our spirits.
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culture gaming
Top 5 plot holes in video games 5. Jenkins - Halo You’re a green-armoured supersoldier opening a door, only for a soldier’s corpse to fall on you. You then watch a video from this soldier’s headset detailing the Flood – the alien zombie-making monstrosities that are going to plague you for the next three games. You also find out they infect any and every living being they can almost as if they’re machines. So why did they conveniently leave Jenkins’ body to be found so you could get a heads-up on the new bad guys?
The original Crysis established the concept that the alien Ceph were not only immune to nuclear radiation, but could actually absorb it. This radiation, rather than doing what it normally does – kill stuff – actually makes them stronger. So why, in Crysis 2, did the US military decide to drop a nuke on New York in spite of knowing this? Did the writers forget or did they think we would? The entire second half of the game centres round the nuking of New York in order to wipe out the same aliens which makes that entire plot line worthless. Considering they’ve already weaponised microwave radiation – which works – they could have just used that.
3. The Ending - Mass Effect 3 Mass Effect is possibly one of my favourite game series of all time. I learned most of my social skills from these games… particularly Wrex. However, the ending of Mass Effect 3 was beyond disappointing. I think everyone universally hated it. Where did the Starchild come from? How did the Illusive Man get onto the Citadel? How did the crew of the Normandy get far enough away to escape? Why did Anderson represent the “red” ending and the Illusive Man the “blue”? Will we ever have justice for Marauder Shields? These will likely never be addressed now Mass Effect’s reputation has been tarnished.
2. Also The Ending - Fallout 3 What is it with the ending of games having huge plot holes? At the end of Fallout 3, the playercharacter heads to the site of Project Purity. After losing your father and fighting – or talking – your way through the final conflict with X, you have a choice: Request that Y head into the room to activate the project or do it yourself. Problem is, the radiation will kill you. Until an update, any follower you brought with you would refuse to enter. Including Fawkes – a Super Mutant immune to radiation. The one character who wouldn’t die in that room. He’d just tell you it was your responsibility, not his. Cheeky green bastard. This, like Mass Effect 3, was updated – but gamers never forget.
1. Everything - Resident Evil 4 a megalomaniac world with good old captured the perfect of none other She’s infected, escape, right? rescuer, Leon option is to with her to world, right? does he try to everything he completely
Image: IGDB.com
counterproductive to his entire plan.
Monday 14 May 2018
Review: God of War
Jordan Oloman embarks on the angriest father/son adventure gaming has produced to date
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e’s the god who does all the war, Its Kratos! Remember this one-dimensional character? The dude who tore through deities like they were toilet roll after a spicy Biryani? Well, brothers and sisters, your favourite no good god-killing pal is back, and he’s here to deal with the most taxing predicament of his blood-soaked life, being a father. Whilst this does sound like a sitcom pitch, I assure you this is more Oscar-nominated blockbuster than Two and a Half Men (though, actually… ignore that, bad example.) 2018’s God of War is brutally cinematic and never turns the camera away, even when the going gets emotionally tough. Instead, Kratos gets going, forced into direct confrontation with a son he cannot understand.
4. The Nuke - Crysis 2
Picture the scene: you’re who wants to infect the Zombie-itis and you’ve person: the daughter than the POTUS. so you want her to Along comes her S. Kennedy. Best let him escape infect the So then why kill you with has? Surely that’s
the courier
courier.gaming@ncl.ac.uk Gaming Editors Gerry Hart, Georgina Howlett & Richard Liddle
God of War is the new bar for action games, if not the entire medium
Small, quiet moments of emotion pepper this slow burn narrative, every line back and forth cutting deep, reminding us that we can’t choose our parents and that those who do make the choice to bring something into this world do it with earnest love in their heart, despite not knowing how to fill out the shoes. Being a parent is active learning. My parents, your parents, they were winging it. They did their best to get us to where we a r e and sacrificed so much for us out of pure belief and love. And sometimes, that’s not enough. We all have spats and fights with our lifegivers, and the reciprocal cycle of love gets
broken for hours, maybe months, even years. But in the end, we all feel the powerful, fragile emotion that connects us to our forebears. God of War grabs this gorgeous, infinitely relatable notion and squeezes tight, providing a powerful emotional release for anyone in its miasmic grip.
Consumed by rage and lack of self, Kratos’s son is forced to grow in the similarly abrasive and self-destructive manner as Kratos The most beautiful thing about it is that this core tenet that defines the game is only the moral. The rest of the masterpiece orbits around it, including sharp and witty side characters full of life like Brok, Sindri and Mimir, a detailed, jawdropping dedication to Norse art and lore, and a combat system that chucks an axe at the entire action RPG genre and says “what next, chumps?”. God of War is the new bar for action games, if not the entire medium. How developers respond to this piece of art will shape the industry for the next decade.
Stricken with grief from their matriarch’s death, the pair choose to scale the highest peak in all the nine Norse realms to scatter her ashes. Of course, many crazy japes put an axe in the gears and lead them on a wild adventure. Kratos sees Atreus like a mirror. Consumed by rage and a lack of self, his son is forced to grow in the similarly abrasive and selfdestructive manner as Kratos, his true self kept hidden for his own “safety”. The human condition dictates that we want our children to succeed and go beyond our means, but if hate is all you know, how do you make sure they don’t stray from the path? Such is the dilemma Kratos faces;
Image: Flickr.com
Most Wanted: E3 2018
It’s that time of year again - our writers give their wishlists and wild speculation for E3 2018
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nother year, another jaw-dropping event in Los Angeles. It’s the moment all gamers are waiting for. The media buzz fervently as publishers reveal their secrets to the world and attempt to quash the insatiable hunger we have for new, exciting experiences. Seeing as this is most likely my last Courier article ever, I’d like to put my bold chips down. SEGA will announce a new Jet Set Radio game and I will cry real tears. Lucasarts will bequeath the Monkey Island copyright to Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer. Sonic Adventure 3, Burnout and Skate 4. Only One and a Donald Glover-directed video game. Now that I’ve got the mental stuff out of the way, let’s be serious. Regarding things that we know exist, I want to see more of whatever Death Stranding is, be that a Norman Reedus Ouroboros or normal gameplay. I also want more Psychonauts 2 gameplay baby. Please. Further, I want to see Red Dead 2 gunslinging and Rocksteady’s new Superman game. Bloodborne 2/ Dark Souls 4 better get some spotlight, and best believe we’re seeing Cyberpunk 2077 and EA’s secret new single player Star Wars project. I also want Smash Bros with Sora and Animal Crossing Switch. Throw a new NieR project in there for good measure and give me the release date for Media Molecule’s Dreams.. Sorted. I don’t ask for much, do I? To sign off, I want to say thank you for reading and publishing my words these past four years. This section is where I published my first piece of writing ever in 2015. Since then it’s been a wild ride I’m still on and it has completely changed my life. I love gaming, I love The Courier and I hope everyone enjoys E3! See you, space cowboys. Jordan Oloman
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L
ith E3 rapidly approaching, it’s time ike a boomerang full of gaming goodness, again to reflect on what we hope, E3 has come back around again to wallop us dream or desperately need to hear all in the face with a slew of announcements, more about this year. Focusing on console trailers and meme-worthy conference goofs. It’s games, here’s my top 5 wish-list for E3 2018. hard to pick out a single column’s worth of stuff Red Dead Redemption 2. We already have a to look forward to given how packed full of AAA confirmed release date of October 2018, as well as titles this year’s release slate is, but here we go. tasters of the graphics, characters and gameplay First off, Nintendo. They’ve had a phenomenal activities that will be in the game. However, I start for the Switch this past year, with games hope E3 will show us actual gameplay footage, like Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey preferably of a young John Marston learning the expertly reimagining the formulae of their classic ropes of bank robbery. titles, so it’s imperative that they keep up the The Last of Us 2. We know it’s coming eventually, momentum this year. Smash Bros. is obviously but with only a pair of trailers, both hauntingly going to be a big hype-builder and is featuring front beautiful and brutal at the same time, I and centre of their E3 schedule, but I’m betting we want more from E3. Perhaps some also get our first look at Metroid Prime 4 - here’s dedicated gameplay and at least a hoping it manages to be as inventive as BotW preliminary release date. and Odyssey. Odyssey Spider-Man. Revitalised by Marvel in In the same vein, I’m hoping we get cinemas, Spider-man will be coming an announcement for the next Pokemon back in full swing (pun intended) in games on Switch. As big a fan as I am, September 2018. We’ve already seen after 20 years the format is getting slightly Image: IGDB.com gameplay footage and a confirmed stale, so with any luck Game Freak will follow release date - I’m simply hoping for the trend of reinvention and hit us with more. something refreshingly new. Borderlands 3. No solid information has In terms of Sony’s offerings, I’m really been released yet, but strong rumours suggest hoping to see some actual gameplay from Death we can expect the game before the end of 2019. Stranding. As brilliant and trippy-as-fuck the Assuming they’re true, then E3 2018 seems the trailers have been so far, we’re yet to see how Kojima perfect time for an official announcement to will deliver on his promise of pioneering a reignite the flames of quality split-screening. new genre - it looks interesting, but what Days Gone. Gameplay footage was released do you actually do? early to build anticipation. However, we’re still Whatever form it takes, it’s high awaiting a release date, and E3 has my hopes up. time we saw something of From Honourable mention: Elder Scrolls VI. Software’s next project, so far only hinted at with the tagline “Shadows Bethesda has been clear it has two more major Die Twice”. I’m personally hoping it’s releases before this, but perhaps E3 will at a dive back into the world of Bloodborne provide us even a spark of Elder Scrolls - whether it’s a sequel, prequel or just a magic. spiritual successor, I need me some more So, there you have it, my personal horrific monster-slaying action. hopes for June this year. E3 2018 will I could go on, but there’s so much else to undoubtedly have plenty more to look forward to that I’d be here forever. So show, but fingers crossed my prayers happy E3 everyone - it’s looking to be a good one. are answered! Philip Armstrong Image: IGDB.com Richard Liddle
the courier
@Courier_Gaming thecourieronline.co.uk/gaming/
Monday 14 May 2018
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gaming culture
Memory Card: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream Why do we play Gaming Editor Gerry Hart delves into the heart of darkness with this ‘90s point and click classic video games?
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o who likes Point and Click adventure games? Though they may not have the same hold over the industry that they did in the ‘90s, many of these games are fondly remembered and rightly so. I mean who could forget the awkward charm of Monkey Island’s Guybrush Threepwood or the fairytale whimsy of King’s Quest or the nightmarish existential dread of I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Wait what? Based off of the Harlan Ellison short story of the same name, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream takes place after a catastrophic war where a supercomputer known as Allied Mastercomputer (or AM) wiped out humanity save for five survivors, whom he keeps alive for 109 years simply to torture them. The player controls each of these five survivors as AM forces them through various challenges in environments purposefully built to serve as a metaphor for their own tortured pasts. There are a number of ways for the player to overcome the given scenario, but one of the game’s unspoken rules is to fill your characters’ “spiritual barometer” by acting in an ethical manner. The characters are the main strength of the game. Most of them are terrible people and this is mirrored in the environments they must navigate.
Nimdok, an elderly Nazi scientist with an ailing memory for example is tasked by AM to “find the lost tribe of humanity” by acknowledging with his role in the Holocaust in a faximile of the concentration camp where he committed his crimes. It’s a fascinating interplay between player avatar and their environment insofar as the environments are metaphorical extensions of the characters themselves.
Most of the characters are terrible people and this is reflected in their environment But the star of the show is AM himself, due in no small part to his being voiced by Harlan Ellison himself. Ellison’s performance is filled with manic energy, perfectly encapsulating the enraged AI tortured by its own existence and furious at its creators. Sometimes he’ll scream and rage, whilst other times he’ll try to crack jokes at his victims’ expense. Its not quite on the same level as something like GLaDOS but its pretty damn close. I do have some issues with the game. Being a
‘90s point and click adventure game, most of the game’s puzzles involve utilizing various items with aspects of the environment to progress the story. I do think a point and click game was perfect for an interactive adaptation of Ellison’s work as it really allows the player to ruminate on the game’s themes. Still, some of the puzzles do get a bit esoteric, particularly towards the end. Then there’s the character of Ellen, who stands out for a number of reasons. Not only is she the only woman and the only person of colour, but unlike the others, she isn’t really a bad person with her conflict stemming from the fact she is a rape survivor (seriously, if the subject of rape or sexual assault upsets you in any way, give this game a miss). This isn’t to say her segment of the game isn’t masterfully paced, but I feel it was unfair to place her on the same level as the other characters. I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream isn’t easy playing. It is frustrating, mentally taxing, sometimes pretentious and even distressing. Yet at a time when “mature” in games simply meant gore and sex, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream sought to utilise the interactive nature of video games to explore some of the darkest aspects of the human condition. If you can stomach the stuff I’ve described here, its definitely worth trying.
Image: IGDB.com
What I’m Playing: Doki Doki Literature Club
Rowena Tylden-Pattenson dives into a quirky new book club. What could possibly go wrong?
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was having a boring evening a little while ago avoiding essays, when my friend Hubble suggested a new game to properly procrastinate the evening away. Well, that sounded like a great idea, so I took his suggestion to download Doki Doki Literature Club off Steam- you can GET it for free, which I always like. He described it as a cute anime dating sim, and boy, is it cute! You might have heard of it- it’s very popular at the moment.
Sure, the other girls get a little jealous when you pick one to date, but its not like they’ll die OF that Doki Doki Literature Club is a text-based game set mostly set at school, where you are enlisted into the Literature Club by Sayori, your sunny next-door neighbour. There you meet the other members of the club: Natsuki, a tiny fireball; Yuri, who’s shy but likes surrealism and horror books; and Monika, who founded the club. How do you pick one OUT of four gorgeous girls to date?! It’s difficult, but I empathised with Yuri’s passion
for books. Sure, the other girls’ get a little jealous when you pick one, but it’s not like they’ll die OF that. Although there is a lot of reading involved- it’s called Literature Club, silly!- your choices change what happens in the long run. Each day at literature club the girls learn to write poetry, and so must you. There are a few points where you can do this, choosing from words such as “fluffy, waterfall, friends, tragedy, fireflies, adventure”. Depending on what words you pick, your poem will appeal more to one of the girls- so choose carefully! Natsuki especially likes the adorable fluffy words, while Yuri likes those that are a little more philosophical, like the books she enjoys reading. You get to read the poems the other characters write as well- MY favourite is the one Monika writes on the third day. But don’t go read it yet! You have to get to that part in the story to appreciate it properly. It takes a while to get through the first act, but trust me, it’s worth it. My favourite part of this game is definitely the
characters. Each personality shines, despite simple two-dimensional visuals. Depending on your choices, different plot lines emerge, with the details of each personality coming to light. Each girl develops with the game- Monika initially
Depending on your choices, different plot lines emerge, with the details of each personality coming to light is a smart, confident but quiet girl, but develops into much more as she becomes friends with the protagonist, giving some great advice. Make sure you listen to her- oh, and do save your game regularly! You wouldn’t want to lose your progress, after all. There are four acts, which took me a few hours to get through, and I certainly wouldn’t have found my way back to the same spot without her advice. Doki Doki Literature Club is a game that initially appears like a run-of-the-mill dating sim, with fairly standard imagery and peppy music, but the wonderful characterisation makes it shine. A beautifully crafted visual novel that’ll stick in your HEAD for months to come. Have fun, and say hi to Monika for me!
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Image: IGDB.com
t was halfway through clearing a ruin during Fallout: New Vegas when a little voice in my head asked “why are you doing this?” At the time I just dismissed it as the sort of pseudoexistential question that have been plaguing me since the last three PhD rejections I’ve received. But it’s 7pm (at time of writing), I’m a day behind deadline, and the initial idea I had for an article ended up being totally boring so let’s go with this instead. There is, without a doubt, a lot of violence in videogames. Why is this the case, though? There might be some part of our human psyche that brings a certain proclivity towards violence. We are one of the few species that hunts for fun, alongside cats and killer whales. Killing something in spectacular fashion is in some way gratifying, as evidenced by Bulletstorm, Mortal Kombat, Doom, Happy Room… see where I’m going with this? There have been more than a few scientific papers linking violence to our brain’s reward system that’s also responsible for making us enjoy sex and food. So until somebody invents underwear
Games are more than mere violence, just like Renaissance art is more than just boobs that connects to your PlayStation and a version of Cooking Mama that conjures food in your house à la Willy Wonka’s TV set, we can only stimulate our pleasure centre with death and explosions. Then again, games are more than mere violence, just like Renaissance art is more than just boobs. Bioshock Infinite and Fallout: New Vegas both have violence that could be considered excessive, but their storylines add plenty to make it more than empty spectacle. Humans as a species can’t get enough of good stories, for a variety of reasons; to empathise with a character, to understand a situation, to ponder an ethical quandary, or to just have a good laugh. Then you have games where there is minimal violence as well as no story. Games like Prison Architect and Civilization V present us with a world to (metaphorically) conquer, tapping into our desire to create while overcoming minor challenges along the way. Puzzle games like Tetris and Sokobond as well as platformers like the Mario and Rayman series further distil this to a strict series of challenges, relying on our in-built desire to finish a distinct set of challenges – something known as the completion principle. This principle applies to games where the central theme is exploration, although in No Man’s Sky this can be a bit difficult as there’s like 15 gajillion planets or something. As I wrote this article I mentioned it to my friend, and she said “don’t we play games because they are fun?” And admittedly, that is a pretty simple answer to said question. But don’t you sometimes wonder why you find something “fun”? Is it the challenge, the spectacle, the outcome? Ultimately, there is no real answer to why we play games, because the reasons are unique to us, and us alone. Also, the “because games are fun” answer wouldn’t fill up a 500-word slot so I had to come up with something else. Jack Coles
the courier
@Courier_Gaming thecourieronline.co.uk/gaming/
Monday 14 May 2018
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gaming culture
The Courier Gaming Crystal Ball: What lies in store for the world of video games?
As the academic year comes to an end, two of our writers look to the future to discuss the games they’re most looking forward to, and two different writers analyse the potential trends that we can expect to see in the coming years Richard Liddle - Bloodstains & Octopaths
James Sproston - Total War: Three Kingdoms
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otal War: Three Kingdoms is Creative Assembly’s latest instalment in the long-running Total War series. Set to be released in Autumn, the game will position itself at the breaking point of the Han dynasty in 2nd century China, setting the stage for the establishment of the ‘Three Kingdoms’ period. Three Kingdoms will follow the release of Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia, a standalone spinoff that was released earlier this month. Using a similar map to the Britannia campaign on the Medieval 2: Kingdoms expansion, Thrones of Britannia commences several decades earlier at a point before a united England existed, featuring factions such as the Danelaw and the Kingdom of Wessex. One successful feature that Thrones of Britannia trialled was a more in depth politics complex
to add to the narrative of the game. Though it doesn’t touch on the level of politicking that you get through in something like Crusader Kings, the nobility that you rely on can be treated differently, featuring options such as torture or bribery.
The new era has given the developers the opportunity to explore a new aesthetic Having been relatively positively received, it’d be unlikely that the developers wouldn’t utilise this feature for Three Kingdoms, however I can imagine that it operating in a style more similar to Shogun Shogun, where it’ll manifest in a civil war
towards the end of the campaign, no matter how well you keep a handle on it. Though it’s difficult to see the mechanics of the game being revolutionary, the new era has given the developers the opportunity to explore a new aesthetic. From the trailer we can see some dramatic heroes and villains, at a time of decline and revolution. It mirrors the post-Napoleonic world of Empire and fall of Rome explored in Attila, so we can probably expect a darker apocalyptic feel to this one too. The era will be familiar to many gamers, who will recognise some of the romanticised storylines from Dynasty Warriors, so when you try to picture the characters from this game, you’ll probably get the exactly idea, from the looks of the trailer, everything is more romantic than historical. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jack Coles - Like it or not, DLC is the future
D
LC stands for dicks launching cu– I mean downloadable content. Back in the late 90s and 00s publishers couldn’t easily release patches or rebalances online, so they would package them in on an additional CD with a large helping of extra content to incentivise purchase. Everyone’s aware that the Age of Empires II Conquerors Expansion added a hefty number of new units and technologies, but often forget that it contains other changes such as decreasing Heavy Scorpion damage.
With Igarashi at the helm, Bloodstained is sure to be an amazing game In terms of actual new games, I think there are a few sleeper hits on the horizon. Octopath Traveller for the Switch is shaping up to be an inventive change on the JRPG formula with as much focus on how your choice of character changes how you interact with the world outside battles as within, something which is often overlooked in the genre. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is also one to watch. A classic Metroidvania-style game from Castlevania veteran Koji Igarashi, Bloodstained’s Kickstarter campaign met with wild success, and all of that hype is to pay off in the near future. It’s beautifully presented, with a sprawling castle to explore and a wide range of abilities to gather and customize your playstyle with. Igarashi is a master of the genre; with him at the helm Bloodstained is sure to be an amazing game. Finally, as a bit of wild speculation, I really, really hope this is the year we finally get Golden Sun 4. Maybe once Camelot has finished working on Mario Tennis they can get around to following up on that huge cliffhanger and obvious sequel setup from Dark Dawn. It’s admittedly not very likely given how poorly the DS entry was received, but a man can dream, okay?
Let’s not pretend that the rise of DLC has been wholly positive As the Internet took centre-stage in the public domain, expansions and patches alike began to change in response. It was no longer necessary to lump all the extra bits of game into a single CD and hope that people physically buy it; you could instead download it onto their hard drive. (Or in some nefarious circumstances, have the expansion on the original disc but require the player to pay extra money to unlock said content.) This has given developers the freedom to release smaller chunks of DLC, rather than a huge blowout expansion that may need some patches itself. Let’s not pretend that the rise of DLC has been wholly positive. Activision, Microsoft, EA, Capcom, and Ubisoft are all well-known for having less-than-admirable approaches to DLC, whether by releasing copious amounts of cosmetic options like a plumber with an artistic streak, or by removing key story points in order to force people to purchase content that should have been there in the first place. It’s not all bad news, though. CD Projekt Red, a game studio best known for The Witcher III, has also released copious amounts of small, inconsequential cosmetic DLCs. Difference is though, they are free. They also have more expensive old-school expansions which have received high praise from most. And then there are games that have more content in regularly-released free DLC than on day-one release. This is more the realm of indie games on Early Access – Slay the Spire, Dead Cells, Factorio, these all use player feedback to drive development along the way. On the opposite side of the same coin, you have “finished” games like No Man’s Sky and Sea of Thieves that add constant updates to patch in content that was badly needed on release. Like it or not, DLC is the future. As developers eschew playtesting in favour of having the entire player base find bugs, the most we can do is ride the wave. Or start buying CDs again.
T
he past year has been a bumper one for gaming, but there’s still a lot to look forward to in the future. First and foremost for me are the ongoing updates to Monster Hunter World - Capcom have shown their dedication to keeping the game fresh with periodic updates adding new and returning monsters (the Kulve Taroth siege quest in particular is a cool new structure for hunts that would work brilliantly for some of the series’ classic giant monsters) and that looks set to continue. Mostly though I can’t wait for the eventual addition of G-Rank quests; as every MH veteran knows, these are the true endgame and offer the heftiest challenge in the game. I’m also looking forward to seeing how Fortnite continues to evolve. The recent addition of a limited time Avengers crossover letting you compete over the Infinity Gauntlet for the chance to play as Thanos is a masterstroke, and shows that Epic has a lot of scope for introducing new dynamics to keep the battle royale formula from getting stale.
I
f you’ve been following the video game industry recently then you’ll have noticed the phrase “games as services” crop up more than a few times. In brief, this refers to the idea of a video game, rather than a singular experience instead serving as an ongoing activity the player constantly goes back to, and a continuing revenue stream for publishers and developers. Its hardly a new concept, but over the past two years the idea of games as a service has become increasingly prevalent. Unfortunately in practice, the rise of this model has been to the detriment of story driven single player games. The next Call of Duty has reportedly eschewed a single player campaign entirely, opting instead for a battle royale mode, whilst EA cancelled Visceral Studio’s single player Star Wars title, citing a desire to “pivot” the game’s design to a more
Gerry Hart - Games as a “Service” service based model. In their place, many games seek to become permanent fixtures in their players’ lives like a meth addiction. Sandboxes are ubiquitous to the point of saturation and many games are dependent on their online components and exploitative microtransations.
I do think we’re starting to see the public turn against games as services Is this our future then? Our beloved medium reduced to yet another dopamine fix to pad out our miserable existences? Well perhaps not. Its not exactly gathered much pace yet but I do think
we are starting to see the public turn against the idea of games as services. Star Wars: Battlefront II’s lootboxes provoked such outrage it spilled into public discourse, prompting Belgian government to ban the practice entirely. And despite claims from publishers to the contrary, story-driven single player games are still very much in demand as both Horizon: Zero Dawn and God of War aptly demonstrate. So as my last act as gaming editor before heading off to a wilderness of unemployment and despair, I would highly encourage you all to treasure any decent single player games that come our way, especially from smaller developers. The “Triple AAA” gaming industry might seem bent sapping the joy out of gaming, but I feel there will always be something to be treasured in this medium. Its why I write this shit at least.
38
science & technology
courier.science@ncl.ac.uk Science Editors Jack Coles, Christopher Little & Ciara Ritson-Courtney
the courier
Monday 14 May 2018
Are you Tech-ing the piss?
Bees are absolutely buzzing
W
European countries have agreed a near total ban on bee-harming pesticides, writes Ng Yi Min
Porous Pilfering
e’ve already brought moon rocks back to Earth, so why not go the whole hog and bring some back from Mars rocks too! The well-known United States of America’s NASA and the less-well-known Europe’s ESA (European Space Agency) came together in October 2009 to form the Mars Joint Exploration Initiative and to work alongside the ExoMars mission. The aim of this amalgamation was to “return samples of Mars in the 2020s” and the time has finally arrived for them to do this, as made evident with the signing of a letter between NASA and ESA in April 2018.
The ExoMars is a joint Aurora flagship mission, with an aim to search for evidence of life on Mars The ExoMars is a joint Aurora flagship mission between ESA and the Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos) with an aim to search for evidence of life on Mars. In 2016 they released a traced gas research and communication satellite into the orbit of Mars. This complicated-sounding piece of tech was planned to initially send the Schiaperelli lander (effectively a device to test for soft-landing surfaces on Mars) on the surface of Mars and slowly orbit the planet, eventually reaching the surface itself to map the atmosphere. However, all did not go as planned and the Schiaperelli crashed. ExoMars aims to launch the second part of their mission in 2020, this is to land a rover on the surface. The Aurora programme was established by ESA in 2001 with the intent to explore space with robots and humans in search of planets capable of supporting human life. After the ExoMars rover landing in 2020, ESA aims to study the rock samples retrieved from Mars by the mid-2020s and after this, somewhere in the mid-2030s, ESA intends to launch a human space mission.
2017
Greenpeace say the global
benefit of pollination €265bn economic is an estimated €265bn
In 2013, the European Commission imposed a two-year moratorium on neonicotinoid chemicals usage on all plants that attract bees as a measure to protect both wild and domesticated bees. However, this ‘ban’ was incomplete as it applies only to flowering crops that attract bees and other pollinators. However, as neonicotinoids have been found to persist in the environment through soil and water, sheer banning of neonicotinoid chemicals on bee-attractive plants is simply not enough.
Elon Musk suggests we should have already reached and colonised Mars by 2017
Now you may think that all of this sounds a little too sci-fi and not unlike Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, but the truth is, according to Elon Musk in a SpaceX conference in September 2017, we should have reached and colonised Mars already. However, the near future looks bright; on the 26th April 2018 NASA and ESA signed a statement of intent to retrieve soil samples from Mars. The easy part will be examining these materials extensively in labs on Earth, however we must go through the hard part first, the hard part being a probe launch to Mars which will land and return safely. The ExoMars rover will be tasked with drilling up to two metres into Mars’ surface in search of any evidence of life, the acquired samples will then be shot into the orbit of Mars and collected by a spacecraft. The rocks will then be put through quarantine on Earth and an in-depth analysis will be carried out. You may wonder what will be the point of all this painstaking research and exploration, for a few rocks that will probably be found in a Natural History museum in twenty years. The fact is, we as humans have always thought about the existence of life on other planets as made evident in such films as Mars Attacks, The Martian Chronicles and even computer games such as Destroy All Humans. If we wish to know more about these planets and the life on them then we must challenge ourselves, we must seek out the unknown and actively turn over a new stepping stone. A new stepping stone to Mars and beyond.
Kitty Marie
A
s a member of the Newcastle University Bee Society, I have decided to dedicate my very last piece of work for a bee-related article. The number of bees in the world has been dwindling rapidly, creating worries especially among beekeepers and environmentalists. This is because bees are the most important pollinator of food crops that we consume daily, with an estimation of up to one third of our food relying on pollination by bees! Experts have pinned down a few probable reasons for global bee population decline to industrial agriculture (e.g. loss of biodiversity due to monoculture and widespread use of pesticides that kill bees), parasites/pathogens (e.g. wasps and Varroa mites) and climate change.
The chemical can still appear in wildflowers and succeeding crops through contaminated soil and water. It has been suggested that only around 5% of the active ingredient in neonicotinoid is taken up by plants while the rest simply disperses into the wider environment. Therefore, on 27th April 2018, after years of bitter wrangling, the European Union has finally agreed to prohibit the usage of the three main neonicotinoids (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam) on all crops grown outdoors. The ban is expected to come into force by the end of 2018. After which, the use of neonicotinoids will be restricted to closed greenhouses only. After all this rambling on neonicotinoids and bees and bans, some people might be thinking, “What is this ‘neonicotinoids’ that sounds so nasty?!” Neonicotinoids can be translated as ‘new nicotine-like insecticides’. As suggested by its name, neonicotinoid is chemically related to nicotine. Acting as nerve agent, neonicotinoids affect the central nervous system of insects, result-
ing in paralysis and death. Neonicotinoids are ‘systemic’ insecticides. They can be absorbed and spread throughout the plant, infiltrating the nectar and pollen at the same time, and are thus capable of killing a variety of pests (and insects like bees!). Thirty-odd years since the invention of the first commercial neonicotinoid insecticide – imidacloprid. Despite being a relatively new class of insecticide, imidacloprid has been doing really well, gaining fame among farmers. In fact, it is one of the most widely used insecticides among crops farmers due to its high efficacy against insects. Knowing the importance of bees in biodiversity, food production and the environment, many farmers are indeed very supportive of this ban. After all, without bees, many farmers might not be able to sustain their agriculture activities. Bees are just as important to the farmers as crops! Undeniably, pesticide manufacturers and some
farming groups are not too pleased with the European Union’s decision to ban neonicotinoid chemicals usage outdoors. Putting interest of pesticide manufacturers aside, those who are not very supportive of the ban fear that the ban might “do nothing measurable to improve bee health, while compromising the effectiveness of crop protection”.
Acting as nerve agent, neonicotinoids affect the central nervous system of insects, resulting in paralysis and death Some experts are also worried that the exemption for closed greenhouses might still carry the risk of neonicotinoids being washed out into water courses, endangering aquatic life. Besides, since neonicotinoids can still be used in flea treatments for pets and in stables and animal transport vehicles, the environmental pollution caused by neonicotinoid chemicals will remain. Hence, more studies and efforts are needed in order to identify the true cause of global bee popul at i o n decline as well as to develop better pesticides that will not cause harms to insects such as bees and other pollinators.
A harmless pill to swallow
New male contraceptive pill stops sperm activity without affecting hormones, writes Ng Yi Min
W
hat comes into your mind when you hear people talking about contraception? I guess for the majority of the people, they will be thinking of hormonal contraceptive pills and/or condoms. While contraceptive pills for women have been available since 1960, attempts to create male contraceptive pills have been relatively unsuccessful. This is partly due to a higher metabolic rate in men, but also because any attempt has come with unpleasant side effects. In fact, the two most reliable contraception measures available for men to date have been condoms or vasectomy (the snip). Despite all the setbacks (and frustrations), many researchers and pharmaceutical companies are still trying hard to create a reliable and reversible male contraception pill. Recently, a new male contraceptive pill - dimethandrolone undecanoate (DMAU) – has shone new light to the development of male contraceptive pill. DMAU is a selective androgen receptor modulator carrying both androgenic and progestational activity. Carrying a long-chain fatty acid which acts to slow down its clearance from the body, DMAU is proposed to be potent as a once-daily contraceptive pill for men. While there is a small portion of men who have expressed uneasiness in taking a daily pill, most men are in favour of taking oncedaily pills over injections or topical gel. However, the route of administration of DMAU is not the only ‘advantageous trait’ of DMAU over other male contraceptives which are currently in development. The Phase-1 study of DMAU that was completed in May 2017 at University of Washington Medical Center and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center was shown to be effective in reducing
testosterone level (required for sperm production) at 400mg without the unpleasant side effects of testosterone deficiency.
1960
Contraceptive pills have been available for women since 1960
Involving 100 healthy male volunteers between the ages of 18 to 50, all volunteers were randomly assigned to receive DMAU or placebo once daily for 28 consecutive days. Volunteers were asked to consume DMAU or placebo with food, as DMAU is only effective when eaten with food. Volunteers were also required to provide blood samples on the first and last day of the study for the purpose of hormone and cholesterol testing. With 83 volunteers having successfully completed the Phase -1 study, the study found that volunteers assigned with the highest dose of DMAU showed significant reduction in the level of three hormones required for sperm production without presenting symptoms of hypo- or hyper-
testosteronemia. However, it was reported that all volunteers in the DMAU group (not taking placebo) showed mild weight gain and a mild decrease in their good cholesterol (HDL – high-density lipoprotein) level. It is also important to bear in mind that 11% of total participants were reported to experience lower libido though women who are using hormonal contraceptive also quite commonly report this. Nonetheless, liver and kidney function tests confirmed that DMAU is safe to be used. Since DMAU has shown potential to be used as a male contraception with mild side effects, longerterm studies are now underway to monitor the effect of long-term DMAU consumption as well as to determine if daily DMAU consumption will block sperm production. Even though it is still a long journey before DMAU can be marketed as male contraceptive (provided that it ‘s u r v i v e d’ through all the upcoming tests), it is great to know that in near future, there will be effective male contraceptive(s) available in the market. Not only can this help to reduce cases of child abandonment, it can also allow men to share the burden of contraception.
the courier
@CourierScience thecourieronline.co.uk/science
Monday 14 May 2018
39
science & technology
Enzymes bite the bottle
Scientists devise a devouring enzyme that could help clean up the planet, writes Lily Holbrook
I
t’s the stuff of sci-fi. At first glance, the idea of a bacterium that can actually eat plastic seems far-fetched and fantastical. But what if there was an enzyme that could do just that? Once upon a time, the moon landing, facial recognition software and deep-sea exploration were all things that seemed impossible. But with science and technology constantly advancing, we as the human race have achieved and invented things that our ancestors could only dream about. However, with great advances also comes great damage, not least through our dumping of millions of tonnes of plastic into the oceans. The problem is a huge one, but a chance finding, reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, may provide a glimmer of hope for a plastic-free future.
On its own, polymer can take hundreds of years to biodegrade Everyday plastic objects, including single-use bottles, consist of a polymer called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET for short. On its own, this can take hundreds of years to biodegrade. Hundreds. So, for every bottle of water you drink and throw away, that plastic will still be around for
years after you’re gone. This is a harsh truth, but exciting new research suggests that this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case.
20%
Researchers were able to modify the enzyme to improve its plasticmunching abilities by about 20%
The enzyme PETase, which has natural plasticdegrading properties, thought to have evolved originally for breaking down the waxy cuticle of leaves, also has the ability to break down the very substance present in many single-use plastic items. What’s more, it can begin the degradation process in just days. And that isn’t even the best bit! Simply by chance, when examining the crystal structure of PETase, researchers were able to modify the enzyme to improve its plastic-munching abilities by about 20%. This gives scientists a lot of hope that the enzyme has the potential to be optimised even further in future, with the man leading the research at the University of Portsmouth, Professor John McGeehan, describing it as ‘great and a real finding’. We’re still a fair way off this idea coming into fruition on a global scale, but it is hoped that with further investigation, it will one day be possible to translate this technology into a viable large-scale process. At the moment, a possible avenue for further ex-
ploration includes transferring the mutant enzyme into extremophile bacteria living at high temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius, to speed up the rate of PET degradation by up to 100 times. There is also speculation that when fully optimised, this enzyme may be sprayed over the huge patches of garbage present in the oceans to break down and recycle the overwhelming volume of plastic that resides there.
There is strong potential to use enzyme technology to help society’s growing waste problem
then start to rot. While I don’t advise individually shrink-wrapping each of these, I would suggest not buying too many and keeping them in a massive fruit bowl for them to go off in.
“Posher” students will have experienced the pain of a fresh avocado over-ripening
A better line of questioning might be which fruits don’t go off if stored together. Asparagus, potatoes, grapes, and leafy greens don’t go off if kept together, but do go off if kept with ethene-releasing fruits and vegetables. Peppers, berries, citrus, and kale don’t go off kept together or indeed with anything that releases ethene because they just don’t respond to it. Incidentally, these plant products are always ripened before harvesting, unlike all the others. “What about mushrooms?” I hear you cry. What about them? They are neither a fruit nor a vegetable, they are a fungus. They are more closely related to us than to the vegetables we cook them with. So the long and short of it is fruit bowls are a terrible idea. It would be better to keep fruits in a pint glass. Preferably mushed up with Bacardi.
I
Does t ime really exist ?
n the most basic terms, time is the progression of existence from one state to another. It is the entity that binds us to the universe, it is what turns a handsome chap into an old man and a tiny seed into a juicy apple. It can be interpreted in many different ways even despite its arbitrary nature. The question is not does time really exist, but what is time to us and can we live without it? Fictionally, time has cropped up in many different genres for books, films and music. In Andrew Niccol’s In Time it is portrayed as the thing that limits us from doing what we want; in Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot it is viewed as meaningless and simply an entity to apply measurement to the unknown. But time is mostly represented as simply the next stepping-stone to turn over, as in H.G Wells’ The Time Machine.
Turning these ideas into a reality will take a lot of hard work and research. But, with awareness of this problem on the rise and more resources than ever being invested into finding a solution, Oliver Jones, a chemist at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia suggests ‘there is strong potential to use enzyme technology to help with society’s growing waste problem’. With limited space to continue burying plastic, and the burning of it known to release toxic chemicals, could bacteria be the solution?
Word A step in the ripe direction Jack Coles explains why some fruit and veg just don’t get along of the Week: T Textaphrenia W his article probably isn’t even relevant to you. You’re a student, you’re not supposed to be eating fresh fruit! You’re supposed to be drinking it, blended with Tesco Value Vodka! But what if your mangoes go off before you can blitz them with something that tastes remarkably like turpentine? It might be to do with your storage methods. Many of the, uh, let’s charitably call them “posher” students will have experienced the pain of a fresh avocado over-ripening. You can modify the speed at which avocados ripen by wrapping them up in a paper bag to speed things up, or ventilating them well to slow it down. The reason why these methods work is due to a gas called ethylene, or ethene, or C2H4. Ethene is used by plants as a gaseous hormone in a similar way to how we animals use nitric oxide (NO). When fruits and vegetables receive this molecule they convert starch to sugars, becoming sweeter, and often changing their green chlorophyll pigment to red or brown. Lots of fruits release this chemical, especially bananas. This is why you don’t reckon to keep them in the same bowl as other fruit (so quite a few still life paintings likely led to fruit ripening). It’s not just limited to bananas though – apples, peaches, melons (except watermelon), avocados, tomatoes, and many other fruits also release ethene, causing each other to ripen quickly and
Mythbusters:
hy are we still here? Just to suffer? Every night, I can feel my phone… and its texts… even my notifications. The apps I’ve lost… the contacts I’ve lost… won’t stop hurting… It’s like they’re all still here. You feel it too, don’t you? I’m gonna make them give back our phones. Such is life for the Textaphreniac. This questionable disorder was discovered by one Jennie Carroll, a tech researcher from RMIT in Melbourne, ‘straya. Carroll is concerned with the phantom pain felt when you think you’ve just received a text, so you pad around your pockets like a lunatic. If you can’t relate, that’s probably a good thing. The smartphone is admittedly an extension of a human limb at this point, and the fear of losing it outweighs many of my priorities. Try and sway us all you want but… if you don’t check, you’ll never know.
Jordan Oloman
The arbitrary nature of time comes from our measurement of it. We record hours, minutes and seconds as if they are solid bodies that can be used to describe how a vehicle is travelling at a particular speed or how bread rises in a particular temperature or how soundwaves reach our ears. The smallest quantity of time recorded (so far) is a jiffy, this is the time it takes light to travel in a vacuum, conversely the largest quantity of time is…well that’s just it, is it infinity? Does the universe exist in an infinite amount of time and space? That is a question for another article, but it is certainly an interesting concept. We have all experienced that feeling of ‘running out of time’, which leads us to wonder: if we didn’t have a way of measuring time (e.g. the atomic clock) would we have more of it on our hands? Delve into the realms of philosophy and you can ask (but not so much answer) many questions like this. An approach called Eternalism deals with time and its ontological properties; some thinkers believe in presentism, the idea that only the present exists, almost treating time as a solid body that changes like a bacteria rather than flowing like a river.
We’ve all experienced that feeling of ‘running out of time’ Contrary-wise, scientists and mathematicians prefer to think of time as part of the space around us; this comes from Einstein’s famous Theory of Relativity, which doesn’t treat time independently from the other three dimensions (length, height and width) but instead joins the four together. This theory explains why, when we run on a speeding train, we are not running at 200mph but at a more believable speed of 5mph. If time was independent of the three space-dimensions in this model then we would be able to run at the same speed as the train but we know this doesn’t happen, so Einstein was right somewhere. Despite not knowing fully what time actually is, we are so very limited by it. We always either have too much of it on our hands or, as is most often the case, too little. Time is the bully behind us in a lunch queue constantly pushing us forward into the unknown. We could turn back and face it, but something always stops us. The only power we have is hindsight and even that does us no good. Kitty Marie
puzzles
40
Gone but never forgotten...
Since Joey formed his Former Yugoslav Republic of Puzzles on 23 October 2017 there have been 13 contributors to the squad. Here, we pay tribute to their outstanding contributions.. Alex Hendley
Interim manager in constant communications with JB. Does his bidding with harrowing efficiency.
Laura Staniforth A keen eye for a mistake, making copy editing look like a breeze. Probably looked at puzzles twice.
Courtney Strait One-time ‘Puzzles Prize Consultant’, which definitely wasn’t a real job, and was never won by anyone.
Clint Hill Stepped in as assistant to Joey when he took over at Fleetwood. Not entirely sure what he does.
Mark Sleightholm
Abby Kay Area of expertise includes but is not limited to Yiddish words and amphibious terminology.
James Sproston A true myrmidon. Jack of all trades. Master of none. Better than master of one. Gave Joey a chance when nobody else would.
Ciara Ritson-Courtney
Zoë Godden Chipped in on the vital two page Christmas edition, restored sanity to an upsetting evening.
The Late Puzzles Dictator Joey Barton Assistant Puzzles Dictator Clint Hill Puzzles Editor Alex Hendley Puzzles Myrmidon James Sproston
Louis Ainley Catalan consultant - because someone has to care. Impressively hand crafted an impossible sudoku.
Jared Moore
A former puzzles leader, took charge in week one. An ever present in etherial crossword wisdom.
Made the most significant change to puzzles design in recent history. Broke new ground.
the courier
Monday 14 May 2018
Liam Hanna An expert on Hull, less so on Indian transport. More a hindrance than a help. But that’s him all over.
Edited a few words once, and helped make a Christmas puzzle nobody understood. Probably the most he’s ever done.
Heather Thompson Once contributed some Mancunian slang to the crossword - yet to be confirmed as legitimate.
There will probably never be solutions for this issue published, so don’t hold your breath. Do not contact Joey Barton under any circumstances.
41
the courier
Monday 14 May 2018
A step too far for Joey...
Dear readers, Something terrible has happened. You may recall that last week Joey said he was looking forward to a fishing trip with the Fleetwood big-wigs... On the eve of the final Courier of the year, Joey has gone missing, and hasn’t been seen for some time now. A witness, who was tucking into their corned beef sandwiches at the scene, told the Courier ‘He was shouting at some Canada geese about how he never wanted to make a crossword ever again, and that he couldn’t take another week without someone coming in to collect the prize. Next thing I knew he’d thrown himself in, trying to catch fish with copies of the puzzles pages which were disintegrating in the water by the second. I think that speaks volumes about the man.’
Difficulty: Moderate
SUDOKU
4
4 9 8 2
2 9 7
6 1
2 5
7
6 1 9 5
3
Issue 1369 solutions... 3 1 5 9 6 4 7 2 8
4 6 8 1 7 2 9 5 3
9 7 2 3 8 5 1 6 4
5 9 6 8 4 1 3 7 2
7 4 3 2 5 6 8 1 9
8 2 1 7 3 9 6 4 5
6 8 4 5 1 3 2 9 7
2 5 7 6 9 8 4 3 1
1 3 9 4 2 7 5 8 6
K U M I P A T A S I G P G I A R R I T T O T U T
7
Row 1 Must be served with peas Row 2 Ready to eat Row 3 Morgan - not Captain!
R G A N A T H E E I S H
Row 4 Multiple pointy roofs Row 5 Hagrid might tell you to follow them...
7 5 8 4 9 C
A
D
IN MEMORIAM How well have you been paying attention? Can you match Joey’s locations determined by his fan message? Fleetwood: ‘The Morecambe: ‘Is it too F future is Barton’ late to apologise?’
Carlisle: ‘Eradicating mistakes’ Courier office: ‘Puzzles Grand Prize’
B G A A I C E R A E R O T Y H G
Word pyramid
B
E
A R S E F P R L C E N A T U R E Y M M B R A D E S R R O E S I N S W O O N K M Y B E A M
Hull: ‘In response of critics’
Mexico: ‘On my holibartons’
43
the courier
sport
Monday 14 May 2018
The greatest of goodbyes As this will be our last issue of the Courier this academic year, we take a look back at famous sportspeople from an array of different sports who all said a fond farewell after making some rather memorable and often emotional final appearances
DUNCAN FERGUSON
Everton’s unremarkable 2-2 draw with West Brom in May 2006 was notable for several reasons. Everton debuted a very smart new Umbro kit, Victor Anichebe scored his first goal for the club and Duncan Ferguson signed off his Everton career with a last-minute equalising goal.
As a striker, Ferguson was far from prolific. Affectionately known as ‘Big Dunc’ by the blue half of Merseyside, he scored 72 goals from 273 appearances over two spells at the club. He was, however, more than just a striker. Through one of the leanest spells in the club’s history, Ferguson’s love for the club and his knack for a late goal brought at least some joy to Everton Football Club.
Affectionately known as “Bid Dunc” by the blue half of Merseyside, he scored 72 goals from 273 appearances This came to a head in his final game. In front of the Gwladys Street end, Ferguson stepped to take a penalty. The Scot slammed initial effort straight at Tomasz Kuszczak. With his last touch for the club, he did the exact same thing with the rebound. Fortunately, the ball found its way to the corner of the net to square the game. Big Dunc signed off in the most Everton way imaginable. Image: Wikimedia Commons
FRANCESCO TOTTI Arguably, one of the most memorable exits from sport is from Roma legend, Francesco Totti. After a remarkable career, playing for Roma since 1992, the Gladiator decided to bring his illustrious career to a close in May 2017. In the fifty-fourth minute against Genoa, forward Mo Salah was subbed off for Totti to make his final appearance. Although the game finished 3-2 to Roma, securing their spot in the Champions League, the end of the game was all about Totti. Tears flooded the Stadio Olimpico as Totti walked a slow lap of honour around the stadium and gave a farewell speech to a sell out crowd. Trying to hold back the tears, he was subsequent-
NICO ROSBERG
The 2016 Formula One champion Nico Rosberg certainly had an interesting last appearance in the sport. It was a close, tense and often fractious battle against Mercedes team-mate and fierce rival Lewis Hamilton, with the title decided at
ly presented with a framed number ten shirt to mark his time at Roma. And so the Gladiator’s playing career drew to an emotional close last year, his
25
Totti made 786 appearances for Roma in his quater century spanning career
time as director has just started, allowing him to continue serving his status as a legend from behind the scenes. Rebecca Johnson
the final race in Abu Dhabi. Heading into the final round, Rosberg led Hamilton by 12 points, meaning that he needed to finish on the podium to definitely clinch the title. Starting behind team-mate in second place it
Dan Haygarth
MICHAEL PHELPS What better way to conclude a career than to win gold in the 4 x 100-meter medley relay, breaking the Olympic record and bringing home the United States’ 1001st all time Olympic gold, medal? If this isn’t enough then perhaps the fact that it was his 23rd Olympic gold and 4th at the Rio Olympics, for which he was chosen as American flag bearer, was enough to make this a pretty memorable career culmination. Prior to his retirement on 13th August 2016, at his 5th Olympic games, Phelps had received swimming world’s swimmer of the year award eight times as well as the Associated Press athlete of the year award in both 2008 and 2012. He also holds twenty-six Guinness world records including “most world records set for swimming (male)”.
With Phelps leaving on such good form and so recently, there has been speculation as to his return to swimming in time for Tokyo 2020. Talk of a comeback last year met with indecision from Phelps himself . Whilst he is openly working out at the gym five to six times a week in order to maintain his fantastic physical form, he attributes this to “wanting to get back into some sort of shape … to be the best husband, the best dad, the hardest worker, I need to work out” as he told the Washington Post. The thirty-two year old also stated that he “could” come back, but “I just have nothing that I want to come back and do” when interviewed on the “today” show.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
looked like he was about to clinch the title. However following his first pit-stop the German driver ended up behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, but managed to overtake him by Lap 20 to take back second place. Then in the closing laps, Hamilton controversially slowed down in attempt to allow other drivers to catch and pass Rosberg, disregarding instructions from Mercedes to speed up. Yet it was not enough, and Rosberg managed to hold the chasing pack off to take second place and secure the Championship. The emotions were high as he was congratulated by his wife Vivian on the radio, completed doughnut spins on the pit straight and stood on the nose of the car to cheers from the crowd. While despite the dramatic race (and season), the two Mercedes drivers embraced and shook hands on the podium. Then only five days after winning his maiden title and aged just 31, Rosberg made the surprising announcement that he would be retiring from the sport, citing the stress of racing, his young family and the fact that he had achieved his life’s ambition.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Tom Shrimplin
Sydney Isaacs
ANDREW FLINTOFF As a young child I once went to watch Lancashire and a tall, somewhat portly, Andrew Flintoff ran in from the Brian Statham End at Old Trafford.
The crowd erupted, in my lounge at home, I erupted, people in their cars stopped and erupted with joy
Image: Flickr/marcopaco
Fast forward several years to The Oval in 2009. The ultimate Brit abroad having been lost at sea on a pedalo and been so drunk on an open top bus tour to Downing Street he and Kevin Pietersen could hardly stand up. He was
the every man, but Flintoff had one last swansong for his adoring audience. One last moment of genius. Struggling with bad knees, Flintoff knew this was his last time on a cricket pitch, charging off a long run up in to bowl with his trademark chest-on bowling style in an Ashes test. It was his fielding that had the final say. Ricky Ponting, another in the twilight of his career, hit a soft drive to Flintoff at cover and ran for it. He thought Flintoff couldn’t move, only for him to send the small red ball careering into the vacant stumps. The crowd erupted, in my lounge at home I erupted, people in their cars stopped and erupted with joy. The cricket needed that moment from Flintoff, more than he could ever know. Josh Nicholson
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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The year in sport
Image: NUCC
It’s been another incredible year of sport at Newcastle University. Editor James Sproston and Sports Editors Mark Sleightholm, Sydney Isaacs and Courtney Strait look back on the highlights
Stan Calvert 2018: an even bigger defeat than last time Image: Mick Woodruff
Hill climb success for cyclists
Image: Craig Hodgson
Knights on the charge The Newcastle Women’s Basketball Club had a momentous 2017-2018 season - its best to date, in fact. The Knights’ season ended with a heartbreaking loss in the BUCS semi-final game, but they held their heads high as the third best team in the nation. In addition to their playoff finish, the Knights had their best record in programme history and its best league finish. They finished the regular season in sole possession of third place in the most powerful league in the country, the BUCS Premier North. Another iconic landmark for the Knights was their four impressive victories against Loughborough and Durham, who reached the National Final last season. Defeating Durham twice was especially rewarding, as it was the first time in the history of Newcastle Sport that a Newcastle first team had beaten a Durham first team.
Team Newcastle Sports Personality of the Year: Shona Haston, Cross Country
Image: NUAXC
Image: NUWPC
Water Polo make BUCS final An early win in the American Football was anything but a sign of things to come, as Northumbria continued their recent domination in the varsity competition. The future of the competition itself was in doubt after the 80-22 whitewashing, and Newcastle fifth successive defeat. Newcastle picked up some face-saving victories in the fencing, water polo, lacrosse and korfball, but this was nowhere near enough to even the overall score. One highlight of the competition was the first Stan Calvert Memorial Fun Run. Organised by Newcastle’s Athletic Union Officer, Clara Pettitt, the event was open to everyone, widening participation but sadly not counting a jot towards the all-important points tally. By the close of the final Sunday Newcastle’s athletes were demotivated and beginning to question what possible benefit the competition has to Newcastle.
Image: NUWBC
When you pool together the successes all four teams at NUWPC this year, its easy to see how they have deserved their spot here on our highlights reel. A wave of great performances saw the men’s and women’s second teams float up the tables and win their respective leagues, whilst the men’s first team were washed off the top spot by just four points. Almost overshadowing these achievements however was that of the women’s first team. In an epic semi-final, the women submerged local rivals, Edinburgh to secure their place in national finals, the only team in from Newcastle to do so. The Big Bucs Wednesday match against reigning champions, Durham attracted supporters from across the north. Although the Newcastle girls had defeated Durham earlier in the season, they were this time unable to hold-off their NorthEast neighbours, a team composed largely of American scholarship students. All in all match-hats off to NUWPC for immersing themselves in all aspects of the club and to Megan ‘lord of the pool’ Lord, who’s invaluable commitment in running the club ensured that the season went so swimmingly.
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Rugby on the rise A gold, a silver and four bronze medals in Wild Water Racing Championships New sports facilities for Newcastle
In October we brought you news of Newcastle’s expanding sports facilities. Sadly a swimming pool is still a no-go, but the Sports Centre will be substantially extended in 2019 with an eight-court sports hall and new squash courts. Meanwhile a refurbished Cochrane Park will open this September with all-weather 3G pitches and a bigger pavilion.
The engineering dominance at the top of the informal campus sports tournaments continued in December, as the Chem Eng society came out on top in a weekend of dodgeball, badminton, netball and 5-aside. Between them, Chemical and Mechanical Engineering sides have won each of the twice-yearly Campus Sports tournaments, which give societies the chance to take part in semi-competitive sport.
Engineers win again
Clash of the Titans evolved into the Big Uni Clash and moved to St James Park in March, where Newcastle came from behind to clinch the win in a warm-up to a Premiership Rugby match. Meanwhile the women’s first Gabbiadinied their way to survival in the BUCS Premier Divison, winning their only match of the season in the playoffs, and Newcastle student Harry Glover flew to Australia to help England on their way to Commonwealth rugby sevens bronze.
Image: Clare Jones
Dancers reap rewards of competition
The newly-established uni dodgeball team defied their underdog status to finish the North East Open in December as the unbeaten champions. More experienced sides from Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Hartlepool were defenceless in the face of the energetic Newcastle Kings, a club which had formed just three months earlier.
Newcastle’s Dance Society fought on throw various injuries and picked up 10 trophies as they hosted the country’s finest dancers in a competition at the Civic Centre in February.
Dodgeball dodge all in debut comp
Ultimate champions of the north
Taking on the best that the North has to offer, Newcastle’s Ultimate Club took four teams to UCLan in Preston for the Mixed Indoor Regionals. Pies 1s took returned to Newcastle as Regional champions, whilst Pies 2s came fifth after beating Northumbria, securing their place at Nationals Div 2 for the first time in their history. Image: James Sproston
Image: NUDS
NUSU hosts two rounds of Fight Night
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Yorkshire opposition too much for cricketers MEN’S CRICKET
Newcastle 2nds 109 York 1sts 157
Sidney Pinsent at Heaton Sports Ground Newcastle’s seconds are the only nonYorkshire side in the Northern 2B league, having been promoted after an unbeaten performance last season. Their new league has offered little reward so far, however, with a heavy away loss to York St John in their opening game of the season followed by defeat at the hands of another York side at home a week later. A sunny afternoon of play in Heaton saw the hosts start well but cave in to pressure from the York University firsts towards the end of their innings.
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Newcastle’s Ali Martin contributed 19 runs to his side’s total of 109, but this was not enough to secure the win
The day got off to a steady start, both batsmen waiting for the infrequent mistake to nick singles and edge fours. The first wicket came from a simple catch after York’s Hoddle took the pace out of Calder’s wicked delivery. The switching attack of George Judd and Calder proved a deadly combo and left the visitors frustrated. Soon Newcastle had sight of their second wicket, a huge Yorker and a big LBW call from Newcastle. A few moments’ thought from the umpire and the
finger was lifted, and it seemed a spell of momentum was coming Newcastle’s way. And before long danger man Bell was gone too. A big nick from Judd’s ball and a brilliant dive from Henry Mellor had Bell walking after a respectable 19 runs, leaving Newcastle pleased at 41/3. York’s complaints that “it sounded paddy” began to sound bitter. Ruaridh Patel started off his excellent game with a brilliant maiden while James Watson’s early spins were leaving York in a heap of dust. However a strong spell from York, started by York’s Milnes, got the visitors up to 100. Newcastle were putting the pressure on with quick wickets from Patel, Hurley and Watson but Milnes was still at the crease and punishing Newcastle heavily for their loose balls. As York got down the batting order the quality dipped. A calamitous error in communication left both York’s batters in the same crease; killed off by superb run out from Watson. Soon - with an acrobatic catch from his own ball - James Watson had Milnes out with his first before finishing the innings himself with a devilish bowl, just clipping the bales. It was up to Newcastle to come back from a punishing middle session which saw Milnes take 62 runs out of the 157 York picked up. York came with an aggressive outfield; the four slips waiting perhaps for a dodgy bounce on the dry and uneven pitch. The aggressive set up was matched with high energy fielding from
York, but the two Newcastle batsmen sucked up York’s rhythm. York often left just one fielder on the leg side, a sign of confidence in their fast bowlers, forcing the game into a cagey first few overs. Unfortunately, a low bounce on a speedy pitch caught Alex Newport out for just five and Tom Hurley was caught soon after. It was starting to feel like both teams would fall victim to the merciless pitch. Thankfully, Mellor and Ali Martin were able to build up a solid partnership, picking up much needed fours through the gaps on the leg side. Quite rightly they were both patient in their innings, waiting for the bowlers lower down in the pecking order to really hit the ball around. Martin’s innings came to an end at a solid 19 and gave way to Patel who carried on his fine form on the field to a man of the match performance behind the crease. He set the tone with a six that almost left the ground and smashed the ball around the park, losing the ball in the process. It may have been this new ball or the introduction of the fast ballers York opened with but once skipper Henry Mellor was gone, the spine of the team crumbled. A couple of ducks later (one golden) and Newcastle were gone for 109. A difficult day for a Newcastle side who didn’t seem to do much wrong. Perhaps if they got Milnes out earlier York’s one man team would haven’t have got close. But let this not take away from Ruaridh Patel’s wonderful day at Heaton Sports Ground.
A Newcastle player squares off against a Yorkshire opponent Image: NUCC
Intra Mural Roundup Dan Haygarth and James Sproston take a
Jen Peacock was one of many Newcastle rowers taking to the water Image: NUBC
look at the most popular, if not always the most successful, 11s, 7s and 5s teams in Intra Mural It’s been a very challenging debut season for Hardly Athletic FC. Having played all twelve games, we sit bottom of the bottom division of Intra Mural 11-a-side with a mere three points and a goal difference of minus fifty-six. With a goal difference so deeply negative, I’ll just focus on the season’s few positives. We’ve brought something of a carnival atmosphere to Intra Mural Football. A bit like the Harlem Globetrotters if they played football, were shit and exclusively toured small venues in the North East of England, Hardly Athletic have wowed fans across the University. This came to a head when the club played its first and only cup tie against Division One leaders, SS Ladzio. A boozy crowd of almost 50 saw the club valiantly grind out a 4-1 defeat against the best team at the University. The squad possesses a fair few diamonds in the rough. Tough tackling Ben Lowes had a commanding season in midfield, while the ever-reliable Adam Robertson was superb at right back. Liam Mulligan has been a constant goal threat from midfield and January signing Jacob Layfield has been a creative force and a prolific scorer since his arrival. Layfield inspired the club’s only win to date, a 6-2 thrashing of Classic XI in the final week of the season. A monumental result that saved the club from liquidation – we’ll be back next season for more. Keep an eye out for the promotion push.
The 2017/18 season went as most Berocca Juniors’ seasons do: start of with little hope, and end with little reward. Though we’ve never been competing for Hardly Athletic’s ‘bottom of the bottom division’ crown, we’ve had a few shockers ourselves over the years. Our inaugural season left nothing more than one win in ten games, and that was against five 14-year-olds in the cup, whilst the second season brought more success, even though we rarely peaked above a 50% win ratio. Following a mildly impressive third season, we all though that our BJFC days were over, but we triumphantly returned in October, donning brand new kits and a saucy sponsor. It’s a shame to say that our comeback wasn’t as heroic as it could’ve been, with our season being one of two quarters and one half. A hugely successful spell from October through to December in the more familiar 5-a-side was marred by just two wins from eight in the 7-a-side format, with no silverware in any respect. Come January, our glorious 5-aside success dipped, with a five game losing streak, whilst our 7s form went from worse to indescribable, losing all of our games in 2018. A small chance of glory awaited the boys in the Campus Leagues end of season tournaments, reaching the semi-finals in the former. However, a last-minute dropout from the succeeding tourney tarnished the team’s already battered reputation, with a friendly with Hardly Athletic in June the only chance at redemption.
Rowers nab treble ROWING
Mark Sleightholm and David Stephenson A clean sweep of Victor Ludorum titles showed just how dominant Newcastle are on the water as the Boat Club notched up unassailable leads in the BUCS Regatta. The prestigious event is the largest student regatta in Europe and marks the high point of the BUCS rowing calendar. For only the second time in the club’s history it was Newcastle who took the overall Victor Ludorum title, as well as the men’s and women’s titles. Boat Club President Alex Turner described the win as “very special”, adding: “In what was my fourth and final BUCS, I could not have been prouder or more impressed by the spirit shown by everyone racing and supporting. This
success is only the beginning of what will definitely be a great summer.” Newcastle entered 53 boats across the three days of racing at the National Water Sports Centre in Nottingham, and won 19 medals in total, six of which were gold. This haul gave them 1,094 points in the overall rankings, 22 more than second-placed team Oxford Brookes.
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entries across the Regatta were from Newcastle, who won a record points haul
Indeed, it was Oxford Brookes who offered the only serious challenge to Newcastle’s dominance in overall rankings, with the two teams well ahead of the rest of the pack in the men’s, women’s and combined rankings. A total of 35
universities took part in the event. With so many impressive results for Newcastle, it’s hard to select standout performances, but Rob Fuller and Ryan Ballantine won three gold medals each, in the lightweight four, quad and eight races. The club’s first women’s quad gold came with a stunning nine second winning margin over Durham University by the beginner team, while Newcastle took silver and bronze medals in both the men’s and women’s intermediate lightweight singles. The Blue Stars’ dominance on the hottest weekend of the year is due in no small part to long-standing Head of Rowing Angelo Savarino, who said: “the performance is the comprehensive result of athletes and coaches, and in particular the volunteer coaches Steven Leigh and David Stevenson did a fantastic job.”
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Athletics leave BUCS outdoors on high note ATHLETICS Ethan Johnson at Bedford International Stadium Bedford international stadium is home to the outdoor athletics BUCS championships, the pinnacle of athleticism for many aspiring student athletes. The competition draws athletes across Great Britain to compete for glory in their respective fields of expertise. However intimidating a tournament
may seem, the exhilaration of the contest is more than rewarding for both participants and spectators alike. Newcastle university is one of 193 colleges and universities competing in the national BUCS competitions. After arduous months of training in harsh northern winds, 17 members of NUAXC set off on the 5-hour journey to Bedford. The bank holiday weekend saw blue skies and warm weather surround the stadium as the Newcastle representatives arrived. They were met with an assemblage of dedicated athletes ready
to compete in all disciplines from track and field including sprinters, jumpers, throwers and distance runners. Though athletics may be independent in com-
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The NUAXC women broke the 400 meter relay record at the event in Bedford
petition, team spirit and morale persist; Cheers of encouragement increased resolve and determination despite the
intense pressure. The squad saw major success with particular excellence from Hannah Malpass for making it into the 200m sprint semi-finals, Liam Reveley for clearing a staggering 2m height to enter the high jump final and the 400m women’s relay team of Hannah Shepherd, Alice Nottingham, Francesca Robertson and Hannah Malpass which broke the previous NUAXC 400m women relay record. The adrenaline of such a monumental event also saw many other members of the team also see great personal tri-
umph, many achieving personal bests as validation for the hard work the team has put in. The event also was a spectacle to behold as globally recognised athletes such as Cameron Chalmers and Jess Judd competed in the 400m men’s sprint and women’s 5000m races respectively. As the outdoor athletic season has begun, BUCS outdoors has left nothing but hunger in the hearts of our athletes as they wait for another shot of BUCS glory, to vie for a medal and a place on the podium of BUCS outdoors 2019.
A range of track and field events rounded off the season for the Athletics Club Image: NUAXC
TNT tri to get a tan in Swindon TRIATHLON Xanthe Polaine at Swindon As a heatwave struck the UK this bank holiday weekend, most people headed to the beach or Osbornes. But not Team Newcastle Triathlon (TNT)... they headed to Swindon. Leaving at 11am on Saturday morning, 16 keen boys and 14 keen girls set off on this BUCS road trip. The 7-hour journey required planned hydration, slick pit stops and temperature adjustment - perfect practice for the race. Having arrived in glorious Swindon, the triathletes treated themselves to many carbs at Pizza Express. Practically leaving the kitchens bare. Sleep 6am hit most of TNT like a brick, but triathlon sleeps for no one. Rolling out of the Travelodge at 6:45 they were ready to head to Calne, race HQ. Although some were fuelled by questionable nutrition including; bulgar wheat, 1L of chocolate milk, a chicken burger, and some lentils. On arrival it was already scorchio, at this point TNT knew that racing today would be particularly savage. 3 more TNT female athletes also joined the fun at HQ. The first girls set off at 9:15am with more setting off every 30minutes - it was reported from the first wave of girls back that the run was basically 100°C. The effect of the heat continued throughout the rest of the girls’ races with the added bonus of sunburn. This quickly saw a massive dip in the TNT
emergency sun cream reserves. The first of the TNT boys set off at 12:30am, with none other than President Tom JT smashing the swim to annihilate the competition on his brand new shiny baby (bike). At this point, the effects of sunshine had only worsened with many of TNT retreating to the shade and showering each other in bottled water.
750m 25km 5km After TNT’s penultimate athlete crossed the line all eyes were on golden boy Tom Whelan (who had won Richmond sprint triathlon the weekend before). They watched him crush the swim, smash the bike, and boss the run. Coming in with the club’s fastest time of the day by 5 minutes. The burning sun was beginning to set and it was time for TNT to head back north to cooler climates. The whole club did amazingly well this weekend, with numerous PB’s and for some the completion of their first ever triathlon (officially catching the tri-bug).
Team Newcastle Triathlon faced a long roadtrip and a heatwave before the big race in Swindon Image: TNT Top Three Women
Top Three Men Time
Time
1 Xanthe Polaine
1:22:56
1 Tom Whelan
1:08:48
2 Fiona McDonald
1:23:42
2 Andy Shaw
1:13:12
3 Bonnie Murphy
1:23:45
3 Fergus Ingledew
1:15:44
sport the courier
Monday 14 May 2018 Issue 1370 Free @Courier_Sport courier.sport@ncl.ac.uk thecourieronline.co.uk/sport Sport Editors Mark Sleightholm, Courtney Strait, Tom Shrimplin, Sydney Isaacs & Matt Proctor Inside Sport today >>>
The cup crowned a season of success for the Uni Image: Tom Hardwick
A SEASON OF SPORT The teams were on level pegging at half time Image: Tom Hardwick
A look back on Newcastle’s year of competition Page 44
Newcastle claims Benevolent Bowl victory MEN’S FOOTBALL
Newcastle 1sts Whitley Bay A
3 2
Tom Hardwick at Whitley Park Newcastle University played Whitley Bay reserves in the final of the Northumberland FA Benevolent Bowl, showing their fighting spirit to win the tie 3-2 despite falling behind. The early minutes of the game were very much even, with Newcastle University seeing an early effort fly over the bar and Whitley Bay having two efforts blocked by Uni defenders before being called offside. Leftiris Alambritis imposed himself on the game in these early stages for Newcastle University, being sandwiched between two Whitley Bay defenders as he was about to take a shot at goal, and then snatching the ball after a poor Whitley Bay backpass, forcing a smart save from Harley. Konadu-Yiadom also highlighted himself as a threat, with his good hold up play allowing Walden to hit an effort from long range, then using his pace and strength to beat his man and cut into box, forcing a corner for Newcastle University. Despite the Uni side displaying their
dominance, it was Whitley Bay who took the lead in the 24th minute. A Whitley Bay corner evaded the Uni defence, falling to Connor Campbell who made no mistake with the finish to put the Bay in front. That goal was somewhat harsh given that the Uni team had been dominating up until this point, and they set about trying to restore parity immediately.
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Newcastle have won all but five of their matches in their local league this season, and now the cup as well
Some good passing down the right wing set Redford free, but the final ball failed to meet any Uni players in the box before being cleared. Whitley Bay almost extended their lead, with a deep cross finding Connor Campbell unmarked, but he could only head wide, spearing the Uni defences’ blushes. Newcastle University soon levelled the score, with Konadu-Yiadom heading the ball into a Whitley Bay defender. The resulting melee for the ball saw a foul committed against Uni, but the ball fell to Olly Walden, who worked himself
into space before rifling the ball into the top corner. The Uni team had the ball in the net just before half time courtesy of a Hamblin header, but the referee ruled the goal out having decided that there was a foul in the build up to the goal. There was some remonstration from the Uni bench, but the rest of the crowd didn’t seem shocked by the decision, and half time soon arrived. After the break the Uni fans congregated behind the goal, and their support seemed to invigorate the team. Uni went ahead in the 51st minute, with some good passing down the right-hand side setting Zylko free, who rifled past Harley in the Whitley Bay goal to send the Uni fans into delirium. Alambritis continued to pose a threat, heading over from two consecutive corners as Whitley Bay seemed to succumb under the pressure from the Uni side. Newcastle University took control for much of the second half, fashioning several chances before a speculative ball from Whitley Bay caught the Uni defence off guard, bobbling through to Cam Cunningham who finished low and hard to level the scores at 2-2. Horn almost levelled for Uni, deciding not to pass to his teammates in the
box to his right, seeing his curling effort tipped off of the far post by Harley. The Uni continued to apply pressure to Whitley Bay, and Walden managed to head the ball towards goal from a Uni corner. The ball bounced, catching the Bay keeper unawares and trickling into the net to restore the lead for Newcastle University. Walden nearly scored again soon after, hitting a free kick from 30 yards that almost shattered the crossbar, and the Uni had another goal ruled out, with Atkin’s header being disallowed for another foul committed within the box. Whitley Bay had a free kick saved by Curran in the 90th minute but were unable to fashion an equaliser, with Newcastle University effectively running down the clock to seal the Benevolent Bowl and sprinting over to the Uni fans to celebrate their end of season triumph. A 2-1 win over Gateshead FC saw Newcastle secure the title in the accompanying local league, with the team now five points clear at the top of the Premier Division with second-placed Birtley Town having only a solitary fixture left. Newcastle will play against Birtley directly on 15 May, as they aim for the Northern Football Alliance treble with a win in the League Cup.
FINAL FAREWELLS Athletic icons who leave their sport in style Page 43
TRIPLE REGATTA WIN Newcastle Boat Club put the win into rowing Page 46
The final took place at the Northumberland FA’s stadium Image: Tom Hardwick