By R. Smith 

When my boyfriend, in his most reassuring and pacifying voice, said “Don’t worry, it will all get easier when we are back at uni”, I just wanted to cry.  His university is across the country from mine. I just couldn't see how it could be in any way reassuring to imagine that things would be better when we were apart. Yet looking back, I suppose he had made an interesting point: do long distance relationships work better than ones where the couple live near to each other? In fact, do relationships “work” at all?The idea of a long-distance relationship may seem like a recipe for disaster to those who have never been in one, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly popular. More and more jobs now require you to travel long distances, often across different countries and different continents, and this is especially true for highly-educated workers. Perhaps the LDR (Long Distance Relationship) will be the standard model of the future? Greg Guldner, the director of the Center for the Study of Long Distance Relationships, estimates that 14m Americans are in LDRs and a recent survey carried out by Orange Broadband revealed that as many as 1 million Britons are currently involved in an LDR.

So how do we measure whether a relationship is successful – be it long or short distance? Is it in relation to our parents? Perhaps not: the Office for National Statistics says that more than one-third of marriages end in divorce. Or is it in relation to some idealised notion, perhaps from the media, about ultimate fulfillment, romance, and the unity of two beings into one? How can we correlate that rose tinted portrayal of love with the bleak reality that fewer and fewer relationships are now life long?
Perhaps this is where long distance relationships get their edge. Someone who you see only once a week, fortnight, or even once a month, stands a much better chance of being the kind, attentive, loving person that society leads us to believe that we deserve. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that. Not that this is to say long distance relationships are easy. There is always that lingering belief that our partner would be this “perfect” all the time should we be lucky enough to see them. Damn those blessed with a boyfriend/girlfriend nearby!
Yet those who do see their partner on a regular, if not daily basis, often moan about lack of quality time, and say that mere quantity is hardly anything to pine for. Your partner becomes your sounding board for all manner of petty daily annoyances, and you end up simply venting all your anger out at the one person you love instead of truly enjoying each other’s company.Yet if you concede that your relationship works better when you are further apart, isn’t that the same as saying that the relationship doesn’t actually work at all? Is it honest to say no one can stand someone they see all the time, or is that just a defensive mechanism we employ to reassure ourselves that our relationship is as good as everyone else's?
Perhaps it is romanticised idealism to imagine that relationships should work wonderfully on a daily basis. Maybe we just need to accept that a relationship that “works” does not need to be a constant source of joy and delight. In fact, perhaps a constantly joyful relationship is working less well, because there is no real reliance, no team work to struggle through difficult things together.  Surely that is the makings of a truly solid relationship.
In an age where people are increasingly living apart from their partners it is interesting to ask why, and how, this is providing them with fulfillment. Is the idea of sharing a common life with someone no longer an ideal, or can it be achieved despite distance? Has the increasing value placed on independence come at the price of prioritising proximity, both physically and mentally, in our relationships? Perhaps the time has come to accept that for a growing number of people an ideal relationship is one that they can compartmentalise along with everything else in their busy lives.  They can enjoy it for short periods and then put it away to get on with something else before it gets too dull.   

 by Sally Caswell

Exhibition: 13th October-11th
November 2007

The dark grey, cavernous walls of the O3 Gallery provide the perfect foil for the vivid colours of Marc  Allen’s photography. The eighteen 20 x30" images are unfocused, abstract and infinitely mysterious.  Certain associations are triggered when you look at some of the pieces, but for the most part the enjoyment of the exhibition comes from the aesthetics. The colours and the general compositions  satisfy something within oneself and make the visual experience very worthwhile.
Untitled C particularly stands out for me. It’s a haunting piece with drifting, smoky effects. It appears to  be a scene looking across a river at a building on the opposite side. However,  Allen creates such  abstract effects that one can never quite be sure. Instead of being irritating, as I thought such uncertainty would be, the result was a slight unsettled sensation which kept me guessing and left me  intrigued by his technique. The titles offer little in the way of explanation, ‘O4’, ‘Rookery 25’,  but on  talking to Allen it soon becomes apparent that the titles are more a part of a system of identification, than means of providing any clues to the picture.Having spoken to Allen, his photographs became a lot clearer, or, at least, the motivation behind them  did rather than the photographs themselves. He describes his work as “drawing with light”. Indeed,  photography literally means this, ‘photo’ originating from photons regarding light, and ‘graph’ being Greek for drawing.  It’s a description which suits his work very well. Light is his medium as much as  paint for a painter is their medium. Despite the abstract nature of the works he doesn’t use digital  manipulation to achieve the effects, relying instead on time exposures. In this way he is using pure light. He invokes the style of Picasso and Braque in his work, explaining that whilst the painters painted  things from different angles, they all looked at various perspectives in one piece. Allen does this  through the time exposures on his camera; as the light moves across the object, the perspective  changes and he captures this in his art.

by Michael Bennett

David Whittaker: Stonelight. The Jam Factory, main gallery, until November 3rd.

Two years ago, Lancashire farmer David Whittaker started taking photographs of his local area. Although most of the images in his exhibition in The Jam Factory on Hollybush Row come from the Cornwall area, they still have a sense of local knowledge; hidden and unnoticed natural beauty recorded for distant audiences. The exhibition is small, a single room of pictures, and didn't take long to investigate. Along one wall are pictures of stones, presumably to promote Whittaker's forthcoming book 'Stonelight'. But it was the wider landscape pictures, which drew my attention much more.

One of Whittaker's strong points is his use of light. Some of the best pictures are taken towards the sun with objects such as rock formations (or more interestingly, abandoned bikes) in the foreground. Many of the best show the Cornish coast, especially when the stony ocean background is given real texture. Textures are a strong suit, and apparently innocuous objects like rusted metal fence posts and timber are shown to be beautiful.

Textures, however, are not enough to make the images of pebbles more interesting than they sound. Apart from anything else, photographing pebbles is hardly a very new idea, and has been done far more interestingly elsewhere. In general, Whittaker's work is not very original and is often cliché or predictable, even when it is beautiful. The worst and best pictures both illustrate this. Respectively, the first shows a set of barrels lined up against a wall, whereas the second is entitled 'Buddha and Disciple' and shows a seated Buddha statue with a frog perched in his hands looking up at his face. Gimmicky, yes, but you can’t help laughing and it certainly does stand out from the rest of the collection.

The room next door displays the art of Geoff Clifford, and is perhaps more interesting than the main exhibit. Clifford's line is in large canvases of abstract curves in colourful shapes and loose patterns. His work fits in excellently with Whittaker's coastal theme, and his colourful and stylised pebbles were much more exciting than the real thing next door.

All in all the exhibition is hardly sensational, but is certainly worth dropping in for a coffee and a wander round if you find yourself nearby with enough time. Few people will not enjoy the calming landscapes currently on offer at the Jam Factory.

Firefighters were called to St John's College on Friday evening, after a fire broke out in one of their student kitchens.The incident occurred when a fire broke out in a dishwasher in the first floor kitchen of the MCR. The fire was quickly detected and extinguished, leaving little damage.A spokesman for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said that the college's adherance to simple fire and safety precautions prevented the incident from becoming more serious.

Post-Matriculation celebrations at The Turf
 

Want to work for Cherwell24? Updated daily throughout term time, Cherwell24 is the most up-to-date news-source in Oxford.We're looking for writers, broadcasters, photographers, and new ideas. If you want to get involved, e-mail the section editor below at
online @ cherwell . org or come to our weekly meeting on Sunday at 11:30am, held at the Cherwell offices on St Aldate's (red building, opposite La Croissanterie and The Old Tom. E-mail for further details.)Editors: Fiona Wilson (Hertford) and Leah Klement (St Anne's)
Deputy Editors: Leon Harrington (New) and Selena Wisnom (St Hilda's) News: Laura Pitel (St Anne's)Features: Charlotte King (Balliol) and Sam Harding (Christ Church)Stage: Sinead Mattock (Brasenose)Music: Vikram Joseph (New) and Joseph Rowan (Balliol)Books/Exhibitions: Daisy Dunn (St Hilda's)Science: Connie Han (Madgalen)Sport: James Beard (Wadham)
Comment: Matthew Burn (Wadham) and Samuel Counsell (Trinity)

Want to get involved in the print edition Cherwell?
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The future of travel between Oxford and Cambridge lies in airships, according to World SkyCat Ltd.The SkyCat helium balloon would carry around 200 passengers, and travel at around 100 mph, making it ideal for the Oxford-to-Cambridge run. The journey would last around an hour, proving a speedy alternative to congested road-travel. What's more, the vehicle's design would mean that it could land nearly anywhere.Plans set the launch of the balloon for two years' time, although developer and author Michael Stewart, of World SkyCat Ltd., is still looking for investors to provide money to fund the venture.Emphasising the green nature of the project, he said: "The emissions are less than ten per cent per tonne per mile of an average aircraft."

Hello to everyone, freshers and returning students – We'd like to welcome you to Michaelmas 2007 with Cherwell 24. Our redesigned site, launched last term, continues to grow and in the next few weeks you can expect to see new video news stories, podcasts, blogs, and comment functions. We encourage you to register to enjoy the full interactive capabilities of the site. A particularly warm welcome to the freshers – we hope you enjoy Oxford and turn to Cherwell 24 to stay updated on what's going on around the city. Check out our Culture section for what's going on in theatre, music, art, and film in Oxford that week, and keep an eye on our News ticker for breaking stories. If you're interested in getting involved with Cherwell 24, we're always looking for contributors in any section. You can get in touch with out section editors as follows:News: Laura Pitel (St Anne's)Features: Charlotte King (Balliol)Stage: Sinead Mattock (Brasenose)Music: Vikram Joseph (New) and Joseph Rowan (Balliol)Books/Exhibitions: Daisy Dunn (St Hilda's)Science: Connie Han (Madgalen)Sport: James Beard (Wadham)
Comment: Matthew Burn (Wadham) and Samuel Counsell (Trinity)Additionally, we're expanding our multimedia section, so if anyone has experience or interest in working with internet video, audio, and other user-interactive features, or you're interested in an area not covered by the sections above, drop the editors a line at:online(at)cherwell.orgWe'd love to hear from you. Enjoy Michaelmas and see more – see 24.Leah Klement (St Anne's) Fiona Wilson (Hertford)Editors

All summer I was moving about, country to country, meeting different people, spending time with different friends, having all sorts of fun. Now I find myself with a flat, a rent, a bank account and a stable job. This is so unlike me. Geographically, I am in a provincial town in the middle of nowhere. In Belgium.I had put a note downstairs saying, in French, “I am new to Liege, if you are doing anything interesting, please knock on my door first. P.S. Interesting things include: watching films, drawing, staring at the ceiling, making tea." The next day, I get back from the school where I am an assistant, teaching future English teachers (and get paid a jolly sum in the process). As my boots stomp stomp up the wooden stairs of my building, someone calls out my name. I saunter in through an open door and sit down on a stool. This experience should go down in history.There are two boys a couch. One is bald and topless, playing Super Mario on a Playstation. The other has hair and a t-shirt and is watching his friend play on a Playstation. The Bald One immediately says, without stopping the click click clicking of remote, “Hello. I don’t know what you are going to do in Belgium. There is nothing to do here.” Wow, I thought, my social life bodes well. I asked why he said this and mentionned the amazing library I’d found that rented tons of cds and dvds and the cinemas and live music. Super Mario sunk and Baldie retorted, “But life sucks because I haven’t found the woman who’ll be my wife.” This may sound like the beginning to an excellent porn film, but you are happilly decieved. I ask their ages, and incidentally what they do. They are 24, studying marketing and advertising at the art school in town. They insist on mentionning how they are both sons of farmers and how in Liege is so revoltingly fashionable (!). Baldie goes to make himself dinner and so I try to make the other one chat to me. I ask him what he likes, and he says “Sylvester Stallone.” This has to be one of the most amazing discoveries I have made since I’ve started Oxford. It got even more surreal. I walk over to the dvd collection under the television and pick out a film at random, then another and another, and every film I pick out does indeed have Sylvester Stallone starring in it, he watches the television, as he says proudly, “I’ve nearly got them all, I’m only missing a few.” I make the unfortunate mistake of saying I’d seen all five Rocky’s and he blurted out, irritated “Six! There are six Rockys.” I don’t think there was a tinge of joke in his voice.
But on the plus side they are friendly and welcoming, which is good news.

The government recently passed a bill legalising use of animal-human hybrid embryos in medical research. Namrata Turaga and Nela Cicmil  argue on the ethical, scientific, and societal implications. 'Human-Animal' Stem cells: Growth towards the future
Namrata Turaga argues that hybrid embryos are a step forward for humanity

On the 8^th October, stem-cell research in England changed forever. The government revised the Human Tissue and Embryology Bill to legalise the use of Human-animal hybrid embryos in research. Interspecies embryos can now be used under HFEA (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority) license, though subject to tight regulation. With so many moral issues at stake, you may be asking: is this support from the government justifiable?
Before trying to answer this question, one needs to understand exactly what these hybrid embryos are, and what their scope for usage is. In order to make them, the entire DNA from a cow egg is extracted via an opening created by using a laser, and human DNA is then inserted into this cell. Then an electric shock is then applied, making the cell divide into an embryo, thereby providing human stem cells for extraction. In this way, all the hybrids created are 99.9% human and only 0.1% cow, hardly justifying the claim that this research is blurring the lines between animal and human species.
The embryos are kept alive for only 14 days. It is not the intention of the research to actually create a bizarre ‘cowboy’ or ‘cowgirl’ hybrids), but to use these stem cells to further our understanding of and find revolutionary cures for a plethora of diseases like Alzheimer’s, Motor Neuron Disease, Parkinson’s and even spinal cord injuries, which have so far frustrated researchers and clinicians alike, devastating hundreds of thousands of lives. Stem cells form the building blocks of the human body and have the potential to transform into any cell needed, making them invaluable for such degenerative diseases.
Currently, the formation of these cells relies on human eggs left over from fertility treatments, which are in short supply and not always of good quality. Allowing the use of hybrid embryo stem cells makes the process less cumbersome and yields much better results, increasing the scope of research by several factors. Not only will this pave the progress of British science into the realm of world class groundbreaking research, but more importantly, it gives hope to all the people with degenerative diseases. With more materials at their disposal, scientists are more likely to achieve a breakthrough sooner. In real terms, this means many sufferers have a greater chance of regaining a quality of life currently impossible to achieve.With so many positive outcomes in sight, the use of human-animal embryos has been backed by not only the government and the HFEA but also by the Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the Commons Science and Technology Commission and Nobel Prize winners like Sir Paul Nurse and Sir Tim Hunt, to name but a few. The HFEA stated, "we have been calling for an updated, clear framework that is fit for the scientific, moral and ethical pressures of the 21st Century and this response has brought that another step closer.” But what exactly is this morality and what is this issue of ethics?

The French philosopher Paul Ricouer offers his views on morality by saying ‘The moral law commands us to make the highest possible good in a world the final object of all our conduct’ while Nobel prize winning Philosopher Albert Schweitzer summarises ethics by saying, ‘A man is truly ethical when he obeys the compulsion to help all life which he is able to assist and shrinks from injuring anything that lives.’
Given that all the research with hybrid embryos is purely geared towards clinical outcomes, all the objections pale in comparison to the bigger picture of truly helping humankind. Hopefully people will realise the implications of the use of the hybrid stem cells and the Human Tissue and Embryology Bill will be accepted by all, thereby materialising the hopes of all sufferers of debilitating diseases.

Hybrid monsters – Ethically Unsound
Nela Cicmil argues that creating human-animal hybrids is scientifically and ethically unsound
The use of embryos has always been controversial and provocative. The new bill allowing part human, part animal embryos in medical research has unsurprisingly sparked a heated debate. The loudest voice of dissent is often that of “faith”- based and pro-life groups, who are on principle also against many other types of medical research. But you don’t have to be religious to see there are ethical reasons why the creation of hybrid embryos for research purposes is morally no better than the creation of human embryos for research purposes, and why in many ways it is worse.
It is currently illegal to create human embryos purely for research purposes. Scientists must depend upon the few rejected embryos from fertility treatment, which are often in poor condition, or donated embryos from the same source, which are in also in short supply. Research groups, from the University of Newcastle and King’s College London, wish to perfect their experimental techniques on hybrid “practice” embryos, so that the few human embryos they receive can be put to more efficient use. Hence, banning the hybrid embryos will not cut off entire routes of research into potential treatments into diseases such as MS, Alzheimer’s, motor neuron disease and Parkinson’s disease – if stem cells are even the answer.
The Newcastle research group also plans to insert disease-causing human DNA into the animal ovum to create a hybrid embryo. They hope that this will give some clue to the development of certain genetic disease. However, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) prohibits the replacement of nuclear DNA of a human embryo by DNA from another human source – so why should replacing the same DNA into an animal ovum be an ethical improvement? Additionally, it is likely that the stem cell of such an experiment would be so contaminated by the animal components that it would differentiate in a way that is nowhere near “normal”. The results would be extremely difficult to interpret at best.
So, we are left with the ethical considerations.  Medical research uses the principle that humans are special in some way, and different to and better than animals. That is how animal testing in medical research is justified. Additionally, human life is assumed to be sanctified, which is why creating and destroying even the earliest and least developed human embryo purely for research purposes has been deemed to be morally unjustifiable for any ends/ benefits. Therefore, the mixing of 99.9% human and 0.1% animal genetic elements at such a basic level, with the potential to grow into a kind of life form, is abhorrent because it violates and perverts this human sanctity and challenges our understanding of what it is to be human.
When researchers in Korea injected human stem cells into a mouse embryo and developed the mouse to full term, the experiment faced widespread public outrage, especially after it was found that some of the human stem cells had found their way into the nervous system. In the UK, there is an agreement not to perform such procedures. Was the mouse partly human, because it contained some human stem cells? Is the 99.9% human embryo partly animal, because it contains some animal components? The creation of such entities should not be allowed until we have satisfactory answers to these questions. At this time, the challenge to our idea of what it is to be human is enough to make the creation of hybrid embryos for research purposes morally equal to, or more abhorrent than, the creation of human embryos for the same purposes.
Lastly, it must not be forgotten that there are other, legitimate ways to obtain useful human embryos, such as from the blood of the umbilical cord. Improvements in storage and donation procedures of unused IVF embryos would help researchers more than would the creation of hybrid embryos, whose stem cells would always be subject to animal genetic interference. There are other active pathways for research into treatment of the serious diseases described above; hybrid embryos are by no means the only, best or most efficient method of finding the cure. Let us use procedures that do not violate the principles of human sanctity, and prevent the legalisation of the one that does.