Courier 1347 by The Courier Online

www.thecourieronline.co.uk Monday 6 March 2017 Issue 1347 Free

Elections 2017:

Meet the candidates in our exclusive pullout

The Independent Voice of Newcastle Students

STREET STYLE SAVES

Est 1948

DREAMY FILM FEATURE

A recreation of three of trendsetter Bella Forget the actual Oscar winners, it’s all about who you wanted to win the awards, p. 28 Hadid’s outfits high-street style , p. 17 Image: Al Johnston Photography

Newcastle University’s Boat Club put in an impressive performance at BUCS Head, p.40

Say goodbye to Mens Bar and hello to a new name Over600suggestionsweresubmitted to the online JotForm

By Harry Young Last week submissions closed for the proposed name change of Mens Bar. Over 600 individual responses were received and three names have now been shortlisted. The names are: ‘Luther’s’, ‘The Cross & Lion’ and ‘Aelius’. from students were received on the online JotForm which was launched at the beginning of Semester Two. Newcastle University Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers, who initiated the name change following the approval of a motion to do so at a Student Council meet at the end of 2016, stripped out duplicates, jokes and “spoiled” submissions (i.e. necessary criteria for a submission was not supplied, e.g. a reason for the suggestion). This left the total number of submissions at around 100. The six Sabbatical Officers met to discuss the 100 submissions and after much deliberation, as stated in the mo-

tion that passed at Student Council, 3 final names were shortlisted. The Sabbatical Officers stated that the name ‘Luther’s’ intends “to celebrate the ongoing link between Newcastle University and the Civil Rights Movement” following the University’s honorary doctorate award to Dr Martin Luther King on 13 November 1967. ‘The Cross & Lion’ was shortlisted as a name “designed to reflect the coat of arms of Newcastle University which has been in existence since it split from Durham University in 1963.” Finally, ‘Aelius’ which derives from “Pons Aelius”, the name of a Roman fort which would later become Newcastle, was selected because “the fort was the site of the first bridge to be built across the Tyne.” Speaking exclusively to The Courier,

‘Luther’s’, ‘The Cross & Lion’ and ‘Aelius’ have been shortlisted

Jade Holroyd, one of the six Sabbatical Officers said: “The task of shortlisting was actually a lot harder than I had originally imagined. Some of the responses we received were really good and you could tell that a lot of time and thought had been put into them.

names that reflected this change. “It’s great to see that so many students were keen to submit responses. Hopefully we’ll see a high number of students get involved in the voting process too. Whatever the name, I think it will be a big change so I do encourage all students to vote. Commenting on the name change, Chloe Burton, Stage Four Fine Art, said: “Mens Bar has always been Mens Bar to me so when I heard that the name was going to change I wasn’t too happy about it. But saying that, I understand all the confusion around the name so I understand why the change is happening. “I’m excited to see the shortlisted names and the reasons why they were suggested. I’ll be sure to vote on the name change even though I wasn’t originally happy about it.”

“Some of the responses we received were really good and you could tell that a lot of time and thought had been put into them” “We’ve recently seen a big change in how the bar is actually used by students and as a Sabbatical team we recognise that a lot of students tend to come to the space to do some work, eat or grab a coffee. We wanted to choose potential

Result announced Friday 10 March 2017

Harry Reynolds, Stage Three Biomedical Sciences, said: “I think a change in name was much needed, especially considering today’s climate. I don’t personally find the current name of Mens Bar offensive, but I know a lot of people that do. It’s because of this reason that I feel a change is needed. It’s a student bar so it should be viewed as accessible and welcoming by everybody.” Laura Hall, Stage Three Economics, said: “I’ve spoken to my parents about Mens Bar a few times now and each time they ask me why it’s called that. When I explain where the name comes from they understand, but they are surprised that it’s taken this long to change.” Voting for the name change will run alongside NUSU’s annual Spring Elections from 2pm Monday 6 March 12pm Thursday March 2017. You can vote at www.nusu.co.uk/vote. The result will be announced at 7.30pm Friday 10 March in Venue at the Students’ Union.

News

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NEWS

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Newcastle campus meets Malaysia MSF society showcase spectacular

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Deputy Editors Ollie Burton & Daniel Robertson News Editors Liam Carson, Valentina Egorova, Louise Hall Kotryna Kairytė & Helena Vesty

Students warned of potential danger by Northumbria Police

COMMENT

Should Corbyn resign?

CULTURE

13 21 23 25 30 33

Blind Date:

Hannah and Benj

Arts salty column: A salty cultural rant

Album Review: Prisoner by Ryan Adams TV Review: Taboo Gaming Review: Halo Wars 2 Mythbusters: Human senses

Rear of Northumbria Police Image: Wikipedia Commons

By Sophie Henderson Northumbria Police are warning students of potential danger after receiving two separate reports of sexual assault in Newcastle City Centre and Jesmond. Both reported incidents are believed to have been committed by a taxi driver. The first incident dates to around 3 a.m. on Sunday 19th February, and in an official statement, police have given further details on the crime. The woman got into a black hackney style cab in the Pilgrim Street area of Newcastle. Police confirmed that she was taken to Orchard Place in Jesmond where the taxi driver stopped the vehicle and proceeded to touch the woman inappropriately. The woman screamed, fled the car and reported the incident immediately. The investigation was in its early stages when police confirmed that a second crime of a similar nature had occurred. On Wednesday 22nd February at around 6:25 a.m., a taxi driver tried to kiss a woman while parked in a carpark

NUSU, King’s Walk, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 8QB. Tel: 0191 239 3940

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near Exhibition Park in Newcastle City Centre. Enquiries are now being carried out by Northumbria Police to identify the offender(s). Newcastle University was urged by police to pass on a safety message to all students via email ahead of the two reports. The Liaison Officer encouraged students to arrange to go home in a group of friends and pre-book or use a registered taxi rank. The email also urged the importance of licensed taxi plates both inside and outside of the vehicle. Students were asked to take note, where possible of the taxi license number or the driver’s details. The officer

also gave some reassurance: ‘We work really closely with the local council and the licensed taxi companies across the area to ensure there are lots of ways for people to get home after a night out.” Student safety is high on the agenda at the Students’ Union, and Rachael Kitching, Welfare and Equality Officer, commented on the nature of the crimes in question: ‘It has become apparent that there is an increasing need to safeguard students when getting home after a night out. Safety should never be compromised for convenience or for cost reasons. “Where students are left with no money after a night out, please use the uni-

“Newcastle University was urged by police to pass on a safety message to all students via email ahead of the two reports”

Editor Jade Holroyd Deputy Editors Ollie Burton and Daniel Robertson News Editors Liam Carson Valentina Egorova, Louise Hall, Kotryna Kairytė and Helena Vesty Comment Editors Jamie Cameron, Sinéad Corkett-Beirne and Sunil Nambiar Culture Editors Jack Oliver Parker and James McCoull Lifestyle Editors Ana Beretsos, Antonia Coleman-Harvey, Ruth Loeffler and Brooklyn Shakeshaft Ward Fashion Editors Liz Rosling, Izzi Watkins and Zofia Zwieglinska Beauty Editors Miranda Stoner, Ellie Trent and Ellen Walker Arts Editors Johnathan Hastings, Meg Holtom and Tamsin Rees Music Editors Sophie Ahmed, Serena Bhardwaj and Ben Grundy Film Editors Emma Allsopp, Zoë Godden and Simon Ramshaw TV Editors Luke Acton, Dominic Corrigan and Alison Scurfield Gaming Editors Errol Kerr, Jared Moore and Jordan Oloman Science Editors Matthew Byrne, Natalie Farmer and Ciara RitsonCourtney Sports Editors Lucy Brogden, Tom Shrimplin and James Sproston

versity’s emergency taxi service (www. ncl.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/about/ EmergencyTaxiScheme.htm).” Rachael Kitching is part of a team at the Students’ Union who are planning a safety campaign during the week commencing 20th March. The aim is to promote the safe taxi scheme and explore all safe means of returning home. She gave additional advice: ‘If anyone has further information, one of our University Police Liaison Officers hosts a drop-in service at the Student Advice Centre (SAC, Level 0 NUSU) every Tuesday 12-2, and in the Kings Gate Building (Level 1) every Thursday 12-2. ‘If anyone would like support, in light of personal experience, there are various support services, such as the Student Advice Centre (SAC), Student Wellbeing Service, Welfare and Equality Officer, REACH centre (Sexual Assault Referral Centre) and Tyneside Rape Crisis.’ Anyone with information on the incidents listed can also call Northumbria Police on 101 quoting reference number 647 19/02/17 or 134 22/02/17.

The Courier is printed by: Print and Digital Associates, Fernleigh House, 10 Uttoxeter Road, Derby, Derbyshire, United Kingdom, DE3 0DA. 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.

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Monday 6 March 2017

Plans on websites selling essays to students By James Vesty Jo Johnson, the universities minister, has outlined plans to tackle the rise in websites selling essays to students at British universities. Essay buying can be a lucrative business where companies write essays, dissertations, and even PhD theses for students for prices of up to, and exceeding, £1000. One site, Essay UK, promises a “grade guarantee”, boasting that “95.2% of our customers had received the grades they expected”. The site does, however, warn that it isn’t a complete given that you will get the grade – despite the title claim – and that “if you want a guarantee, buy a toaster!” Differentiation in marking and writing styles are cited as the reason for this. Despite the clear moral and ethical issues around essay buying and selling, Essay UK claims that it does not constitute cheating. “We can assure you it is NOT cheat-

ing and there is no reason you will get caught.” Although legally sound, the government is keen to crack down on the issue and has asked universities to do more in stopping this growing issue. An English Literature graduate – who wishes to remain anonymous – told The Courier that they could be tempted to write for these sites. “I think if the money was good and there was zero chance of repercussions, then I’d do it. “I think it’s tempting for certain graduates, like English Lit students, where the job market is hard enough as it is and we already have those skills like writing and researching. It sort of appeals to us.” Questioned on whether the job would pose them a moral dilemma, they reiterated the money aspect. “Again, if the money was good I wouldn’t think twice. “I wouldn’t do it for £20, but if they were offering £100 or more, then yeah.” On the other hand, MSc Computer Science student, Sam Cope, believes the

industry is rotten to the core. He said: “I feel that paying someone to do your essay for you is definitely unacceptable. An essay is set in order to test your own capability.” Cope also raised issue with the inequality of who could actually use these services. “These so-called ‘professional essay writing’ companies, who charge a small fortune for their services, are putting students who cannot pay at a dis-

advantage. “If you can’t be arsed to put in the graft yourself, then you don’t deserve the grade and you shouldn’t even be at university.” George Issa, an international student, believes the companies set out to target foreign students. He said: “I know loads of people who have been approached by these companies.

“I think they target vulnerable students as they know they might be struggling and their English isn’t as good.” Guidelines are set to come in at the start of the 2017/18 academic year and will stress the need for stricter punishments for those found to have used these sites, and also highlight the danger to students’ future careers.

“The government is keen to crack down on the issue and has asked universities to do more in stopping this growing issue”

Image: Pixabay

Creative careers: what it takes to carve a job path By Rebecca McGarry

The Creative Careers event Image: Twitter, NUSU Go Volunteer

Students and graduates were invited to attend the “Creative Careers” event organised by Newcastle University, Creative Fuse North East and Seven Stories last Wednesday. The event held at the Students’ Union offered a valuable insight into working in the creative sector. The event hosted a range of Q&A’s, talks and interactive activities. Experts in media and journalism, marketing, app development, gaming, and freelance work spoke passionately about their careers in a fiercely competitive industry. The Information Station drop-in also ran throughout the day providing a chance to meet industry professionals and staff from the Careers Service, who gave advice and information about various opportunities and work experience programmes. With 66,000 jobs, the North East’s creative economy is expanding rapidly. The future looks even brighter with Sunderland’s bid for City of Culture 2021. The event opened with keynote speakers Rebecca Ball, Director of Sunderland’s ambitious bid, and Jason Legget, Project Director of Creative Fuse North East, who both discussed the passion and resilience it takes to pursue a career in the creative sector and the diverse range of career options available. Among the industry experts on the ‘Breaking into Television’ panel was former Productions Director and Newcastle University graduate Dianne Helmes who discussed how, from a background in investigative journalism she moved onto daytime television to launch some of the nation’s best-loved shows, including This Morning, Loose Women and Jeremy Kyle. Dianne remarked that the subject matter of a degree is not necessarily the first thing an employer would look for

and that varied experiences and a passion for the industry always stand out on a CV. Dianne also emphasised that certain genres of television, such as specialist factual, demand those from science and medical backgrounds, and so a career in television is never strictly limited to those who pursue degrees such as Media or English. Young researcher Constance Batho, who has worked in television for four years, underlined the importance of building your CV while at university. Constance also emphasised that, while it is important to build connections within the industry, it’s not simply a case of ‘who you know’ but about showing enthusiasm and initiative by actively seeking out opportunities through social media. Many speakers indeed emphasised the increasing power of social media and the wealth of opportunities in online content. Emma Caldicott, Head of Digital Marketing at Estee Lauder, discussed how the digital world has opened up new ways to target consumers, transforming the world of marketing into a multi-platform industry. Graham Pratt of The Press Association led a practical workshop providing insight into multi-media journalism. Students worked in teams to disseminate a breaking news story using multimedia technologies. The session also involved an introduction to the Independent Press Standards Organisation code of practice which covers the laws and ethics of journalism such as the protection of victims and issues of accuracy and copyright. The Creative Careers day was an enriching experience for anyone passionate about a career in the creative industry. Elle Blunt, a history student who attended the Creative Careers events, said: “The day was an eye opener for me. “Prior to this I didn’t realise the importance of experience or how accessible it is.”

4. news

Tuesday 28 February 2017

The Courier

Number of Language Degrees plummeting By Toby Bryant The number of universities offering language degrees has fallen by 30%, a recent report by UCAS reveals. The paper points to a rapidly increasing number of closing language departments each year. Initially, the language degrees that have been unfazed were concentrated in a smaller number of institutions. But with a “collapse of language” in the upper years of secondary school, as Times Higher Education writes, the stream of students who are eager to learn languages is starting to slow. A recent article by Times Higher Education has also looked into the importance of modern languages degrees in a globalised world. In the article, Lisbeth Verstraete-Hansen from the University of Copenhagen warns “recent developments actually tend to undermine public perceptions of modern languages as legitimate areas of serious academic enquiry”. Verstraete-Hansen encourages “those of us working in the field… to be more forceful in communicating to the wider public the value of language and culture studies”. Times Higher Education notes that language students’ “wishes are very varied” and the array of combined degrees now being offered is a direct reaction to this. UCAS figures for 2015 highlighted the increasing trend in combined degrees with only 10% of language students opting for single honours whilst another 10% study two or more languages. The majority of language scholars, ac-

cording to the report, read languages along with another subject. Humanities remain the most popular accompanying domain, but degrees such as maths and engineering are also popular. Lorraine Ryan, a lecturer in Hispanic studies at the University of Birmingham, writes of the “gloom” surrounding Modern Languages in the UK, especially after the vote to leave the European Union - yet she remains optimistic. Despite recognising that the number of UK school students taking at least one modern language by the age of 16 declined from 55 to 22% between 1995 and 2013, the existence of Routes into Languages programmes, which aim to encourage more schoolchildren to take languages, are positive. For example, Nottingham Trent University’s Bespoke GCSE Language Programme endeavours to clear the perception that the study of modern languages is reserved for “privileged students in “elite” universities”. Since its initiation in 2008 it has led to a 95% increase in the uptake of GCSEs in French and German at participating schools. In turn, Nottingham Trent University has enjoyed a 61% rise in the number of students on its modern languages course between 2008 and 2014. Schemes like this are plentiful around the U.K. with events such as The Great Languages Bake Off, led by The North East Routes into Languages Consortium, and the Language Factor Song Competition also aiming to increase interest in modern languages. Newcastle University’s Language Hub. Image: Toby Bryant

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Tuesday 28 February 2017

Get up and Go Volunteer with NUSU By Louise Hall News Editor

Newcastle Universities Go Volunteer fair kicked off at 11am on Tuesday 3 of March in The Venue at the Student Union. The fair provided students with the opportunity to speak to lots of different nonprofit organizations that offer the chance to volunteer, both within the university and the local community. The hall was full of students seeking volunteering opportunities and the wide range of information on offer could not disappoint those wanting to get involved. Organizations and societies were looking for volunteers to do a spectrum of different jobs from volunteering in the Art Café to caring for the elderly. The variety of stalls included big name organizations on campus such as Go Volunteer, the NUSU led organisation that offers volunteering opportunities through the University itself from student led projects to long term program’s aiming to help students develop the skills employers look for, supplement degree course’s and help the local com-

munity while making new friends. NUSU was also advertising its free upcoming Inspiring Women’s Conference on 11 March, a different way for students to get engaged. However other organisations possibly less recgonised also offered a host of interesting information and activities for students to get involved with such as the Chain Reaction and Your Voice Counts volunteering schemes. Irene Storey Volunteer coordinator at Your Voice Counts spoke to The Courier about how important events like these are for both the organis ations and students: “this is definitely a great opportunity, I know students who after being involved with us after these events have gone onto full time jobs at our organisation, and volunteering is a great way to gain experience.” Charities such as Age UK and St Oswalds hospice also attended the event to appeal to the good nature of students and inform about their causes. Hosting a wide range of information and free pizza the fair offered something for everyone, from the most contentious student to those simply curious about the event.

“Providing students with the opportunity to speak to lots of different non-proﬁt organizations that offer the chance to volunteer, both within the university and the local community”

Information stands at the Go Volunteer fair Image: Louise Hall

International Competition: Newcastle meets Malaysia By Hannah Vernon A new and exciting opportunity, organised by the Newcastle International organisation, is underway as it enters the process of selecting 15-20 creative, bright-minded individuals to participate in a cross-campus ‘competition of ideas’. The event, branded Newcastle International: Changemakers of Tomorrow (NICOT), will unravel across a fourday period from the 6th-10th of April 2017. Uniting students from all three of Newcastle University campus’, participants from the UK, Malaysia and Singapore will form a cross-campus, interdisciplinary collaboration. NICOT is focusing on three main aspects: international networking, interdisciplinary collaborations, and tackling global issues to bring about global change. It aims to enrich the Newcastle student experience across all three campuses, as well as complement and improve the academic system of the University. Most significantly, it plans to establish an international network of global problem solvers, making it both significantly relevant and necessary in today’s world. In an age where sustainability is at the forefront of global issues, the framework of the competition will be taken from the UN SDG- the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. From these, the committee has chosen specific SDG’s which will form three categories: Health, Energy and Inequalities.

Having already chosen which issue they would like to tackle during the application process, participants will be sorted into their preferred category, and each category will have one winning team. To promote networking, teams will include at least one student from each of the three campus’. Participants from different backgrounds will combine their skills to create a conceptual model-device to tackle their selected global issue. Due to the broadness of the chosen SDG’s, the committee has specified the

will brainstorm ideas, and a ‘Business model’, where they will ensure the feasibility and sustainability of their product. Representatives from the University and the UN will be using the judging criteria, prepared by the committee, to judge which three teams will take first place. When asked whether winning modeldevices could go beyond the competition and tackle their global issue in the real world, Chris Duddy, Education officer, stated: “There is always a possibility! As of right now any further research is not a definite postcompetition process, but as the event (hopefully) grows and involves over the years we would imagine this to become part of the process.” April’s competition, though the first of its kind, has the potential to evolve into a platform from which the upcoming generation can resolve global issues head-on. Within the academically-stimulating environment NICOT will create, it is undoubtable that promising solutions to global issues will be proposed by the students of Newcastle University. While placing great value on the opportunity for campus’ to unite and work together, Chris Duddy light-heartedly added: “Seeing as it’s a competition… it’d always be nice if the team we send from the UK saw some success!” Due to the competition being held at NUMed Campus in Malaysia, the NUSU is generously contributing £250 towards each participant’s trip.

“NICOT is focusing on three main aspects: international networking, interdisciplinary collaborations, and tackling global issues to bring about global change” themes so that each category has one ultimate and defining goal. Those tackling the ‘Health’ issue will target road traffic accidents. ‘Energy’ students’ will focus on clean energy research and technology. And the teams dedicated to curing ‘Inequality’ will promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all. These, combined with further-specifying topic questions, will challenge students to think creatively and innovatively while producing the most ideal solution to their global issue. The case-study provided to competitors will be divided into two parts: a ‘Design Competition’ in which teams

Newcastle University campus Image: Sarah Cossom

6.news

Tuesday 28 February 2017

The Courier

Congestion tackled by traffic project By Grace Dean Newcastle City Council is working in liaison with Newcastle University and the Department for Transport to develop new smart technology in the city with the aim to reduce traffic congestion. The City Council has recently been awarded a £100,000 Funding for Innovation grant, making a total of £748,200, to develop a ground-breaking traffic regulation scheme in which a “Smart Corridor” is being developed within the city as part of the University’s three-year Compass 4D project. The project uses Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) to connect buses that operate services on Gosforth High Street with traffic signals, which communicate with the buses using artificial intelligence and allow the lights to stay green for a few extra seconds if the bus is nearby to allow it to pass through. This is a new development in the field of intelligent traffic lights, which deviate from traditional traffic lights, using sensors, digital communication and artificial intelligence to adapt to changing traffic levels in order to manage both

vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This concept of smart traffic management is a growing trend that can be seen spreading across other UK cities, including Northampton, Edinburgh and Cambridge. All have traffic light systems similar to what will soon be implemented in Newcastle. The equipment, which is due to be implemented in spring 2017, primarily aims to reduce the number of times buses stop and start on their routes. This is expected to bring a variety of benefits to both travellers on these buses and the wider community by reducing congestion at key junctions, maintaining traffic management and enhancing air quality along of some of Newcastle’s busiest roads. A pilot project run in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania run by Carnegie Mellon University showed that idle time spent at lights was reduced by 40% and travel times across the city were cut by 26%. Phil Blythe, Professor of Transport at Newcastle University, said: “These are exciting times in the world of transport and here in Newcastle we are leading the way - taking the first step towards a fully automated system with intelligent infrastructure and, eventually, driver-

“Smart technology which enables the traffic signals and vehicles to ‘talk’ to each other allows us to manage the flow of traffic, giving priority to certain road users”

Traffic in Newcastle City Centre Image: Geograph, Bill Henderson less cars. “Smart technology which enables the traffic signals and vehicles to ‘talk’ to each other allows us to manage the flow of traffic, giving priority to certain road users such as buses or perhaps re-directing drivers on quieter routes so we reduce congestion, fuel use and emissions.

“It also offers us the opportunity to introduce a range of safety benefits, particularly for vulnerable road users such as cyclists. This is the first installation of its kind in the UK we will use this as a platform to lead innovations in traffic management to deliver improvements in safety, congestion and air quality and to build on decade of innovative col-

laborations between the City and University in Newcastle. “By supporting and installing this technology, the city is ensuring that we are at the forefront of implementing intelligent transport systems and, as new technologies emerge into the market, will be at the forefront of testing and evaluating these.”

The Courier

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Tuesday 28 February 2017

Showcase spectacular with MSF society By Molly Howarth-Maddison

The last Friday of February saw the opening night of ‘Showcase Spectacular’, an evening of entertainment hosted by Newcastle’s Friends of MSF society, for the benefit of Doctors Without Borders. It’s no secret that there’s nothing more hit-or-miss than a variety of performance or talent shows, as one need all the cogs in the wheel to step up to the plate to pull one off. Once a suitable venue is secured, you need to organise sound and lighting, an all-encompassing promotion plan and an emcee of suitable charm with the ability to bridge awkward moments and keep the audience energized, without over-doing it. Oh and not to mention recruiting a diverse assortment of quality performers with the capacity to actually entertain- a mammoth task entirely of its own. However, due to the efforts of a large network of individuals and organizations, the night was a resounding success. Set in the impressive performing arts theatre at the RGS in Jesmond, spectators were treated to an evening of solid performances kicked off by NU Dance, providing an eclectic mix of styles including a dynamic tap routine, which was received particularly enthusiastically by the audience. Next followed NU’s Tune Army – our resident A Cappella group- with some exciting arrangements and a fun blend of popular music from the likes of Ed Sheeran to Whitney Houston. The audience being particularly in awe of Ifede Osiyemi; the human depiction of cool and with a captivating talent for beatboxing. Following A Cappella, there was a special performance from Mat Hunsley, a soft acoustic singer-songwriter and city-leader of Newcastle Sofar Sounds. The spell-binding effect of his “folk-

tinged sound and unique brand of storytelling” left the theatre in such an enthralled state, you could hear a pin drop. After the break, NUJO transported us to a cocktail lounge and had the audience bopping along with their smooth jazz and NUTS whisked us off to the West End with a variety of songs from musical theatre. Visitors were lucky to be able to see their stellar performance of 525, 600 minutes from Rent, after the cancellation of their highly anticipated production. Next came the Irish Dancing Society led by Liam Carson, dubbed the “White Peacock” due to his fierce presence on stage. This act was one that was a pleasant surprise for most onlookers, with a roar of cheer and applause filling the venue on the conclusion of their highly-executed display. To close the show, we had a powerful performance by vocalist Isabelle Fenner accompanied on piano by the dreamboat that is Tom Kennedy. Thrilled at the opportunity to sing Sam Smith on stage, all were blown away by her incredible set. No charity fundraiser is complete without a raffle, and this was a stunner. With the top prize in everyone’s eyes being a bundle of music and merchandise from the local music scene to the North East, there were vinyls, CDs, art work, gig tickets and t-shirts all up for grabs. Others included a day at the dog races, numerous restaurant, cinema and pamper vouchers and bottles of prosecco, all donated by members of the local community to which we offer huge thanks. A final thank you to Felix Torrance, Steve Bober, Jill Graham (Christian, Rose, James and the rest of the RGS gang), Wannie, Chisala, Stuart Keenan, all the acts, the FoMSF family and all who came to support our fundraising efforts, with your help we raised over £650 for this fantastic organisation.

“Showcase Spectacular” Image: Molly Howarth-Maddison

Fairtrade Fortnight is coming to campus By Laura Higgins Newcastle University Students’ Union is to support the annual Fairtrade Fortnight once again. Between Monday 27th February and Sunday 12th March, the institution will be promoting the fair-trade products sold in the union shop. The campaign is aimed to demonstrate the importance of purchasing Fairtrade products, which provide better prices, improved working conditions, local sustainability and fixed trade agreements between farmers and workers. Subsequently, this improves the quality of living for citizens of the developing world. Fairtrade Fortnight aims to highlight the university’s commitment to Fairtrade produce. Through the promotion of the importance of fair-trade produce over the two-week period, students are to recognize the variety of food such as chocolate and cookies that are available around campus. Students will be also informed that all foods used in cafes, restaurants and bars on campus are fair-trade.

At the meetings, which will be hosted by the Student Union and Newcastle University, students will be able to recognize the importance of purchasing fair-trade tea and coffee on campus, which will better the developing world. By educating students in this way, the university is hoping to emphasis their involvement in The Fairtrade Policy and ultimately increase consumption on campus. The organizers of the event aim to raise awareness of the Fairtrade logo. The mark guarantees that the price of the student’s purchase covers the cost of its production and also a surplus so that producer groups can continue to invest and prosper within their business. From a student perspective, this is informative and satisfying to know that their fair-trade purchase is ethical. Fairtrade Fortnight is set to be an informative, engaging and enlightening event. It has been met by a wave of success from students and staff and, thanks to the promise of a free wafer with every fairtrade product purchased at the union, it is likely to continue prospering over the next two weeks.

“Fairtrade Fortnight aims to highlight the university’s commitment”

Fair trade bananas Image: Wikipedia

news .9 BBC Free Thinking Festival to bring in challenging ideas

By Yoanna Cholteeva BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking festival promises Music, French Cinema, Englishness, Psychology and Poetry when it visits Gateshead in the upcoming month. The event will allow Newcastle University Academics to spread inspiration through their speeches and live performances, bringing together a variety of leading academics for a weekend of new ideas, provocative debate, music and performance. The festival will take place from 17th to 19th March, with all the events being on air during the following months on BBC Radio 3. The event aims to give academics and artists, from a variety of fields of knowledge and backgrounds, a platform to broadcast their own work and share it with a widespread audience. The weekend’s worth of lectures will be covering a spectrum of topics and contemporary issues, from BBC Radio 4’s Late Night Woman’s Hour to an interview with Formula One racing driver Damon Hill. Dr Kirsten Gibson, an Early music specialist from the School of Arts and Cultures, will discuss new releases of music by English Renaissance composer John Dowland and his contemporaries. Andrew McGregor, popular musi-

cian and presenter of the CD review on radio 3, will be hosting ‘Record Review’ at the event. Katherine Cooper will share the untold story of British writers and their effort to save their European colleagues during World War Two in the ‘British Barber and the Refugee.’ And Chris Petkov, the American professor in Comparative Neuropyschology, from the Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, will perform a guitar solo as part of ’Music Matters’. The session will be hosted by Tom Service who aims at developing our perception of music and time in the routines of every day life. It will focus particularly on social media impact and the calming effect of music. Matthew Sweet will present a live edition of BBC Radio 3’s film music programme. Known as the author of Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema– a history of the British film business, Sweet will be giving an insight into the basics of French Cinema. Alan Davey, Controller, BBC Radio 3 commented on the BBC website: “The Free Thinking Festival embodies what Radio 3 is all about. It gives people time and space to contemplate challenging ideas, enjoy diverse often genre-defying music, and to step away from the frenzy of the speed of life.”

“The event will allow Newcastle University Academics to spread inspiration through their speeches and live performances”

NUSU satisfaction survey seeks feedback from students By Grace Dean The NUSU Student Survey, ran annual online survey by The Student Union, has been opened again for students to complete this year. The survey seeks to gauge the student body’s awareness of and involvement in the various activities and opportunities coordinated by the SU. It only takes around five minutes to complete and asks participants for their views on important aspects of the work that NUSU does such as awareness the campaigns, involvement in various volunteering projects and level of satisfaction with educational representation at the University. The survey allows Sabbatical officers and the staff body of the Union to gain feedback to improve the activities on offer and provide services relevant to all students at Newcastle University. It also allows the Union to use a more bottom-

up approach by directly identifying the wants, needs and complaints of current students. Jack Taylor, President of Newcastle University Student Union, said: “This survey is really important to us as it helps us understand what our students want from their Union, how well we are supporting them and how we can help each one throughout their time at Newcastle. “It covers everything we do, from representation to volunteering opportunities, the Student Advice Centre and even Mens Bar. Everything that the SU has to offer.” All participants are entered into a prize draw with prizes including a 55” Samsung 4k smart TV, an Apple Watch, £200 cash and a Beats Pill+ Portable speaker. To complete the survey, visit the Newcastle University Student Union website.

Comment 10.

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Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Comment Editors Jamie Cameron, Sinéad CorkettBeirne & Sunil Nambiar courier.comment@ncl.ac.uk | @Courier_Comment

Labour pains: should Corbyn resign? Undesirable results in the recent by-elections have re-inﬂamed Labour tensions. Is it ﬁnally time for new leadership?

YES

Caitlin Disken

ven though Jeremy Corbyn has been leader of the Labour party for a year and a half now, it’s hard to call to mind anything positive he’s done for the party. His leadership run has been marked by mass resignations from his shadow cabinet, a disastrous Remain campaign, and the laughable ‘traingate’ fiasco. Corybn has had massive issues with marketing his policy and media mess-ups in his leadership are all too common. Most recently, following Labour’s embarrassing defeat in the Copeland by-election, the time for Corbyn to step down has never been riper.

“If Corbyn’s Labour can’t even win in a Labour stronghold, then we need to heed the warnings” In Copeland, the constituents have consistently voted Labour since 1935. Last Thursday, the tides turned and Tory MP Trudy Harrison was voted in. Not only was this a drop of -4.9% in Labour’s vote, it was also the first gain for a government in

a by-election since 1982. In other words, it was a historic victory for the Tories. For Labour, it was humiliating at best, and a complete disaster at worst.

“It could help Labour to reuinte and heal’’

By-elections are difficult to analyse, so it’s hard to lay the blame on one thing. But, if Corbyn’s Labour can’t even win in a Labour stronghold, then we need to heed the warnings before it’s too late. We can’t afford another Labour wipe-out, especially not after the annihilation of Scottish Labour constituencies by the SNP in 2015. Even the Stoke Central by-election, which took place on the same day as Copeland, was not a great sign for Labour. Although Labour held the seat, they barely clung on, with their vote dropping by -2.2% since 2015.

“It’s hard to see Labour being a serious challenge to the Tories at all” The slippery slope of Labour disintegration which has only accelerated under Corbyn is simply continuing. Removing Corbyn may not fully solve the problem, but it could help Labour to re-unite and heal, to become a strong contender in the 2020 election. Right now, however, it’s hard to see Labour being a serious challenge to the Tories at all.

Greg Rosenvinge

wo Labour leadership elections won in the space of a year. The first by a resounding 59% of the popular vote, the second by an increased 61%, in spite of the constant unproductive backlash of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) refusing to reflect the mood of their own party’s membership- the constant ebbs of the anti-Corbyn faction are back in full swing following the loss of Copeland as a Labour seat in the recent by-election. But, what they seem to forget is they have already protested to the Labour party membership, in two of the highest turned out leadership elections in Labour history, twice already of Corbyn being unelectable, and both occasions have been unsuccessful.

“The PLP have been constantly unwilling to provide Corbyn a chance” The Labour Party pride themselves on their democratic principles, and yet the PLP have been constantly unwilling to provide Corbyn a chance to win in actually contesting a general election,

despite holding the two biggest democratic mandates as leaders the party has ever seen. By and large, the PLP have been uncooperative and hostile to Corbyn from day one, yet they fail to recognise that perhaps the reason why confidence in the Labour Party is so low is precisely because of this destructive in-fighting. Instead of uniformly attacking the Conservative government’s haphazard and confused Brexit strategy, Labour have gifted Theresa May a get-out-of-jail-free card.

“Two Labour leadership elections won” More has to be done within the Labour Party to set aside their few differences and focus on their common goals, as - for example - little actually differed between Corbyn and Owen Smith policywise during the leadership election campaign last year.

“More has to be done within the Labour Party to set aside their differences”

Admittedly, this has to come from both sides, but yet another attempted coup is not the answerit just presents the party as Machiavellian and mutinous. “This is not the time for a leadership election – that issue was settled last year.” Even Tom Watson concedes this.

Don’t abandon the Hermit Kingdom Sunil Nambiar explores a way forward for the North Korea, following continued its missile testing and the assassination of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia

n a 2005 birthday letter to the Burmese prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi – at the time, under house arrest by a military junta, the Czech President Václav Havel reflected on the collapse of dictatorial rule. Still moved - perhaps - by the peaceful democratisations that transformed much of Eastern Europe sixteen years prior, he concluded that ostensibly “unshakable totalitarian monoliths are in fact sometimes as cohesive as proverbial houses of cards.” Discounting five United Nation resolutions, North Korea last month furthered an illicit armament programme by testing a missile capable of holding a nuclear warhead. Relations with its principal economic partner – China, have been undercut by obstinacy. A comparable weapons trial in 2013 saw financial interactions halted by major Chinese banks, while a ten-month bar on North Korean coal imports imposed two weeks ago will likely weaken a gross domestic product already feeble. Ties with Malaysia, hitherto atypical in its warmth, were affronted last month by the killing of Kim Jong-nam via a prohibited

nerve agent at its international airport. An economy characterised by central planning, furthermore, has engendered large-scale famine. Tenets of human dignity, on a considerable scale, are undermined. Plausible assessments underscoring an all but stagnant fiscal landscape ricochets the tangible shortcomings of self-reliance.

“ Reductions to the North Korean nuclear programme, affording footing to its professed immovability, remain improbable’’

The strategic patience – relative isolation both by increasing sanctions and absenting negotiations pending denuclearisation - pursued by the Obama administration has not worked. Reductions to the North Korean nuclear programme, affording footing to its professed immovability, remain improbable.

In approaching relations with the 24.9-million strong nation, then, how should the new United States’ administration - as a principal world power - react? While responding to nuclear expansion by North Korea through sanctions, Washington should consider initiating dialogues with Pyongyang. United States’ diplomats should look toward incremental advances; discussions, for example, assessing preparedness for compromise may provide the basis for progress hitherto absent. Other measures, including diplomatic recognition via reciprocal embassies, will offer a platform for continued engagement. While - no doubt - challenging to negotiate cutbacks on North Korean weapons, a stoppage of further nuclear development may comprise a credible objective. Parallels are, often, drawn between North Korea and communist Romania. There are similarities, for example, in per capita incomes and population sizes. Politically, both countries tested governance within one family – albeit differently; in Romania, President Nicolae Ceaușescu was appointed party leadership before his wife was appointed Deputy Prime Minister. As

the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union waned, nonviolent democratic shifts moved through the region. While a number of other party members realigned into a new egalitarian Romanian government, the Ceaușescus’ resistance to political transition resulted in their removal. The democratic Romania today continues to develop. By remaining an integrated world player working with the United States and Europe, however, it has achieved a measure of solidity.

“The leeway for a shift – unexpected or gradual - in North Korea should not be discounted’’

The leeway for a shift – unexpected or gradual in North Korea, then, should not be discounted. Engagement, however, should be considered by the United States and the broader international community an underpinning toward alleviating present hostilities. Despite seeming immovability, the frailties inherent in totalitarianism afford hope in aspiring toward a kinder trajectory for the

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Monday 6 March 2017

We’re mechanising our decline Sarah Davis discusses the negative impact that technological advancements are having in our lives

hilst stood in a long line at the Asda check out, waiting to buy an iceberg lettuce one sunny morning with my grandmother, I turned and asked: “Grandma, shall we not just use the self-service area?” She replied “for every installation of a self-service device, a worker loses their job, I shall never be a part of that.” While these statistics may be slightly distorted, if not completely inaccurate, with the advent of driverless cars and the automation of repetitive tasks, what on earth does the future hold for human employment?

“Mechanisation has been replacing employees from a diverse selection of job Mechanisation has been replacing employees from a diverse selection of job sectors for many years. 3D printers have eliminated many jobs in artisan professions, self-service check outs have decreased the number of workers needed on a shop floor, automated mechanical robots have replaced workers in car manufacturing and ticket machines

at train stations have diminished the need for station conductors present on the railway platform. Around the corner we have the introduction of driverless cars and lorries, and automated medical machines to conduct surgical operations. The most important question for the future is no longer: should workers have employment rights (of course they should), but what workers should do in a world where automation begins to eradicate their livelihood. Attention no longer falls to the defeat of Uber in the court action brought by GMB Union, but towards the battle of humanity and its future in a fourth Industrial Revolution. In 2013, Oxford researchers Carl Frey and Michael Osbourne declared that 47% of jobs were susceptible to automation. It was also reported that half of the current jobs in the USA will be automated by 2033. The BBC have even launched an application on their website for viewers to search their job or career path and its likelihood of automation within the next two decades. Andrew Puzder boss of several fast food companies and the new US Labour Secretary declared he was happy with the automated system and fewer workers, he stated: “They (robots) are always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show

up late, there’s never a slip and fall, or an age, sex, or race discrimination case.” A spout of neo-liberal outrage could be heard half way across the continent when Bill Gates decided to voice an opinion suggesting that if we are to introduce robots to employment they should be, at least, taxed. With the advance of economic dislocation and growing sense of inequality, should the owners of machines obtain the reward while the state recovers the destruction of human employment?

“For every installation of a self-service device, a worker loses their job” We may not be absorbed inside the head of a cyber man, but in a world of automation prediction: the NHS could cease to be the political football of the British electorate, products may become cheaper for the consumer and the planet may become a more efficient place to live. But, I’m pretty darn certain it’s not the world for me.

Oscars ‘17: a step forward for diversity

After last year’s #OscarsSoWhite, Kelly South explores the progression toward racial diversity made by the Academy Awards

he 89th Academy Awards were held on Sunday the 26th February. The show has since been hailed in the press as a significant turnaround after it was lambasted in 2016 for ignoring the achievements of people of colour – entirely snubbing them in all acting categories - for a second year in a row. #OscarsSoWhite trended on social media and sparked countless thinkpieces on Hollywood’s startling lack of diversity. 2017’s nominations honoured two films focused on the experiences of Black Americans: Hidden Figures and Moonlight earned eight nominations apiece. Hidden Figures is adapted from a nonfiction book, which revealed the integral role played by Black women employed as mathematicians at NASA in the 1960’s. Moonlight, the film which ultimately took away the award for Best Picture after a scarcely believable

mistake that caused La La Land to be announced as the winner, is a coming-of-age drama which is primarily set in the deprived Liberty City, Miama. Moonlight explores toxic masculinity, drug addiction, and sexuality in an intelligent and moving manner.

“The Oscar nominations set a number of new records after six black actors were nominated’’

The Oscar nominations set a number of new records after six black actors were nominated, the first black woman was nominated for editing, three writers of colour were nominated for Best Screenplay for the first time in history. Two black

artists were nominated for cinematography, for the first time in Oscar history, and Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins made history by being the first black person to hit the nomination trifecta of Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Screenplay. When Mahershala Ali walked away with the Best Supporting Actor statuette, for his role in Moonlight as surrogate father Juan, he became the first Muslim to win in a major Oscars category. Dev Patel, nominated for his acting in Lion, was the first Indian actor to be nominated since 2004. As heartening as it is for the Oscars and other major award shows to recognise the contributions of people of colour, the representation of women in categories outside of acting remains abysmal. The hypocrisy of celebrities justifiably speaking out about Trump’s misogyny while applauding men known to be sexual harassers, domestic abusers, and virulent racists cannot be ignored.

Casey Affleck won for Best Actor on Sunday night, which has reignited the debate about the ethics of rewarding a man who reportedly sexually harassed a number of women in the industry. His phenomenal performance in Manchester by the Sea doesn’t erase the harm he caused, and it’s immensely difficult for victims of sexual harassment to feel supported when the Casey Affleck and Mel Gibson - who directed war drama Hacksaw Ridge which earned scores of nominations at the Golden Globes and Oscars are publicly honoured and face no consequences for their abusive actions. Accusations of #OscarsTooBlack imply that people of colour didn’t deserve their awards and received them purely due to tokenism, which audiences should recognise as a false and insulting suggestion if they watched Moonlight, Fences, or Hidden Figures.

Press freedom keeps Trump accountable Is the media too harsh on him? Sophie Chapman discusses the relationship between the President and the press

he media is too harsh on Trump. Well, that’s what 51% of Americans think according to a recent poll trying to decipher the acrimonious relationship between President Trump’s administration and the press. You could look at it from that perspective or you could look at it as Trump being extremely critical of the media as journalists fulfil their role of reporting news as they are supposed to do, exercising their first amendment of the right to free speech. His cries of ‘fake news’ are reminiscent of a comedy sketch. Whilst some of the attacks on him may be unfounded, his response is usually undignified which leads to more newspapers being sold as Trump dominates the headlines. Let us not forget that it was only last week that Trump declared the media is ‘the enemy of the American people.’ As much as he claims to hate the media, isn’t any publicity good publicity? It is safe to say that Trump is no wallflower that fades into the background. It could also be argued that he uses the media as a scapegoat for his larger problems as it convenient for him to pin the blame elsewhere as American people question their trust in the media. The focus should be upon the scandals reported in the press, not those reporting

it. A journalist’s role is to report truthful information to the wider public. If they don’t then what purpose are they serving? None would be the answer. Trump can ban multiple news outlets from attending the White House briefing room. Trump can choose not to attend the Correspondents’

Dinner. However, this will not reflect well on him. His behaviour is as childlike as a baby throwing his toys out of a pram. The last President that was unable to attend the Correspondents’ Dinner was Ronald Reagan, a man that was recovering from being shot in an assassination attempt at the time.

“A journalist’s role is to report truthful information to the wider public. If they don’t then what purpose are they serving?’’

The media chastising the new President is nothing out of the ordinary – it is to be expected. They don’t just target one person, but politicians alike. Unlike most politicians, Trump has demonstrated persistence in carrying out what was outlined in his manifesto to the detriment of others. There is no doubt that the media is biased, and each newspaper outlet has its own bias whether it chooses to make it apparent or not. Could their consistent targeting of Trump be an attempt to blow down his house of cards without giving him a chance to do his job? If a scandal exists that could see President Trump impeached then it is the duty of the free press to report and prove it with substantial evidence. That is what they are fulfilling by reporting on leaked documents, which may elude to corruption and crime. Standing up to the most powerful man on the planet is not being too hard on him, it’s doing what the 65,844,954 Clinton voters are unable to do.

Culture

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thecourieronline.co.uk/culture

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Culture Editors: James McCoull & Jack Oliver Parker Sections: Lifestyle, Fashion, Beauty, Arts, Music, Film, TV, Gaming & Science courier.culture@ncl.ac.uk | @CourierOnline

Recipe of Conjuring up a cure for your cold the Week

Hope Coke’s new recipe gives a new savoury twist to pancakes

hese are kind of like little savoury pancakes, crispy on the outside with a soft middle. The spices work well with the sweetness of the carrot and potatoes and I sometimes eat them with curry or lentil dahl to pick up on the Indian inspired flavours. But they also work as a sandwich filling, in burger buns or wraps, or stacked up and topped with a fried egg and avocado for a bit of a breakfast vibe. I usually use gram (chickpea) flour or spelt four to bind the mixture, but plain flour should work fine too. You can also sub in other root vegetables in place of the carrot, like parsnip or beetroot. Makes about 6 little cakes (serves 1-2) Ingredients: - 1 medium sweet potato ( roughly 200g) - 2 medium carrots, roughy 200g (you want about 400g in total of root vegetables) - 3 heaped tbsp gram/spelt/plain flour - 1 tsp curry powder -2 tsp cumin - 1 tsp chilli powder (or more if you’re hardcore) - 1/2 tsp salt - 1 heaped tbsp greek/plain yoghurt - 2-4 tbsp olive oil, for frying Directions:

As we seem to have delved into a second winter, the dreaded cold seems to be making its way round everyone. Helen Robson knows a few tips to make it a little bit more bearable

t’s that time of the year again. Spring is on the horizon, which means changing weather and a breakout of the cold. Once one person’s caught it that cold will have spread through the University by the end of the week and before you know it your whole flat will be infested with sniffly noses and coughs. Perspiring with a high temperature and desperation, knowing you’ve already missed seminars two weeks in a row from hangovers, you ask yourself: What can I do to make this manageable? Well let’s go through some home remedies and supermarket supplies that have been proven to work wonders on a cold. However, you should bear in mind that these are not cures, in fact a cold will usually clear up itself within an average of ten days. These remedies should relieve your symptoms to help get you through those long working days but don’t think you won’t need a wad of tissues stuck up your sleeves for the next week. If your symptoms do persist or worsen after three weeks, it’s advised that you see a doctor to check it’s nothing more serious.

“An obvious that can be frequently overlooked. The fluids are referring to water and tea...not alcohol” Fluids and Rest

pair and recuperate quicker.

Honey and Lemon These two household ingredients work wonders for a sore throat and glands. Mix a small cup of boiling water with two teaspoons of honey and a squeezed lemon and boom - a sweetly soothing drink.

“Honey and lemon...these two household ingredients work wonders for a sore throat...a sweetly soothing drink ”

“Though home remedies provide fast results, they are mostly used for short term relief ” Cold and Flu tablets Though home remedies provide fast results, they are mostly used for short term relief. Cold and Flu tablets can be used alongside these to provide more efficient results. Beechams, Nurofen and Sudafed are some of the most well-known brands for Cold and Flu tablets. Make sure to read the instructions on dosage.

Steam and Menthol To unblock those sinuses, try breathing in steam or menthol in an enclosed space. Take a hot shower and try to capture the steam or lean close to a bowl of boiling water with a drop of menthol in and hold a towel over your head. Menthol is also found in vapour rub which can be rubbed on to the chest and under the nose to provide relief through the day.

Covonia For those that are plagued with a tickly or chesty cough, Covonia is a strong liquid medicine that can be found in most drugstores and tastes a bit like liquorice. Take it twice daily and this should soon rid you of that annoying cough.

Wash your sweet potatoes and carrots, making sure to give the potato a good scrub and cut off any weird bits. You can peel them if you want, but I’m lazy and also there’s good nutrients in the skin (apparently) so I don’t bother. Coarsely grate the vegetables and put into a large bowl with the flour, spices and salt. Give everything a good mix with a fork, then add the yoghurt and continue mixing until the ingredients start to come together into a doughy mixture that sticks together. You want it wet enough to hold together, but not so much that it’s runny, it should be quite a thick mixture. Add a little more flour if it seems too wet or yoghurt if it’s too dry and isn’t coming together.

Let’s start with an obvious that can be frequently overlooked. The fluids are referring to water and tea. Not alcohol. Unfortunately your nightlife will have to be postponed until you recover as alcohol can seriously reduce the strength of your immune system and worsen your symptoms and the lack of sleep will not work in your favour. Instead, drinking plenty of water will loosen the mucus in your chest and plenty of sleep will help your body to re-

Place a large frying pan on a medium high heat and add a couple of tablespoons olive oil. Once the oil is hot, take a heaped tablespoon of the potato carrot mixture and drop onto the hot pan. Press down with the back of a fork or spatula to get the mixture packed together and compact, about a centimetre thick so that the cake it isn’t too fragile. Repeat with another couple of tablespoons, cooking the cakes about three at a time so the pan doesn’t get too crowded. Cook for about 5 minutes on the first side, until the cake is crisp and golden brown underneath, then flip carefully with a spatula and repeat on the second side. Once the first batch of cakes are cooked, keep warm on a baking sheet in a low oven while you cook the next ones, adding a little more oil to the pan if needed.

Bored of your favourite places becoming too pricey on a Saturday? Fear no more, Toby Bryant has some ideas for you to still have a good night without taking a second loan

When they’re all done, transfer to a plate to serve and eat them while they’re hot.

Your Saturday salvages

aturday nights are notoriously difficult for students. The locals come out on mass and, as a result, clubs and bars can raise prices through the roof as they are guaranteed a good turn out. However, for students on their student loan who can only just afford that can of baked beans for tea, this is far from ideal. To make matters worse, if you have friends coming up to visit it is most likely on a Saturday night as they too are studying/working. So, what can be done to find the right balance between fun and price?

“The light-up dancefloor and old-school arcade machines are sure to please”

In my opinion, it’s important to do something unique when friends are up. In the day a trip to The Great British Cupcakery and a walk by Quayside is a must and, on a night out, there are a few clubs and bars that offer cheap entry. If your friends are fans of Geordie Shore then Bijoux is a classic. The crowd in there are a little older than students on average, not uncommon at the weekend, but the famed bar is free and plays music everyone knows. Elsewhere, you can’t go wrong with a trip to Flares. The club, which only plays the best cheesy hits, is free during weekdays and before 10pm on a Saturday but will set you back £5 after that. The lightup dancefloor and old-school arcade machines are

sure to please. Bijoux and Flares are both good options but, my personal favourite, is Bier Keller. This bar is a chain and there are others in the country but I am yet to meet someone who has actually been in one away from the Toon. The Steins, dancing on tables, occasional burst of German music and sing-a-long tunes makes for a unique night. Bier Keller does close at 2am so isn’t a late night out but friends that I have taken there always leave wanting to stay longer. As already mentioned, a normal club night in Newcastle is pricey on a Saturday night. Nonetheless, it will seem cheap as chips for any friends coming up from down south! There are a host of events available with all the big clubs open but, pressed to pick one, Condukt at Illegitimate rises above the rest. Entry before 12pm on guest list is £6 and, if you are having a bigger group of people up, a table and free bottle of vodka with other goodies is available for a meagre £20. The music is your standard house remixes but DJ Chris Shaw really is one of the best in town.

“The Steins, dancing on tables, occasional bursts of German music and sing-along tunes make for a unique night”

“Pitcher and Piano...perhaps the best offer for anyone looking for a romantic night”

That said, a night out in Newcastle on a Saturday doesn’t need to be clubbing! There are a host of chain restaurants in Eldon Square which are of a good quality and Revolution Bar is nearby which offers 2 for 1 cocktails and a calmer scene. Pitcher and Piano on Quayside is idyllic, if a little expensive, and perhaps the best offer for anyone looking for a romantic night.

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Monday 6 March 2017

Hannah Milne, 3rd year History and English Literature meets Hannah on Benjamin Eckford, 3rd year History and Politics

Benj

So first of all, where did you go? We went to ‘The Living Rooms.’ What was that like? It was actually really cool, like it had 2-for-1 cocktails so it was cheap and it was really nice. Down Grey Street. Oh a bit fancy! And whose idea was that? It was his which was nice that he had a plan.

“We thought it would be good to do something scandalous for The Courier, and he suggested that we kiss” So aside from being a man with a plan, what was your first impression of Ben? He seemed really nice and he was dressed quite smartly which was good of him. I noticed his accent so figured that he was from around here! Had you kept the date properly blind and not stalked each other? Yeah I refrained from facebook, we just texted each other like I’m wearing a denim jacket and I have a fringe and he was like I’m wearing a grey blazer and I’m by the door. There wasn’t that many people in there anyway so it was quite easy. Very James Bond. I know you were running late so was he waiting a while? Well luckily it wasn’t that bad because he had sent me a message saying that he was running late so I was late but not... that late. Was it awkward at any point? It actually wasn’t, he was really chatty. There was no awkward silences. I think he was quite good at carrying the conversation on. That’s good! Did you have any common ground? Yeah we did, because he does History and Politics and I do History and English, so we have similar interests somewhere there. And we realised we both have some similar views on politics so we talked about that! Talking politics on a first date? How did that come up? I’m not even sure, we didn’t talk about it that much. He was telling me about wanting to go to Cuba. I found it really interesting though, he knew his stuff so it was actually really interesting to listen to. And I agree with a lot of it too. So we did have quite a lot of stuff in common and he likes a lot of the same books as me so it was actually alright! Did he fulfil your hopes and dreams? I’m going to say yeah. He was really friendly and it wasn’t awkward. Do you think it was better to keep the date blind or would you rather have given him a stalk before? No I actually think it’s better not to. Then you have no expectations. And it’s quite cool just going and not knowing! So did you fancy him? I can’t answer that, I think one date isn’t enough time to decide that! How did the date end? Well we ended up kissing and then he went to Fenham and I came back to Jesmond. Wait - so you kissed him? Yeah we thought it would be good to do something scandalous for The Courier, and he suggested that we kiss so it was like a mutual ‘ah, it will be funny!’ Well thank you for that extra goss!! Finally, how would you rate your date? I’m going to say 9/10, I had a good time! Thanks Hannah!

Fancy a date? We’ll set you up. Contact us! Find us on The Lifestyle Writers 2016/17 Facebook page

Benj on Hannah

Hey Benj! Where did you go? We Went to the Living Room at the bottom of Greys Street. I’d been there many times before and suggested it, she’d never been before. Was it a good choice? It was a very good choice, 2 for 1 cocktails, can’t go wrong with that.

“We talked about everything under the sun!” What did you think of her when she first walked in? I liked the look of her, thought she looked friendly, similar age to me. I thought yeah, she looks alright! What do you think she thought about you? I hope she was impressed by what I was wearing. I put a lot of thought into what I was wearing. I wore brown leather brogues, black jeans, and a nice shirt with a grey blazer. So I’d tried hard. Wow that is fancy, I’m sure she was impressed. What did you talk about? Everything under the sun! She does English literature and history, and I do History and Politics, so we talked about history, about books, about films, music, politics, about where we’re from, why we chose Newcastle, people we know, people we both know - loads of stuff ! Holidays we’ve been on, previous relationships... oooohh... That’s at the right end I was going to say. That was right at the end, not first date chat, no, we kept that til we knew each other a bit better. How long did it take before you started talking about politics? I was very strict with myself, I’d say it was at least an hour before I even mentioned Scottish Independence, because she’s from Scotland. What was the best part about the date? When we got a bit more comfortable with each other and spoke about things you wouldn’t normally with a stranger. Like what we want to do, and how we see our lives panning out. And romantic things, shit like that. Any awkward moments? Err.. when we were talking and someone from another table interrupted to ask if we were on a first date, and we had to say we were haha. If Hannah was a piece of clothing what would she be? I’m trying to think of something funny that’s not insulting. I think she’d be a tshirt with a funny logan on it - something witty. Did she fulfil your hopes and dreams about the date? Definitely, she was very confident and intelligent, talkative and a good listener. Very sincere. Does that mean you fancied her? Yeah. So are you going to see her again? I definitely hope so. And what would you rate her out of ten? Full 10. Full 10! Wow.. So the place closed at 11, we were then walking up to the metro and talking about questions, and I said I’d give her 10/10. I said ‘we both know what the last question is...’ And then we kissed.. Oh my God! Success! Thanks, Benj. We hope it all goes well!

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Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Lifestyle Editors: Ana Beretsos, Ruth Loeﬄer, Antonia Coleman-Harvey & Brooklyn Shakeshaft Ward

Horoscopes from Astrological Antonia Our resident mystic Antonia Coleman-Harvey guides you through your week

Aries March 21- April 19 Rid of the confusion in your life by surrounding yourself with the right people. You’re certain you’re in the right , don’t let those horns of yours be a battering ram for those in your e way.

Taurus April 20- May 20

At the end of the day, Taurus, you’re a cow with oversized horns trying to overcompensate for your hella bad temper. Learn how to chill out.

Gemini May 21- June 20

On Wednesday you’ll have to leave your seminar from laughing at your own joke, you silly thing. Maintain this light-hearted attitude for the coming weeks and you’ll be absolutely unstoppable!

Cancer June 21- July 22 Did you listen to the stars last week, Moonchild? No? Didn’t think so. You’re still annoying everyone with all your boy talk. Just call it quits okay? There’s more to life. On a brighter note, a diplomatic Libra will bring you joyous news soon!

Leo July 23- Aug 22

Soooo your last assignment didn’t go too well, sh*t happens, right? Turn that frown upside down cos you’re sure to learn from your mistakes and do way better next time - chin up!

Virgo Aug 23- Sep 22

“New year, new me” was going relatively well for you until February 28th. Cmon, Virgo, we’re only into the third month. It’s not too late to strive for those all important changes you promised yourself you’d make.

Libra Sep 23- Oct 22

If you’ve been booze binging and getting a bit too merry with Ben&Jerry, it’s time for a serious kick start to your health regime. Whether that’s today, tomorrow, next week.... or next yearrr.... is entirely up to you., pal.

Scorpio Oct 23- Nov 21

The stress you’ve been feeling recently will melt away and magically heal itself. A lot of positive prospects are heading your way this week, Scorpio, in terms of finances and friendships.

Sagittarius Nov 22- Dec 21

It’s treat yo’self Tuesday in Sagittarius Land - heard Dominos does quite a good deal? You may have been isolating yourself for personal reasons, so gathering up your nearest and dearest is a good shout.

Capricorn Dec 22- Jan 19

Stop stressing over what the meaning of stonhenge is and start LIVING. Jk, stonhenge who? Stop instagramming/ tweeting/ snapchatting and start LIVING (and question what really matters... stonhenge...)

Aquarius Jan 20- Feb 18 “she’s like a dream girl. And I think a dream girl should live in a dream world.’ Inspirational words that you should live by this week, Aquarius, ya big dreamer.

Pisces Feb 19- March 20

Get movin’ ‘n’ groovin’ this week my fishy friends, it’s time to down some trebs and get your skank face on! You’ve been working super hard and deserve a well-earned break so don’t even feel guilty about it!

Put a little Spring in your step Make the most of Spring with a helping hand from Grace Dean and her seasonal tips

he wind may still be bitingly-cold in the aftermath of Storm Doris, but alas the snowy season is no more as we slowly begin to approach springtime. Rather than spending your days cooped inside, huddled round the TV watching Modern Family reruns while reminiscing about the Starbucks Gingerbread Latte, embrace the new season by following my tips below. If you have a warm coat and wellies ready for the upcoming April showers than a walk around Jesmond Dene is always enjoyable. As well as boosting your vitamin D levels, being a perfect hangover cure and burning off the calories from last night’s cheesy chips, a gentle stroll around the Dene is the perfect opportunity to embrace the start of spring and watch as the trees begin to blossom and animals slowly come out of hibernation. In addition, regular events are hosted in the Dene, including markets, tours and craft activities, and a quick visit to the petting zoo may just about make up for you forgetting to Facetime your cat.

“Cafes around Newcastle offer a tranquil release to city life” If your jumpers aren’t quite thick enough for you to enjoy a few hours out in the cold then the many independent cafes around Newcastle offer a tranquil release from the busy city life and cold weather. While it’s tempting to use your Costa loy-

alty card, the abundance of chic, rustic and altogether quaint independent coffeehouses dotting around the Quayside, Jesmond and the city centre can offer a pleasant change from your standard Skinny Cappuccino in an over-crowded and cramped chain café. On my most recent visit to Quilliam’s I made an incredible new discovery – Battenberg tea, where have you been all my life?! Similar teahouses including Tea Sutra offer an impressive range of floral and fruity teas that conjure up memories of picnics, lazy sunny days and having tea with your grandma, meaning you’ll soon be sipping your way to summertime.

“Have a warm coat and wellies ready for April showers”

Last but not least, it’s time for a good old spring clean. What better way to get yourself in a positive mind-set than by redecorating your room? A tidy, tranquil bedroom can make you just that little bit more motivated to get out of bed in the morning, and just generally serves as a positive source of motivation. Clear out your room of clutter you no longer need, and introduce new decorations such as fairy lights, candles and cushions (Primark and Wilko are great places to stock up). And above all, fill your room with happy memories: gig tickets, framed photos of loved ones and holiday souvenirs, so that whenever you enter your room you smile.

A new host of recreational activities are also available as the weather begins to get better. As well as encouraging you to take part in outdoor social sport with your friends (think tennis, badminton and footie in the park) and finally being able to cycle to uni again instead of resorting to the metro every time, it’s also the perfect time of year to begin gardening, with many gardening opportunities supported by NUSU’s Go Volunteer programme. With a new range of seasonable produce flooding Grainger Market, it’s also the perfect time to get creative in the kitchen, with broccoli, cauliflower, leak, peppers and sweet potato all being in season in March; the BBC Good Food website is a brilliant source of inspiration.

To run with it, or not to run with it?

Is the Great North Run fun or are you Great North done with it all? Sam Blackburn and Ruth Loeﬄer battle it out, which side are you on? Have a read and make up your mind

Cons

by Sam Blackburn

hat’s the main reason why we get fit? To look better, to have a healthier body, to add years to our life? If you’ve answered one of those, then you’re completely wrong. The reason people get fit is so they can post a screenshot of their Great North Run acceptance letter on Facebook for many likes or so they can sit around in lectures in their gym gear. Everyone knows that living a healthy lifestyle is good for you, like duh, but today I’m here to discuss the cons of The Great North Run and the 15 Week Fitness Challenge. I’ve always been quite cynical about the Great North Run, I’ve been running regularly for the past five years as a means to keep fit/imagine I’m doing the Rocky IV training montage routine, including screaming “Drago” when I finish. My big issue with the Great North Run is the fact that it’s a charity cause in which 99% of the participants couldn’t care less about, caring more about bringing up the fact they done the Great North Run at social events and ice breakers. I personally don’t see it as a great achievement and see any participation medal as a meaningless accolade bestowed upon an entrant to make them feel important, when they’re not. I’ve got friends who’ve ran it who have the same level of fitness and energy as a corpse. Plus what’s the point in doing the Great North Run for charity when you can raise money by playing Video Games for 24 hours on a stream, or by deciding you don’t actually care about starving children in Africa of curing cancer and living a life of being lazy. The 15 week fitness challenge was also quite interesting, how to turn all of your fat into muscles to stop you from hating yourself. Some of the efforts people go through just to be skinny make me wonder if 4chan are making these sadistic trials for insecure people to go through to be miserable for 15 weeks, expecting happiness at the end of it, only to release they’re even more miserable, haven’t lost much wait and are craving many double whoppers. What’s annoying about the freaks who do these challenges is that they feel like they have to update their Facebook every few weeks to show us how much weight they’ve actually lost. No one cares! What’s an absolute joke it is when people who weren’t really fat lose a bit of weight and they act like they’ve made a massive transition, you haven’t, you just want attention. It wouldn’t be an achievement for me to lose a couple of stone in a few months, I’ve done it a few times and it’s easy. When you go from being obese and unhealthy to being fit, fair enough, but everyone else should just learn to appreciate their bodies. End of the day, fitness isn’t really that good of a thing. The evidence? Just look at current WWE Universal Champion, Kevin Owens. That man is a nightmarish beast from the satanic reaches of the world, and he’s super fat, doesn’t stop him being awesome though.

by Ruth Loeffler

Pros

have finally done it. In my third and final year of being a student here, I’m actually going to do the Great North Run this September. Did I think I was going to get in through the ballot? No. Did I react with joy? No. But I will get there. For most of my life, I have believed that as little people need to be involved in my exercising as possible. I run like a chicken, sweat more than is acceptable and puff like a chimney. In high school, athletics was literally my worst nightmare. Teachers would honestly laugh at how I tackled the hurdles which wasn’t exactly the encouragement I was looking for… Thankfully, I grew up. I think the moment when I stopped caring about what I looked like when I was in full-on sweat mode was the Zumba class I took in first year (no plug but would thoroughly recommend.) There I was, sweating, out of time and the teacher couldn’t look at me and keep a straight face. But I realised how much harder I can push myself with other people around me. If I go to the gym by myself, I will usually waste an hour – 70% of it on my phone. If I go on a run, without even realising I’ve taken a 5 minute break tying my shoelace. So, in preparation for The Great North Run I signed up for the 10km Stroke foundation race last Sunday. I’m not going to lie to you, I felt like I was going to die and I spent the remainder of the day in bed nursing my calves. However, I ran so much faster than I could possibly have imagined. The main motivator for the last couple of laps of the park was this woman next to me. She was in her late 30s with a fanny pack on and I was determined not to let this fanny pack get ahead of me. By the end, there was definitely a weird respect between us. Doing these big events like The Great North Run actually makes you realise that exercise isn’t all doom and gloom, sweat in a horrible airless gym or killing yourself to beat your personal best. It can be much more. The Great North Run raises thousands of pounds, for charities you would never have heard of. And there are all ages taking part, all different people and all different paces which makes it so much easier to take your mind off the horrific distance. I might find myself running next to some old man, or another fanny pack or someone dressed like a chicken (who knows) but I know there will definitely be the respect there that we actually are going to finish… and the medal and obligatory facebook post don’t hurt either.

The Courier

lifestyle .15

Monday 6 March 2017

thecourieronline.co.uk/lifestyle c2.lifestyle@ncl.ac.uk | @CourierLifestyle

But it was only just a dream

Maybe during your pre 9am slumber, or your pre-dinner nap, you’ve got that feeling that your brain is telling you something. Amanda Jane Yap is here with her own analysis

he struggle of forgetting your dreams upon waking up is felt by everyone. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could record and replay our dreams from the night before? From a psychological perspective, dreams results from Rapid Eye Movement (REM) where the most vivid and frequent dreams happen. However, what if our dreams signify a deeper meaning related to our life? In ancient times, dreams were considered a divine intervention or message from the Gods. For now, here is a compilation of some of the recurring dreams we have dreamt about at least once in our lives. 1. Dreaming of Houses Dreaming of houses suggests the many experiences and versions of yourself in your waking moments. Analyse the condition of the house in your dream or the section of the house you were in and how you felt looking at it or being in it. Dreaming of being in a strange room could be a warning for you to be extra cautious when starting new relationships. Dreaming of a childhood home could represent unfinished business relating to family. Specifically, dreaming of a dark and cramped room suggest that you feel trapped or want to flee from a corrupt undertaking.

“Falling could suggest a loss of control, insecurity or reckless behaviour” 2. Falling Dreams The sensation of free-falling but always getting jolted awake before hitting the ground, researchers have concluded that an average human will dream of falling at least 5 times in his or her life. To interpret, it’s time to take stock of your waking life. Falling could suggest a loss of control, insecurity or reckless behaviour. A loss of control could mean that you are feeling overwhelmed and unable to keep up with the demands of your daily life. Possibly, you may be feeling insecure or lacking in confidence because you are uncertain of where you stand in a relationship or in a situation and worrying that you cannot meet expectations eventually, disappointing others. Or falling could signify your reckless behaviour or poor decisions, you will be a goner if you continue down that path of destruction.

4. Death Dreams Death symbolises new beginnings. Dreaming of your death could be interpreted that you are facing the end of something – career, relationship or lifechanging shift. It could be a hint for you to leave your reservations and concerns behind and start on something new. Dreaming of a loved one dying could represent your fear of them leaving you by dying or by other circumstances. Alternatively, dreaming of a death of a loved one is a way of keeping the connection with them alive or relieving the impact they had on your life. Depending on the relationship you have with the person, it could be a love-invoking dream or a dream representing unfinished business. New beginnings? Damn, not the vibe I was going for...

“To dream of a boyfriend as a coping mechanism that makes you feel safe”

Dissertation hacks you need to know It’s getting to that time in the year. The deadline is looming. Thankfully Rosemary Macklam is here to help you with the most diﬃcult few months of your university life

“The most daunting thing about starting a new essay is that blank page”

Start writing. Anything! It doesn’t matter if its babble, if the grammar is bad, if it’s something only you can make sense of. The most daunting thing about starting a new essay is that blank page. Just empty your head and you’ll feel a relief just by having words on the page.

You don’t have to write it in order. As with any essay, we all know how hard starting the introduction is. This is the same. Perhaps, start with a section you’re most interested in to get yourself into it.

Plan it. It sounds simple but people don’t do it! Plan your chapters and keep track of what research fits in which section. Colour code them. Chapters and a well thought out plan keep you on focused during the writing process and will shines through in the dissertation overall.

7 8

Don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t bother asking how much work your friend has done. You’ll only end up paranoid. There may be a point during the process when you freak out and doubt your entire dissertation. Don’t. It will only take up your much needed energy. There are no serious flaws in your work otherwise your academic supervisor would have noticed.

Create goals. Give yourself rewards. Set milestones. ‘I must finish chapter 1 by this date, chapter two by this date’ and so on. Make sure you reward yourself for completing them.

Keep track of your bibliography. The WORST thing is nearing the end of your dissertation and not being able to remember what book you got what from. There is a really useful app for keeping your research sources together called ‘Ref Me’.

Utilise your academic supervisor. You are assigned them because of their expertise. Bounce ideas off of them and voice any questions you may have.

“There are no serious flaws in your work, otherwise your academic supervisor would have noticed”

Ruth Loeﬄer sheds truth on the political fanatics covering your news feed

ight, Trump is a d*ck’ed. I think I get it now. He said something else completely and utterly outrageous and stupid and obscene. Yes the world is falling apart. You know what though? Sometimes I don’t want to see it plastered all over my newsfeed! Too damn right 2016 was a crazy year. All the stuff that happened led to some extraordinary changes in people I used to think were relatively self-contained. But now, anyone’s a politician and anyone is enabled and encouraged to plaster their opinions on facebook. I saw one guy declare that the USA’s election result was a democratic failing. I hate to break it to you, but it’s not. It’s a failing of their voting system, their ideals of who should run their country, yes. Democracy? No I don’t think so.

“All the stuff that happened led to some extraordinary changes in people I used to think were relatively self-contained”

3. Boyfriend Dreams To dream of a boyfriend reflects personality traits or something in your waking life as coping mechanisms that makes you feel safe or emotionally supported. To dream of a new boyfriend different to the one you have in your waking life could be interpreted as your relationship has moved on into a more serious phase, perhaps it is urging you to put more thought into setting different goals now that your relationship has progressed.

hat dreaded word. The ultimate hurdle of any degree. They’re designed to make you suffer. They’re designed to ensure your social life takes a hit. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can be part of the minority become friends with their dissertation, rather than arch enemies. It’s easy to be dismissive of dissertation advice. You’ve been through at least 2 years, if not more, of University already and you’ve written countless essays but remember there isn’t anything you’ve done that’s quite like it. So it’s important to take on some of the advice out there. Here are the top 10 things I found most useful whilst writing my undergraduate dissertation:

RANT OF THE WEEK

Socialise. That cave you’ll find yourself living in, where you live in 3 weeks’ worth of mess, constantly wear the same comfy clothes and eat, breathe and think dissertation. Remember, step out of it once in a while. You need to keep a balance of work and play, otherwise both will suffer. Of course, your dissertation must come first but plan in a little fun too to keep you sane.

Leave time to proof read. Remember that well thought out plan you are going to write? Well, plan in a good amount of time to read through your work. It’s crucial.

To stop this being some political rant, I’ll add in another batch of annoying newsfeed hogs. I understand that we as lowly, unqualified students are in a weird state of job insecurity, desperately trying to get points over each other in our CVs. I understand this, however, the blogs need to stop. One girl literally has a blog dedicated to embarrassing stuff she did on various holidays with her friends. I’m not kidding. Someone actually thinks that’s worth broadcasting on the internet. Jagerbombs, skinny dipping, the whole shebang. And she expects to get readers? Or even more ludicrous she expects her potential employees to be impressed that she nearly ran over her best friend with a rented motorboat. Hilarious.

“Unfortunately, it just has to be accepted that we have only (hopefully) lived a quarter of our (hopefully) very fulfilled and exciting lives”

It’s a shame because it really does eclipse the good stuff out there. With all this rubbish you have to trawl through - and I do mean trawl because I can’t be the only one who inevitably ends up actually reading all of it - it’s no wonder I look blankly at my seminar leader when she asks what tehe situation in the Middle East is like right now... Unfortunately, it just has to be accepted that we have only (hopefully) lived a quarter of our (hopefully) very fulfilled and exciting lives. This means that our blogs are pretty limited to what we think about the student bubble we are surrounded by, not really the hard-hitting awards-worthy events that other people are writing. Rant over, because really I spend every week filling these lovely four pages with just that: issues or stories only related to students. And I do love it. Will probably start my own blog. My justification for my rant is really that I needed a student problem to write about to fill this column, so I am technically feeding the problem and it’s come full circle. Here’s hoping this column will inspire a counter-attack from The Tab and we can just keep the magic alive!

16. fashion

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Fashion Editors: Liz Rosling, Izzi Watkins & Zoﬁa Zwieglinska

This month’s Fashion Show Highlights Emily Atkinson tells us what she thinks about three outstanding Fashion Week shows Victoria Beckham

Sophie Schneider on embracing our oh-so obviously hungover attire

Like so many of us, runway reporter Chioma Nnadi recognises the transformation in Victoria Beckham’s signature style. After reviewing the Victoria Victoria Beckham collection, she remarks, ‘It’s funny to think that once upon a time, figure hugging dresses were Victorian Beckham’s calling card.’ Indeed, this collection appears to mark the beginning of a more effortless, self-confident designer, with anything but body-con- an ‘elegant blouse and a pair of silk dojo-style trousers.’ Despite being the little sister brand to the label she shows in New York, the collection evokes freshness and originality from start to finish, arguably presenting itself as her most personal range.

As always, Alexander Wang graced his audience with a collection that exudes elegance combined with a sharp city edge. Wang presented an allblack collection, featuring a lot of leather, mesh and netting. The show was held the RKO Hamilton Theatre in New York, described by Nicole Phelps describes as, ‘a fabulous wreck up on the corner of Broadway’. It seems that there was no need for an after party with the electric atmosphere created by Wang; Phelps depicts, ‘an elevated square runway; a security guard periodically walk[ing] the perimeter asking folks to take their Peronis off the stage’, whilst the music is ‘rap heavy on the f-bombs’. This sounds more like an exclusive London night club than a fashion show, attended by the likes of A$AP Rocky, Kendall Jenner, and Nicola Peltz. Wang’s designs are reminiscent of London’s party scene, exuding glamour with a punky twist. His use of chains, studs and rhinestones worn by fierce looking models projected an image of urban cool with a hint of rebelliousness.

Beckham’s choice of greyish tones throughout the collection reflect the urban setting of her very own concrete jungle, as she embraces London’s quirkiness with more casual, sportier references than in previous collections. As Beckham endeavours to carve her own path in the fashion industry, she also appears to be ‘perfecting her personal style’ and Beckham’s ‘soft spot for menswearinspired tailoring’ still lingers in the background. Overall, the line is predicted to be a crowd pleaser, and with it’s easy-going attitude and stylish edge how could it not be?

Instagram: @MaryKatrantzou

Mary Katrantzou Mary Katrantzou brought fairy-tale to London Fashion Week this fall. Though not as daring as her previous collections, Katrantzou achieved elegance and visionary beauty in the ethereality of her collection and her use of pixie-like models. Her choice of soft tones such as bubble gum pink, lilac, and yellow created an otherworldly essence of magic evoked by her designs; as suggested by runway reporter Sarah Mower, ‘Katrantzou dived into the world of Walt Disney’s Fantasia’, with beaded embroideries inspired by the sound waves of the 1940s dreamlike animation. Inspired by the world of Disney and film Katrantzou embellishes her clothing with scenes of cartoons and enchanted landscapes. Although the designer is known for her fusion of fashion and technology to create madness within her pieces, it is refreshing to see a more feminine, wearable side of Katrantzou in this charming collection.

You’ve got a trend in me: Embroidered denim Molly Macnamara does denim, hunting out the high street’s hottest pieces right now

Rose E mb TOPS roidered Sk HOP £36 irt,

enim is a staple piece in anyone’s wardrobe; super easy to wear, comfy and simply the most versatile piece of clothing you could ask

for. However, incoming trends are set to change the face of the classic skinny blue jean. Bloggers and celebs alike are bored of the chilled plain-Jane aesthetic conveyed by these straight up and down lengths of denim. A new age has now been entered, gone are the days where simply altering the style and colour of the jeans is enough to satisfy the trend chasers owning the pages of fashion magazines. You can now switch up the once boring visage with a jazzy new twist and, best of all, its a trend that wont break the bank! You can actually have a go at customising your old garms, making you the very proud owner of a one-of-a-kind creation. Adorning your jeans in pretty embroidered designs seems to be the way forward; there’s so many ways you can approach this delicate new trend. The trend was born in 2016 when designers such as Holly Fulton and Gucci dressed their models in head to toe denim with quirky yet intricate bursts

of coloured threads. As ever the high street designers caught on quick and embroidered denim is now a common occurrence on the rails of your favourite stores. Currently Topshop is your best bet for embroidered jeans, they’ve created a huge range of jeans, from pretty flowery patterns to a pair of striking black mom jeans embellished with a tiger.

“You can actually have a go at customising your old garms, making you the very proud owner of a one-of-a-kind creation”

There are other ways to spice up your denim outfit, maybe throw on a crisp shirt with your blue jeans. The contrast between the smart and simple jean can be enhanced by subtle bursts of embroidered flowers causing the shirt to have a pretty edge. If you’re not into elegant flowers adorning your clothes then embroidered patches are a funky alternative, simply iron on the patch and you’ve

TOPSH OP £59

Floral Embroidered Skirt, TOPSHOP £35

Embroid ered Jam ie Jeans,

There are some mythical creatures among us who can look normal, post sesh. I used to deny the existence of these incredible Normal Hangover Dressers until I became an eye-witness myself. When partaking in the drunken antics the night before, I had woken up for my 11am and been in a state of shock when I realised I was the only one that looked like actual death reincarnated. One of my flatmates is one of these people. After a 3 am Munchies, a roll down Jesmond Dene, a drunken walk home to find to be found at 6 am, locked outside waiting for a friendly flatmate, she still manages to undergo a Cinderella transformation and parade down the staircase looking worryingly normal. Although I’m incredibly impressed, and in awe of her gift, I can’t help to think how much effort this requires. She still feels like shit, and really, if you focus closer and peer through the layers of MAC concealer and dry shampoo, she still looks like borderline shit too. The Answer? Embrace your hangover, rock that m e s s y bun concealing your sins from the night before; wear that silver tee proudly, because if you don’t care, who does? Instagram: @jooleeloren

Vogue.com

Alexander Wang

MOTO Luxe Rose Jacket, TOPSHOP £69

“More often than not, I will be kitted out in the ‘I Accept That I’m Dying In Defeat’ look”

Vogue.com

“Indeed, this collection appears to mark the beginning of a more effortless, self-confident designer”

Instagram: @VictoriaBeckham

et’s face it, when you’re suffering from the dreaded hangover and your head feels like it might explode your appearance is the last thing you worry about. And why should it be when your main concern is trying to get through the day maintaining conversations without regurgitating… Why should it not be acceptable for us to embrace our hangover, and wear whatever reflects our mood (in this case a vision of violent green sickness)? There’s such great media pressure for both men and women to be dressed perfectly each and every day! Even when sick, heartbroken or just really fucking hungover… when all you feel like doing is embracing your PJs and tub of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream. With this in mind, I believe we should embrace our hungover look; we shouldn’t cover it up with layers of tangerine foundation and ‘magic eye remedy’ applied like thick poster paint under the deep cassis crevice of your eye bags. We should redefine what it is to appear hungover. Personally, I have wandered the streets of Newcastle in the most horrific ‘hangover look’ combos as possible, and am proud of it. More often than not, I will be kitted out in the ‘I Accept That I’m Dying In Defeat’ look: trackies, a comfy knitted jumper, and old tennis shoes, coupled with bedraggled hair and a clean non-made-up face of misery. Although I may prefer to conceal this image of pure beauty within the dark hungover pit of my bedroom, I will not be ashamed to walk through town towards the frozen Pizza aisle of Tesco’s to cure my ailment. The ‘I Haven’t Come Home Yet’ look is ready for a wider audience, an outfit largely based on a sparkly silver Urban Outfitters tee from the night before, complete with glitter smudged around your cheekbones. For a lesser human, this is the perfect recipe for a healthy dollop of self-hate and embarrassment at your 9 am Economics lecture; however, if you take on the slogan ‘I don’t give a shit’ the pain will slowly numb until you realise you actually don’t.

Embroidered Borg Jacket, TOPSHOP £89

How to look banging when you’re hanging

created an edgy alternative to the embroidered denim trend. If you’re not satisfied by any of the high street designs available, then why not create your own! Pinterest will become your new best friend, it gives you a world of inspiring designs that you can give ago at home. If you’re not feeling up to the challenge of using a sewing machine, ASOS and Ebay have a great selection of affordable iron-on patches. Pimping up your denim is the perfect procrastination for looming deadlines and will ensure that you stay bang on trend!

Instagram: @Studio.Fulton

The Courier

fashion .17

Monday 6 March 2017

thecourieronline.co.uk/fashion

Disabled models take the LFW catwalk

Errol Kerr discusses what the future holds for disabled models in high fashion

“Teatum Jones place a significant focus on their love of a human narrative, and in hiring and casting disabled models they cement this approach”

Entitled “The Body”, the show was highly politically charged, including an audio extract from Meryl Streep’s condemning of Donald Trump’s mocking of a disabled journalist. An attempt to reject the idea of the perfect human form as ablebodied, Teatum Jones dressed Eyers in a grey double breasted suit with adjustments made for his legs, and Knox’s bronze blouse had the left arm buttoned up fully and the right showing her full arm. In this way, they worked towards the fashion

industry making adjustments to their disabled models and any individuals who wish to wear their clothing lines, rather than just making disabled specific clothing which would work to alienate disabled individuals further.

“Teatum Jones’ inclusion of two disabled models places them at the same level of able-bodied models, rather than an able bodied cohort ignoring disabled individuals or a fully disabled cohort simply singling out

Teatum Jones place a significant focus on their love of a human narrative, and in hiring and casting disabled models they cement this approach, having spoken with the models prior in order to adapt clothing to Eyers and Knox. The fashion show indicates the message that disabled people are people and want to be able to wear clothing that’s designed to be practical as well as fashionable. Cat Teatum herself noted that “Able and disabled bodied people don’t have different desires when it comes to fashion. They want great textiles, interesting shapes. Kelly and Jack are dressed in the collection like the other models [...] the overriding message is that we’re all the same.” This message is a huge step forward in acceptance of disability in a fashion front. I hope from here that we see more disabled models – and more models who are more physically impaired. I want to see models in wheelchairs, models who need other mobility supports. Models who

can’t necessarily walk on their own without help. However this is again a massive positive and progressive step. Teatum Jones’ inclusion of two disabled models places them at the same level of ablebodied models, rather than an able bodied cohort ignoring disabled individuals or a fully disabled cohort simply singling out disability. This works to include disability within everyday life rather than being set aside, placing it in a normalised spotlight. H o p e f u l l y, more will follow Teatum Jones’ example and hire more disabled models with more varied conditions, creating a space where d i s abi lit y is the norm. Image credits: huff po s t.co m

wo visibly physically disabled models were present on the opening show of London Fashion Week, with a far more prevalent political sensitivity than before. The models, Jack Eyers and Kelly Knox, are both missing limbs – the former his left leg and the latter, her lower right arm – were cast by Teatum Jones. Both of these individuals are prominent – Eyers being the first disabled male model to walk during New York Fashion Week, and Knox winning Britain’s Missing Top Model, and their presence on London Fashion Week’s opening show is a huge deal for disabled representation, as the two of them have worked towards normalising disability on a national and international front in the fashion world.

huffpost.com and rexfeatures.com

Bella Hadid Street Style Saves

Isabelle Bettany recreates 3 of trendsetter Hadid’s outﬁts as seen snapped on the streets

t’s out with the old and in with the new. I’m referring to Bella Hadid, the younger sister of renowned supermodel Gigi Hadid, who is making her own mark on the Fashion world. Hadid has been storming the runways for several seasons now and 2017 is proving to be her year, from bagging several huge campaigns to being named Model of the Year by Models.com, Bella

Street style save #1

Hadid is here to stay. Ms Hadid’s 2016 career highlights include walking for some of the biggest names in Fashion (Chanel, Marc Jacobs etc.), becoming the latest face to front Dior’s beauty line, securing the front covers of several leading magazines, as well as gaining a place in one of the most coveted positions in the fashion industry, an Angel in the Vic-

toria’s Secret Fashion Show. For all our Courier Fashion readers we’ve taken note of her authentic street style; a mixture of sporty luxe and 90s retro. Unfortunately we’re not too sure the student loan will quite stretch to invest in all of Bella’s attire, so we’ve picked some of our favourite outfits and hunted down some high street dupes. You are so welcome.

Street style save #2

Street style save #3

for one have always been an avid supporter of the double denim look, because when it’s done right it looks oh so chic - as demonstrated here by Miss Hadid. Consider mesh to add a sultry undertone. Side note: who else is really excited by the comeback of the baker boy hat?

t’s fair to say that high-waisted jeans are a staple in most of our wardrobes; pair with a killer boot, trendy 90s sunglasses and a bit of this season’s material of choice, velvet and you’re sorted.

instagram: @bellahadid

instagram: @onthe_streetstyle

his has got to be one of my favourite outfits so far, proving that a pair of denim jeans is crucial for any and every occasion. Pair with an amazing lacy bodysuit and a killer velvet jacket to truly embody Hadid’s style successfully.

instagram: @stylebellahadid1

Shop the look

ASOS: Noisy May Debra Denim Jacket - £26.00 Urban Outfitters: Light Before Dark Mesh Long Sleeve Turtleneck Top - £22 Topshop: Moto Patchwork Skirt - £32 Public Desire: Elsa Sock Fit Round Heel Ankle Boots - £39.99 ASOS: Baker Boy Twill Cap - £14.00

Shop the look

PrettyLittleThing: Mom Jean With Rips In Light Wash - £28.00 New Look: Petite Crushed Velvet High Neck Top - £13.50 ASOS: 90s Metal Round Sunglasses In Rose Gold - £12.00

Shop the look

Topshop: MOTO Floral Embroidered Mom Jeans - £59.00 New Look: Patent Zip Up Chunky Boots - £20.50 ASOS Bailey: High Leg Lace Body - £20.00 WINDSMOOR: FAUX Fur Bomber - £59.00

The world of fashion, post-Brexit

Chloe Bland on the 2016 EU referendum’s impact on the British fashion industry

he EU referendum of 2016 interminably changed British culture and altered the ways in which we identify ourselves and our society. Whether you voted in or out, the fashion industry impacts us all and although it may seem trivial in comparison to other issues Brexit generated, it remains at the centre of our nation. Undoubtedly a massive contributor of the economy; just last year the industry itself was worth twenty eight billion pounds, providing over nine hundred thousand jobs in the UK. Not only this, London has forever been one of the biggest fashion capitals in the world, alongside the likes of Milan and Paris. With our fashion future unknown, what has already been affected by Brexit? Thoughts regarding the fashion industry and Brexit have been extremely widespread. During the vote last year, many of our British fashion experts advertised their concerns with leaving the EU, including the likes of Vivienne Westwood, Ashley Williams, Jonathan Anderson and Claire Barrow, who all publicly voiced their support for the ‘in’ campaign. One of their main concerns is less about the economics of the fashion world, but more about the changing nature of Europe’s relationship to British trends and vice versa. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) has not only supported London fashion education financially, but has been a major sponsor to new talent and global opportunities for our younger generations. The fashion industry is concerned by the potential lack of free movement for foreign talent. Many British fashion designers/companies based in the UK engage with and employ European designers, or have ateliers abroad to employ talents. With the help of Brexit, these opportunities could face serious damage.

“London has forever been one of the biggest fashion capitals ‹››in the world, alongside the likes of Milan and Paris. With our fashion future unknown, what has already been affected by Brexit?

However, although there are serious downsides for the British fashion industry being isolated from that of Europe, it seems that there have been some benefits. The dropping in the value of the pound after the referendum means that for international markets, London is the golden opportunity for traders paying in with euros, dollars and yuan. With online shopping subsequently thriving, and London as an unofficial e-commerce capital for huge online fashion headquarters, such as ASOS and Boohoo, Brexit is supporting businesses. There are predictions that ASOS will particularly prosper, with over two thirds of their customers come from overseas - financial gains for fashion it seems! Not only this, but many fashionistas believe that the ‘Britishness’ of our fashion trends can only become more prominent after leaving the EU. Increased enthusiasm for fashion ‘Made in Britain’ and ‘brand Britain’ encourages a further boost for the fashion economy. Caroline Rush, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council, has clearly established that despite Brexit, ‘British fashion has a strong legacy within the framework of European and international design’ and therefore our global influence continues. Though anxiety surrounding the impending situation of the British fashion industry remains, with so many exciting styles explored in LFW, and with London’s Men’s Fashion Week soon approaching June 2017 it’s fair to say that there’s still lots to look forward to.

instagram: @viviennewestwoodofficial

18. beauty

The Courier

Monday 6 March 2017

Beauty Editors: Miranda Stoner, Ellie Trent & Ellen Walker

Fenty of other ﬁsh in the sea

Following news that @ fentybeautycosmetics was a hoax Beauty Ed Miranda Stoner updates us on the brands future plans

ollowing the recent news that the new Instagram account @FentyBeautyCosmetics was a hoax, there was a great sense of disappointment among make-up and Rihanna fans alike. We have all watched Rihanna’s unique style develop over the years and there is no doubt that she could bring something fresh to the cosmetics industry. The holographic lip of her s/s 17 runway show being just one example. However, don’t give up hope of the young star involving herself further with the make-up industry. Whilst the official looking Fenty Beauty page has been taken off Instagram, there has been substantial proof from the representatives of Fenty beauty that a make-up line is on the horizon for autumn 2017. It is being kept highly secret but what we do know is that Fenty is being led by the one and only makeup artist James Vincent in a hunt for the best global make-up artists. Vincent writes in an Instagram post “As always, Rihanna does things differently and is looking to build a diverse team of the best artists in the business. We will be hitting three major makeup cities and hold Open Interviews to find the artist and artists whose talent, drive and personality make them the right person for the position and separate them from the pack,” This creates a very promising picture of the autumn runway show and future campaigns of the brand. Vincent continues “By opening this up the our larger makeup community we hope to build a diverse team of beauty experts who excel in the areas of artistry, elevated education, makeup experience and have an ability to best represent a brand. This non-traditional interview process levels the playing field and allows artists everywhere an opportunity and have their work seen and be considered for a global position for a dynamic new brand.” Rihanna’s previous experience in the make-up industry are her December 2013 collaboration with MAC. This included some very understated eyeshadow shades performing a balancing act with the renamed RiRi Woo and a fuschia pink shade of lipstick. The product where you can really find love though is her third lipstick bullet named Bad Girl RiRI- although MAC no longer stock the collection this dreamy nude plum shade can be replaced by elf ’s Praline. As well as 3 further MAC instalments and a perfume collection. Yet, it is not her make-up collaborations that make her the beauty style icon she is regarded as today- rather the way she styles herself on and off the red-carpet. Her face has met some bold options- such as blue lipstick and the incomparable neon pink lip and smudged grunge eyeliner combination. A point of envy for many a girl though is Rihanna’s hair. Its adaptability is incredible. Not just the colour but the cut seems to rarely appear the same in the space of one week. She’s styled it long and curly; long and straight; black with brown highlights, cropped, wild, red; the list goes on. It is this daring range of looks which sets Rihanna apart from her artist contemporaries and why I believe that if and when she does release a beauty line it will be aside from the current trends and breathe a fresh breeze into a saturated industry.

You can workout from home Helen Robson shares her ﬁt tips to stay in shape without straying too far from the sofa

uring these cold winter months it’s almost impossible to get out of bed in the morning. You crawl your way through the day wrapped in double layers nurturing yourself with warm dinners packed with carbs and fat to get you through. After about a month you unwrap yourself from your clothing cocoon and find you’ve gained a stone. This comes as a surprise because amidst all the thermal pyjamas and under-layer clothing you’ve barely seen your body this winter. Nevertheless, you decide you need to do something about it but are still too cold and tired to add another event to your day: the gym. Well, there is another option, home workouts. You may be sceptical as to whether home workouts actually work but the most important aspect to them is that you have to actually try. That means pushing yourself to get up off the settee, switching that TV off and pulling your gym clothes out from the back of the wardrobe. In your home environment it can seem hard to muster the will power to do it but even performing a twenty minute workout video every afternoon will start showing results.

“Even performing a twenty minute workout video every afternoon will start showing results”

If you’re willing to pay a bit of money for your workouts, some popular DVDs out now are ‘Scarlett’s Super Slim Me Plan’ and ‘Joe Wicks the Body Coach Workout.’ Scarlett Moffatt’s workout DVD claims she lost 7 ½ Ibs in the first week through this regime. It features various full body and short workouts with short and fast moves and promotes speedy fat loss. Images of her body transformation on the front cover should inspire you to take home workouts more seriously. Joe Wicks also promotes healthy weight loss in his DVD. His slogan No Equipment, No Excuses should tell you this will be an intense training but with fast results. His DVD

features nearly three hours of content and includes seven levels of HIIT workouts (High Intensity Interval Training) which is small periods of intense training followed by a rest, a popular way of getting that heart rate up and burning more fat in less time.

“If you don’t fancy spending your money, YouTube is packed with home workout channels, in particular, Blogilates such as Cassey Ho”

If you don’t fancy spending your money, YouTube is packed with home workout channels. In particular, Blogilates, such as Cassey Ho. Now a global sensation, Cassey Ho tailors videos to your specific needs. She has videos that vary in length between 5 and 30 minutes depending on how much you think you can manage that day and videos that tailor to your target areas- abs, arms, bum, etc. The videos are also particularly fun and alternative to the average workout with her enthusiastic encouragement, background chitchat and inventive themes, like ‘Belly Bloat Blaster’ and ‘Hip Hop Fat Burn.’ With her rise in fame, she now has a Blogilates website with meal plans and checklists for each month, suggesting videos and eating habits for each day to give you a full body workout. The best part is that if, like a lot of people, you struggle to stay fit on your own, there is a Blogilates app with an online community of ‘POPsters,’ as she calls her followers. You can post pictures of your progress, support and spur each other on and swap healthy recipes and exercise advice on your fitness quests. Not to mention all of her workout videos, printables, recipes and even the app are all completely free. What better incentive is there to start working out?

Beauty hack or just whack

Tilly Parry analyses the weird and wonderful beauty tricks our fave celebrities swear by

veryone likes a good beauty tip, especially weird and DIY ones. Who can forget @NikkiTutorials’ famous endorsement of Nivea After Shaving Balm as a primer, which led to it being sold out of most drugstores and supermarkets? But some other celebrity hacks and advice aren’t always quite as handy…

#1 KATE MIDDLETON – Nutella Face Mask Quite frankly, with all the taxes being used to fun the royal family, I’m a little disappointed with this. If you’re a real-life Duchess, I’m expecting your skin regime to involve caviar and diamonds and unicorn blood. But according to Middleton’s beautician, Deborah Mitchell, the easy-to-make facial includes Nutella, sugar, and some lip balm, which would cost no more than a tenner. It’s not that wild of an idea: chocolate has anti-ageing antioxidants, sugar is an established exfoliant, and the lip balm would provide some moisturisation. If you’re going to try this, experts recommend brown sugar rather than granulated because of its softness. Also, try adding a tsp of honey or almond oil for dry skin.

#2 SNOOKI – Cat Litter Scrub Yes, I know, the joke’s on me, really, for listening to any advice Snooki has. But this was too ridiculous not to include. Snooki, of Jersey Shore fame, has claimed that using cat litter is a cheap way to exfoliate your skin. In case your common sense has temporarily left you: no, this is a terrible idea, do not attempt, do not collect £200. The clumps, while clay-like, will definitely scratch your skin, leaving

you with more blemishes and damaged pores than before, and the artificial scent will irritate your skin. After reading about this tip, I’m very tempted to just send her a nice tea tree scrub in the post myself.

#3 LADY GAGA – Sellotape Glitter Removal This was more of a tip from Poker Face era Gaga, but it still holds true, and I’m here for it. All glitter wearers know the morning-after struggle of desperately scrubbing at one’s face only to spread the cursed flakes around rather than actually remove them. A less-sticky tape will probably be best for this hack so as not to damage your skin, and make sure to use some calming toner afterwards. Here’s to no longer showing up to your 9ams with the sparkling evidence of your previous night!

#4 ZOE SALDANA/BLAKE LIVELY – Mayonnaise Conditioner Mavbe I’ve just spent too long researching this article, but this one does make some sort of sense. The oils of the condiment supposedly protect your hair from the harsh effects of shampoo. Some people also claim that it has enough protein to help heal damaged ends, but this is a myth – mayonnaise does use eggs as its main ingredient, obviously, but it uses the yolk rather than the egg whites, where most of the protein is actually found. I also can’t help but feel that investing in a good conditioner or oil treatment from the drugstore is a far better use of your time. Personally, I prefer a justcame-from-the-salon rather than a lost-a-fightwith-a-delicatessen scent for my hair, but maybe that’s just me.

#5 VICTORIA BECKHAM – Nightingale Faeces Facial Not exactly a DIY tip, but this is something that Tom Cruise, Harry Styles and Angelina Jolie all swear by, and it’s certainly weird enough to be on this list. It’s a traditional Japanese Geisha facial known as ‘uguisu no fun’ that, as mentioned above, involves smearing a mask of nightingale droppings over your face. And yes, Victoria Beckham has the skin of a well-moisturised vampire, but I’m really not sure having bird poo on your face is worth it. And at £180 per facial at only a few London spas, the closest we’re all probably going to come to this is having a pigeon ruin your day – and hair – at Grey’s Monument.

? ?

Instagram: @nutella

Instagram: @propsandpieces

Instagram: @kbeautyexperimenter

The Courier

beauty .19

Monday 6 March

thecourieronline.co.uk/beauty Instagram @courier_beauty | Twitter @CourierBeauty

New SS17 beauty releases

Lois Johnston discusses the exciting new beauty products due to be released this Spring/Summer...

urrently, we’re in the middle of several fashion weeks, but let’s be honest, what all us beauty junkies care about is the new Spring Summer ’17 releases. This year is set to be a huge year in beauty, with huge companies such as L’Oréal, Too Faced and Kylie Cosmetics already having launched new product lines and great collaborations. So, I tried to gather together those which are, in my opinion, going to be the best new beauty releases this season. First up we have the queen of make-up, Charlotte Tilbury, with her new ‘Instant Magic Facial Dry Sheet Mask’ release. I can’t leave my house in a morning without my CT magic foundation, and from the few products I have tried of her skin care range that I have sampled, I have high hopes for these sheet masks. The mask, which claims to work in 15 minutes is described as ‘A hyper-intelligent 5-skin solution’ which basically does all the good stuff which we want to happen to our skin. The release date hasn’t been announced yet but you can sign up on her website for a notification when it launches – I expect it to be a sell out! The Kardashian’s BFF and hair stylist, Jen Atkin, is releasing her new product in her line OUAI – a foam dry shampoo. I haven’t tried any of Jen’s products yet, but this idea of a foam dry shampoo really intrigues me! Who isn’t constantly on the hunt for the next best dry shampoo, let’s be honest, it’s a life saver. And Jen certainly knows what she’s doing with the sales of her first release sky rocketing amongst beauty lovers around the world, so we can only pray that she has solved all our greasy, lifeless hair issues. Beauty giants, Becca also have an exciting new release for this spring/summer. Their brand new ‘First Light Filter Face Primer’ is, I believe, similar to their cult product the ‘Backlight Illuminating Primer’. This new edition, still claims to give your skin a radiant, lit-from-within type glow, but this time it has a lilac tint to it. The colour lilac cancels out any yellow shades and dullness that your skin

may have and evens out imperfections. The ingredients, amongst many, include ginger and fresh citrus notes, which energise the complexion and create an awakening experience. It provides the perfect base for your foundation, or you can wear it alone for a super natural look. I don’t know about you but I’m sold.

Armani have created a brand new ‘Power Fabric’ foundation which is set to rival their sales of their famous ‘Luminous Silk’ bestseller. Will this one be worth the hefty price tag? In terms of the beauty market in general, I predict we can also expect to see several companies launching their new range of liquid lipsticks over the next few months, because this is a huge trend which doesn’t look set to give up any time soon.

“Throughout art history, movements have formed styles which have come in and out of fashion, just as in the makeup industry”

However, it is not to be argued that the current makeup trends cannot be considered art, even though they are more tame. Throughout art history, movements have formed styles which have come in and out of fashion just as in the makeup industry. For me though the portraits from the renaissance are mundane, they are still art coming

est actress academy award winner, Emma Stone really stole the show in more ways than one. Not only did the cast and creators of La La land swipe themselves six Oscars, as well as being nominated for many more, but leading lady Emma herself was looking particularly ravishing with her eye-catching look. Her deep red lips were a beautiful bold statement and perfectly complimented her porcelain skin and redhead locks. Her hair was styled in vintage, side swept waves, giving her a mature and elegant look. A soft Smokey eye with a hint of gold on the lid really brought the whole look together and, of course, complemented her beautiful gown. All in all, a super sophisticated look that would be expected of a multi Oscar winner.

Instagram: @beautyblender

NARS have also just launched a very exciting new release – their ‘Soft Matte Concealer’. I personally think it’s futile trying to create a concealer that is better than their creamy concealer because if it’s not broke don’t fix it, right? Having said this, however, their new launch comes in the same range of colours as their other concealers, but is just packaged in a pot rather than with a dofour applicator. I think this will be better for people who have more prominent skin issues, and darker discolouration or blemishes, as I expect it to be a thicker, denser formula and so is perfect for areas which need a little bit of extra coverage. Other note-worthy SS17 beauty releases include Beauty Blender’s ‘Bubble’, a limited edition beauty blender in baby pink, which has been released to celebrate the company’s 15th year. Also, Giorgio

Instagram: Instagram: Instagram: @theouai

Scarlett Carroll shares her view on whether make-up can be considered a true art form

Ellen Walker discusses the winners at the Oscars who should have won awards for their make-up alone, aside from their amazing acting!

Instagram: @beccacosmetics

From Vincent van G to Kat von D akeup as an industry throws out a myriad of opposing opinions about style every season. Is an Instagram brow better than a 1920s style skinny brow? How should you wear brights in autumn, if you should at all? Are fake freckles super cute or just plain trashy? In attempting to follow these trends many of us become trapped by the confines of what is considered beautiful in the moment. But this constant struggle of the currently accepted form of ‘beauty’ is often set aside in editorial shoots and by innovative instagram creatives not afraid of combatting the message of beauty prescribed to us by the media. When the focus is less on someone becoming more attractive, it is far easy to see makeup as an art form. As editorial makeup steps further and further into the avant-garde it is less about becoming beautiful and more creating a look that represents the concept of the shoot, the creative industries marrying together creating images of visual intrigue. Examples where eyeshadow has not been neatly placed into the confines of the crease and lid, where lipstick application is not dictated by the sharp edges of lip liner and where eyelash application has fallen far from the eye- helps to show the creativity and art of the industry.

So Oscar

from an artistic movement which held much popularity and required an inordinate amount of skill. In this way, the everyday makeup trends though perhaps less visually exciting than the avant-garde work, can still be considered art and a form of selfexpression.

an art form we are not trained in.

@haileestein-

@minutosde-

One of the most dramatic make up looks from the event, singer and Pitch Perfect actress Hailee Steinfeld opted for a stand out look, balanced with a soft and feminine dress. Her slicked back doo really opened up her face and created a focus on her glowing, flawless skin. Her features were beautifully accentuated with bold brows and a mauve-brown winged smoky eye, topped with thick, wispy lashes. The soft pink glossy lips really toned down the look and balanced out the strength of the eyes and chiselled contour, and injecting a gentle feminine tone to this beautifully bold statement.

“Everyday makeup looks are like a renaissance portrait style, whilst the extravagant body art reflects pop art or even minimalism”

Furthermore, where is the dividing line between body painting or prosthetics and makeup? Youtubers like Madeyewlook and Glam & Gore are a body painter and SPX artist respectively, who have also made bodies their canvas. They are able to completely change the way they look using light, shadow, colour and prosthetics, in a way that could be compared to the use of contour and the addition of fake eyelashes by a makeup artist. Alongside this they also post makeup tutorials, showing that their skills between the forms of expression are easily transferable. The difference in their output could easily be compared to different art styles - everyday makeup looks are like a renaissance portrait style, whilst the extravagant body art reflects pop art or even minimalism. When discussing makeup as an art form we must not forget those who have made it their profession, those who are called makeup artists. Having trained at their craft just like any artist, to define their medium as anything other than art is unfair. These people study tone, shade, light and colour just like any other formally trained artists would, the difference merely being that their chosen canvas is a face. In the same way as people dabble in water colours and pencil sketches, but would not consider themselves actual artists – those of us who grab a colour correcting palette and some eyeshadow are merely dabbling with tools part of

Image: Glamour

Instagram: @bunkerboi

Instagram: @onewaythe

www.urbandecay.com

Another worthy Oscar winner, Viola Davis swiped the award for best supporting actress at this year’s Oscars and made history as she became the first black female to win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony award. Every aspect of her look perfectly complemented each other, with a soft, metallic brown as her base color theme which complemented her radiant skin tone. Her face was beautifully highlighted and contoured to give it a soft sense of depth, however, her eyes were her strongest feature with a sweep of shimmery metallic shadow all over the lid, finished with beautifully fluttery lashes. Her lips matched perfectly, with natural looking wash of a soft metallic brown, sheen gloss, topping off the simple yet radiant look.

20. arts

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Arts Editors: Tamsin Daisy Rees and Jonathan Hastings Online Editor: Meg Holtom

SALTY OPINION Sneaks-stagram at its... peak?

CARYS ROSE THOMAS

all me an over-sharer, but I love the ability to tell people who I’m with and what I’m doing at the click of a button. I adore social media. However, it’s just that for me - social. I never use it to promote or advertise, as many artists do. I follow multiple illustrators and photographers who beautify my Instagram timeline on a daily basis, and I think it’s great that social media gives them a reliable platform to selfadvertise on, without the need for some middleman ripping them off to advertise for them. However, although it is great that Instagram allows lesser know artists and illustrators to get their work out there, advertising work on Instagram does come at a risk. Last year, there was a massexposure of various artists with large Instagram followings whose designs were copied and sold by international clothes chain Zara. The most wellknown victim of this scandal, Tuesday Bassen (@tuesdaybessen), sent a letter to Zara addressing the issue and was met by a response in which Zara highlighted the difference in annual website news for Zara and Tuesday Bsssen. Essentially, Zara implied that her tackling them would be like an ant taking on a lion; she had no chance.

Who is the real Jacob Polley? Helena Buchanan, Charlotte Hill and Carys Thomas talk to the T. S. Eliot prize winner

How important is it to you to be a prize winner? It’s important not to get hung up on winning prizes... I’m excited by writing… Trying to make an effective poem. I’m not writing to win a prize. So there’s a no. But there’s also a yes. Publishing poetry isn’t something with a lot of gold attached… A prize is affirming. The T.S Eliot prize is judged by other poets. To have peers give you a prize is great.

“Poetry is an odd art form - it appears on the page silently, but it also has another aural dimension”

What do you find most affirming? I get the odd email from people who’ve read my work… For them to have felt strongly enough to write to you is nice. It means that the work has gone out, met a reader and been completed. When they’ve fitted themselves into your work and injected their own imaginative energy it’s complete. So I like just having readers.

In the guardian, you’ve mentioned writing is partly the ‘storing up of the energy’, could you tell us about the process? Writing is like any kind of craft and sometimes that’s just ‘not writing’. It’s storing up energy and listening and looking at stuff... I used to be uncomfortable if I wasn’t writing all the time. But I’ve become more accepting of the need to recharge creatively.

A lot of your work is available as recordings. Do you think it’s important that poetry is available in a multitude of media? I write poems that are fixed in some way on the page. I’m interested in its presentation… I’m also interested in the sounds... Part of writing the

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers? Practice. Read. There’s no mystery… Practice writing. Do a bit every day. I’ve just read a lot and absorbed… Not… With a scholarly eye… For pleasure.

“I feel that social media is yet to be viewed by mainstream culture as a legitimate platform for one to advertise Our Reviews their art on, resulting in artists The Foreigner like Bassen being exploited”

As sad as it is, it’s true that there’s not much artists can do to defend themselves in these situation, as law suits cost the kind of money independent artists usually don’t have. Hence, artists advertising their work on media platforms such as Instagram can be seen as a double-edged sword. It allows for smaller names to self-promote, but also makes blatant ugly imitations of smaller artist’s work by bigger names a very real possibility. One positive that did come out of Bassen’s situation was the support she got from her followers. Thousands of people reposted her exposure of Zara, which lead to many other artists coming forward with similar stories. Websites were set up to expose each of these cases and direct prospective buyers to where they could buy the original work and support the original artist. This is a great example of the community-like bonds created between artists and followers of their work through social media. Social media allows everyone to feel a part of wider-reaching communities than those of their day to day lives, with whom they can share what kinds of art their experiencing - be it galleries, music, or books. 2016 has been the first year Waterstones has made a profit since the financial crash in 2008. This success in partially seen to be down to social media. As well as Waterstones using platforms like Instagram to advertise new books, people sharing what they’re reading from Waterstones on social media motivates others to go and read the same books they see their peers with (ahh, capitalism).

“Ahh, capitalism” I believe that ultimately, social media is a good thing. It allows artists to share their work, and people to share the art they’ve consumed. However, I feel that social media is yet to be viewed by mainstream culture as a legitimate platform for one to advertise their art on, resulting in artists like Bassen being exploited. The sooner smaller artists’ work is recognised and respected as their own, the sooner we can all enjoy the wonderful Instagram world of latte art videos, dog pics and artist’s work without any worries.

poem for me is working out what works sonically. Poetry is an odd art form - it appears on the page silently, but it also has another aural dimension.

Dr Frankenstein NORTHERN STAGE

NUTS

y decision to go to see The Foreigner, as performed by NUTS, was as spontaneous as it gets and before I even realised it was half six, and that the Jubilee Theatre was in Gosforth, I had already bought the ticket. Luckily, I made it through the wind and I was there just a few minutes before it started at half seven. Never having been there before, I got lost a couple of times in St. Nicholas Hospital before I found the venue. I was quite happy that it wasn’t a big stage but rather a small proscenium arch that created an intimate atmosphere and made the audience more

“Every performer seemed to play the part of their character in a very unique way that made the play even more hilarious” comfortable and connected to the performers. I had never seen The Foreigner before, nor had I seen a NUTS performance and as a Drama student I feel a bit embarrassed to admit that, but, nevertheless, I was extremely curious and excited about it. The entire two-act play took place in a living room so it was quite easy to follow the plot and pay attention to the details in it. The first thing I noticed as the play began was Froggy’s character who was played by a boy in my Drama workshop, whom I’d like to congratulate on their amazing performance. As well as this, Ruaidhri Johnston perfectly captured the cheerfulness and thoughtfulness of his character. Charlie’s part was played by Aidan Clancy who had the difficult task of having to go through many different character stages and emotions since Charlie has quite an unstable personality. Every performer seemed to play the part of their character in a very unique way that made the play even more hilarious and enjoyable than other versions I later saw clips of. The whole atmosphere was extremely pleasant and the audience was cheering with laughter almost throughout the whole play. It was an amazing experience for me; it left me very impressed with the Newcastle University Theatre Society and even more fascinated with theatre as a whole. Elena Trayanova

ll I knew about Dr. Frankenstein before I went to see it as it was essentially a ‘Feminist Frankenstein’. If the satisfying alliteration of that description wasn’t enough to draw me to it, the use of my favourite F-word to describe the play definitely was (clue: it’s not ’Frankenstein’). Most students were forced through the drab and dreary teaching of the original ‘Frankenstein’ at some point in their secondary school lives. Frankenstein has suffered in the way many great works of literature do: it has been butchered by every GCSE English syllabus ever. This results in no student who endured the trials of the British school system having any remotely fond memories of the story. Dr. Frankenstein, however, breather a new air of life into the original story. It gave revived the story’s life, emotion and energy, sending the story through it’s own Frankenstein’s monster-type revival. I did have my doubts about the play, as I feared it would be the same traditional story of Frankenstein, just with a differently gendered protagonist. To my delight, the play went above and beyond this transformation. Victoria Frankenstein’s character wonderfully tackled what it would have been like to be a women in science at the dawn of the British Empire, facing resistance and doubt from fellow academics, as well as from her family for not ‘knowing her place’ and acting as the supposed mother-figure after her mother passed away. The story also seemed to remould the relationship between the Doctor and monster. It felt as though the two mirrored each-other. Both struggled to deal with the processing of their emotions, and both feeling restrictions imposed on them due to who they were - him as a monster, her as a woman. In this sense, I felt that the play made a good feminist point about the treatment of women as lesser-than human, as the monster is. The final thing that really won me over was the marrying of the arts and sciences in relation to women. When watching Victoria Frankenstein on the stage rather than Victor, it felt like the origins of the story as well as the re-telling with a woman as the protagonist acted as a celebration of women making it in fields they are often far less successful than men in, such as classic literature and science. If you fancy being spooked in your seat whilst simultaneously recharging your female empowerment batteries, then be sure to check out Dr. Frankenstein. Carys Rose Thomas

You say you don’t want your poems to do anything… But would you say there’s a particular purpose to writing? Some people consider art narcissistic. Do you agree or do you like the idea you’re doing something? I think the opposite of that, speaking as a reader. I read other peoples’ work because it’s consoling, it’s exciting, it develops my empathetic understanding for people I don’t know, for places I will never go. That’s a gift from other writers. Unless you give up some sense of self it’s difficult to be an effective writer. You need to lose a degree of your own ego and intention to write. How is someone going to encounter this, who has never met me but just has these words on the page?

“I’ve re-amended poems that I wrote years ago, but that’s dangerous, because you’re not the same person”

Some artists and musicians refuse to look back on their work once it’s complete. Do you ever go back and reread yours? I read my work publicly so I’m always reencountering it. I’ve re-amended poems that I wrote years ago, but that’s dangerous, because you’re not the same person.

Internal/External GALLERY NORTH

ou know an art exhibition is going to be great when, upon entry, you are handed a cold beer and a glow-stick. My hopes were high as I headed, a bottle in hand and a glowing bracelet beacon leading the way, through a pitch-black passageway- with no idea of the wonderfully baffling event waiting for me around the dark corner. Heading into the first part of this second year art student exhibition, I was duly warned of “graphic content” with not only a written notice but also a delightful innuendo in the form of a photo of a cat; make of that what you will. I was then confronted with eerily lit sexual devices, against a glowing backdrop. The myriad of items included a luminous dildo and several butt-plugs (not hand-grenades, as I woefully assumed).

“this show gave no sense of the traditional, stuffy art gallery where one is afraid to speak for fear of being attacked by a wizened warden”

After this rather abrupt shock (which I’m assuming was the artist’s intention), I headed into the next, more traditionally lit room. White and clinical, this larger space included various different fo-cuses that worked in, albeit peculiar, harmony. On one wall, jaggedly slanted television screens showed clips of eggs being bizarrely violated by a female artist; you name it, it happened. They were crunched raw, chipped from blocks of plaster, cracked into bags and shaken to a pulp- the poor things didn’t stand a chance against this ruthless maestro. Although unsettled, I was oddly transfixed. I then turned, rather warily, towards a large crowd of onlookers surrounding a willing volunteer who was being painted. This interactive exhibit encouraged members of the public to paint as they felt, and this is a great example of the feel of the exhibit as a whole. I loved that this show gave no sense of the traditional, stuffy art gallery where one is afraid to speak for fear of being attacked by a wizened warden. The entire exhibition oozed life; pure, bizarre, vibrant life. To be honest, I wish I could go again, and not just because of my slightly irrational love of glow-sticks. Lauren Sneath

The Courier

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Monday 6 March 2017

thecourieronline.co.uk/arts c2.arts@ncl.ac.uk | Instagram: @CourierArts

2017: The return of nostalgia Rosie Minney gives us some feedback on the rise of nostalgia in the twenty-ﬁrst century

ow many times is it possible for one person to hear the words “You’re always on that old thing,” or “look up, there’s a whole world out there,” that ‘old thing’ obviously being your mobile phone or tablet. Whilst once the wonders of the World Wide Web were confined to the impossibly big and frustratingly slow family desktop in the office, the realms of the Internet are now conveniently portable, making “that whole world out there” more applicable to the tiny electronic device than what’s going on outside the front door.

“Standing for more than a minute at a painting in MoMA is unrealistic now”

The fact that Google maps can figure out a walkable route from the Robinson Library to Kazakhstan in under a second (3,487 miles, 44 days and one boat ride), or that some websites actually write essays for you, proves how our generation is fixated on instant gratification, including art. We don’t want failures, or the build up. Give us outstanding work now and there’s no other way you can compete for our interest. Stephanie Sharlow, writing for Elite Daily, commented that standing for more than

a minute at a painting in MoMA is unrealistic now. “But, by god, every person will Instagram a photo from there to seem cultured to the outside world.”

“To view first hand the brush strokes, the colour mixing and the composition is invaluable compared to the harsh light of a mobile phone”

In 2014, Elliot Jay Stocks declared, “Designers have stopped dreaming.” We have stopped being creative. This was in reference to web designers, concluding that every site looks exactly the same, due to The Grid, a piece of analysing software that takes your content and makes a website, with no need for a designer, or room for error and improvement. Just, “websites at the push of a button.” From a personal point of view, it can be easy to see how the Internet can cause a cultural and social regression. Being a Fine Art student, I often ask myself, “Why bother paying upwards of £10 to go to an exhibition to view artworks that I can access for free, without even leaving my bedroom?” Despite this, I scraped together funds to

view the Abstract Expressionism exhibition over Christmas at the Royal Academy – and it served a beautiful reminder of how important it is to view things other than off a screen. To view first hand the brush strokes, the colour mixing and the composition is invaluable compared to the harsh light of a mobile phone – and it can be applied elsewhere than just art. The feeling of crisp pages, or the smell of a new book? The sense of achievement when you successfully navigate somewhere? Even just the sound of someone’s voice, coupled with facial expressions? There’s no way a screen can give you any extra-sensory experiences such as these.

“Our generation is fixated on instant gratification, including art”

Crucially though, the Internet opens our eyes to the world’s art without paying for travel. We have access to contemporary amateur artists, who, without the Internet, may never be able to share their art with anyone outside their school art department or garage-come-studio. And as Stephanie Sharlow put it, “When there’s no audience, there’s no art.” As with anything, I guess, balance is always key.

Dominic Reed’s Spotlight

SALTY COLUMN A salty cultural rant.

HELENA BUCHANAN

usic am I right? Who wouldn’t love it? Whatever your taste it’s a gift to the senses- not liking music is like not liking food. Not only do we all love it, it’s a powerful art form- it’s the creation or subversion of contemporary culture, so why is it always so un-progressive? I’m (today, at least) not getting into the vast malaise of misogyny across the music spectrum, but focussing my general wrath on kinda rock and rock bands (I have extreme difficulty defining music/genres etc). We all know what a band is yes? Musicians usually comprised of a singer/drummer/guitarist/bass guitarist/ key-boardist etc all trying to play vaguely in tune. The term ‘boy-band’, to me, defines Blue/One Direction/Backstreet Boys etc- a collection of singers rather than people playing instruments. What, then, is a girl-band? When it conjures an image of The Breeders/Pussy Riot/Le Tigre it can’t therefore be the same thing as a ‘boyband’, with the connotations of musical incompetence and swaying which it encompasses. In a Guardian article last year, Spanish ‘girlband’ HINDS who apparently “took on the boys in Madrid” stated, “we didn’t want people to talk about us being girls”, the irony being that the article rather centres around them being girls in a male-dominated industry. Therefore, they cannot be merely a band but must be a ‘girl-band’. This is, of course, symptomatic of the rest of the world- just as there are ‘girl-bands’ there are ‘male-nurses’, ‘policewomen’ etc. What is particularly annoying with the music industry, particularly anything under the umbrella of ‘rock’ or ‘alt’ music, is that art is supposed to, if not subvert and push boundaries (because, no, it is not subversive for a woman to hold a guitar- don’t worry I’m sure her tiny delicate hands will handle strumming and the drummer will (fingers crossed eh) be strong enough to hold the sticks), at least be vaguely liberal. I guess not. Silly me asking too darn much.

PREVIEW MA Gallery Studies Laing Gallery 10 March - 27 April

A special event organised by Newcastle University students on the MA Gallery and Museum Studies course at the Laing Gallery, showcasing a collection to the public on the theme FEMINISM: displaying pictures which relate to women artists and history.

Fine Art Student STAGE FOUR

Dom Reed’s work is a titillating mixture of social reflection and jocular irony. His morbid fascination with deviancy is realised by use of paint, ink and printmaking. In a fine art world where the word “Illustration” is met with discontentment, Reed challenges the notion of working as a fine artist by creating elaborate and allegorical drawings. Current projects investigate aspects of British drinking culture and the self-destructive nature of human behaviour. Inspired by comic book artists of the 1960s, Reeds deep interest in nightlife culture, particularly that of the north east has been captivated in stark and powerful images. Instagram: @gonzosdrawings Tumblr: gonzosart.tumblr.com Email: domreed92@googlemail.com

WHAT’S DOON IN THE TOON NEWCASTLE UNI. Final Degree Show 2 June 2017 Get down to the Newcastle University Final Degree show that celebrates the arts and talents of our Fine Arts Degree. It will showcase the students top work. More information will be released closer to the time. But you can follow it all here: https://www.instagram.com/ncldegreeshow/

6 March

Support your local Girl Gang! INTERNATIONAL Lasses Day St Mary’s Heritage Centre @ 18.00 - 21.00

7 March

An Evening with an Immigrant Inua Ellams and Fuel Alphabetti Theatre @ 18.00 - 23.00

11 March

Alphabetti Closing Party! Alphabetti Theatre@ 19.30 - 01.00

22. music

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Music Editors: Sophie Ahmed, Serena Bhardwaj & Ben Grundy

Toon In Chris Leary is blown away by big sounds in a small venue in his review of THOUGHT FORMS at The Cluny

HOUGHT FORMS are a 3 piece from Bristol who dabble in the schools of noisy Post-rock and Shoegaze, however greater than the sum of their parts their myriad of soundscapes and textures are incredibly forward thinking .The band played to a Cluny crowd hungry to witness their great spectacle of a show in support of third album Songs About Drowning. The silhouettes of THOUGHT FORMS appeared against the backdrop of the Cluny stage, figures slotted between their towering monitors. Opening with recent album cut ‘Woolf Music’ guitarist Deej Dhariwal’s menacing drones of distortion ricocheted and shook the room, whilst Charlie Romijn’s powerful vocals and swelling reverberated guitar chords build to a climax before the inevitable calm of the storm. The organised chaos of ‘Landing’ is testament of the bands’ roots as a ferocious post-rock act blended with washed over ethereal atmospheric instrumentals, they channel the sounds of SONIC YOUTH with the impact of Pornography Era THE CURE. We see this whilst Dhariwal vents his screams into the microphone before jostling with his monitor for waves of feedback as the song breaks out into a jazzy aftermath. Some would question this band as PORTISHEAD’s support act of choice across Europe and the U.S over recent years with the gargantuan riffs they can conjure in contrast to their peers’ understated blues. However, what remains intrinsic to their chemistry is the members’ abilities to lock into one another during the set and thus becomes apparent that the three piece have learnt much from their touring peers and mentors about dynamic music that carries such emotional care and precision.

“They brought their monumental sound to the intimate venue” The riff on ‘The Bridge’ is unlike the band’s other work, hung on a bass melody laid down by their fourth touring member and producer Jim Barr almost a post-punk early PJ HARVEY piece which unleashes fury as the tension builds. The raucous energy came to a standstill in place of some of the more slow paced, delicate numbers off the new record. ‘Inland’ sets this tone with a haunting bassline which guides Guy Metcalfe’s creeping snare drags, this dynamic dips and soars along with Romijn’s lyrical themes exploring isolation - a brand new sound for the band. This track along with ‘Missouri’ show the band in their newfound element, glistening ambient sonics that expose the charm of Romijn’s vocals and song craft which is by far a more refined sound. Guitars wail and are hypnotic in places during these later numbers and all eyes gazed. The brand new material makes up the majority of the set, however in addition to pieces from the preceding two albums this adds a new dimension and warmth to their already strong catalogue.

“Glistening ambient sonics expose the charm of Romjin’s vocals” The band round up the set with ritualistic and trance-inducing ‘Burn Me Clean’; a spell of rumbling drones and colliding drums descend before they build to reach an almighty finale to a captivating set. The crowd left awestruck by a band that brought their monumental sound to the intimate venue in the Ouseburn Valley. One can only anticipate THOUGHT FORMS are destined for greater things.

Read Chris’ interview with the band at www.thecourieronline.co.uk

Come Dine with N.M.E. Sam Blackburn deplores the latest piece of N.M.E. trash, hoping that reports of 2 Beatles, a Foo Fighters’ frontman and Tom Hanks dining together won’t result in a supergroup

o the guy who sang the theme for ‘Live and Let Die’, the voice of Thomas the Tank, Engine, a man who has made a career out of being the drummer in Kurt Cobain’s band and Tom Hanks, the only one of the four anyone should give a crap about - all meet up in a restaurant… and NME think it’s news. I think that it’s pretty much common knowledge that NME has gone from being a semi decent publication to now being the Gemma Collins of music media. Supposedly, Paul McCartney shared a rare artefact in the form of a demo of his song ‘Twenty Fine Fingers’, what does this mean? Absolutely nothing… or at least that’s what I hope. Here’s my message to all of these so-called “journalists” making these crap headlines, famous people might like to hang out with each other to just enjoy each other’s company, you know, a bit like how pretty much every non-introverted human being tends to? Honestly, this is pretty much one of the worst pieces of clickbait I’ve seen in a while. I beg of you to not read the arti-

cle as you’re literally allowing NME to win with their awful articles and subjects. Maybe to be less pessimistic though, let’s look at some hypothetical theories on what this could truly mean. My first theory I have already stated, it’s four men enjoying a meal, talking about their lives and having the occasional money fight. My second theory is that they’re all clearly members of the illuminati and that they met here right before they decided to sacrifice a baby lamb to their elder gods. Lastly, maybe they all plan on doing some form of musical collaboration? It is true that Dave Grohl and Paul McCartney have worked together in the past, so why not?

Will it be any good though? I don’t think so. We can worry about Tom Hank’s role in this band later, but for now I couldn’t think of a more overrated group of musicians to start a supergroup. If you’re a Beatles fan, I’d stop reading now because this is going to be harsh. I think The Beatles suck, they revolutionised the popularity of music, there has been hundreds of bands what have came since which are way better. As a bassist myself, I’ve never saw Paul McCartney as an amazing bassist, I think Ringo Star is nothing special on the drums either and then lastly, what do I think about Dave Grohl? Foo Fighters might just be the most average band in the history of the world to be that popular. He’s a weak song writer and his music is uninteresting. If they make a supergroup, it will suck so much, but everyone will be scared to say it does because it’s a cardinal sin to slag of The Beatles or Foo Fighters. I wish all three of them would just stop making music all together, never mind together. As for Tom Hanks? I think he’s ready to take up a new career step as the frontman of the lamest band since Nickelback.

Interview time: Toothless Alistair Geear sent over some questions to Ed Nash (Bombay Bicycle Club) to ﬁnd out about his new solo project, Toothless. Nash talks going solo, his work and his inspirations When did you decide to form Toothless? I started Toothless about two yeas ago when we finished touring So long, see you tomorrow. It’s something I had been meaning to do for years but never had the time to due to my commitment to Bombay. Do you wish you had gone solo sooner? Not at all, I had a great time playing in Bombay and wouldn’t change that for anything. I’ve still got a bunch of time to do Toothless… The rest of my life in fact. How much did you want to differentiate the sound of Toothless from Bombay Bicycle Club? I didn’t really think about it too much, I just wrote the songs I wrote. There are certainly some similarities to Bombay’s music in there which I think is to be expected after playing in a band for ten years. There also a lot of songs that I think are quite different. Hopefully people can listen to it with an open mind. Do you still get nervous when you go on stage? If so, how do you deal with it? I don’t at all. It would probably be better if I had a bit of nerves, I keep on making stupid mistakes because I think I have got it all worked out… Idiot. What do you like best about The Pace of Passing? I love The Staves feature on The Sirens. I still can’t believe everything worked out! Their performance is fantastic and the fact that it’s The Staves really takes the theme of the song to a whole new level. With themes of the scale of the universe and

age, it makes one wonder, do you believe in an afterlife? No I don’t at all! I kind of wish I did, it would make the whole idea of death easier if I thought I would spend the rest of my days in a better place. What would you have done if you’d not become a musician? I had a place to study architecture at Manchester so I would be an architect by now. I’m so glad that I pursued music, architecture would have been the wrong thing for me.

“I found using stories and metaphors a great way into writing songs”

Where’s your favourite place to be alone? In my studio which is in my back garden. I built it last year in a preexisting breeze block structure, It’s where I spend most of my day now working on new music. I recorded all of Sisyphus in there for this album. What’s your favourite book? Slaughterhouse 5, I love the way Kurt Vonnegut writes, super childish and simple about the darkest and most horrendous things. What was the first gig you went to? I went to see S Club 7 at at Wembley Arena in 2000 and it was fantastic. They had a song where they made it snow! My nine year old brain was blown. What have you been listening to this past year?

I got into podcasts in a big way last year, I don’t know why but they had never appealed to me before. I spent a lot of last year catching up on the classics like Serial and No Such Thing as a Fish. Its such a fantastic format for getting information across. Who inspired you earlier in your career? Who inspires you right now? When I started playing guitar I was really into classic rock and guitar solos, I spent all my time learning songs note for note and its probably how I learn to play guitar. You’ve mentioned you struggled with song writing, what was the process you adopted? I certainly struggled with lyric writing at first, I found it very hard to write about my life as there wasn’t very much to write about. I found using stories and metaphors a great way into writing songs as you can use a preexisting framework to get across your own ideas. Its why there are lots of astronomy and myth references throughout the album. What’s next for you? What’s next for Toothless? I’m heading out on tour around the UK later this month and plan to play as many shows as possible this year. I’ve also started work on the next record which I hope to get out as soon as possible. No time to waste!

The Courier

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Monday 6 March 2017

by Ryan Adams Prisoner I n short, it’s a reflective, introspective album centred on Ryan’s recent divorce from Mandy Moore. Though Prisoner may not reach the dizzy heights of his previous albums, it’s still an incredibly solid and respectable effort in the context of an increasingly saturated male singersongwriter market. This isn’t an album that reinvents the wheel or bamboozle the ears with a multitude of idiosyncratic rhythms but it merely excels in its pure simplicity. When asked what he sought from Prisoner, Adams stated: “I felt like I needed to tell a story – the story of how I felt or what was happening internally at least, in the truest way possible”. Adams is essentially a master at heartache as he struggles to cope with the recent turmoil of his private life and, once again, manipulates his emotions to make sweet music. Despite masterfully covering the enterity of Taylor Swift’s 1989, it’s worth reminding ourselves this is an experienced 42 year old singersongwriter who knows what sells.

imitating people with slightly differently spelt names, save for his innate talent for turning straightforward rock materials into songs which arrive modestly, then won’t leave you alone.

“Whilst Adams might be criticised for not venturing out of his comfort zone, why would he - when he can completely master his area of expertise?”

of picking flaws, why not lie back and enjoy Adams’ evident talent. Adams is clearly well-establishd as one of america’s great singer-songwriters and this album does little to knock him off his selfcrafted perch. This album certainly deserves acclaim and if acoustic pop-rock is to your taste, it’s perfect yet for those less inclined, I wouldn’t race to the shops/streaming site. Ben Grundy

Adams channels his inner Bruce Springsteen on Prisoner, he fully embraces 80s arena rock sonics, retaining the resonance but bypassing the bombast to trigger a joyful nostalgic noise. The ballads ‘To Be Without You’ and ‘Breakdown’ in particular are as exquisite as anything he has done, the latter featuring the chiming metallic guitar sound once favoured by his almost namesake Bryan. But Adams is not one for repeating himself nor

Adams wistfully sings “nothing really matters anymore” as his pensive tunes make the perfect soundtrack to a solitary long journey, whilst the rain trickles down the train/car window and you ponder if you’re in a real-life Dido music video. When Adams, on ‘Shiver and Shake’ sings, “I reach out for your hand but I know it isn’t there,” it feels like he’s practically bleeding. This album is not emulation of his previous work but an evolution which Adams requires credit for. Whilst Adams might be criticised for not venturing out of his comfort zone, why would he - when he has complete mastery of his genre? Instead

Dumb Blood

Under Stars

VANT

Sound the Alarm

Amy MacDonald

Less Than Jake

“The ballads ‘To Be Without You’ and ‘Breakdown’ in particular are as exquisite as anything he has done, the latter featuring the chiming metallic guitar sound once favoured by his almost namesake Bryan”

t seems like every band and artist that is releasing new music at this point is making it as political as possible and British Indie Rock band VANT are no exception to this. With lyrics that are particularly critical of the current political climate, the four piece are sticking to the current trend in their debut studio album Dumb Blood. But the slamming of society is one of the only defining themes in the album which lacks a solid, identifiable sound. VANT are still relatively young, they formed in 2014, but after touring throughout 2015, as well as performing at festivals and supporting Biffy Clyro and Catfish and the Bottlemen they aren’t lacking experience.

“Lyrics that are particulary critical of the current political climate”

‘Karma Seeker’ is easily the best song on the album, with the lead singer’s drawl giving the track a more unique quality and like the song ‘Parasite’ they both stand out for being better quality but other songs fall a little flat and don’t necessarily grab you in the way that they should. VANT’s musical sound clearly has taken influence from British bands like The Kooks but the album isn’t exceptional and there are only a couple of tracks that really stand out. Part of the problem is that they are trying so hard to be provocative and angry that they lose sight of the music a little. Some artists combine the two perfectly but VANT isn’t one of them, and their sentiment feels a little forced on certain tracks. It becomes more likable the more you listen to it, but overall Dumb Blood is enjoyable, but not outstanding. It’s good start, and they’ve clearly put in the effort for their first album but there’s definitely room for VANT to improve and find the definable sound that they’re missing. Kate Eddison

my Macdonald is back! Yes, she really is back. Amy seems to have gone into hiding for several years, not really showing her face in the world of music very much recently. Known for songs such as ‘This is the Life’ and ‘Mr Rock and Roll’, Macdonald returns to offer up Under Stars to us. If you were a fan of Macdonald before, then you are really going to like Under Stars, a lot. Macdonald’s slightly warble-y vocals are on fine form once more. The record opens with ‘Dream On’, an entirely pleasant enough song, but the album’s title track is where we really start to hear the old Amy start to wake up and come to life. It really sounds as though Macdonald is taking us on a journey, not only through her music, but a place that is under stars too. The next song, and the song that I am going to rave about the most, is ‘Automatic’, a pleasingly mid-tempo ballad. It just has a liveliness about it, there is a sense of fast paced-ness to it all. The rest of the record is much of the same Amy Macdonald that we have come to know and love. She has been quite coy in that she has stuck to what she knows; what she knows she can do best (Lana Del Rey comes to mind in this respect). It honestly feels like Amy Macdonald has transported us back to the mid noughties once more, with her quirky and offbeat brand of music. That being said, I have doubts that more of the same will lead her to quite the same chart success as she once had. But, by playing it safe, Macdonald has managed to offer up something that sounds so refreshing in a world of over-produced, synthesised and bland music. Amy Macdonald, with Under Stars, demonstrates that real music, played by real instruments, is still able to thrive in a currently shambolic music industry. It even warms my cold little heart a bit. Jack Parker

thecourieronline.co.uk/music c2.music@ncl.ac.uk

Electronic Blanket Sarah Stephenson argues YouTube is a virtual vinyl haven and talks Caribou’s DJ side project

hen it comes to sourcing music, vinyl is usually celebrated over mp3. It’s something about the physical record – the grooves and alternating sides, the chance encounters that makes the process inherently better, more authentic - I get it. But as a kid who grew up being taught how to torrent My Chemical Romance albums from Limewire by my older cousins, the vinyl surge was never something I could catch on to. Why pay more for a perishable disc when you could preserve the same track in the infinity ether of your hard drive or iTunes library? Sure, discovering rare or unknown releases can bring the same sense of joy as spending hours at your local book barn and leaving with an armful of £1 novels and cartography maps, but you could also do the same online, minus the clutter. YouTube is today’s obscure record store tucked in an alley someplace near your home town. The only difference is that anyone with access to a laptop and wifi can trawl through label pages and figure out whether they’re into techno or grime or breakbeat without having to leave the house. And anyway, it’s kind of hard to maintain a growing vinyl collection as a student when your bedroom changes every nine months. Festivals in European cities will inevitably become (even more) unaffordable to those coming from the UK, and the thought of having little to no international talent playing at UK venues as a result of some arbitrary law is strange to me. I’m no expert in Brexit-related policy and by no means think festival line-ups changing is the most important thing to worry about right now. But this is a column about electronic music, and the shifting European music community is definitely a symptom of a larger series of changes that will come once the UK becomes an island floating apart from everything else.

You need to listen to: ‘Selfless State’ by So Iganawa

‘Selfless State’ is the final track in So Iganawa’s 2013 release Logo Queen. It begins with four bars of a smooth Wurlit=zer chord progression, followed by a steady beat and hi-hat that sustains throughout. The track is framed by cut-and-paste vocals, high-pitched and delayed but extremely present. By the end it’s just the isolated synth carried on its own. ‘Logo Queen’ is a lot more dance-oriented, launching into a heavy beat-clap combination that continues relentlessly until its finale. There’s something trance-like about Iganawa’s production that makes each track seem like it could have gone on for a few beats longer. I only recently discovered So Iganawa and his self-made, Japan-based label Cabaret Records. He claims to put ‘a hypnotic twist on classic club sounds’, and I can only agree after hearing a number of his releases. Logo Queen fits into the deep house mould, but only just. With jazz samples scattered around stripped down beats, it’s a sound that blurs the line between dance and daytime listening.

his is your bi-annual reminder that skapunk is an actual genre. Ska-punk is an actual genre. That was your bi-annual reminder that ska-punk is an actual genre, which is kicked off this year by veteran band Less Than Jake and their new album Sound the Alarm. Unfortunately, it pales in comparison to most of their other fulllength albums. The first track, ‘Call to Arms’, is their strongest one here. It’s fast-paced, WWWYgreatbass line, and has an element of 2009-era Green Day to it. After that, things go downhill, as the overall sound gets more processed. I’d say the brass tones are too bright, and the autotune in the vocals is excessive. When the pace drops, the quality deteriorates; if you want a good slowish song from LTJ, I’d recommend ‘Nervous in the Alley’.

Preview: Daphni @ World HQ – 9th March

Sound the Alarm sounds nearly identical to their previous album, See the Light. Like, seriously, Spotify went straight from one album to the other and I didn’t even notice. I’m not going to complain about bands using some of the same tones from album to album – after all, I’ve done that myself – but all the tones are the same, making this album feel like an extension of the previous one. Add in the fact that Sound the Alarm is only seven tracks long, it could well be just an expansion. The band themselves and Spotify say “album”, but Wikipedia says “EP”. Nobody seems to be sure which. Overall, Sound the Alarm is lacking, both in its own identity and the LTJ’s. Skapunk fans (all sixteen of us) will find it lacking in the old-school punk elements that make Less Than Jake great, but newcomers may appreciate the more refined approach. It’s a far cry from their truly excellent album Hello Rockview, but it’s still a worthy distraction on the inexorable march towards death. Jack Coles

Daphni (better known as Caribou) is Dan Snaith’s DJ moniker. Snaith is known for his dynamic sets that range from tracks he admits to having remixed specifically for a club setting and carefully selected house, techno and afrobeat. His 2012 release Jialong is a collection of dance tracks that gives insight into his versatility as a producer. Tracks like ‘Light’ are so far removed from the smooth and lyrical sounds of Caribou that you wouldn’t be able to guess that the same pair of hands was creating both soundscapes. With an undeniable likeness to producers such as Floating Points and Four Tet, Daphni’s music contributes to a rising collective of artists who seem to take records no one has heard of and remix them so that they sound distinctly like now. The emphasis on Daphni as a project made for club rather than headphone listening is explained in a recent interview where Snaith admits to being ‘surprised by the number of transcendent moments that I, sober and in my mid-30s, have had in clubs in the last few years’. This will be Daphni’s first time playing in Newcastle.

“Sound the Alarm sounds nearly identical to their previous album”

24.television

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

TV Editors: Luke Acton, Alison Scurﬁeld and Dominic Corrigan

Throwback

Christopher Wilkinson looks at the drama documenting the tiral of the century, The People vs O.J. Simpsom: American Crime Story

he nature of fiction is that it is created and fuelled by the imagination. That is why when we live in a world where fictional stories are intended to bind our moral fibre, it is no surprise to find that the real world, the world of real action and real implication, can be found to be the more morally ambiguous. And there is no more subtle, sharp, sobering example of this ambiguity than the real story of O.J Simpson – charged, as you may know, for the brutal and depraved murders of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman in the summer of 1994.

TV is a small, small world

Jacob Clarke takes a look at the ever-increasing phenomenon of shared ﬁctional universes, not only as a trend, but also as a device, sharing his keen TV whizz opinion

n recent years, the ability of the TV industry, especially that of the superhero genre has led to the expansion of franchises to feature their stories using multiple programmes sometimes spanning networks and media. This innovation in how we follow the stories of characters in a particular universe has allowed for a much richer mythology for us to get our teeth into, and much more diverse and interesting characters. This trend has grown recently, however there have been a few past examples worth looking at. take for example the hit Joss Whedon cult series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. a spinoff called Angel was created which followed the adventures of the eponymous vampire introduced in the original show, again this show was extremely popular with die-hard fans but arguably failed to hit the same viewership as Buffy. Events in one effect events in the other and characters in one visiting ones in the

other. Some might suggest that the lack of popularity may due to the inaccessibility that universe sharing spinoffs have to a new audience that have never watched the original show. Angel started whilst Buffy had already had a two series to develop, so anyone who wants to start Angel with some basic understanding of the universe is forced to watch two series of a different TV show before they can start.

“Anyone who wants to start Angel with some basic understanding of the universe is forced to watch two series of a different TV show”

However, this doesn’t seem to be as much as a problem today due to the greater accessibility for

“The DC TV universe, whilst more explicit than Marvel with its crossover episodes, also features entirely different stories within its 4 shows that occupy its same TV universe”

“Between the perfect casting [...] and the enthralling script, the series leaps from issue to issue with such adroitness that it becomes far more insightful and relevant than seems possible”

I was first told to watch the TV adaption of the O.J. trial by my brother, but never got around to it because the previous episodes had been taken off BBC iPlayer. I’m glad that I’ve watched it. ‘The people vs O.J Simpson’ is one the best television series I’ve seen. Between the perfect casting (looking in particular towards the casting of Courtney B.Vance as Johnnie Cochrane and Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clarke) and the enthralling script, the series leaps from issue to issue with such adroitness that it becomes far more insightful and relevant than seems possible considering the material. The ‘trial of the century’ was itself warped and disformed and manipulated by the media and television, and this simple case that became a national story is so deftly handled that it succeeds without ever seeming to turn into a parody of itself, which it so easily could have been.

“The race card is not treated as untrue but simply deeply ingenuous within the context of the murders”

I spoke at the beginning of the article about moral ambiguity. For those who don’t know, the so called ‘dream team’ of O.J Simpson, backed into a corner regarding the facts of the murder, resorted to using the proverbial ‘race card’. Citing the historic abuse of the African American community by the L.A Police department, the defence held fast to the idea that Mark Furhman, one of the detectives handling the case, corrupted the evidence because he was a racist. To add a few more provocative ingredients into the mix, the head prosecutor was a white, single-parent woman, and the co-prosecutor was a black man arguably promoted because of the colour of his skin. All of these things might seem hard to balance, mightn’t they? But this is where the series really is at its most poignant. Whilst not depreciating the plight of the African American community, the race card is not treated as untrue but simply deeply ingenuous within the context of the murders, and one of the great underlying themes, of a strong woman subject to the scrutiny of the media and the mob, is treated with such emotional precision that it still proves deeply relevant. Whilst the series may fall short in some ways – for example the lack of conversation around Ronald Goldman – the acting, dialogue and subject matter proves a thoughtful and suspenseful combination.

people to watch TV shows (online streaming etc.) and this relatively new habit of binging TV shows makes us try and get as much out of a marathon as possible. For example, the current shape the marvel cinematic universe is all very much united, and gives great fan service through references to other series within the universe, however it is also entirely accessible to those who may not have even seen the marvel movies on the big screen. Take for example Netflix’s Jessica Jones, this series is linked the wider Marvel universe as it depicts the gradual increase in powered people that are appearing in the world, Jessica being one of these people. However, the creators are very careful to make sure that the show is not simply a call back to the movies, only fleeting references are made to the “battle of New York” as depicted in 2012’s Avengers movie. And no cameos are made of major movie characters. I know people who claim to not be superhero or comic book fans who adore this show and would likely adore others in the same universe.

This appears to be a positive direction for shared TV universes to take. The DC TV universe, whilst maybe explicit than Marvel due to its crossover episodes, also features entirely different stories within its 4 shows that occupy its same TV universe. And many more seem to be following suit from hit series such as; Pretty Little Liars, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Dr Who, and even talk of a Game of Thrones spinoff- we can only hope.

Piers Morgan: having a bad time The TV personality is having a bad time, and he truly deserves it, Alex Peden wades in

iers Morgan is very annoyed. Everything should be great – he is the popular host of ITV’s Good Morning Britain alongside Susanna Reid, his best pal Donald has somehow stumbled into the most influential job on Earth, and he is continuing to get air time despite a list of controversial actions and quotes longer than the US/Mexico border. But for some reason, people are criticising him. And not just random members of the public either. Celebrities, people who actually matter, are calling him out and boycotting his show. A petition which has been gaining ground trying to prevent him from hosting the Royal Television Society’s Programme Awards has forced him to step down from his post, much to his displeasure. This will not stand, he thinks. Those nasty liberals will not get away with this.

“He’s feuded with a number of celebrities over the years, most recently JK Rowling, but also Ewan McGregor and Madonna, as well as being told to ‘f*** off ’ by Jim Jeffries on US TV” What Piers Morgan refuses to realise is that there is a very good reason that many people object to his existence on this earth – he’s a horrible human being. A good friend and supporter of Donald Trump, Piers Morgan holds some very questionable right wing views, repeatedly taking to twitter and his column in the Daily Mail to air his inflammatory opinions, and was the editor of the

Daily Mirror during the phone hacking scandal, which included journalists under his management hacking the phone of the family of a dead teenager. He’s feuded with a number of celebrities over the years, most recently JK Rowling, but also Ewan McGregor and Madonna, as well as being told to ‘f*** off ’ by Jim Jeffries on US TV.

“Celebrities and members of the public who object to these views are also perfectly entitled to call him an idiot. Especially when he has been one”

This conflict mainly stems from his relationship with Donald Trump, whom he has described as a ‘good friend’ whom he speaks to ‘every three or four weeks’. He has repeatedly defended the President, criticising the mockery and hysteria around his election, and this is why he has come under fire in recent weeks from many sources, most publicly JK Rowling on Twitter. This has sparked an online feud which has continued for weeks, which is entertaining viewing to say the least. So is it right to be calling out Piers Morgan for his views and his friendships, to be boycotting his show or describing him using all

the insults under the sun? Obviously, this is a man entitled to his own opinions, and should be allowed to express them. However, in the same line, the celebrities and members of the public who object to these views are also perfectly entitled to call him an idiot. Especially when he has been one. Writing in his column in the Daily Mail, Piers Morgan has described millennials shocked by the election result as ‘whinging’ and a ‘faux tormented bunch of absolute cretins’, and yet in the same breath complains about those who try to remove his vile face from our TV screens due to his right wing rants and general odiousness. So yes, it is fair to be calling out Piers Morgan. Not necessarily because of politics, or ethics, but because it’s absolutely hilarious.

The Courier

television.25

Monday 6 March 2017

thecourieronline.co.uk/tv c2.tv@ncl.ac.uk | @courier_tv

Taboo

BBC iPlayer

Girls

Joel’s Dead Good Shows:

he final series of Girls was sure to be explosive for characters Hannah, Marnie, Shoshanna and Jessa. After 6 seasons, Hannah is still trying to discover if she is ‘the voice of a generation’, Marnie is torn between Ray and Desi, Jessa is still free spirited and Shoshanna, in my opinion, still isn’t given enough screen time. Although it is the masterful comedy of Dunham’s writing which drives the programme, the drama and personalities of the characters are very much rooted in real life. This time around, Marnie discovers that Desi is a serious drug addict and has had this issue since before their marriage back in season 5. Despite the seious beginning of this scene, a spoof horror-comedy vibe then takes over, whereby Desi pops up outside the kitchen window after being kicked out, looking very much like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Dunham continues to turn something so real into something hilarious and light-hearted. Dunham’s scripts show she isn’t afraid to hold a mirror up to women in the creative industries, focusing on the millennial generation in particular. Shoshanna attends a mixer for WEMUN or ‘Women Entrepreneurs Meet Up Now’, a ridiculous acronym in itself. She is brutally shut down for this by her successful ex-friends in the most 2017 way possible. Shoshanna puts the blame on Jessa for this, as she took her on a trip to Rockaway instead of going on Spring break with her friends, where they created ‘Jamba Jeans’, their successful brand which she claims she should have been a part of. The episode ‘Hostage Situation’ shows how the friends the girls make and leave behind determine their paths in life. Hannah discovers the girls are no wiser after six seasons, telling Marnie ‘We don’t know anything.’

Scream Queens

wreck of a slaver ship belonging to the EITC, but no more spoilers. Delaney does not fit well into society, with his

HBO

“Taboo is not for those of a nervous disposition, as early on we see a would-be assassin ruthlessly killed by Delaney”

or those of you suffering from severe Tom Hardy withdrawal symptoms, fear not, he’s back on our screens in BBC’s Taboo, a show which he not only stars in, but also helped to write and produce. (Note for Peaky Blinders fans: producers have confirmed a fourth season with him in too.) Taboo is the new dark and seductive Saturday night drama. An alternative to Sherlock, for those wanting to sink their teeth into a quality show that you can’t predict and keeps you hooked for the whole hour.

“Delaney returns to London From Africa following his father’s death, to claim his inheritence”

Set in early 19th century London, Taboo follows the story of James Keziah Delaney (Hardy). Delaney returns to London from Africa following his father’s death, to claim his inheritance, much to the chagrin of the infamous East India Trading Company (for those who are fans of Pirates of the Caribbean, think Tom Hollander in Dead Man’s Chest). Delaney’s inheritance turns out to include a small piece of land in the Americas which the Crown, the EITC and the Americans want control and the trading rights to. Hence, a power struggle begins between all four parties, while Delaney battles demons of his own. One of these problems is his uncontrollable desire for his sister (Oona Chaplin - Game of Thrones, anyone?). This is something which seems to have once been reciprocated, but is now a source of shame and anger to her and her jealous new husband. Another personal struggle comes in the form of his apparent PTSD surrounding the ship-

tattoos, tendency to violence and savege removeal of those who are a threat to himself or his plans. Taboo is not for those of a nervous disposition, as early on we see a would-be assassin ruthlessly killed by Delaney, who slumps to the floor after rip ping out the man’s throat with his own teeth. The interesting back story to the show, including the circumstances in which Delaney’s father ‘acquired’ his mother, along with the revelation that since the incident, Delaney has been AWOL in Africa, lends to the intense feel of the show. It is a grim image of 1814 London, and Delaney’s involvement in acts of physical and shadowy magic adds another dimension to this harsh period drama. Hardy is joined by actors Johnathon Pryce (Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean) as the ( e Night head of the EITC and Tom Hollander (Th Manager)) as the intelligent and sarcastic chemist employed by Delaney to help start his trading in gunpowder. Kassie Hopewell

Sian Dickie

Twin Peaks is coming back Sam Blackburn looks at the David Lynch classic in anticipation of the new series

he owls are not what they seem… well at least not in the mountain town of Twin Peaks, Washington State. Twin Peaks is hard to describe. It’s not comparable to anything else and is quite possibly the most original piece of viewing one could find. Although the show follows FBI agent Dale Cooper, as he tries to uncover who was responsible for the death of teenager Laura Palmer, the true main character in this series is the town of Twin Peaks itself. From the first brooding bass note of the theme song set against an intro movie showing the secluded town, you know that there is something wrong with this place. The first series appears to follow a typical crime drama kind of scenario, directed to get the viewer guessing who the killer is. Eventually this is revealed, midway through the second series, but the show doesn’t end there, it merely just begins. From a murder mystery full of sex, drugs and hidden secrets, the show opens up into forbidden and supernatural territory leaving viewers trying to process what they have just witnessed.

“The beauty of Twin Peaks is that although it is primarily a horror, it features tropes from other genres such as crime shows, romantic stories and even comedy” The beauty of Twin Peaks is that although it is primarily a horror, it features many tropes from other genres such as crime shows, romantic stories and even comedy. The episodes are long and

packed full of many different characters, all with interesting stories of their own. From Dale Cooper and Bobby Briggs to the Log Lady, everyone has something going on in their life and they’re all connected ikn some way. The show plays on the idea of the town of Twin Peaks being a nice, tight-knit community, where nothing goes wrong and everyone just goes about their day-to-day life. So, when prom queen, Laura Palmer, shows up in a body bag, the town folk are set alight. It is pretty hard to write about Twin Peaks without giving away too many spoilers. After the first two series, director David Lynch began working on a movie prequel, Twin Peaks:

Fire Walk With Me, showing the days leading up to Laura Palmers untimely fate. Despite being a prequel, I highly recommend waiting to watch this movie after you have watched the series, as it obviously spoils who the killer is. It’s quite possibly one of the most sick and twisted films I myself have seen, and would only recommend it to those who can handle the very darkest viewing. So, what has happened since 1992? Not much happened for a while, but the ending left many questions for the viewer. For years, fans of the show had to sit in silence and await what is next to come. Well, wait no more, as a few years back, it was announced that Twin Peaks is finally going to be concluded.

orror shows come in all shapes and sizes: some terrify audiences; others providing laughs; and an occasional show may be a guilty pleasure. 2015’s Scream Queens is most definitely a guilty pleasure kind of show, yet with comedy and some scares. From the creator of American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy, the show is essentially Mean Girls meets Cluedo; it’s a modern whodunit with a lot of bitchy and sassy characters. What more could you want? Season one followed the pledges of Kappa Kappa Tau as the Red Devil Killer picked them off one by one, whilst season two was set in a creepy hospital haunted by the Green Meanie Killer. The show was originally branded an anthology, similar to AHS, though this idea was later scrapped and so most surviving characters returned for the second season. In terms of casting, Scream Queens is particularly strong. Horror icon Jamie-Lee Curtis is the shows’ Jessica Lange of sorts, whilst the likes of Ariana Grande and Emma Roberts take on two of the sorority sisters. Throw in the likes of Taylor Lautner (season two), the late Carrie Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd, and Abigail Breslin, and you have yourselves a particularly fantastic ensemble.

“It’s not meant to be good per se. It almost laughs at itself and the charm of the show is in the ridiculousness”

The show itself is pretty naff and unbelievable. But it’s not meant to be good per se. It almost laughs at itself and the charm of the show is in the ridiculousness. One critic said that ‘maybe the trick […] is to not take it too seriously’ and that’s completely right. If you expect Oscar winning performances, polished plotlines and seriousness throughout then you’ll be severely disappointed. Wanting an injection of bitchy humour, outfits to die for and a teenage whodunit, then you’re in luck! If there is one ultimate highlight of the show then it would be the infamous Chanels (Roberts, Lourd, Breslin and Grande). You may have seen a meme or a gif of them floating around on Tumblr, because somewhat surprisingly they’ve become semipop culture icons online. A modern, and bitchier, version of ‘the Plastics’, they’re the shows resident bitches but also comedians. They provide the sass and the laughs. Scream Queens provides a running commentary, through the Chanels, on popular culture and the lives of American youth, complimented by the thoughts of the older characters, which is something done particularly well. Murphy may have a harsh track record of representing sorority/cheerleader types (Quinn Fabray anyone?) but there is a lot of truth in the critiques he makes. And they’re funny critiques. The Chanels’ obsession with tweeting, Tinder usage and coffee-shop needs are endearingly truthful yet portrayed in very ridiculously amusing ways. It’s a show with a tonne of horror connections, which makes for great viewing. Jamie-Lee Curtis, a horror legend in her own right thanks to the Halloween franchise amongst other roles, is also the daughter of Janet Leigh of Psycho fame. Curtis recreates her mother’s infamous shower scene during season one. It’s meta as hell... At the time of writing this, Scream Queens has yet to be renewed for a third season. So far its 23 episodes of camp horror, sassy humour and an incredible cast list, so it’s definitely worth at least trying an episode or two. You never know, you may end up scrolling through Etsy for Chanel merchandise. I was looking for a friend, obviously. Joel Leaver

26.filmfeatures

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Film Editors: Emma Allsopp, Zoë Godden & Simon Ramshaw

#OscarsSlightlyLessWhite

After the Oscars in the early hours of Sunday morning, Lauren Sneath takes at look at the more diverse 2017 nominees, and questions if they’re diverse enough

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) In our superior sequels column this week, Kitty Marie talks about one of the greatest follow-ups of all time, the Star Wars movie, The Empire Strikes Back. She tells us why she thinks it’s superior to the also great A New Hope.

f course, every film in the Star Wars saga is epically amazing and so perfectly scripted (with Rogue One clearly being the boss of all these), but from the original three, The Empire Strikes Back is the pinnacle; the best action, dialogue, suspense, scenes, and naturally, the most popular, talked about and re-watched moment in film history. There are many reasons why this film is, as a sequel, better than its predecessor; one of these is of course the love feud between Han Solo and Princess Leia finally reaching its climax as viewers find out Leia has had a liking for Han all along, telling him in a way that has been copied by lovers across the world more times than the Roses Are Red poem. Just five minutes after watching Empire, it’s immediately clear that this film is superior, not just to its prequel but to all other films, because of the cinematic beauty of The Walkers. If a Star Wars film is going to be good, it’s guaranteed to have The Walkers in it. At our ages, we weren’t so lucky to have seen AT-ATs in the cinema; a real shame, as a fifty-foot-wide screen would have done them justice. From the first moment the rebel troop on planet Hoth draws from his binoculars and confirms, “Echo station 3TA, we have spotted Imperial Walkers”, we go to a close-up of R2D2, imagining him saying, “Oh fuck, we’re all dead”, in his own little robot way. The viewer is stuck to their seat as they realise the true size of these terrifying, awesome Imperial fighting machines; they are that big the rebel trooper has to zoom-out on his binoculars, they are that big you can hear their massive footsteps from five miles away. Perfect!

For me, the reason why The Empire Strikes Back is better than A New Hope is because the Empire actually wins! Those well-dressed, well-organised, good-looking officers in grey finally exert justice on the Rebel Troops. Any film in which key characters are killed and a happy ending isn’t given is always a winner for me; this way it is less contrived and more believable. Back in the day this film had the best ending ever; it was most annoying, yet amazing cliffhanger in filmography. For everyone else, clearly the best part of The Empire Strikes Back is also the greatest scene in all of film history as Luke makes a discovery that shocked viewers everywhere and inspired moviemakers for many years; sometimes to make their own version, most times just to pay homage to this terrific turning point in all of cinema history.

nstitutional racism is the biggest monster hiding in plain sight which mankind must fight. This twisted figure lurks inside the most supposedly superior organizations in the world. It slithers around laws proclaiming racial equality, takes root in the insecurities of weakminded yet powerful individuals and grows, noxious and scaly with intolerance, until it seems invincible. When it comes to the film industry, the most recent and public manifestation this hideous beast took was the nominations of 2015 and 2016, which saw little to no people of colour (PoC) nominated in acting categories. This year, all has changed. Actors of ethnic minorities have been nominated in nearly every major category - at least, of the 20 nominations for the main acting roles, 7 of those are PoC. Now, as the media continues to pat the Oscars on the back for finally including these truly deserving actors from ethnic minorities in the nominations, let us stop and think for a minute about this supposed miracle. Yes, “well done” to the Academy for realizing that talent is not exclusive to white people. “Congratulations” for understanding that films like Moonlight and the aptly name Hidden Figures deserve recognition for opening the eyes of the world to the same kind of institutionalized racism that we saw present throughout the very same system last year. It is true that the Oscars have, thank goodness, realized that there are incredible PoC actors out there, as we see from the more diverse nominations list this year. And yet, there is still a long way to go. This issue of unfair underrepresentation of ethnic minorities extends beyond the red velvet-clad Oscars hall, to the film industry as a whole and its complete lack of leading roles for PoC. To see a real change in the number of PoC nominations

for major awards, there needs to be a change in attitude. This is not just a glass ceiling; it is an iron curtain open slightly so as to allow for the odd leading role, but nowhere near wide enough to release the huge flood of talent at the industry’s disposal if they should choose to recognize it.

“Trump represents the kind of institutionalised racism that must be stamped out before it infects even more of society”

Of course, the film industry does not have the best of role models when it comes to views on the issue of race. Let’s take the new President of the United States, for example. Donald Trump’s poisonous policies have extended their vicious tentacles as far as Hollywood, as the travel ban prohibits several

incredible Syrian Civil Defence volunteers such as Raed Saleh (head of the White Helmets, the subjects of the Oscar-nominated short documentary) and Khaled Khateeb, the cinematographer of the film, from attending the ceremony. The fact that these people, some nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for their role in saving over 60,000 people in Syria, are unable to receive the accolade they so justly deserve because of this ridiculous man, is horrifying. Trump represents the kind of institutionalized racism that must be stamped out before it infects even more of society, although I’m certainly glad to see that the Academy have taken positive steps towards breaking the chokehold that this kind of discrimination has previously held. Society needs to breathe, free from the gagging restraint of institutionalized racism, and let us hope that diversity continues to flourish as fast as bigotry withers away.

DC vs Marvel: Dawn of Good Films

With the DC Cinematic Universe failing at every turn Joe Holloran oﬀers some reasons, and solutions, for their consistent bad reception, and just plain awful luck

ast year saw the release of two highly anticipated cinematic adventures from the DC comic universe, through their enabler, sorry, distributor Warner Bros. Both films, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad, were critical failures. As someone who is comically-bi (likes both Marvel and DC), these films came as a huge personal disappointment, and with Wonder Woman and Justice League to come in the near future, the question now, unfortunately, must be asked; who can save the sinking ship that is the DC Cinematic Universe (DCCU)? To understand the DCCU’s failings, we must examine its nearest rival in Disney-owned Marvel. Why is one group of superheroes flying high while their gritty DC cousins are plummeting? There are many potential reasons for this, but for the sake of this rant, I’ll stick to two; character development and platform distribution. All three of the DCCU films released so far feature a complete and total lack of character development. This issue was noticed by many fans and critics back in 2013 with the first DCCU film, Man of Steel. But Hollywood is an industry, and Man of Steel brought in $668 million on its $225 million budget. So if you’re Warner Bros., why change what isn’t broke? Whilst the DC funds may be full, their integrity well is running dry.

“Hollywood is an industry, and Man of Steel brought in $668 million on its $225 million budget” This is where Marvel comes in. Disney bought the company in 2009 for around $2.5 billion and has been pumping out hits ever since, making its money back many times over. Disney’s filmmaking arm produces humorous, action-packed and internationally translatable superhero movies for the global market. These feature films showcase

Marvels more child-friendly characters like SpiderMan and Thor, whilst Netflix allows them to reach a broader, older audience of old school fans with multiple series like Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, full of all the sex, violence and ‘curses’ necessary to do the characters’ justice. DC, contrarily, doesn’t have a clear path to follow to allow its diverse characters to shine in their right environments, or to bring them together for the right reasons a la Captain America: Civil War. In past films like The Dark Knight, Constantine, and V for Vendetta, DC gave these ‘darker’ characters the space and time needed to flesh them out. Now they have sadly abandoned this model. In both Batman vs. Superman and Suicide Squad, Synder and Ayer respectively seem to have just googled DC toy

sales and converted those figures into two messes of films, all in the name of ‘fan service’ – a phrase which here means “Hey, we know the stuffy critics will hate it, but the fans will love seeing the shiny stuff.” This patronising attitude will only further alienate audiences, and it’s clear that it needn’t be that way. Look at the portrayal of the Holocaust in the X-Men series or the vile, very un-kid friendly Killgrave in Jessica Jones for examples of how heavy topics can be successfully incorporated into a ‘superhero’ universe. So, can the DCCU be saved? Only time will tell, but I truly think we have reached a crisis point after only three films. Perhaps both Wonder Woman (directed by a woman, which is a step forward) and Justice League will be revelations, but with the pre-production issues facing the untitled Batman sequel (currently releasing May 2018, but with no script or director), the prognosis doesn’t look good. My advice to Greg Silverstein and Warner Bros.? Call up Simon Kinberg, Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and Christopher Nolan, and ask for immediate help.

The Courier

reviewsfilm.27

Monday 6 March 2017

thecourieronline.co.uk/ﬁlm c2.ﬁlm@ncl.ac.uk | @Courier_Film

Golden Oldies Presents...

A Cure For Wellness (18)

Percy Adlom’s

t’s not often that I come out of the cinema totally dumbstruck by a film, but Gore Verbinski’s A Cure for Wellness certainly took me by surprise. The film follows Dane DeHaan as a young businessman travelling from New York to a Wellness Centre in the Swiss Alps in order to retrieve his company’s CEO. Sounds pretty standard, right? Oh, you’d be very, very wrong. Right off the bat, there is an unusual atmosphere clouding this film. Verbinski’s opening shots paint NYC as an eerily quiet and empty place; so much so, I was beginning to question the time period in which the film is actually set. Whilst we are most definitely in the present, the uncannily dystopian quality of the film’s first scene is only catapulted to stratospheric heights as DeHaan’s Lockhart reaches the Centre. The location instantly cast my mind to the asylum in Martin Scorsese’s 2010 film, Shutter Island. We all remember that ominous old lady silently shushing Leonardo DiCaprio, right? The patients in this film aren’t quite on that level, but Verbinski creates an unease in the audience that – similarly to Scorsese – sets Cure up as an unnervingly intriguing experience. Much of the film’s strengths do, in fact, lie in the hands of the director. The term ‘Visionary’ is often banded about slightly too much nowadays, but it is inarguable that Verbinski is deserving of that title. The nightmarish imagery that pervades so many of the shots throughout is captured in such a beautifully disturbing way, you’ll often find yourself

Patriots Day (15)

atriots Day depicts the story of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the subsequent manhunt, as local police and the FBI search for those responsible. Mark Wahlberg stars as Tommy Saunders, a fictional Boston Police Sergeant, in his second collaboration with director Peter Berg in the last year. Their previous film, Deepwater Horizon, treated the true story of the 2010 BP disaster with sledgehammer subtlety, and not much has changed. While the film is an occasionally proficient thriller, its use of the recent tragedy as the source for an entertaining police procedural is uncomfortable. After the blast, the film lingers on shots of injury in great detail, which feels exploitative, while an excellent shootout towards the conclusion is difficult to appreciate when the real-world implications are considered. Though it celebrates the resilience of Bostonians admirably, the film harbours troubling levels of nationalism, and its lazy representation of Islam is problematic in today’s political climate. However, the film does boast an impressive cast. Wahlberg successfully reprises his favoured everyman American role for the umpteenth time and is supported by a great number of character actors, including Kevin Bacon and John Goodman as an FBI Agent and Police Commissioner respectively. Unfortunately, none of the roles are properly developed, particularly a criminally underused Michelle Monaghan. Alex Wolff as bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the ever superb J.K. Simmons as Sergeant Pugliese fare somewhat better, but are hampered by a mediocre screenplay. The script is poor and subsequently the film’s tension fluctuates, leading the narrative to lose momentum frequently An unremarkable thriller, Patriots Day is hindered by its vast number of characters and awkward dialogue. Its release begs the question whether a recent tragedy should be used for entertainment purposes, and if it’s irresponsible to release a film which perpetuates these stereotypes of Islam. More like this: United 93 (2006) Dan Haygarth

wanting to avert your eyes, but realising that you can’t. However, the film does sometimes falter in stringing this imagery into a cohesive plot, with its hallucinogenic narrative interruptions feeling somewhat gratuitous. Perhaps these shots can feel unnecessary due to Cure’s almost two-and-a-half-hour runtime, which is undeniably longer than the film needs to be. In spite of this length though, there are various plot points that crave further explanation after the credits begin to roll. It is this paradoxical need for more in an already-overlong film that suggests that A Cure for Wellness could potentially work better as a TV miniseries. Nevertheless, there is entertainment to be had in tying those loose threads together yourself – and it is this element of the film that keeps the viewer pondering long after they’ve left the cinema. Well there’s that, and Verbinski’s shockingly horrifying use of eels throughout. As for the acting in A Cure for Wellness, DeHaan

carries the film well, solidifying opinion that he is a truly skilled actor. Adding further talent to the cast are supporting roles from relative newcomer Mia Goth, and a spine-chilling Jason Isaacs as the Centre’s director. Seriously, Lucius Malfoy, eat your heart out. Dr Volmer is in a new level of creepy. Regardless of the film’s obvious merit, there will be plenty of people turned off by A Cure for Wellness. Too weird, perhaps. Too long? Maybe even too graphic, in parts. However warranted these criticisms may be, Verbinski’s stark originality deserves applause in an industry where this is all too rare. You might want to leave off any trips to the aquarium for a while, though… you really won’t look at eels in the same way again. More like this: Suspiria (1977) Tom Cooney

It’s Only the End of the World (15)

20th Century Women (15)

t’s Only the End of the World (or ‘Juste le fin du monde’ in its native language) is a French drama by Xavier Dolan, sporting a cast to die for, but not much else. My initial impressions were that this film thought very highly of itself, and this theory was upheld as the film progressed. The film begins with a dramatic inside monologue from the ‘main character’ Louis, a prosperous gay theatre actor who has not been home for 12 years, sitting on a plane describing how he is about to go see his family and tell them that he is dying. I say ‘main character’ because I thought that this individual lacked any form of character development throughout the film, and just remained to stare blankly and mumble softly in nearly every scene, which doesn’t make him a very compelling figure at all. I believe it is fair to say that the film is almost plotless, and is essentially a bunch of disconnected scenes featuring monologues from each of his family members describing how Louis’ departure of 12 years has affected them personally. Intercut within these monologue scenes are seemingly random sections of slow motion staring between characters with poorly chosen music to accompany it. The soundtrack overall I found disappointing, featuring one too many cheesy 90’s European songs that did not fit in with the tone of the movie at all, with the exception of the closing song ‘Natural Blues’ by Moby. The only thing It’s Only The End of The World had going for it was the acting, which I found very impressive particularly from Vincent Cassel, playing Louis’ older brother Antione; a man who is abusive, rude, and cruel to nearly every other character he interacts with, including his wife. Despite this nastiness, it nonetheless gave the film some energy. Go to see this film if you’re looking to add some expressive monologues to your repertoire, but not if you want to be truly entertained.

deep and personal character analysis in the cinema these days is a rare phenomenon, but 20th Century Women managed to do exactly that as well as presenting a truly refreshing take on the 70s everyday life. The film centers on the lives of three women from different generations, whose issues intertwine and paint a nostalgic picture of ideologically and politically difficult decade: a middle-aged lady struggling to cope with the modern world and parenting, a cancer survivor in her 30s, and a teenager who seems to be making all the wrong decisions. The plot is overtly feminist, perhaps more than I expected from the trailer. An ultimate feminist Abbie’s (played by Greta Gerwig) attempt to speak about ‘menstruation’ at a dinner table, or educate a teenage boy about female sexuality comes across as endearing and innovative at the same time. It is sure to make each feminist today long for that ‘middle finger up’ attitude and apologetic optimism that understanding of women’s bodies and minds can be different. While the structure is awkward in places, and jumping from one character to another makes it difficult to keep attention to the overall narrative, the artistic shots and angles are charming and gripping from the first scene to the last. The choice of labeling the movie as a ‘comedy drama’ is also unclear, as the comedic scenes are rare and even when they do occur, the feeling of nostalgia overpowers any attempt to make the audience giggle. As this film doesn’t attempt to be a blockbuster, the screenwriting is clearly both artistic and accessible; for example, the clashing between generations is interesting to watch as writers attempt to make one movie about growing up and getting old at the same time. Raw, sensitive and much more modern that it could be expected from a movie set in 1970s, it is definitely a must-see for all feminists out there. If you don’t consider yourself one, still go – it might surprise you. More like this: Mistress America (2015)

More like this: Heartbeats (2010) Ellen McCullough

Kotryna Kairyte

Bagdad Café As the third part of Tyneside Cinema’s ‘Screening Women’ season, the programmers dug up the little-known magical comedy, Bagdad Café. Simon Ramshaw went to see if it was a damn fine cup of coffee or a barren wasteland of emotion.

ccording to the rules of this column, I’m supposed to talk about how hyped I was for this film. Truth be told, I had not heard a thing about Bagdad Café. All I recognised from it in the very little research I did beforehand was that CCH Pounder was one of the leads, an actress I’m only familiar with through Dennis Reynolds’ uncannily accurate impression in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Yet what a wonderful film Percy Adlon’s strange comedy-drama is to go in blind to. Chronicling the adventures of a German woman who strides off into the Mojave Desert after an argument with her cigar-chomping, hard-drinking husband, it is an often kooky but touching look at a utopian vision where culture, race and gender don’t matter, and anything is possible through the hard work and acceptance of others. Nothing much happens, but there’s a distinct vein of humour and wit that similarly runs through the work of Jim Jarmusch. It’s often the minor incidents that hit the hardest, but Adlon constructs his film with a twinkle of magical realism here and there, leaving the characters with real-world problems with a glint of optimism in their eyes.

Marianne Sägebrecht is fantastic as Jasmine, a woman way out of her depth that manages to command her situation with ease, but it’s CCH Pounder that makes the greatest impression. Modulating throughout the entire film between a raging fireball of pure fury and a lovable matriarch, she’s shrill but relatable, hateful but justified, and she comes off as the most well-rounded of the eccentric cast of characters. Jack Palance provides surprisingly sweet support as the local artist, endowed with silk shirts and fetching bandanas, but it’s the easy and likable demeanour of the ensemble as a whole that makes the film so warm. At first, I was sure I was going to have a problem with a ‘white saviour’ reading of the film that is easy to accept on first glance, but when you really look at what the film is saying, that problematic theory becomes irrelevant. Bagdad Café is a film about how people can do whatever they set out to achieve if they attempt to compromise to and understand each other’s ways. Whether you’re black or white, male or female, adult or child, we can all make the world a better place for one another. And in times like these, there’s not a lovelier message than that.

28.filmfeature

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Film Editors: Emma Allsopp, Zoë Godden & Simon Ramshaw

And the Academy Award goes to...

Did the 89th Oscars praise the right cinematic spectacles? The Courier Writers sum up their dream picks and their thoughts on the real winners, plus a recap of that movie mix-up...

re O, wait, Moonlight! BesNtERP: iLcatLu a Lan--N WIN

ckie Emma Allsopp: Ja nlight oo M Zoë Godden: es Joe Holloran: FencArrival : aw Simon Ramsh La La Land Sophie Schneider:

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Land ien Chazelle, La LaLand am D p: op lls A a Emm ien Chazelle, La La Zoë Godden: Damry Jenkins, Moonlight Joe Holloran: Bar: Denis Villeneuve, Arrival Simon Ramshaw Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge Sophie Schneider:

s s e La La Land r , e t n c to S A a / m r m o E y The Sea/ Best Act Manchester B

ey WINNER: Cas

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nd ma Stone, La La La Em / le op pe er ild nd t for the W ma Stone, La La Laie lian Dennison, Hun Em Ju / c p: ti op as lls nt A Fa a m in ck ta Em Mortensen, Cap atalie Portman, Ja Zoë Godden: Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic / Ns, Arrival go Joe Holloran: Vig dam Driver, Paterson / Amy Adam Stone, La La Land A : n, Fences / Emma Simon Ramshaw Denzel Washington r: Sophie Schneide

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s s e r t c A / r o t c s Supporting A la Davis, Fence

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m l i F d e t a m i n A Best otopia WINNER: Zo

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y h p a r g o t a m e Best Cin nd a WINNER: Laie L

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The Courier

featurefilm.29

Monday 6 March 2017

thecourieronline.co.uk/ﬁlm c2.ﬁlm@ncl.ac.uk | @Courier_Film

m l i F e g a u g n a est Foreign L

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he Emma Allsopp: T epan he D n: Zoë Godde Erdmann Joe Holloran: Toni: Evolution Simon Ramshaw The Salesman Sophie Schneider:

y a l p n e e r c S l Sea pted/Origina

da y the b r e t s e Best A h c n a M R: Moonlight/

WINNE

er rrival / The Lobst Emma Allsopp: A es / The Lobster Zoë Godden: Fenc es / Manchester by the Sea ! Joe Holloran: Fenc: Arrival / Everybody Wants Some! aw La La Land Simon Ramsh Hidden Figures / r: de ei hn Sc ie ph So

Our Writers’ Final Thoughts

fter the truly dreadful year of cinema that was 2016, the 2017 Academy Awards actually decided to not be too annoying. Sure, Suicide Squad may have now won as many Oscars as Martin Scorsese has in his lifetime, but that’s not particularly worth getting hung up about when we can complain about Amy Adams not even getting nominated for her stellar work in Arrival. That’s all I can really grumble about though, as I’m pretty firmly in the La La Land camp. It’s essentially been this year’s Mad Max: Fury Road, cleaning up in the technical categories while making way for a film ending in the word ‘light’ to snatch Best Picture from its grasp. I shamefully haven’t seen a large portion of the Best Picture nominees yet (Moonlight included; it will get watched next week, I promise), so my opinion is worth exactly zilch, but (and this is a big but) Arrival is my favourite thing since sliced bread. So, ultimately, it should have won, but the Oscars have never enjoyed the language of cinema being reinvented for the better, so whatever. Simon Ramshaw

ow long have the Oscars ceremonies have there been? Oh that’s right. Eighty-nine. Yet they still managed to give the presenters the wrong envelope when it came to arguably the biggest award of the night, Best Picture. Solid job, guys. Overall I was happy with the nominees, though Amy Adams was robbed of a nomination for Arrival. I was also pretty happy with the winners this year, which makes a welcome change. I was overjoyed for Emma Stone, her past work is so consistent and it was only a matter of time until she got to take home a golden statue. The main winner I did not agree with was Casey Affleck after all of the sex-pest controversy recently surrounding him. I was overjoyed when Brie Larson, who was presenting the Best Actor award, did not applaud him as he came to the stage. But, apart from that, it’s definitely a better and more diverse year than the last. Emma Allsopp

side from the obscene, yet predictable, quantity of little gold men awarded to what I now refer to as ‘Blah Blah Land’, I didn’t actually hate the results this year. On Friday, in preparation for the award ceremony, I watched Moonlight, and was blown away. It deals so frankly and beautifully with sexuality in black culture; movies like this help shift our perspective of society, and deserve credit far more than a trivial musical. So, I optimistically predicted a few Oscars for the highly deserving cast, and was thrilled the committee had at last swallowed down their outdated prejudices and awarded this deserving production. Mahershala Ali is also the first Muslim to receive an Oscar, yet another overdue milestone for Hollywood. Similarly, I was pleased with the victory of The Salesman, as it had become a rallying cry for immigrant rights after the travel ban. Maybe Trump might get the message… or not. Sophie Schneider

bout this time last year, I wrote a reaction piece to the 88th Academy Awards in this very paper. I predicted social change was on the horizon for the film industry, and I’m pleased to say we’re on our way there. From Brie Larson refusing to applaud Casey Affleck, to the surprisingly woke Zootopia taking Best Animated Film for tackling racial tensions, the Oscars are beginning to treat wider social issues seriously. It’s not quite up there with the BAFTA’s new policy on only selecting diverse nominees, but the larger number of people of colour nominated in major categories this year is certainly a start. The iconography of the Moonlight envelope, a black LBGT+ film, being risen in the air to beat the Hollywood love letter La La Land is an image that will stay with me forever. But most importantly, Suicide Squad won Best Make-Up, which means it has one more Oscar than you do – and that makes this human meme very happy. Zoë Godden

o, that happened. Apparently the two (presumably pissed up) agents from the firm (PwC) accidently handed the envelope containing Best Actress to the two hosts Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. The five minutes and two speeches that followed felt like the worst, most cringe inducing Impractical Jokers punishment ever. In the end once the smoke had cleared and the P45’s were handed out, Moonlight not La La Land was deservedly crowded Best Picture. The other categories, in what was threatening to be a dull ceremony given all the hype, went as expected. Viola Davis won for her exemplary performance in Fences, Ali won for Moonlight and Emma Stone and Damien Chazelle won for Best Actress and Best Director respectively. All in all, another routine Oscars has passed, with only the one moment of self-Kanyeing on the part of the PwC to last in the memory. Joe Holloran

30.gaming

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Gaming Editors: Jordan Oloman, Errol Kerr and Jared Moore

Review::

Errol Kerr drops into the long-anticipated follow up to Halo’s fast-paced RTS

Autopsy: Fallout 4 Gerry Hart talks postapocalypse post-mortem in the latest wasteland classic

ow I know what you’re all thinking. “But Gerry, Fallout 4 was a good game. It’s Bethesda’s most successful title AND it managed to slow traffic to Pornhub. How can you slate such a masterpiece?” To which I would say I agree for the most part. That Fallout 4 managed to stay many a wanker’s hand certainly commands respect and I personally myself enjoyed the game. Nonetheless, Fallout 4 contained a number of glaring issues that warrant investigation. Thus my intention is to pinpoint where it fell short, as opposed to what these pieces usually are (i.e. less of an autopsy and more like ritual dismemberment). To begin with, let’s touch on some of the positives. Fallout 4’s gunplay is markedly improved from its predecessors, doubtless the result of the Doom and Wolfenstein devs’ input. I also loved the new companions, all of whom held dynamic and multifaceted personalities and viewpoints. Not only are they interesting to engage with in themselves but they add another level of gravitas to your decisions as they praise and criticise your actions based on their own values. I particularly liked Nick Valentine and Piper, the latter of which I have since designated as my waifu. However none of these points negate the game’s shortcomings. My first gripe lies with the protagonist themselves. The sole survivor, like preceding Fallout protagonists, is largely player-made, yet in Fallout 4 much more about the protagonist is predetermined. In the intro for instance, the protagonist is in a heterosexual marriage with a child, a very particular life for a game that predicates itself on letting the player “be whoever they want to be”. But more fundamentally, Fallout 4’s protagonist is the first to be voiced. Think about the amount of times you’ve played a game where your character’s words were presented in text. How often do you read that text “in character”? How they speak, their vocal inflections, the tone of their voice is left to your imagination. Its an incredibly subtle yet a powerfully engaging way of helping players define their character and by giving the protagonist a defined voice, Fallout 4 strips the player of this agency. This is why I said my self-made Ryan Gosling lookalike never really felt like “my character” so much as Fallout 4’s. Then there’s the plot at large. The term “ludonarrative dissonance” (i.e. where gameplay and narrative contradict one another) is thrown around a fair bit by game critics, often falsely (see BioShock: Infinite) but in Fallout 4’s case it fits perfectly. The premise of the game is that you, a survivor from the pre-war world, must rescue your child after being rudely awakened from 210 years of cryogenic suspension. You’d think this would necessitate some urgency but Bethesda’s openworld RPGs are built to encourage slow-paced, introspective exploration which all but discourages progressing the main story. Thing is, this dissonance wasn’t inevitable. I actually like the “man/woman out of time” premise, and surely a more compelling story could’ve been built around the player simply exploring their new surroundings. I could go on listing problems but my intention was never to bash Fallout 4. Still, Fallout 4 is the weakest Fallout game to date, and as someone who adores the franchise, I hope Bethesda looks beyond its financial successes and learns from Fallout 4’s failings. Or just let Obsidian make another game, that’d be cool too.

’ve promised myself I wouldn’t fanboy over the newest Halo instalment. After all, I enjoyed Halo 5: Guardians, but it was poorly recieved overall, and even I felt that certain story elements were lacklustre. Nevertheless, Halo Wars 2 came out, and I obviously fanboyed over it. Hard. Bringing the real-time strategy videogame masters, Creative Assembly, into the ranks whilst creating the game, 343 industries has nade sure to build on the successes of the first Halo Wars whilst repairing damages done by Halo 5: Guardians. The result? A pretty damned good game that plays just as well on console as it does on PC. You return to the Spirit of Fire, the ship from the first game, albeit waking from cryosleep 20-something years in the future after the events of Halo 5, and find yourselves inexplicably hovering above the Ark, the ancient structure from Halo 3. Your adversary, the Banished, are a violent, Brute-led Covenant splinter, and are more aggressive and physical force than their OG Covenant predecessors. 343 have done something in Halo Wars 2 that fans have been asking for since Halo 4 - a return to Bungie’s style. Brutes are back. The three members

of the Spartan Red team are decked out in early generation power armour. Older weapons such as the Halo 2 Battle Rifle, Halo 3’s Brute Shot and the mighty Scarab make appearances throughout, with very little input from the newer art styles from 343 Industries’ most recent takes at the Halo universe. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it sure as hell is for die-hard fans. The gameplay works in a general, rock-paperscissors manner in regards to infantry-aircraftvehicles, as to be expected - the previous game utilised the same effect - however I felt sometimes that was poorly balanced, and sometimes ignored the cost of units in comparison. However, in most cases, it’s an incredibly balanced game, both in campaign, multiplayer, and its new Blitz modes. The campaign tells an incredibly clear story, with beautiful CGI cutscenes created by Blur, which, as to be expected, are absolutely amazing. The enemy is relentless and the feeling of fighting an unstoppable foe utilising guerilla warfare, the entire MO of the Halo franchise whilst playing as the Master Chief in the main FPS series, is prevalent throughout the story. The multiplayer is forgiving enough for players to learn strategy and

the best ways to counter their opponents, but not as kind as to let individuals slip up. You’re able to bring in the full firepower of your faction to bear, alongside the units from your leader’s unique roster. Atriox, the Brute leader of the Banished, is able to recruit violent Brute leaders, whilst Captain Cutter of the Spirit of Fire is able to utilise orbital fire to clear areas. There are currently six leaders, but as part of the game’s DLC, six new leaders are to join them. alongside this DLC, side story missions will be included. Yes, you heard me, story DLC. When was the last time you heard anyone releasing story DLC?! Blitz, I’ve written about before myself, but it’s a clean-cut, card-based game, allowing you to spend recharging resources to recruit soldiers to fight your foe and capture areas. It’s a novel way to play an RTS, and it works surprisingly well. In fact, all three main gametypes play somewhat faster than anticipated, yet all three work perfectly alongside each other. I can’t see myself popping on another RTS for a short while. At least, until Dawn of War III turns up in late April. Anywho, if you want me, I’ll be sitting in my Captain’s chair, blasting aliens from orbit.

Image Credit: Errol Kerr, 343 Industries

Indie Insight: Four Last Things Jordan Oloman puts his Art History specs on to look at this indie renaissance game W

hen I played Joe Richardson’s first game, The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything I was struck by its unique nature. From the art to the existential satire, it was cutting edge and really stuck out to me. Joe has a knack for creating unique experiences, and Four Last Things is no different. Joe has swapped the fantastic homunculus-esque art style of the first game for renaissance art, and the visual aesthetic of the game is one of the best I think i’ve ever seen. Joe invigorates the already gorgeous renaissance art with carefully crafted animation that makes every scene a (literal) painting. Its a delight to look at and even just breathe in when you’re situated in a busy scene. In regards to the gameplay, I think Joe says it best on the games Steam page. “It’s kind of like if Monkey Island had been made in 16th century Flanders by a time-travelling Monty Python fanboy”. Its a point and click adventure at its core, and it retains that excellent style of comedy that seems to be intrinsic to this particular genre. One of the puzzles involved acquiring paperwork for

a lawyer to rob a family of their inheritance, but you can also ask him for advice about procuring public domain artwork to be used in another form of media... genius.

“I would often take a minute to just gawp at the sheer beauty of each locale”

Little digs like that are littered throughout the game as you strive to repeat the seven deadly sins and atone for your deeds. The puzzles were all right in that adventure game sweet spot where its not ridiculous moon logic but also not patronising and easy. It was intuitive enough to make you feel clever when you figured something out which is my barometer for an excellent title in this genre. The solutions related to a lot of renaissance themes, and whilst the world exists in a limited number of set scenes, they were all used to great advantage, and I would often take a minute to just gawp at the sheer beauty of each locale. The art gallery, a

repository full of beautiful Hieronymus Bosch paintings among The game is quite short depending on your ability to work out the puzzles, clocking in at around 4 hours. Of course this doesn’t equate to its quality, and in my opinion the experience is entirely worth the price. This game is unlike anything I’ve ever seen, especially int his medium where the art style is concerned. This kind of creative gaming pivot is exactly the kind of thing we should endorse and support in order to push our favourite pastime in the right direction. The adventure game genre has been experiencing a drought lately, but with titles like Four Last Things and Her Majesty’s Spiffing coming out of the woodwork with excellent new spins on the formula its a great time to be a fan. This unique title will make you laugh, gawp, and maybe even have an existential crisis when the game rounds off and delivers its prescient comments on Christian theology. Pick it up on Steam and explore this visual delight.

The Courier

gaming.31

Monday 6 March 2017

Memory Card: Persona 4 Michael Hicks gets sucked into a TV and solves a bunch of crazy murders with friends

o, after three and a half years (and numerous, painful delays) Persona 5 is finally hitting Western shores in April. To say I am insanely excited would be a massive understatement. To celebrate Persona 5 finally (maybe, hopefully) arriving I’ve decided to look back at the previous entry in the series, and my favourite game of all time, Persona 4. For the uninitiated, Persona is one of the most unique RPG series out there. It’s equal parts visualnovel, life simulator and dungeon crawler. Set in modern-day Japan, you take control of a group of teenagers with the ability to summon “Personas” to aid them in turn-based battles. Persona 4 takes place in the rural town of Inaba; a place where everyone knows everyone else and, usually, not a whole lot happens. You play the protagonist, a new kid in town. You’ve been sent away from the big city to live with your police detective uncle, and his daughter, for the year. Just as you start to ease in to your new life, the town makes headlines when a celebrity is murdered. Then it all starts to get weird. You find yourself sucked into a television, brought into an alternate dimension called “the

Midnight Channel”. You quickly learn that that those sucked into this world turn up dead the following morning. It’s up to you, and your friends, to stop the culprit and to bring an end to the grisly series of murders.

“Atlus’ game about dorky teens literally changed my life”

All the while, you have to balance your investigation with living your daily life. You go to school in the mornings, do some after-school stuff, go home to sleep, and do it all again tomorrow. All while fighting monsters in whatever downtime you have. You can get a part-time job, go fishing, read books and so much more. The main highlight is the Social Links. Spending quality time with your friends increases how close the two of you become; levelling up their Social Link and allowing you to fuse more powerful Personas. I found myself completely immersed managing my day-to-day life. Everything is so well-written and acted that it comes off as completely natural. You soon get to know each character inside out, and I quickly

became attached. Persona 4’s presentation is top notch. Everything is comprised of bright, bold colours. Shoji Meguro’s soundtrack is phenomenal. Five years on from my first playthrough I still listen to the mix of catchy J-Pop melodies and guitar-led grooves near daily, and it still sounds great. All of this makes for a game that, in contrast to other RPGs, is just so damn upbeat. Finally, why I hold Persona 4 so dear is because it changed me as a person. Before Persona 4, I was a nervous, socially awkward wreck; terrified of moving away from family and friends for university. Seeing the cast confront their fears made me confront mine. That fear of people slowly subsided. Moving wasn’t the end of my world any more. Without the impact that Persona 4 had on me, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to make the friends I have, go to societies or even write this you’re reading now. To be cheesy, Atlus’ game about dorky teenagers playing Scooby Doo literally changed my outlook on life. That’s why I can’t wait to play Persona 5. At the very least, Meguro has written one hell of a soundtrack for it.

thecourieronline.co.uk @Courier_Gaming

Top 5 Mods in Games Jack Coles gets all up and nasty in the game code Killing Floor (Unreal Tournament 2004) I’m not entirely sure what Unreal Tournament was, but it must have been successful for the developers to make 2004 versions of the damn game (see also, Windows 95, Xbox 360, Fast and Furious 6). While it may have faded into obscurity over the years, Killing Floor has kept itself current by releasing a sequel last year. This mod features lots of weapons and weird mutated enemies to kill with said weapons; pretty standard stuff. The original Killing Floor is still played today, and even has Steam Workshop support. That’s right, you can now mod a mod. What a time to be alive.

Garry’s Mod (Half-Life 2)

Are you Switched On?

Georgina Howlett and Richard Liddle go head-to-head on Nintendo’s newest console

Nintendo

s the release of Nintendo’s console gets closer, one question seems to be on the lips of every critic – can it succeed, or is it going to be another flop like the Wii U? The problems seem all too familiar; a weak launch lineup and less power than the competition were two of the principle flaws of the U. But Nintendo has also taken some clear lessons its previous failures. Firstly, and most importantly, they’ve avoided the confused reveal and launch of the U. Where a lot of more casual gamers were left unsure what exactly the Wii U was (I still have friends who don’t know why it’s different to a Wii), the Switch’s core concept is right there in the name, and the various adverts that have started popping up demonstrate the console’s dual identity as a home console and portable clearly and simply. And on the topic of the ads, Nintendo has stepped up its game, using its first ever Superbowl ad spot to get the word out to a huge audience. The Switch also has a massive advantage over the U in the form of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Every preview so far has been massively positive and the reviews look to be going the same way, with a perfect 10 from Edge. The Wii U had no such big hitter; Nintendo Land was good fun but ultimately not much more than a minigame collection and ZombiU was met with a lukewarm response at best. Zelda, on the other hand, looks like it’s going to go down a storm. All in all then, the future’s looking bright for the Switch. It’ll be a while before we know for certain, but I’m confident

By Richard Liddle

Nintendon’t

ith pre-order numbers having exceeded expectations, the Switch has already gotten a good head start on its predecessor the Wii U – but it is still in danger of falling short of success. First and foremost, the launch line-up – bar Breath of the Wild – admittedly wasn’t that great. There’s only one huge-hitter currently playable, and while games like 1-2-Switch are undoubtedly fun in groups, its novelty will wear off fast. I still believe 1-2-Switch should have been inclusive like Wii Sports was for the Wii, as no way will I ever pay £40 for that (sorry, Nintendo!), and similarly the news that the Switch will utilise a paid online service from August disappoints me given how Nintendo’s online play has been pretty hit-andmiss in the past. The main IPs like Super Mario Odyssey and Splatoon 2 are months away yet, so no doubt many fans have held out on purchasing based on that. Additionally, as much as I love Nintendo, it can’t be denied that the Switch is, at its core, another gimmicky, underpowered console. Compared to its most recent competitors – Sony’s PS4 Pro and Microsoft’s Xbox One S – it barely compares in terms of graphic quality and performance, and as such it will no doubt be denied many new and upcoming high-end titles. The portability of the console is an excellent selling point, but it also has its drawbacks - the sacrifice of basic processing power being one of them. How well will the Switch fair against its modern competitors? Only time will tell.

By Georgina Howlett

Garry’s Mod is a blessing for those of you who enjoy YouTubers playing odd little games in the Source Engine. For some other people, it provides a great early stepping stone for learning game design and production. You can set facial expressions on pre-made or personalised NPCs, create intricate machines with working parts, or just stack up a thousand barrels of trinitrotoluene and blow them up with a shotgun you just summoned from the ether. If you know how to code in Lua, you can even add your own scripts. I can’t, though, so I have no idea how well this works.

Antibirth (The Binding of Isaac Rebirth) For those of you unfamiliar with The Binding of Isaac, you play as a child who is escaping from his murderous mum and uses various abortionrelated products and items related to religion or childhood accidents to kill Satan. Along the way, Isaac will also kill his mum, and then destroy her heart or unborn foetus. Antibirth expands on the central themes, adding items that fit in seamlessly while giving an option to fight a secret boss that I can only assume is Isaac’s mum’s dead body. Don’t think about that sentence too long - I certainly didn’t.

Long War (XCOM: Enemy Unknown) Yep, cows go “moo”, sheep go “baa”, Conservatives go “we should give big businesses greater tax breaks”, and I go “I’m putting XCOM in a top 5”. Personal bias aside, Long War is a huge mod released for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and recently re-made for XCOM 2, expanding the gameplay of both. Although the changes in XCOM 2 may be more dramatic, I’ve put Long War EU (instead of Long War 2) here because XCOM 2 is highly moddable, while XCOM EU had to be literally hacked for the mod to function.

SKSE (Skyrim) OK, so maybe the top mod in this list possibly has the driest name ever. “Skyrim Script Extender”. To be quite honest, this mod isn’t the most fun on this list; rather, it’s the most important. Without SKSE, many of the very best mods for Skyrim just couldn’t exist. “Achieve That”, “The Dance of Death”, and “SkyUI” are just some of the mods that require it. SKSE is also required for some skeleton-altering mods, so we have that to… umm… “thank”… for the absolute landslide of nudie mods you have in the Nexus. Seriously. It’s disturbing.

32. science&technology

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Science Editors: Matthew Byrne, Natalie Farmer & Ciara Ritson-Courtney

On this day

Really alive, virtually dead

March 8th 1855 James McCoull looks into the virtual death that could change the lives of millions Science Editor Natalie t’s pretty widely known that at one of the unclear, it remains worthwhile to consider the timistic that VR can be used for good; both in this Farmer crosses to the first ever cinema screenings, Arrival of the implications. Could VR be the next stage in train- reality and the simulated ones they project. On a Train (1896), the audiences were so shocked ing soldiers, fire fighters, police officers and others more meta level, this study shows the extraordiother side to rebuild the and compelled by the illusion of a train heading who enter high-risk jobs? On the flipside, training nary potential for the applications of VR for scienfor them that they physically jumped surgeons to witness death without anyone actu- tific research – psychological experiments being, of world’s ﬁrst railway suspen- directly back in their seats, terrified that it would hit ally dying could be a good way to introduce them course, a pertinent example. VR isn’t bound by the them. Now, however, over a hundred years lat- to the grim realities of their life-or-death work. normal restrictions of physical laws, and so these sion bridge

e all know about the amazing sight that is Niagara Falls. Some of us have even been lucky enough to have visited its illustrious beauty. And, if you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, then you need to crawl out of the rock you’ve been living under and quickly Google this magnificent collection of waterfalls. But, have you heard of the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge? Given that it was only in use from 1855 to 1897, I doubt it (I’m graduating soon, and even though I might feel old, I most certainly am not that old). Its construction began in 1852 with the aim to promote trading between the United States and Canada. It was argued at the time that a bridge of this nature would never allow the safe passage of trains, since it would be the first working railway suspension bridge – although these doubts were proven wrong on 8th March 1855, when a fully-loaded passenger train, described as “a mammoth English freight engine”, successfully crossed! Construction was completed in 1855 by John Augustus Roebling, a German-American civil engineer who later went on to design and build the better-known Brooklyn Bridge. He replaced civil engineer Charles Ellet Jr., who left the project following a financial dispute. Roebling continued to build suspension bridges throughout the rest of his career, including one in Pittsburgh. He also designed a suspension bridge over the Ohio River in Cincinnati, named the Cincinnati-Covington Bridge. It was later renamed the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, as it was the world’s longest suspension bridge at the time of completion in 1867. The completion of the bridge led to increased tourism to Niagara Falls, and also achieved the aim of better trade opportunities between the two countries. Before the American Civil War in 1861, the Underground Railroad enabled slaves to escape across the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge to Canada, which became colloquially known as “the promised land”. Although this bridge clearly brought a lot of joy into the world, it’s no secret that it also had its faults. Due to budget restrictions, it was mostly built using wood – something which even I, someone who wouldn’t touch engineering with a bargepole, could tell you was a bad idea. It wasn’t surprising when the bridge began to rot due to the moisture around Niagara Falls. For this reason, the original architecture was replaced with steel by 1880, which enabled the bridge to be used for a bit longer. More problems were encountered shortly after, though. I hate to be the bearer of bad

“It wasn’t surprising when the bridge began to rot due to the moisture around the Falls”

news (because I’m sure that reading this article about bridges is really brightening your day today), but in the 40 years after the bridge was built, the weight of the average train had increased by over 700%. It doesn’t take an engineer (or a physicist) to recognise that this was not feasible, and so the bridge was redesigned and completed in 1897. What stands today is an arch bridge, now known as the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge. So there you have it. It’s been exactly 162 years since the original bridge was completed, but you can still visit today to appreciate its history – and all the rot-infesting, steelreplacing, slave-smuggling science of it.

er, researchers think virtual reality might help to actually reduce the fear of death in users. This information comes from Barcelona University, where a test was administered to VR users who were equipped with a headset and haptic feedback devices that vibrated to simulate the impact of virtual items hitting them, which they could see through the headset. After a few more of these activities, their perspective was changed to a thirdperson view whereby they could see themselves sat in the room. The camera then panned back, distancing their perspective from their actual body.

“Could VR be the next stage in training soldiers, fire fighters, police officers and others who enter high-risk jobs?”

Following the experiment, volunteers who had experienced this latter out-of-body component of the test answered a questionnaire indicating a reduced fear of death compared to volunteers who had only done the first-person portions of the test. The researchers hypothesised that this could be due to the experiment tricking the brain into believing it had survived a death-like experience with no negative consequences, having ‘left the body’ and returned, thus reducing the amount of fear felt at the prospect of dying. Though the reasons for this phenomenon are

“VR isn’t bound by the normal restrictions of physical laws, and so these virtual spaces might be the new testing ground for theoretical experiments”

However, dying in VR and dying in real life, it goes without saying, are two very different things. Almost by definition, no amount of virtual deaths will ever match reality, and you can’t take off the headset when it’s your actual body on the line. This could prove dangerous in unexpected ways. The fear of mortality is a survival instinct, after all, and we feel pain and fear death so that we’re inclined to avoid hazards. Numbing ourselves to that fear means we might see a rise in accidental, avoidable deaths caused simply by a loss of instinct – probably nothing so obvious as scaling power lines or holding live fireworks, but perhaps more subtle things like crossing busy roads with less caution. This is all hypothetical, though, and I remain op-

virtual spaces might be the new testing ground for theoretical experiments that previously were rendered impossible by the limitations of reality. What else can we expect from the future of VR? Video games, as we might expect, are leading the charge into this new (or not so new – primitive headsets, after all, are as old as the late 20th century) medium, but many artists are creating immersive digital exhibitions mediated through virtual reality, even as local as some galleries in Newcastle. Rogue One director Gareth Edwards did a lot of special effects work using VR to ‘compose’ the CGI elements, and here at Newcastle there have been trials run to help autistic children overcome phobias through virtual reality therapy techniques. The applications are varied, the potential is massive, and in spite of all the dangers, it’s safe to say that the future of VR is looking bright.

The new sun and the seven dwarves

Science Editor Ciara Ritson-Courtney travels to the ultra-cool Trappist-1 and beyond

s many of you probably know, we recently found a possible answer to our earthly problems. In recent years through industrialisation and mass production we begun and are continuing to destroy our atmosphere. We’re running out of natural resources, and the sun doesn’t have too long left, so we have found a solution- lets just move! Estate agents across the globe have convinced us moving home isn’t too difficult and now, scientists may be too.

and could suggest that the milky way may have many more planets alike our own. The planets were actually estimated by a measurement of the starlight they blocked out on their star.

“Astronomers recently discovered a huddle of seven worlds, all close to earth size with the potential to be warm enough to sustain life and have liquid water”

Trappist-1 is only 39 light years away, however the star itself is only a little larger than Jupiter. This means that the light that it produces is around 2,000 times fainter than our sun, therefore for the planets to be at an ambient temperature they must be closer to their star than we are to ours. The star is also thought to be a salmon pink colour, which could make for some pretty amazing sunsets. The planets vary between -10%+25% the size of earth and have tiny orbits. The outermost planet in the Trappist-1 system is six times closer to its star than mercury is to ours. The fifth planet in the system is considered the most habitable of them and has been named planet 1f (not very imaginative), however it takes only 9.21 days to orbit its star. The close proximity of the planets will make all of the planets ‘tidally locked’

Astronomers recently discovered a huddle of seven worlds, all close to earth size with the potential to be warm enough to sustain life and have liquid water. These planets orbit a faint star called Trappist-1 in the constellation of Aquarius. This is the first time so many earth sized planets have been found orbiting the same star

“Trappist-1 is only 39 light years away, however the star itself is only a little larger than Jupiter”

meaning only one side of them will face the star itself, alike the moon only showing us one face. As Trappist-1 is an ultra-cool dwarf star, the conditions on the surface of these planets will be very different to on earth. Dwarf stars are known for releasing fierce bursts of x-rays and ultraviolet light, which may hinder the planets life harbouring nature. However, it is still an infant star at the moment meaning when the sun finally dies Trappist-1 will continue burning. This discovery may be a break through in our search for alien life beyond the solar system. Researchers hope to know if these worlds host any life forms within a decade. However, who knows, maybe when the sun starts giving up, we might be moving there.

Key facts

39 lightyears away 2,000 times fainter than the sun 7 dwarf planets A whole lot of a discovery!

The Courier

science&technology.33

Monday 6 March 2017

Spectral scanning

Errol Kerr explores the study that points to early diagnosis of ASD and its draw backs

ast month saw several notable studies in Autistic Spectrum Disorder, its diagnosis, and its genetic origins. The first, a study at the University of North Carolina, looked into MRI scans of infants – as often, children with brains that develop faster than normal are diagnosed with ASD later in life, usually after the age of two years, once the behavioural and communication differences become notable. Study author Joseph Piven revealed that this study showed that early development biomarkers could be utilised to identify children who may eventually be diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. This study found faster growth specifically of the cortical surface at six and twelve months within infants diagnosed with ASD at two years old. This study, as intriguing as it may be, is incredibly problematic, as the USA has a very anti-ASD slant, and indicate that this could be used to manipulate the brain of the child “presymptomatically” so as to inhibit the development of ASD symptoms. Researchers also are incredibly wary of this, as the study only looked at 150 infants – a statistically minute study, and the study has not been repeated as of yet, making it statistically unviable until that is done. This study brings into debate the nature of ASD, whether as an illness to be

“This study brings into debate the nature of ASD, whether as an illness to be cured, or a brain development to be embraced”

cured, or a brain development to be embraced and dealt with accordingly. Whilst the latter is the norm in the UK, the debate rages on in the USA. The second study wades heavily into this debate, all guns blazing. A study from Yale University, published on February 27th, suggests that the genetic

variations that are linked to ASD are in fact linked directly to positive selections during human evolution – due to the fact they contribute to enhanced cognitive capabilities. Looking at a genome-wide association study, the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium have showed that inherited genetic variants were shown under positive selection, in far more numbers than merely as a chance genetic variation. Usually, negative variants are eliminated from a population quickly, indicating that ASD traits are

n o t considered negative to survival by the human genome, and their positive selection – or their regularity in the human genome, indicates their better survival chance. Senior research assistant, and first author of the paper, Renato Polimanti indicates that within this study, they ‘found a strong positive signal that, along with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, these variants are also associated with intellectual achievement’, and are therefore not removed from the gene pool. This study points towards the human genome

New Zealandia Amanda Jane Yap explores a brave new found world

new continent hidden in the South Pacific Ocean, by the name of Zealandia, has just been discovered! Just when we thought that mother Earth is running out of space to comfortably fit our world’s population, she surprises us once again. Researchers are convinced that they have uncovered the world’s eighth continent, completely separate from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, North America, Antarctica and Australia. Currently, this surprising find lies in the South Pacific Ocean, beneath New Zealand. It has been established in the Geological Society of America’s Journal, GSA that Zealandia is measured to be two-thirds the size of Australia and 94% of it is submerged underwater.

“It fits into neither category of micro-continent nor a fullblown continent”

Zealandia is supposedly part of a massive ancient super-continent, dubbed Gondwana or Gondwanaland – that included Australia and most of the remaining Southern Hemisphere. Consequently, this super-sized continent broke apart roughly 180 million years ago with some pieces sinking into the ocean. Currently, geologists are fighting for Zealandia to receive rightful recognition as the world’s eighth

continent. This fight has been dragged on for more than 20 years, resulting in failure each time because most of the landscape is below sea level. Nick Mortimer, a geologist at GNS Science in

“Researchers are convinced that they have uncovered the world’s eighth continent”

Dunedin, New Zealand, mused: “If a plug could be pulled on the world’s ocean, it would be obvious that Zealandia stands out about 3,000 metres above the ocean crust.” Mortimer, together with a team of geologists, have checked off boxes that meets the usual definitions of a continent. Such as the region of Zealandia consists of continental rocks like granite unlike the denser volcanic basalt that forms ocean crust. Moreover, what could have prevented Zealandia from being officially recognised as a continent could be because of its size, it fits into neither category of micro-continent nor a full-blown continent. Richard Ernst, a geologist at Carleton University in Ottawa, defines Zealandia as ‘a grey area’. However, he suggests that newlycoined Zealandia could very well be the bridging point between a microcontinent and a full-developed continent, which could bring about a fitting term such as mini-continent. Earlier in February, scientists from South Africa announced the finding of a proposed new continent, named Maurita, which is under the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. It is said that this section of land could very well be part of the breakage of the ancient Gondwana continent where Zealandia originates from.

taking ASD traits within its genome alongside the intellectual and cognitive advances, as the benefits largely outweigh the drawbacks of developing Autistic Spectrum Disorder. This study, funded by grants by the US National Institutes of Health, as well as a NARSAD Young Investigator Award from the Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation, is far more reliable than the former, yet still needs further investigation and replication.

“The North Carolina study indicates that a cure is a necessity in order to prevent ASD traits, whereas the Yale study points towards the traits being directly linked to

Overall, these results both point toward the genetic development of ASD, as well as their reasons behind the traits developing on both a genetic level and a biological level, but both serve to point toward different results. The North Carolina study indicates that a cure is a necessity in order to prevent ASD traits, whereas the Yale study points towards the traits being directly linked to the advanced cognitive developments that come with it as positive genetic outcomes for individuals. This, then, would position the “presymptomatic” changes to the human brain, surely, as inadvertently slowing human genetic progress, or limiting a change considered positive by the human genome. But, what can I say? I’m on the spectrum myself, I’m going to be biased – but knowing both the positives and negatives of the condition on a personal level, I’m all right not being cured, thank you very much North Carolina.

Word of the Week:

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia

Christopher Little attempts to pronounce this mouthful

ome people are just cruel. And none more so than the person, or persons, who decided that the term to describe an irrational fear of long words would be hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.For those of you that are trying in vain to pronounce it, I suggest you search for it on YouTube - it’s quite a mouthful. While it is certain that the irony was not lost on those that created the word, they did support its design with a degree of logic. The etymology of the term comes from its component parts: with ‘hippopotamus’ connoting something very large and ‘monstrous’ something terrifying, whilst ‘sesquipedalio’ is derived from sesquipedalian, which means many syllables. And of course, ‘phobia’ is a persistent and irrational fear of something. It may have seemed funny at the time, but choosing a thirty-six lettered word to describe a fear of long words seems just plain spiteful.

thecourieronline.co.uk/science

Mythbusters: Do humans have only ﬁve senses?

Our resident mythbuster Jack Coles smashes yet another common misconception and investigates the true capabilities of our species

n short, no. The five traditionally recognised senses are hearing, smell, sight, taste, and touch. This is thanks to Aristotle, a Greek philosopher well-known for getting science mostly wrong; for one thing, he thought that the Sun went around the Earth. To his credit, his five senses are the ones most easily characterised, but these can be subdivided, and there are other senses that don’t fit within these categories. And before you ask, no, telepathy does not count as a sense. A “sense” is defined as a physiological ability to detect a stimulus; usually, this comes down to what can be detected by a single type of receptor. Pain, for example, is measured by nociceptors. It doesn’t fall under the umbrella of the Aristotelian senses, not even touch, because pain receptors are different structures altogether to pressure receptors. Temperature detection is also a separate sense, with different receptors for hot and cold temperatures.

“A sense is defined as a physiological ability to detect a stimulus; usually, this comes down to what can be detected by a single type of receptor”

There are many non-traditional senses. Your sense of balance is one, as is sensing of where your body parts are (unless you’re missing some of them). Hunger, thirst, and lack thereof are all senses. Stretch receptors inform you of if you have breathed in too much air, or if you’re bloating from intestinal gas. A sense of time passing is also a sense. In a sense. Neurones across your brain work together to measure the passage of time, but these take a back seat when something more exciting is happening. That is why “time flies when you’re having fun”. Another sense that doesn’t use a single receptor is recognition, where you might subconsciously recognise an item or situation that you may or may not have encountered before. This is partly responsible for déjà vu, as well as the “sixth sense” of something being off. Even within the traditional senses there are many subdivisions of detectable stimuli. For example, try to remember the last time you ate spinach: If you thought it tasted horrible, you probably have an active TASR38 gene, which allows you to taste phenylthiocarbamide (which is found in spinach). The TAS2R proteins are responsible for detecting bitter chemicals – like phenylthiocarbamide, but also theobromine from chocolate or quinine from tonic water. TAS1R proteins deal with other tastes, mainly salty, sweet, sour, and umami; the recently described “savoury” taste that is responsible for the flavour of meat, or tomatoes. Incidentally, taste buds hold a record in the human genome. Of all the protein groups, taste buds have the most points of genetic variance overall. This is why you may hate the taste of liver and onions while your friend might happily scoff them, as well as why some people have a “sweet tooth” while others will skip dessert. The group with the second greatest variance is the MHC molecules, which are crucial in preventing disease. A minor effect is that smell receptors can detect these, and will subconsciously inform you on if you are related to that person. No, really, accidental incest can be prevented by having a good smell. Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia probably had olfactory problems. Many animals have senses that most humans do not. Pigeons can detect magnetic fields, while bats and dolphins can navigate using echolocation. Fish have gas bladders which help them figure out their current depth, and some are capable of detecting nearby electric fields.

The Courier

Puzzles Across

puzzles.35

Monday 6 March 2017

1 British alternative rock band known for their edgy, melancholic image (9) 6 ‘__ to Joy’, Beethoven piece featured in A Clockwork Orange (3) 7 Indiginous Polynesian inhabitants of New Zealand (5) 8 Biblically-named classic rock band (7) 10 British rock trio famed for their energetic and memorable live performances (4) 11 Prepare an explosive for detonation (3) 13 Mumford & ___, who had a hit with ‘The Cave’ in 2009 (4) 15 ___ Osmond, teenage hearthrob who’ll make a man out of you (5) 16 ‘Beautiful ___’, collaborative single by 21-across and Shakira (7) 17 Deity worshipped in Islam (5) 19 Latin-inspired form of dance. Dipping is optional (5) 21 Destiny’s Child veteran and pop icon (7) 22 She hit the floor, next thing you know, shawty got ___ (3) 23 Stefani Germanotta’s stage name (4, 4)

Puzzles Editor: James McCoull 1

Down

1 Best known for writing and performing the theme song of Friends (10) 2 Last name of Canadian ballad singer (4) 3 Newspaper listings to memorialise the recently deceased (8) 5 ‘I Don’t Feel Like ___’, ironically titled Scissor Sisters hit (7) 6 Controversial Britpop band responsible for half the acoustic guitar sales in the UK, probably (5) 9 Recently reformed Mancunian rock group (5, 5) 12 Barry ____, sang ‘Copacabana’ among other things (7) 14 Barbados-born pop phenomenon, biggest hits include ‘Umbrella’ and ‘Rude Boy’ (7) 16 Sixth solfège syllable, prominently featured in The Sound of Music (2) 17 ___ Road, iconic London recording studio (5) 18 Eric Clapton song and woman’s name (5) 20 Most (only?) enduringly famous Eurovision winners (4)

10 11

14 15

16 17

21 22 23

Completing this Puzzles page will show off a moderately impressive sum of knowledge about some fairly well-known music artists. Bring proof of your achievement to the Courier office and help yourself to any number of the free CDs the Music section get sent every week, because we can’t get rid of them.

36. sport

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Sports Editors: Lucy Brogden, Tom Shrimplin & James Sproston

From mighty heroes to ultimate zeros

With Leicester City sacking Claudio Ranieri just nine months after lifting the Premier League title our writers take a look at Ranieri and 4 other sportspeople who fell from the highest of heights to the lowest of lows.

Claudio Ranieri

Oscar Pistorius

Few falls in sport have been as tragic as that of Oscar Pistorius. Once the greatest of Paralympic icons, his world changed forever on Valentine’s Day 2013. The ‘Blade Runner’ was just 11 months old when he had both legs amputated below the knee after being born with fibular hemimelia. At 15, Pistorius’ mother and inspiration, Sheila, died. Still, Pistorius made things work and used his hardships as motivation. His refusal to let his setbacks break him was the defining characteristic that propelled him to the top. In 2004, just eight months after being introduced to the sport, the South African won gold in the T44 200 metres. It would be the first of six Paralympic golds. What would thrust him to superstardom though was what he would achieve away from parasport, as he pushed to compete alongside ablebodied athletes. In 2008, the IAAF concluded that prosthetic blades provided an unfair advantage, banning them from the Olympics. However, a hard-fought appeal from Pistorius had the decision overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, allowing the South African a chance to compete. He failed to reach the qualifying time, but he had achieved greatness in opening a door that had

been previously sealed tight. After becoming the first ever amputee to win a non-disabled world track medal at the Daegu World Championships in 2011, Pistorius once more set his sights on the Greatest Show on Earth. Four years of hard work was rewarded at London 2012 when Pistorius became the first double-leg amputee to compete at the Olympics. At the Paralympics the following month, he was the poster boy. More golden glory came, but it was not his medals that made that summer so special for Pistorius and the world. He had led parasport into a new dimension and inspired millions of young disabled boys and girls. Disability was no longer a restriction. That was Oscar Pistorius. In the early hours of 14 February 2013, Pistorius shot and killed his then girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, at his home in Pretoria. The world mourned for the Steenkamp family and the disabled community wept at the downfall of its finest hero in such tragic circumstances. Pistorius is currently serving a six-year sentence, after a culpable homicide conviction was amended to murder in 2015. His inspiration had transcended sport, but his fall so sadly rocked a family and the world. James Harris

Pistorius was one of the most successful Paralympians of all time Image: Wikimedia Commons

Mohammed Amir When Mohamed Amir, a tall and pacey left arm bowler from Pakistan, burst onto the international Cricketing scene aged just 17, he immediately made headlines as an invaluable member of the Pakistan side that triumphed in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. His niggling line, keen pace, sharp bounce and an ability to move the ball both ways, made him one of, if not the most exciting bowling prospects of his generation. He was even singled out by such illustrious names in Pakistani cricket as Wasim Akram, with former Pakistani batsmen Rameez Raja also praising Amir’s supreme cricketing intelligence at such a young age. Amir’s early promise was backed up by some outstanding performances in unfamiliar conditions, picking up three 5-wicket test march hauls in the space of a just a few months (5/79 v AUS; 5/52 v AUS ; 6/84 v ENG). His cricketing career was thrown into turmoil however as a result of spotfixing allegations during a test series against England in the summer of

2010. Following a News Of The World investigation, it was accused that Amir had intentionally bowled a series of no balls to the English opening batsmen. Amir, coerced by his, at the time, captain Salman Butt, senior bowler Mohamed Asif and agent Mahzer Mahmood, he agreed to the scheme and was subsequently suspended by the ICC under the Anti-Corruption Code. After a series of failed appeals and general uncertainty Amir was given a 5-year ban form all cricketing activities. Reaction to his ban, and subsequent criminal conviction, was varied. Former players Atherton and Hussain had sympathy for Amir and plead for leniency on behalf of his young age, whereas names including Flintoff and Vaughn advocated a life ban. Amir made his return to international cricket in 2015, and has since re-asserted himself as Pakistan’s leading bowler in all formats, but is yet to recapture his pre-controversy promise. Elliott Jones

2016 was a year of many sporting highs all over the world but no-one touched so many hearts as Claudio Ranieri and his Leicester City side. The minnows of the Premier League shot to the top and stayed there to become Champions. Ranieri’s side won 23 fixtures and lost a mere 3 in the league. The Italian boss picked up a number of awards for his coaching including the Premier League Manager of the Year, BBC Sports Personality of the Year Coach Award and three Premier League manager of the month awards. It was truly a heart-warming story and gave all football fans hope that the beautiful game had not been fully lost to business owners and prima donna players. However, halfway through the 2016-17 campaign, the Foxes were sitting in the relegation zone and their Thai owners were fed up. The team managed to keep their biggest stars in Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, after fighting off intense interest in the summer, but the side’s ‘never

The French midfielder and wizard of the ball, Dimitri Payet has had a fluctuating experience in London. Last season he was the fans’ favourite and his shirt was a must in every Hammer’s wardrobe; now though the claret and blue top ‘Payet 27’ is presumably exhibited outside West Ham supporters’ front door as a mat, or in their kitchen, chucked in the bin. What caused all this hatred was the player’s very explicit and unexpected desire to leave the club during the January transfer window. Payet refused to play for the team and spent the whole month in isolation, threatening to break his knee ligaments if he wasn’t sold to Marseille. Not only the fans were let down by their ‘star’, but

say die’ attitude had vanished. Despite an impressive Champions League run, the owners needed a scapegoat and, rightly or wrongly, manager Claudio Ranieri was the one to be axed late last month. Many players, current and former, came out to share their heartbreak at the decision. The Italian Press printed the headline “Ungrateful English”, former Leicester star Gary Lineker “shed a tear last night… for football and… for my club” whilst Jose Mourinho re-assured Ranieri that “nobody can delete the history you wrote”. Claudio Ranieri may have gone from practically a superhero to jobless in less than half a year but his legacy and the regard with which he is looked upon marks him as an all-time great. The Italian may be a ‘zero’ at the moment but he is a ‘hero’ in the hearts of all football fans. Toby Bryant

Where next for the Tinkerman? Image: Wikimedia Commons

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Days in charge

Dmitri Payet Dimitri’s behaviour also irritated all his teammates to a point that ex-Sampdoria midfielder Obiang eliminated the Frenchman from the squad’s WhatsApp group chat. Payet scored 15 goals last season for West Ham and delighted Upton Park with some exquisite free-kicks which are known to be his speciality. He helped the Hammers reach the Europa League preliminary stages and was expected to shine even more during the 2016/2017 campaign, after very consistent and convincing performances at Euro 2016 with Les Bleus. However, the Hammers’ European dreams fell apart straight away and their Premier League form was inexplicably poor. Although Payet scored

a memorable goal against Middlesbrough, he wasn’t as prolific as he used to be – he was probably already starting to miss the French Riviera and the vibrant port of Marseille. That’s when he went from riches to rags, from hero to zero. The Stade Vélodrome is once again the midfielder’s home and Les Phocéens can once again enjoy Payet’s quality and skills. However, there is something Monsieur Payet must be aware of – the Queen Elizabeth Stadium will not be cheering or blowing bubbles to him next time he visits London. Oliver Ross-Assogna

Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong was once one of the most inspirational sportsmen ever. After recovering from a potentially fatal form of cancer he went on to win seven consecutive Tour De France titles from 1999-2005. The American was seen as a beacon of hope in the sport’s darkest hour, with his main rivals all receiving doping bans Armstrong was the only ‘clean’ athlete at the top. Despite continually receiving doping allegations the American remained firm, and stressed he had never tested positive for any banned substances. After retiring from the sport in 2005, following his seventh Tour De France victory, these allegations continued tirelessly. In late 2008 Armstrong announced he would be returning to cycling with the intention of competing in the 2009 Tour De France, in which he finished third. He then announced his second retirement in early 2011. The cyclist continued to deny any wrongdoing until January 2013 when he refused to contest the USADA’s charges against him due to the potential toll on his family. Although he confessed some allegations were true we never really found out the full extent of his drug use, his re-

sults were thus void from 1998 onwards. Armstrong’s confession was a moment cycling fans will never forget, and many have fallen out of love with the sport since. Although Armstrong was a cheat he was no worse than any of his rivals, there is a good chance in a perfect world with no doping he could have still dominated the sport. Armstrong’s Live Strong Foundation has also been very successful raising

money and awareness for the struggles of cancer’s survivors. Once the greatest cyclist ever Lance Armstrong’s name will never be forgotten, but it will not be covered in glory like he would have wanted. Tom Cox

Armstrong’s 7 Tour De France titles were stripped off him after confessing to doping. Image: Wikimedia Commons

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Monday 6 March 2017

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Water Polo take on Super Eights Sports Editor, Lucy Brogden, spoke to the President of the Water Polo Club, Jess Newman, to find out more about the club’s season:

Jess, please explain to us a little more about the water polo: Water polo is played in a double- deep 25 metre pool. Teams are made up of 13 members, but only 7 members are in the pool at any one time. Since players must tread water or swim for the entirety of the match, substitutions are frequent, and touching the floor or holding onto the sides is forbidden. The ball can only be caught using one hand (only the goalie is allowed to use two hands), and players can swim with or pass the ball down the pool. The objective is to score more goals than the other team. Women play 7 minute qumen play 8 minute quarters. There is a thirty second shot- clock, whereby possession is reversed if a team does not have a shot within thirty seconds of having the ball. This means the game is very fast- paced.

“Water polo is played in a double- deep 25 metre pool. Teams are made up of 13 members, but only 7 members are in the pool at any one time” Why do you like water polo as a sport? It’s one of the most difficult sports to play in the world in my opinion. Every play is always so different, the physicality of the sport is very challenging, and you have to work as a team to succeed.

In our club there are no individual players- all our teams work together really well, and there are only team players. How many members are in the club? We have 80 paid members, and are a mixed club who welcome players of all abilities.

How many teams do you have? We have four teams: two female and two male. Our women’s firsts are in the premier North, men’s firsts in the Northern 2A, men’s seconds in the Northern 2B, and our women’s seconds in the northern 2A. Both of our second teams are in leagues where their opponents are more highly rankedso our seconds are playing mainly against other university’s first teams. How has your season been so far? Great! Women’s firsts had an astounding win against top of the league side, Durham, after losing 18-8 earlier in the year. If we win against Bath (who are bottom of the southern league), we’ll go through to super eights in Sheffield. The men’s firsts have narrowly missed out on promotion, finishing second in their league behind league winners, Liverpool. Next year will be their year for promotion into the premier northern league. Still to come this year, they’ve got their first cup game, and we hope that they will make it through to the final. Our two seconds teams are doing well too. The women’s seconds have had a challenging time in their league this year following last year’s promotion, as

they are the only seconds team in their league- every other team is a firsts team.

to get to finals we’ll have to beat someone we’ve not beaten yet this season.

How do you feel about your chances in super eights? We’ve been training hard, and we’ve got our strongest team yet- our starting seven is made up of national league players, so we think we’ve got a good chance.

What do you accredit your strong BUCS performance to? (W1 water polo are one of Newcastle’s highest performing teams). We train 3-4 times a week, have a strong, committed squad, and a good coaching dynamic. We have great teamwork, commitment, and being a mixed club also helps. I’ve made some great friends at polo, and we’re very close as a club.

Club members

Last year you made it to super eights, but didn’t make the final. What went wrong? We flopped at semis, essentially. Morale and team spirit wasn’t what they should have been, and we were complacent. This year we’re ready for it, but

How did you feel about club member, Emma Little, coming second in our SPOTY competition? It was a real high for water polo, and it helped to raise awareness for the club.

“Our seconds are playing mainly against other university’s first teams” Do you think she should have won? Yes! However, the girl that did win definitely deserved it- she’d done an awful lot for her club. How did you fare in Stan Calvert? We won one out of our three matches as a club: the boys teams lost, but the girls secured an easy win 18-4, and all of the matches were really competitive. Next year we’ll be aiming for a clean sweep!

SPOTY contestant, Emma Little, keeps calm in Stan Calvert Image: Katy Ball

38. sport

Monday 6 March 2017

The Courier

Sports Editors: Lucy Brogden, Tom Shrimplin & James Sproston

Championship Corner By Tom Harrow-Smith Championship Correspondent After Newcastle’s huge win last night, the Toon Army have made a significant stride towards returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking by returning back to the summit of the Championship. In a week of facing three of the league’s top five teams all away from home, after Brighton, this Saturday Newcastle travel to highflying Huddersfield, followed by another trek down south to face Reading just three days later. This is the biggest test of Newcastle’s season by far, not only due to the calibre of the teams, but the lengthy travel times in such a small space of time which could be their undoing. The squad is looking a little depleted too, with the Championships top scorer Dwight Gayle limping off barley half an hour into his return to the first team against Villa last week, with Isaac Hayden also added to that injury list. However, it cannot be overestimated how monumental victory was against the Seagulls, just their second home defeat this season and a game in which they really had to dig in amidst heavy pressure for most of the ninety minutes. This has the potential to really put the wheels on a side that were just ever so slightly starting to stutter, with three wins in six before last night’s result, and if they can do the same at Huddersfield in a few days’ time, it will be hard to see them slipping out of the top two. The John Smiths Stadium is a daunting place to visit nowadays though, I was there just last week to watch my Reading side lose one-nil.

“I cannot look beyond any other team for the playoffs” The atmosphere was honestly one of the most impressive I have experienced, out of nearly forty previous grounds I have travelled to, and it was definitely a contributing factor to the result. David Wagner’s side are on the crest of the wave, there is a real buzz around the place at the moment, and you can see why. Their vociferous supporters finally have something to cling on to, the first real promotion push towards England’s top tier in over two decades. Even if the Terriers do not make automatic promotion, I cannot look beyond any other team for the playoffs, such is the confidence in their play. Whilst Reading, Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday have all suffered hiccups in form during February, Huddersfield have lost just once in the league since November, all other three teams have lost twice in each of their last four games. That sort of form would make you believe the chasing pack are hot on their tails surely? Well no actually, the likes of Derby and Norwich are dropping points left right and centre, letting teams such as Preston, Fulham and Barnsley, previously in mid table obscurity, to steal a march on them; now just five points separate seventh and eleventh. It is almost too hard to pick who will make the top six, but I will stick my head out and say Wednesday, Leeds and Huddersfield will all make it, and it will be a three way battle between Norwich, Reading and Fulham. Yet despite my personal bias for Reading, I really fancy Fulham to nick in at the last minute, but who knows, this could all change dramatically by next

Jitsu throw down at Nationals Randori Nationals

By Nathan Hoyles at Benham sports Arena Last weekend saw the Newcastle University Jiu Jitsu Club travel to Northampton for the annual Randori Nationals competition, where they enjoyed great success. The Randori (which loosely translates to ‘freestyle practice’ in Japanese), is a two-day event open to all Jiu Jitsu clubs across the country and for all levels of experience, from beginner to black-belt. Incorporating two competitions for each category: standing throwing (nagewaza) and ground fighting (gatamaewaza), the competition was attended by seven of the club’s Jitsuka. Both days saw four-hour training sessions for attendees with seminars run by many of the most experienced martial artists in the Jiu Jitsu Foundation. Some of these instructors have over fortyyears of experience under their belts,

making it a real privilege to be taught by such seasoned professionals. This was also a wonderful opportunity to meet other practitioners of the art from other clubs throughout the country, as well as allowing them to train with a range of new people.

st place finish for Shawn Cavanagh

The first competition is open to all competitors regardless of belt and involves a three-minute long ne-waza ground-fight, in which a combination of arm-locks, chokes and restraining techniques are used to pin an opponent. Here, Newcastle were very successful. Everyone was able to come away with at least one win, and yellow belt Magno Carlos put in an impressive performance to come away with a bronze medal in his category. The club’s instructor, Adam Walton, was able to overcome his opponents

to also win bronze whilst University Alumnus Shawn Cavanagh was able to grasp victory in the dying moments of an incredibly tough final, to take home a gold medal. Next up, was the tachi-waza (standing fighting) that adheres to similar rules to Judo and involves competitors employing skilful leg-sweeps and impactful throws in order to put their opponent on the ground.

“Everyone was able to come away with at least one win” This is only available for green belts and above, and like the ground-fights, Newcastle’s four eligible competitors performed admirably. Mikhail Barb, did superbly in getting through to the final of the lightweight division, but unfortunately, after a tense match and a sudden-death round, was defeated.

This however was his first time competing in the standing competition, and so was extremely proud to have achieved a silver medal. The end of the second day of the event was the open, which displayed the top talent from across the country and saw black belts fighting to be the champion of the entire Randori nationals. Unfortunately Newcastle University’s instructors, Adam Walton and Brian Naisbitt did not come away with anything in this particular competition, despite putting in a brilliant effort against skilled opponents, but regardless, it was a fantastic opportunity to see the very best of the Jiu Jitsu Foundation. Overall, Newcastle University Jiu Jitsu club has proven itself once more to be an asset to the university and exceed expectations. After winning the Jiu Jitsu Foundation Club Shield and BUCS Atemi Nationals Men’s Team Championship in November, last weekend’s Randori competition has shown the club to be a force to be reckoned with.

Celebrating success: the Jitsu boys look delighted with their achievements Image: Magno Carlos

Premiership prestige for squash Squash

By Ryan Doran Squash Club President The 2016-17 season was always going to be tough for Newcastle University Squash Club. Between the loss of the squash courts and the promotion of the Men’s 1st team to the premier league, the club were facing stiff opposition on all sides. Nevertheless, the players have worked harder than ever to make this season more successful than ever before. Last Wednesday saw the men’s 1st team in a playoff match against Nottingham Trent to stay in the BUCS Premier League. The Nottingham Trent team had only lost two matches in the past two seasons before coming to Newcastle, but Newcastle University Squash Club made short work in defending their place in the Premiership. It was, however, and afternoon of mixed emotions, as it was 1st team captain Jack Hunter’s last ever home BUCS match. It was fitting then that, after a marathon 65-minute match, Jack came from 2-1 down to seal the victory for the team and for the university. The team now travel to the University of Nottingham for the quarterfinals of the BUCS championships. Not to be outdone by the 1st team, the men’s 2nd team spent the day travelling

to Aberdeen for the last 16 of the BUCS trophy. The 2nd team has had a tough season playing in the Northern 1A division- a league that is mainly made up of 1st teams- but has managed to hold its own. The 2nds continued to shine in the cold north of Scotland, beating Aberdeen 3-2 to progress to the quarterfinals of the trophy.

“This season has been a story of remarkable achievement” Closer to home, the men’s 3rd team had a match to guarantee their league win. The 3rds, who have been solid all season, beat Durham to record an impressive 8 wins in 8 league matches, and ensure their promotion at the end of the season. Closely behind the 3rd team is the 4th team, who were a new addition to the BUCS leagues this year. The 4ths have performed beyond all expectations, and now look set to take their league and achieve promotion, as they sit 1 point behind top of the table Sheffield, with a game in hand. Not to be outdone by the men’s teamsNewcastle University Squash Club’s Ladies 1st team has recorded an equally impressive season in BUCS. The ladies were unlucky to miss out on a promotion battle, but have more than made up

for this by going on an incredible cup run. The ladies have beaten teams from York, Edinburgh and Nottingham Trent to get to the Semi-Finals of the BUCS trophy. The ladies now play Nottingham on Wednesday 8th March at 13:30 in Eldon Square- all support is more than welcome! In Stan Calvert this year, both teams were hugely successful with the men beating Northumbria 4-1 and the ladies winning 3-2. This is an excellent result for both teams, as Northumbria always bring a very strong team to this event. Congratulations to everyone who played and supported. Finally, in the Northumbria Local

Squash Leagues, the university continues to dominate as the 4th, 3rd and 2nd team all look set to gain promotion, while the 1st team now sits an unheard of 18 points clear at the top of the Premier Division, with a game in hand! This season has been a story of remarkable achievement for Newcastle University Squash Club. It must be said that this success is due entirely to the hard work of the players, and the tireless efforts of the captains Alex Cahill, Charlotte Cooper, Sam Everall, Martin Jolley, Flora Mockridge and of course, the club legend, Jack Hunter. Thanks to all of the club members for their work, and hopefully next season will be even more successful again!

Pride of Newcastle: the Squash Club performed brilliantly in Stan Calvert Image: Alec Jones

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Monday 6 March 2017

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Tennis take title in terriﬁc fashion Men’s Tennis Newcastle 1sts

Leeds Beckett 5ths

By Oliver Warren at the Northumberland Club In the Men’s bathroom of the indoor centre of The Northumberland Club there is a poster on the mirror with a quote of Lleyton Hewitt. It says- “you’ve got to grit your teeth and hang in there and try and find a way to win when you’re not playing your best tennis - that’s what I can be proud of ”.

/10 fixtures won in the promotion campaign

For the chosen five playing on Wednesday 22nd February 2017, gritting their teeth and finding a way to win was exactly what they did. Shoot out tennis does not get better than this, as whoever won this fixture would win the league and gain promotion.

“The pair knew exactly what sort of tennis was install” Both teams entered the match with a sense of the unknown as in the previous fixture the match was conceded by Newcastle as two injuries struck early giving Beckett the win back in December. The time round it commenced with the doubles, Corey Chan and Leandro Mariani partnering each other, and Oliver Warren and Tim Brazel making up

the second pair. Both matches had a ferocious intensity to them as both teams understood the importance of getting two doubles wins. Chan and Mariani strolled to a 6-1 6-1 victory rarely being pushed by the Beckett first pair. Warren and Brazel didn’t have it all their own way. After winning the first set 6-3, the second was a much closer affair. Getting an early break, it seemed that Newcastle were about to go 2-0 up in the tie but at 5-4 with Brazel serving, a number of unforced errors allowed Beckett back into the set. Now 6-5 down, a hotly contested line call caused for a five-minute discussion that ended up being fiercer than the arguments of old when your parents wouldn’t let you stay up past the watershed. Beckett capitalised on the break in play to close out the second set. The champions tiebreak was won by Beckett 10-7. At the end of the match, all drama and tension was put to bed with a gracious handshake, as the players realised the quality of the doubles was too high to let an argument get in the way. The score stood at 1-1 overall, with Newcastle needing three wins in the singles to guarantee victory and promotion. It was then time for gritting teeth and competing like never before. Corey Chan and Leandro Mariani continued in their clinical fashion from the doubles, as both players dispatched their opponents 6-3 6-0.

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GD better off than Hallam 2s

The number one and two singles players have had a superb season, with Chan only losing 2 singles ties from 10, and Mariani recording the unbelievable achievement of going the season unbeaten. Both Chan and Mariani have been indispensable this year, playing at the top of order all year.

Champions: Leandron Mariani, Tom Smith, Corey Chan (Cpt.), Oliver Warren, Tim Braze deserve the victory Image: Oliver Warren

The third singles was between home friends Warren and Nick Joannou. The pair knew exactly what sort of tennis was install as Warren took the initiative playing attacking tennis. Having suffered from injury since December, Warren had a set back the morning before so it was touch and go whether he would take part at all in this match. Fuelled by paracetamol, Warren stormed to a 5-0 leave. After winning the set 6-2, Warrens injury struck again as points grew longer, and the match got tighter. At 4-3 down in the second set, Joannou breaks Warren’s serve to try and finish the second set on Beckett’s terms.

“Both Chan and Mariani have been indispensable this year” Speaking after the match, Warren said “I knew then, if I didn’t break him straight back, I would not have won the match in a third set”. Against all odds, Warren broke straight back, finding a second wind and turning the screw. Warren’s backhand found some form to accompany his dominant forehand breaking down his opponent and storming back to 6-5 to serve out the match. On the first time of asking, Warren converts to win 6-2 7-5. This was a hugely satisfying win for the player and the team as the celebrations started. Tom Smith had the small matter of finishing off the tie. Knowing that the team had won overall, the pressure was off. Smith swinging for the hills, hitting the lines and playing lights out tennis, and in the process, won the set 6-4 having been 4-2 down. Smith continued the sublime tennis into the second set and didn’t look like letting up. His opponent, who possessed a solid groundstroke game, was hanging in for dear life, but it all became a bit too much. At 2-2, Smith’s opponent retired

with a shoulder injury, and with that, Newcastle finished their season with a 10-2 victory. If you ask any athlete, they will tell you winning a league is one of the hardest things to do, no matter what level of sport you play at. Being only Coach Henderson’s second season in charge of the Men’s squad, the man the myth the legend has performed wonders to team unity. Every training session is a part of the team’s learning curve and without his time and effort; an achievement like this would be next to impossible. This year’s first team captain was Corey Chan. Captain Chan has been pivotal to keeping the team organised and motivated. As a player under Henderson and Chan it has been an absolute pleasure learning and playing alongside them, and on behalf of the rest of the team I cannot thank them enough. As it is end of the season it is only appropriate to give out a few awards. Player of the week goes to Oliver Warren for soldiering on through his injury to finish his university tennis career with a hugely satisfying win. Most improved play goes to Timothy Brazel for developing a solid game plan in singles and doubles expertise. Play of the season goes to Leandro Mariani for not losing a singles match all season long. Moment of the season goes also to Leandro for hitting an in-between the legs shot whilst being set point down and still winning the point. Thank you to everyone else who contributed to the season, your hard work and dedication has been integral to whole squad. Now, get the trebles in, head to town and celebrate in style!

MVP: Corey Chan

Royals scoop Student Cup in straight-sets Volleyball Student Cup By Ivan Lazarov at UEA Team Newcastle is the new Volleyball Student Cup Women’s champion after a straight-set win in the final. Sixteen women’s and 16 men’s teams contested the title over two days at the University of East Anglia. The Women’s 1s cruised to the title after beating University of Essex in 25-16 and 25-10, while the Men’s Team finished fourth, following a narrow defeat in the semifinal to Essex, who went on to win the Cup.

nd place for Newcastle in the tournament last year

Team Newcastle Head of Volleyball, Attila Berndt, said: “Winning the Student Cup was incredible. We were hoping to finish in the top four, the fact that we were able to top last year’s performance, when we came second, is beyond expectations. The girls executed the game plan perfectly, with their performance leaving no doubt that we were the best team in the tournament. “The team’s performance is a credit to all players for effectively managing their time and balancing academic work and

training. We are thankful for the help from Newcastle University Sports Centre and the Student Union, who are very accommodating and provide outstanding support behind the scenes year on year. This goes a long way towards helping students give their best effort on the court and in the classroom, and contributed immensely to the Club’s success over the last few years.” The three-time Student Cup winner as

“We never doubted our ability to win” a player added: “Winning the Cup as a coach is an entirely different experience to winning as a player, it’s like you are 12 times as happy for every one of your players. I am proud of the ladies who richly deserved it.” Petra Jeřábková from Team Newcastle was named MVP in the women’s tournament. She said: “The fact that we won the Student Cup is incredible. Going into the finals weekend, we knew that we were one of the favourites, but I don’t think that we actually expected to win the whole tournament. “The whole weekend, topped with the victory against Essex, made the team very proud and excited about what we are actually capable of. The Newcastle University team came a long way during last couple years, and we even made so

much progress during this season. The main key to our success was definitely great teamwork and energy on the court throughout the weekend. “We never doubted our ability to win, even when we were 10 points down in the first set in the semi-finals against Oxford and that was very important. We played for each other and we played our best when it mattered most - in the semi-finals and the finals. “I am very proud of this accomplishment and of this team as well as every single one of my teammates individually and our coach! They all continue to surprise me every single day.”

Attila added “Huge credit to the coaches, and all the players for their continued commitment, Newcastle Men’s Volleyball team are steadily growing, a force to be reckoned with at the highest level of University volleyball.”

points down in the first set at semis

Run by Volleyball England, the Student Cup is one of the biggest indoor student volleyball competitions in the UK. All affiliated universities and colleges offering credited rated courses are eligible for entry.

MVP:

Petra Jeřábková

“The girls executed the game plan perfectly” Attila added: “The Men’s Team also had great success over the weekend, they defied the odds finishing in the top four as a 3rd division team, led by the Men’s coaches, Callum Currie and Michal Feterlich. Their strong leadership empowered the team to make their way past some very strong opponents, top division teams such as Oxford or Cambridge. “This proves that their successful season is well deserved, remaining unbeaten in the University league to date, and gaining promotion to the 2nd division.

Newcastle are in golden form at the Student Cup Image: Attila Berndt

Sport

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JITSU NATIONALS, P.38

HEROES TO ZEROS, P.36 Newcastle put in an impressive performance at BUCS head Image: Al Johnston Photography

An oarsome performance BUCS Head By Toby Bryant at Newburn water sports centre Whilst Stan Calvert fever gripped the University last week there was no time for Newcastle University’s rowers to lose their focus. Whilst Stan Calvert fever gripped the University last week there was no time for Newcastle University’s rowers to lose their focus. The Boat Club had enjoyed success over Northumbria University in mid-February, but had no time for celebrations with the annual BUCS Head taking place on February 26th. The competition was co-hosted by NUBC and Tyne Amateur Rowing Club, who are positioned just across the river from the Blue Star.

st place for the women’s intermediate 8+

Sadly, the novice racing on the Saturday had to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions but, on the Sunday, Intermediate and Champions crews from over 40 different universities took

to the water determined to overcome the challenging conditions. Nonetheless, NUBC conquered the wind, and conquered their competition too. The morning’s Division 1 started with the men’s Champ Quads, as Newcastle finished in third place, 14 seconds ahead of sculling specialists Reading University, with Imperial College taking gold. The men’s Champ Coxed and Coxless Fours soon followed the quads, adding a bronze and a silver to the Boat Club’s medal haul, with Edinburgh and Durham taking gold respectively. A young men’s Lightweight Four showcased their potential to claim another third, a comfortable 21 seconds ahead of UWE in fourth, but not challenging first placed Nottingham or second placed Durham who were separated by a mere 0.3 seconds, nearly 20 seconds ahead of NUBC. The young Intermediate Quad picked up yet another bronze whilst the Intermediate Coxed four finished fifth in a category of 39. NUBC also entered three women’s eights into the morning division. There was hot competition in the Champ Eight category with the likes of London, Edinburgh and Durham battling it out with Newcastle. The Blue Star ladies’ crew claimed a

respectable third place finish, adding yet another medal to the morning’s achievements. This success was made even sweeter for the girls, who had to battle with a number of injuries in the run-up to the race. The intermediate crews had a lot to live up to, having taken gold at this event last year, and the A crew did not disappoint as they finished first, a comfortable 13 seconds ahead of London in second with the B crew placing eighth out of 32.

“The Blue Star excelled in what proved to be a nail-biting race”

Sundee Denton Chandler, rower in that winning crew, said: “There is always pressure on home water, because every crew expects Newcastle to perform. From the start line, every single girl in the boat whether it was our cox, our freshers or our ex-novices gave 100%. The atmosphere was unreal and enabled our blue star determination to transpire into a winning row.” After midday the second division commenced with then men moving into eights and women into fours. With the wind picking up and water becom-

ing ever choppier it was set to be a tough afternoon of rowing. However, for NUBC, who train on the same stretch with same conditions on a regular basis, the turn in conditions played in their favour. Arguably the biggest race of the day was the men’s Champ Eight category. This saw the best male rowers from 11 Universities come together to compete for glory. Edinburgh emerged triumphant with a four second lead over second place London. Imperial College took third, only a couple of seconds behind neighbours London. Newcastle placed fourth with a comfortable 43-second lead over Durham in fifth. The Intermediate Eight category was next in which NUBC fielded three crews. The Blue Star excelled in what proved to be a nail-biting race. The lightweight crew from Newcastle took gold, 0.4 seconds ahead of London who again impressed with a silver. Stroke-man of that lightweight crew, Fred Beaty, said: “We were being chased by the UL crew all the way down. After the tough water around the first bend we really found a strong rhythm and were able to relax into the race. Everyone was happy with the commitment and aggression of our race and we were ecstatic to find out we’d beaten UL!”

It was another Newcastle boat, the B 8, who claimed bronze in that race, ahead of London Bs in fourth.

nd place for Newcastle in the competition overall

There were yet more medals to be won in the women’s racing. NUBC entered another three boats into the Intermediate Coxed Four category. The B and C boats placed 12th and 18th respectively and the A crew put in a sterling performance to claim silver, behind Durham, and beat 34 other boats. The lightweight women’s four added to the medal collection with a bronze and the champ quad placed fourth in their race. With 10 crews gaining places on the podium and 62 athletes with medals in total it was a very successful day for NUBC and sets them in good stead ahead of regatta season. There will be hot competition, however, with the likes of Durham and the University of London performing well and giving the Blue Star something to think about whilst training in the upcoming months.

Sabbatical Ofﬁcers

Harry Young

PRESIDENT OF THE STUDENTS’ UNION James Johnson

The basics – 25, study Media and Public Relations MA, live Quayside, prefer sausage roles to pasties.

VOTE HARRY YOUNG #1 FOR PRESIDENT!

Usually, this is where you fall asleep, reading about how a candidate was and/or is on an obscure committee, or running the tiddlywinks appreciation society. Not with me. I would be coming into this with a fresh pair of eyes, without both loyalties and prejudices.

My name’s Harry and I want to be YOUR next NUSU President! I’ve loved studying at Newcastle, and now I want to give back to help IMPROVE Newcastle Students’ experience for the BETTER! Building on my experience as RAG President, Student Trustee and more, my ideas are based around five key areas:

So why vote for me? I am so confident that I will honour all my pledges that my headline policy is to resign if I don’t.

YOUR FUTURE Increase support and help with post-university life, making sure you have the best foundations possible to make the next step in life.

Some of my pledges and aims: 1) Accessible and open: with advertised roving surgeries, termly digital update reports and a digital petitioning platform.

YOUR HEALTH Helping students to keep mentally and physically healthy whilst studying, playing sport, volunteering and everything else through working with the SAC and Sports Centre. YOUR SUPPORT Making sure you are the best you can be through increased support, dedicated office hours, housing support and making sure YOUR voice is heard. YOUR ACCESS Ensuring that university is accessible to all, regardless of where you come from or who you are. Developing an NUSU app to make it easier to stay up to date with everything in one place.

YOUR INVOLVEMENT Developing and growing the Go Volunteer brand to reach more students, plus increasing the opportunities students have to offer input into the Union and it’s operations.

international students. 6) Fight for the right to party: work to hold more silent discos. #notmagicjustjohnson

Will Goddard

Ronnie Reid

Hello there, [insert name here] – I’m Will Goddard, and it appears that you have stumbled across the manifesto of your next President! It’s your lucky day. Sit back, relax and enjoy yourself, while I whisk you away to the land of 2017/18. The best year of your uni life.

#RonniesRunning

Affordability: University is too expensive, and the prices of essential costs like food and accommodation are only rising. I will aim to work towards making the everyday costs on campus cheaper.

But first, you need to know the full backstory of a young man who rose from the ashes, like a phoenix:

You Choose, You Type: Exams are about ensuring you can show off your knowledge in the most efficient way possible. I will lobby to University to alter this policy, to allow all students to choose whether or not they type.

Experience: • President of Newcastle Comedy Society • Social Secretary for BioSci • Physiological Sciences Course Representative • Ambassador for University Wide Languages Programme • Intra-mural football player • Newcastle Student Radio show host

The Intern Link: With three month holidays, it is easy to be intimated by that amount of time to fill up. We need a union which will unite local businesses with students hungry for experience. I seek to work closely with the careers service to expand opportunities for students. Better Speakers: From sportspeople to politicians, a world class university requires world class speakers. I want to greatly increase the number of recognisable figures coming to our union to give their take on the world we live in.

2) Focus on student finances and employment: which includes fighting for the lowest accommodation fees possible. I will also work to improve recruitment fairs. 3) Comfort, Convenience and Safety: work to end cold teaching spaces, fight to minimise the number of 9 am lectures/seminars/exams, work to ensure that necessary books are in the library and that buildings are open longer, and promote the little-known emergency taxi scheme. 4) Stand up for post-grads and integrate

Mental & Physical Health: In the context of Brexit and funding issues, it may be easy to cut away at funding for mental and physical health services. I will aim to lobby the university to prioritise this funding.

This wealth of experience moulded the young man into someone who cared profoundly for his Students’ Union, understood the many different aspects of university life, and was prepared to represent the students with pride. On 10th March 2017, history was made as he won the Presidency with the following (awesome) policies: 1. Bicycle rental service 2. Free sanitary products 3. Cheaper accommodation

4. A monthly email 5. A student representative in Jesmond That young man’s name… was Will Goddard. *Mind grenade explodes* Go and spread the word my friends – please read my full manifesto at nusu.co.uk and CAST YOUR VOTE.

ACTIVITIES OFFICER

Amy Fok

Charlie Mason

Hi! I am AMY FOK and I want to be the next ACTIVITIES OFFICER to make the union better for YOU!

Hello, my name is Charlie Mason and I want to be your next Activities Offer! After getting involved with RAG crew I have thrown myself head first into everything NUSU, as a supervisor during Fresher’s week and as an event leader on RAG committee this year! I am passionate and enthusiastic about our union and believe that I would be great for this job!

University activities should be enjoyable, rewarding and available to everyone. With my strong determination and diverse experience, I know we can make a difference together...so let’s FOKing do it!

I will aim for:

What I want to do for you: SUPPORT TO SOCIETIES • Promote funding for students and societies to make activities accessible to everyone • Create more platforms to promote activities • Increase storage space SUSTAINABILITY & HEALTH • Make bike repairment service more regular, and promote FREE bike lock and light • Facilitate bike hiring scheme • Push mental health and physical health awareness events • Ensure easy access to drinking water and reduce bottle and water consumption with more drinking facilities EXPERIENCE ENRICHMENT • Encourage personal development and make positive influences to Newcastle by supporting collaborations • More opportunities for students to identify and achieve career goals • Promote Go Volunteer, RAG, Give it a Go, and

More space for your society: •Increased availability and larger spaces for meetings and rehearsals •A centralised booking system for easier booking •Larger and more secure storage spaces More collaboration between societies: •An online forum for all societies to communicate •More interaction with RAG to maximise fundraising events GO Play • Regular FREE First Aid Classes Experience 1026-2017 Committee of Conservation Society & Renewcastle Society 2014-2017 Go Volunteer Committee

I’m Rebecca Bainbridge, a fourth year Modern Languages student and I would love to be your next ACTIVITIES OFFICER. Full of enthusiasm and a passion for all things extra-curricular, I believe I have what it takes to represent you within NUSU. Having always been actively involved in clubs and societies, I can use my experience to further improve activities at Newcastle.

My experience: • Dance Society and Club President 2016-17 • Dance Society Coach 2014-15, 2016-17 • Modern Languages Society Social Secretary 2014-15 • Organiser of Modern Languages summer ball 2015

More participation in Union led opportunities •A “Societies Spotlight” notice board showcasing different societies and how you can get involved each week •Increase awareness and participation in Give It A Go and Go Volunteer

•Increase student input at Student Council •More casual places on student council •Continue to expand RAG interest and Fresher’s Crew

Vote AMY FOK #1 Let’s FOKing do it!

Rebecca Bainbridge My aims: • Committee training tailored to what each society offers • Help committees work eﬀectively as a team • Introduce specific Social Secretary training • Training to allow societies to actively be involved in charities • Reaching out to new students early on to inform them of the opportunities NUSU offers • Working with the Sabbatical Oﬃcers to make NUSU more accessible • Increased advertising of events on campus • Continued recognition of your hard work • More engagement with international students

More recognition and accreditation for societies •Expand earn your stripes to create a similar scheme to encompass societies

Rebecca Hutchinson

I will aim to:

(1) Encourage societies to engage with the wider community, through public performances and charity work. (2) Promote the NCL+ award and its benefits to the entire student body. (3) Hold more frequent cross-society events and showcases e.g. talent shows. (4) Help societies have more guest speakers attend their events, who are experts in their field. (5) Encourage postgraduate and mature students to be as active in societies as undergraduates. (6) Continue to hold Society of the month and the annual NUSU Society awards. (7) Larger and longer Fresher’s Fair to allow every society a space to promote themselves. (8) Make Grad Ball tickets more widely available (larger venue or split over 2 nights). Experience: • NCL+ Award 2016-17 • Routes Into Languages Student Ambassador •Modern Languages Student Mentor 2014-15 VOTE REBECCA BAINBRIDGE #1 FOR ACTIVITIES OFFICER!

(1) I’ve been on the committee for Gilbert & Sullivan Society for 3 years, as Social Secretary, Ticket Oﬃcer and Publicity Oﬃcer. (2) I’ve been the Treasurer for two different societies and previously helped organise the end of year Politics Society ball. (3) I’ve performed in 10 different shows with Gilbert & Sullivan Society.

(4) In my 5 years at University, I’ve been a member of over 10 societies. (5) I’ve attended RAG events and participated in the NCL+ award with over 300 hours logged.

Clara Pettitt

ATHLETIC UNION OFFICER Elle Bloor

Clara Pettitt, you have probably seen me running around the streets of Newcastle or ID’ing you in Tesco when you are clearly over 18. I am an avid sportsperson mainly focusing on Cross Country running.

I’m Elle Bloor, a third year Marine Engineering student. This year, being First Team Captain for the Rugby Club has challenged me to support a welcoming, inclusive club environment that will ultimately grow the sport. My enthusiasm, however, is not limited to Rugby; I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in and enjoy sport.

As AU officer my main aim would be to increase publicity and recognition ensuring that all sports get recognised equally and attain enough support. Further to this, I will publicise taster sessions and trials widely so that no student misses out on the opportunity to join a team. I will organise a successful AU Ball that all sports clubs are available for, maintain a strong relationship with the Sports Centre and welcome students opinions on the new sports centre and location of the gym.

My aims have a focus on: Volunteers • Develop an organised and accessible programme for club volunteers, allowing individuals to continue their work and assist in their development.

I aim to work with Northumbria University to improve Stan Calvert and further work done this year to make it not compulsory to have silver membership to join all sports clubs, ensure that students competing in Wednesday fixtures do not have their studies affected and hope to keep the deal with Mizuno for team kit.

Team Newcastle • Secure a deal with a kit supplier for the 17/18 season and onwards, whereby decisions are influenced by student feedback. • Track progress of new sports facilities, ensure students know how they may utilise these. • Investigate possible transport links for intra mural teams playing off campus.

I will ensure your opinion and contribution to sport is recognised and accounted for, so vote Clara for AU!

Sport For All • Further invest in schemes to grow established and up and coming sports. Identify gaps for new sports and begin to build a plan how to kick start them. • Continue working with the University to have

Peter Mairs

Jack Hunter

My name is Jack Hunter and I would love to be your new Athletic Union officer. I am a thirdyear History and Politics student and VicePresident of American Football. I have enjoyed my sporting career at University, serving on my club’s committee for two years and the Athletic Union Exec Committee for the past year, working hard to help all sports teams. I am keen to continue doing so by bringing a brilliant attitude, a wealth of experience and a great plan to our AU next year.

Keep Wednesday Afternoons University Free I aim to ensure that keeping Wednesday afternoons free is implemented across the board with no excuses or exceptions, or to devise an alternative to prevent members of sports teams from being at a disadvantage as a result of Wednesday fixtures. Revitalize Stan Calvert Sadly, I believe Stan Calvert is slowly faltering, as illustrated by this year’s competition taking place without a main event. I want to re-introduce a main event, making it a huge spectacle, as well as increasing spectator numbers for all events in general.

Manifesto aims: • Additional grant money for clubs. o Additional funds from the University for Sports clubs grant money.

Maintain Sport England Funded Activities With the loss of Sport England funding at the end of the academic year, I will aim to work with the University to ensure all previously funded activities are maintained.

• Wednesday lessons. o Continue to fight against Wednesday lectures and seminars. • Increased participation. o Remodel the fresher’s fair so all Sports teams have a good showing. o Extend current participation schemes. • Support for clubs. o Scheduled meeting each term with each club’s committee. o More recognition for clubs’ achievements. • Welfare and Equality. o Incentivize all clubs to have a dedicated Welfare and Equality officer.

o Frequent meetings to ensure all student athlete’s voices are heard. •Alcohol ban on coaches. o Remove the alcohol ban for all sports clubs. Vote Jack #1 for AU Officer! #BackTheJack!

Introduce A Sport Volunteer Programme To attempt to improve the smooth running of intramural sports and to liaise with selected community sports clubs I will explore options to introduce a sport volunteer programme. Lift The Alcohol Ban For Away Fixtures I want to try and find a way for students to sensibly consume alcohol on the way back from away fixtures, possibly with the introduction of a deposit system to prevent any damage to the buses.

Wednesday lectures fully recapped, so that sport does not impact on studies. Reward Yourselves • Prevent clubs from missing out on grants and rewards by offering information and support with applications.

Voting open from 2pm Monday until 12pm Thursday at www.nusu.co.uk/vote

EDITOR OF THE COURIER

Dan Robertson

Hello! I’m Dan, Deputy Editor at The Courier! I’d love to use my experiences working at the Courier for the past three years to create the best possible student media for you: If elected: SOCIAL-MEDIA PRESENCE: We will champion regular, up-to-date content and increase digital readership through social media, making it more accessible for students daily. JUICY RE-LAUNCH: The Courier media will get a fresh, new format that be relevant in engaging our generation with what we have to offer. MUSIC CONTENT: We will spotlight new music, emerging talent, local bands and big-name interviews, all contributing to our new weekly playlists. ENGAGEMENT and SOCIETIES: Our student media will be for every student and something that any student can be apart of. We will come to YOU through on-campus promotion, lecture presence and new established network group of society and clubs. NEW ‘Upcoming and Societies’ pages will be added to the Courier.

James Sproston

Ruth Loefﬂer

Hey! I’m James Sproston, the Courier’s Sport Editor and proud Geographer. As well as editing, writing and being part of sports and societies, I currently represent students through the AU and Welfare & Campaigns Executive Committees, and Student Council. I pride myself on this involvement, and want to continue this representation by being your Editor of the Courier.

I have written for The Courier for three years, and have been Lifestyle Editor for two. Now I know my way around the office, I would love to be your next Editor.

1) Choose Fresh: for the Courier to receive a new look; for the new Courier website to be widely read, appointing online editors; for the Courier to be effectively distributed;

3) Choose Societies: for a reintroduction of a Societies section into the Courier; for a platform where new societies can work towards ratification;

This is how:

committees; for an increase in the number of publicity officers on clubs & society committees; for Part Time Officers and Sabbatical Officers to be allocated a Courier section for termly reviews.

4) Choose Puzzles: for a permanent restoration of the Courier’s Puzzles section to its former fullpage glory; 5) Choose Representation: for integration of the Courier into Students’ Union executive

Sam Jermy

1. Help the poor by introducing more monetary advice. Being skint is something that all students can relate to and some good advice can really make all the difference. 2. Feed the hungry by working with local businesses to provide some rewards for our Courier readers. This could be beneficial to both businesses and students, and might entice some more readers too! 3. Get interactive and promote our online presence more with the introduction of online quizzes as another platform to engage readers. 4. Give recognition to our clubs and societies. They provide some of the best experiences in your entire time of university and their hard work should not be undervalued. 5. Raise awareness for mental health. At

university, the issue of mental health is not talked about openly enough. The Courier could provide an opportunity to give advice to both sufferers and their friends.

Sophie Ahmed

Vote Sam Jermy for Editor

Hi everyone, I’m Sophie Ahmed - third year English Literature student and current Music Editor of The Courier.

Hi my name is Sam Jermy and I want to be your next Editor of the Courier. I’ve been at Newcastle since September studying MA Media and Journalism, and I also work for NUSU serving you tasty drinks in Venue and Mens bar.

I believe that I can be a great Editor because I have contributed to The Courier regularly since first year, enabling me to win Columnist of the Year at the 2016 Media Awards. I have also gained experience working with a national publication in my role as Student Ambassador for The Independent and the i Paper last year.

I’ve been involved in some form of student or professional journalism since 2005 when I joined my school radio station. I was Editor of a business magazine and currently I am a Premier League and Football League accredited sports journalist. I want to use my knowledge and experience to spearhead the Courier, get students excited about the content we produce, and win a boatload of awards. My three main policy pledges are: • Email newsletters- we need to make it easier for students to find great news stories • Social media integration- Implementation of a sophisticated social media plan will increase website views and see more interaction with YOU the student • Career boost- Copy clinics and broadcast training days will be provided for anyone looking to push on and hone their craft when working for

1-800-Hotline-off-the-Press …Dan Robertson is running to be your next Editor.

I’m Ruth and I’m a third year History and Politics student and I am The Courier’s current Lifestyle Editor.

If you Choose Sproston, you also…

2) Choose Sport: for an increase in print, online and live coverage; for a wider range of sports teams to be covered;

PROMOTE the wide diversity, voice and talent of NUSU students: I will ensure the Courier stands for the students of NUSU, ensuring every opinion, photograph or piece of content represent our diversity, our voice, our face and our talent.

the Courier, NSR or on TCTV Thanks for reading, I hope I can count on your vote. #VoteJermy

Here is a rundown of my main policies, and a reminder of my name: A is for Access: - strengthen The Courier as a paper which goes beyond the written word, granting students access to Newcastle’s exciting opportunities H is for Hanging Out: - encourage more interaction between writers and editors and choose a Writer of the Week to help everyone know the paper’s contributors better M is for More: - call for more society involvement and more BUCS coverage E is for entertainment: - introduce a new array of fun features and games to keep you entertained between lectures D is for Design: - elect an overall Design Editor to

keep us looking good - rally a team of Courier photographers VOTE AHMED #1 FOR EDITOR – with our writing prowess, Cou-verage, and lots of puns, we can access even more of Newcastle’s cultural and intellectual opportunities.

EDUCATION OFFICER

WELFARE & EQUALITY OFFICER Andrew Lister

I’m Andrew Lister, a third year Pharmacology student and I believe I’d make a great Welfare and Equality Officer. I’m extremely passionate about effecting positive, lasting change throughout Newcastle University. Through establishing a strong working relationship with the Head of Student Wellbeing, I’ve already been able to generate change within the University. I’m the candidate who, if elected, will improve your university experience. Experience Treasurer (2015-16), President (2016-17): Mind the Gap, NUSU’s mental health society Safety & Scrutiny Officer, Mental Health Rep: Disability & Neurodiversity Society Societies Executive Committee Welfare & Campaigns Executive Committee Finance, Scrutiny, and Steering Committees Student Council Student Rep Winner: Outstanding Contribution to Societies, NUSU Awards 2016 Shortlisted: Contribution to Societies, Pride of Newcastle Awards 2016 Nominated by Sally Ingram, Head of Wellbeing: Be Bold for Change

Liam Day

Main Aims Improve mental health • Student-led mental health training for tutors • Improve Wellbeing support for marginalised

I’m Liam Day and I believe I am the perfect candidate to be the Education Officer. I have participated extensively in societies during my University career, providing me with excellent knowledge to support students from a variety of backgrounds.

Saffron Kershaw-Mee

I have been: • RAG President 16/17 • RAG Committee Member 13/14 and 15/16 • Crossfit Society Member 13/14 and 15/16 • Student Mentor and Ambassador 13/14 Recap – Many courses still avoid using Recap. I intend to use the report that is being written presently to continue its expansion across all courses. SAGE Re-Structuring – The SAGE faculty is being remodelled. As a Chemical Engineer, I understand the current issues that need addressing. I aim to ensure this transition runs smoothly and doesn’t detract from anyone in those schools. Marking Feedback and Return – Some schools attempt to exclude modules from the 20 day mark return policy and feedback can be poor on assignments. This should not be the case and I would attempt to ensure all marked work is returned within the expected timeline.

Global Unity – Newcastle University is a global campus, therefore the Union must reflect that. I intend to continue building an excellent relationship across all campuses. VOTE LIAM FOR EDUDAYTION

SARAH CRAGGS Management)

(Marketing

with info on campus/local support services. I will also aim to run a campus-wide campaign alongside ‘Movember’ to overcome the high rate of young male suicide and encourage all students to use the support services available. Please elect Saﬀron for welfare! #votemee

and

The Fresh Face of Welfare- bringing ‘Fresh’ ideas to support the mental and physical wellbeing of students. I will aim for:

My name is Rowan South, a 4th year maths student and I am running to represent you as Education Officer 2017/18.

- HEALTH & FITNESS: •More nutritious food on campus, including vegan and vegetarian •Free cooking and fitness classes in collaboration with societies

As a highly determined and driven individual you can rest assured that I will work tirelessly to improve your university experience. My priorities will be firstly ensuring that you as students are given the best education possible from the University and that your education represents true value for money. If you vote Rowan #1 for Education, I will endeavour to implement the following;

Your University • Ensure that the university’s decision on entering the TEF is in the best interests of the students. • Hold a review of foundation years to ensure they are bringing students up to the required levels for beginning university. • Introduce a week off after January exams

Hello I’m Saﬀron and I’m running to be your next Welfare & Equality Officer! I have a wealth of experience and passion of ensuring all students are represented, validated, and listened to on Uni campus. I have already received national recognition from The Mirror, BBC Three, The Chronicle and BBC Radio Newcastle about campaigns I have run as NUSU’s Marginalised Genders Oﬃcer and my own gender identity. I have already been heavily involved in student politics and have made a positive change on campus. This includes opening two individual ‘ALL GENDER’ toilets into the library and running a successful campaign entitled Beyond the Binary validating trans* and non-binary students. If elected I would like to run an International Film and Food Festival with an outdoor cinema to bring all students together for increased international involvement. I will also focus on self-care and student wellbeing through a monthly safe space called ‘ZONE-OUT’, where students can come to chill out and be provided

Sarah Craggs

Rowan South

Facilities • Introduce 24-hour smart card access to your school’s main study spaces • Provide more private and group study spaces across campus

groups • Continue mental health training for sports teams • Department specific peer-support groups Combat sexual violence • Comprehensive, down-to-earth sexual safety training Improve accessibility • Continue work getting all lectures ReCapped • Enhance provisions for students with disabilities Help students de-stress • More puppy days • Cat café vouchers • Provide a study capable chill-out space in the Robinson

Your Course • Make online typed notes compulsory for modules where the lecturer chooses not to use recap or does not use a recap friendly method of note writing. • Improve the standard and fairness of marking across the university VOTE ROWAN #1 FOR EDUCATION

- SEXUAL HEALTH: •Sexual health checks within sports clubs and societies •Regularly stocked condom machines

•Drug Awareness Support

- ON CAMPUS SUPPORT: •Quicker responses for mental & general health enquiries •Free menstrual care items •PEC form option for follow up support •Chill out zones in venue •Extended Stressed Out Students’, including puppy and kitten days

-EQUALITY AWARENESS: •Greater LGBT+ representation & inclusion of Exchange/ Erasmus/Confucius institute Students •Ensuring all buildings are equipped with disabled access •Collaborate alongside other SU’s to organise nationwide campaigns for greater equality

- ADDITIONAL SUPPORT: •Life-Skill-Seminars (interview, CV and day-today budgeting advice) •Greater links and integration between the Student Advice Centre and mental health services in King’s Gate

- EXPERIENCE: •FW Crew Member 2015-2017 •RAG Crew Member 2016, RAG Supervisor 2017 •WAC member •Gin Soc Vice President & Co-Founder •Social Sec Social Tennis 2015-2017

Part Time Ofﬁcers

Errol Kerr

CHAIR OF STUDENT’S UNION COUNCIL William Horseman

The fundamental reason why you should vote for me as Chair of the Student Council is that I will be a strong leader who listens to and acts upon your voice whilst respecting and representing all corners of our community. One of the main objectives I will focus on will be to help ensure the university continues to meet the high environmental standards it sets itself. I understand that only by working as a team collaboratively can milestones be created to ensure that our council is a vibrant, dynamic and successful student body. My excellent organizational skills and steadfast reliability will help to ensure that things get done quickly and efficiently. As well as this, my versatile character, encompassing a broad range of interests from music to sport, will bring new ideas and a fresh perspective on the role. I have applied these skills to previous leadership roles and the results have been rewarding. I always enjoy meeting new people and with this opportunity we can build strong relationships together to create an effective team. It is only by voting for me that these assurances can be turned into a bright reality!

Hi! I’m Errol Kerr, current Students with Disabilities Officer, and I’m running for NUSU Chair of Council. I have three key principles which would greatly increase student engagement with NUSU’s politics, and would make the space one of even more enjoyable debate, within which everyone can engage freely with the motions. •Spearhead a Council Engagement Campaign across the whole of the 2017-18 Academic Year, through concentrated advertisement in NUSU, flyers, student media, and larger incentives to encourage broader student engagement in politics; particularly aimed at increasing the representation of international students, postgraduate students and mature students, •Work closely with Newcastle University’s student media branches to promote discussion of motions prior to council, creating and encouraging debate well before Student Council meets, so that healthy discussion can occur on all fronts and so that the voices of any individual can be heard; •Change the physical layout of Student Council: adjusting the location of each aspect of Council to allow for a more accessible and wheelchairfriendly space, and to make room for NUTV’s new Council livestreaming, which already promotes discussion of Council outside of the room.

Make your voice heard. Vote Errol Kerr for Chair. Make Change Happen.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ OFFICER Sneha Vincent

Ciara Henderson

I believe I can be your International Students’ Officer 17/18 as I face the same challenges as any International student and I deeply empathize. Being the current International Officer my role has allowed me to understand the workings of the University and the Students’ Union. I have worked towards improving Uni life over the year and is still ongoing. Being a part of the 17/18 Team will allow me to successfully implement my objectives -

My name is Ciara Henderson and I want to make the university home away from home for all international students on campus! I hope to make the university more accessible in 3 ways: •Housing and Finance: Guarantors o I want to continue the work of our current Welfare and Equality Officer to create a program where the university can act as a guarantor for international students looking for housing. o This allows for flexibility on a budget and one less stress in house hunting.

- International Guarantor Scheme; encouraging University to provide guarantors for internationals. Lessening exploitation by landlords. - Campaigning for issues; proper housing, refugee crisis. - Amending penalty policies; allowing students to choose b/w paying fines or working certain hours (community service). - Providing ‘Culture Shock’ workshops. - Promoting engagement; International Festival of Arts & Music allowing students to integrate.

• Culture and Campus Events: o I want to work closely with a range of different societies promoting different cultures, languages and sports for fun campus wide events and a prominent international week. o Societies work hard at creating events, but students don’t have the opportunity to attend because societies can’t publicize the way they would like. I want to ensure students know all the options and activities available to them! • Study Abroad: o I also want to make information about necessary visas for studying abroad readily available on the university website. o Incoming students should have the

opportunity to explore all possibilities to study abroad.

Combining my knowledge from being a 2nd year Law student, sitting on the Student Council, being members of the Welfare & Campaign, Education and Community Exec Committees. I could make many positive changes in the lives of Internationals as students and residents. This is why I want to be your Officer, to ensure a

worthwhile and constantly improving student experience. Vote for this change, Vote for me!

MARGINALISED GENDERS OFFICER

Emily Sherwood

Hi! I’m Emily Sherwood, I’m a first-year Fine Art student and I want to be your next Marginalised Genders Officer. Since starting university I organised a Transgender and Non-Binary visibility stall for the LGBT+ Awareness Week and was involved with ‘Beyond the Binary’. In light of recent political developments, I believe now is a crucial time to actively tackle gender-based discrimination. My passion for confronting issues that people face due to their gender will be my driving force, pushing me to deliver successful and well organised campaigns.

university and NUSU to ensure that all genders are

My aims: •Continuing ‘Beyond the Binary’ and to increase the visibility of gender identities that exist outside of the binary. •Increasing the number of gender-neutral toilets for the campus to become a safer space and better equipped for the needs of its students. •Organising workshops surrounding issues such as consent and sexual harassment •To actively work with the structures within the

represented, and the issues faced by marginalised genders are challenged. My main goal would be to make NCL a shining example of a community in which people of marginalised genders are respected and receive equal representation. Vote Emily Sherwood for representation that sparkles.

SCRUTINY OFFICER

My aims are: •Ensure that the union is fair and equal to all students and that the code of conduct is upheld to the highest standard •Make the complaints process easier for students to access and to widen knowledge of how the process

If I were elected to become the LGBT+ Officer, I would aim to: •Review the University’s Transgender Policy, so trans students are better informed and supported. •Expand the current annual LGBT+ Week, to include events over the entire course of •LGBT+ History Month, highlighting the struggles of marginalised LGBT+ people, like

LGBT+ people of colour. •Work with Student Wellbeing to create a program specifically to help LGBT+ people who may have problems related to their sexuality and/ or gender. •Work with the Welfare and Equality oﬃcer and Mind the Gap to help train personal tutors and staff to be better equipped for students who need special support in their academic life, due to personal issues.

STUDENT PARENTS, GUARDIANS AND CARERS OFFICER

I am Holly. I am your current Parents, guardians and Carers Officer. I am hoping to be re-elected next year so I can continue to improve the experiences of students with caring responsibilities.

works for all students •When necessary, investigate all complaints with a high level of integrity and professionalism, always aiming for the most appropriate and fair outcome and ensuring the process is unbiased and equal for all

Zoe Godden

This year I have: •Created an online peer support group student carers to share resources and experiences •Worked with local organisations and university groups to share resources and increase support for students with caring responsibilities •Ran “Student Carers Day” campaign raising awareness of what a carer is, highlighting the difficulties they face and encouraging the university to change the way they support student carers •Currently working with Student Wellbeing to improve support for Student Carers •Organised informal events for both Student Parents and Student Carers to talk, relax and share experiences •Took a motion to council to improve support for

student carers If you elect me I will aim to: •Continue to run the support group for student carers •Organise more events for Student Parents and Student Carers •Work with Student Wellbeing and the University to improve support for both Student Carers and Student Parents •Continue campaigning to raise awareness of what a carer is and the challenges they face

STUDENTS WITH FAITH OR BELIEF OFFICER

Hasham Gill

Hello, I am Hasham Gill. I want to be your next Student with Faith or Belief officer. I understand it is crucial to develop a resilient bond with students to establish their rights and ensure that enough value is regarded to their opinion.

Hey! I’m Zoë, a second year Media student, and I’d love to be your next Students with Disabilities Officer.

My main goals if elected are •Putting support in place for students seeking diagnoses for disabilities and mental health conditions whilst at university via their academic department, university accommodation, and/or student wellbeing services. •Continue campaigning for mandatory use of ReCap in all lectures for accessibility purposes.

I have been a committee member of the LGBT+ society for two years, as the Women’s Rep, and then as the President. I have organised socials, planned trips abroad, and planned and executed the annual LGBT+ Awareness Week. If there is one thing that the LGBT+ Week has taught me, is that there is some serious misinformation about gender and sexuality, both out of and within the LGBT+ community.

Re-Elect Holly Waddell for Student Parents, Guardians and Carers Officer

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES OFFICER

I’m an avid disability and mental health campaigner, with extensive experience in running successful events across the university. Whether it’s as Campaigns Officer for Mind the Gap, Treasurer for the Disability and Neurodiversity Society, or regularly attending the Welfare and Campaigns Committee and student council, I have an active campus presence that positively impacts student liberation. I’m determined to make Newcastle more accessible than ever, creating a positive, intersectional environment for students with disabilities from all backgrounds.

Hannah Fitzpatrick

My name is Hannah Fitzpatrick, a third year Computing Science student, and I am running for LGBT+ Officer.

Holly Waddell

Emma Dawson

Like many here at the university, I’m a huge fan of the union and am excited by the opportunities here at Newcastle. Someone needs to make sure everything runs smoothly and that the union is a fair space for everyone and is acting in your best interests. I’m the perfect person for the job. My experience as a member of the British youth council gives me a great advantage in dealing with high level responsibility and representation and taught me just how important accountability is. I believe that if anything should go wrong, reaching a fair outcome with professionalism and transparency is key and that the process must remain equal and unbiased for all

LGBT+ OFFICER

It is important to recognize different faiths and belief around us in order to encourage a healthy and positive atmosphere. I firmly believe in interfaith communication and relations for it emboldens trust and positivity among people. •Promoting for all videos/films shown in class to contain subtitles, and encouraging staff to stop using black-text-on-white-backgrounds in their presentations, helping students with dyslexia/ dyspraxia/other visual impairments. •Developing a ‘Lift’ section of the Newcastle University App, updating users when any elevators across campus undergo repair. So make sure you vote Zoë #1 for Students with Disabilities Oﬃcer!

Being an avid practitioner of a faith myself, I realize how important it is to build a solid foundation for fellow students to allow them to be confident in their belief and aspire others to be valiant in their faith or belief. I am currently pursuing a degree in Accounting and Finance. The fact that I have lived in different countries over the past few years has given me the opportunity to explore different religions and cultures, which I believe would allow me to cultivate decent relationships with students. If elected, I would implement the following:

•Organize Inter-Faith activities and events •Convene a faith or belief forum •Ensure a well maintained feedback portal