Saturday, May 10, 2025
Blog Page 508

Photo Editorial: Off-Duty Suiting

Alec Holt
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Photo Editorial: Off-Duty Suiting

Fashion in the latter half of the 2010s was defined by the unprecedented cross-contamination of streetwear with the old luxury houses, of the casual with the couture. Runway shows lost their focus on tailoring, Gucci’s tracksuits became more popular than their lounge suits, and Balenciaga opted for market-redefining chunky sneakers instead of dress shoes. Louis Vuitton appointed the face of “hypebeast” culture as their creative director. The often unapproachable sphere of “high” fashion was infringed upon as never before and became less intimidating for it.

The pendulum has begun to swing back towards its centre now, but something has changed, perhaps permanently. The tailoring which is re-asserting itself more often than not feels less at home in a board meeting than in the club. Many of the a-traditional cuts seen gracing the runways over the last season or two are better paired with Air Forces than with derbies. Conversely, streetwear labels like Off-White and A-COLD-WALL* have begun to trade overtly branded hoodies for the subtleties of suiting, albeit suiting with an un-sartorial edge.

Cherwell Fashion’s first photo editorial of Hilary Term 2020 aims to reflect the potential found in this style of tailoring which has kicked off the new decade: more wearable, more versatile, less fitted, more colourful. All the confidence a good suit can give you with none of the inhibitive stiffness. What’s more, these looks, mostly comprised of vintage shop finds and affordable brands, show that suiting doesn’t need to break the bank to look good.

Models: Oli Lloyd Williams, Rory Wilson, Sophie Gull, Katy Holland, Emily Pogue

Photography and words: Alec Holt

Christ Church drinking society condemned by students

William Atkinson
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Christ Church drinking society condemned by students

The Pythic (or “P”) Club, a secretive dining society for students and tutors with a long-standing basis in Christ Church, has been condemned for its past activities by the college’s student body. Consequently, it has not been registered as a society and remains formally banned from meeting on the college’s premises.

The “P” Club, whose membership reportedly once included prominent historian Hugh Trevor-Roper, was reported last year to have held numerous dinners onsite in the college. These were publicised by the college’s Development Office. Students at the college responded vigorously to the report, with meetings held between members of the JCR and the leadership of the college (known as the Censors). In response, the club is now alleged to have attempted to register with Christ Church officially.

Habitually, applications for registration by societies are approved on the day they are issued. However, registration was withheld by the college, reportedly due to its failure to meet Equality and Diversity requirements because of its exclusive nature.

In response, a motion was brought to a college JCR meeting by a concerned member, who sought to both condemn the society as it had existed in the past, and to express the opposition of the student body to the college’s registration. Condemnation of the society came from a variety of sources, including a former JCR President, those involved with both Inreach and Access, and members of the Ball Committee, in an open latter directed at the College’s management within the Christ Church JCR’s Facebook group.

Later taken down, this letter repeated criticisms of the “P” Club raised in the JCR meeting. Dispute revolved around the society’s socially exclusive membership, little known activities and tendency towards preferring undergraduate members from privately educated backgrounds. Members went further by suggesting the exclusive club acted directly against the college’s efforts to promote applications from a wider range of geographic and social backgrounds, including recent joint efforts with St Anne’s to encourage more applicants from the North East.

The club further limits membership for most House members with its alleged price tag of £90 for its dinners. It was also alleged that the society might disadvantage those students excluded from the society by providing opportunities for networking between students, tutors and alumni. A suggestion was made that the continued presence of the society might be made more acceptable if it opened its meeting the rest of the JCR, if they wished to attend.

After the post had been taken down, the JCR President messaged students that “no formal registration of the club had been made”, and that it had been “mutually decided” by the leadership of the College and “relevant parties” that “no application for the P Club to register will be made.”

Inreach Officer Eleri Harry, former JCR Preisdent Joseph Grehan-Bradley and Ball Committee member Milly Lynch were among those who wrote the open letter.

They told Cherwell: “Along with many of our peers, we have always had deep concerns about the exclusive and discriminatory nature of the P Club. Had it been allowed to register, it would have simply been able to continue these practices under official college auspices.

“As such, we are absolutely delighted that the P Club has been banned from meeting on college premises, and that the ties between college and club have been decisively severed. If the club, in these circumstances, chooses to go underground and meet off-site, they would vindicate the student body’s views about its fundamental objectives, nature and bad faith.

“We were very pleased that we were able to give voice to opinions about the club which are held by so many members of our college. We would also like to express our gratitude to the censors, who showed much thoughtfulness and dedication in listening to our concerns.

“Above all, we hope that what we have achieved confirms to all prospective applicants that Christ Church that there is a place for them here.”

A student, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke to Cherwell about the outcome. They said: “The JCR Committee’s discussion demonstrated a deep concern for the P Club’s detrimental effect on outreach and access – a disbenefit that could already be observed.” They went on to say that “there was a clear distaste for the existence of any exclusive society, expressly or tacitly endorsed by the SCR, that contributed to an exclusionary culture and left many feeling like imposters or inferiors. The mere existence of such a society coupled with the limited and restricted knowledge already possessed by the committee was sufficient in raising concern and condemnation.”

However, not all members of Christ Church approved of the JCR Committee’s decision. Three of the members (out of 24) voted against the condemnation in the JCR Committee’s meeting (held by a secret ballot), and several students have expressed their belief anonymously to the author that registering the society would have been a better course of action than condemnation. No members of the “P” Club were willing to comment.

When contacted for a statement, Christ Church responded that “Since 2017, Christ Church has required all clubs and societies using the College’s name or facilities to be formally registered and approved by the Censors. Registration requires clubs and societies to abide by all College regulations and policies, including those related to equality and diversity.”

Student Jobs: Are they worth it, and how to manage when you don’t have a choice

Hope Oxley Green
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Student Jobs: Are they worth it, and how to manage when you don’t have a choice

Oxford University’s official guidelines states “term-time employment is not permitted except under exceptional circumstances,” and even in the holidays, students are told to prioritise their studies. Questions of Oxford’s perpetual elitism are ever-present. How on earth can an institution that consistently comes under fire for skewed admissions towards the privately-educated and opulent additionally prohibit students from making money during term-time? Of course, the argument is not that they wish to limit the number of students who might be hindered by their financial situations, rather the exceptional workload is unsustainable whilst also having a job (and without, I might add).

With 77% of students now taking on some form of employment to help ease the financial pressures of university across the UK, I question how the gap is filled here, with the university ideally wanting no one to work. In a survey published by Endsleigh, it was found the 57% of university students said they were working to help pay their accommodation, food and household bills, while 56% were looking to earn for socialising’s sake. Oxford is one of the most expensive cities to live in, with house prices often on par with London, as well as living costs. Admittedly, I do believe Oxford offers a myriad financial aid, with both college and university hardship grants being available to students, as well as awards and scholarships available to those eligible. At Exeter College, 1 in 5 students receive some form of monetary support. But the difference between living and thriving is what differentiates students from engaging in part time employment. Sure, grants will cover the cost of accommodation and meals, but many students in financial difficulty benefit from the supplementary income provided by jobs for socialising. Going on nights out, the occasional shop and grabbing a coffee from Bean are occurrences that most UK students engage in, but in addition to this, the added elitism of Oxford socialising calls for even more disposable income. Most college balls cost upwards of £100, and formals in many colleges aren’t subsidised. In addition to this, the cost of vacation residence for 9th week is often essential for students completing exams out of the ‘regular’ 8 week term time. Oxford is EXPENSIVE, and there’s no pretending that this culture tends to isolate those who can’t afford it.

So, it is understood that many students, particularly with the way this university is claiming to be heading, don’t have the luxury of living off their parents (although if I hear one more person refer to their ‘allowance’, I’d like to remind you that you are 20 years old and sound ridiculous). But what can we do to address this disparity? It goes without saying that the university have a viable reason to advise against working, but what fails to be addressed is that most of these students who need to work don’t have the luxury of choosing whether to do so or not, and Oxford fails in making students decide between a first class education, and enough money for a weekly shop. In the meantime, if you want to earn money, you need to do it yourself. It’s not impossible, the amount of time taken up for a part time job is often how much one might dedicate to a sport, or engagement in societies, or doing f*ck all for that matter, so it’s time to get thrifty…

Here I present a number of potential streams of income for the typical Oxford student:

  1. If you’re not already, I’d really recommend following Oxford Student Union job advertisements, this might be recruiting stewards for freshers fair for example. It’s generally temp work, but sometimes this is ideal if you are unsure of your workload term by term.
  2. There are plenty of tutoring opportunities either around Oxford or purely online. These operate during the vacation as well as term time, but for a decent pay many students see it as worthwhile as they can do it from the confines of their own room and in their pyjamas *the dream* (www.mytutor.co.uk)
  3. College employment can be offered on an ad-hoc basis, bar work, access tours and even working at college balls is a viable option for students looking to earn, and is not frowned upon by the university.
  4. If your college don’t extort you enough during term time, how about out in the vac too?! Every college needs interview/admissions helpers or telethon campaigners, so why not look into that? They fall right at the end and beginning of term, so are often perfect for those with busy schedules out of term.
  5. Depop/eBay is perfect for students looking to recycle their wardrobes, and to be honest, the Y2K trend is getting a bit dull.

There are plenty more employment opportunities outside of term time, both in and out of Oxford, but to some extent, this is about finding what works for everyone. Only you know your workload, enthusiasm to get a job and how much you actually need it!

Oxford will be hit with 14 more days of strike action

Felix O'Mahony
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Oxford will be hit with 14 more days of strike action

The University and Colleges Union (UCU) has announced a further 14 days of strike action which will hit 74 universities across the country including Oxford.

Members of the Union have raised two disputes with universities and the university pension provider which remain unresolved. The first concerns the sustainability of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), while the second concerns pay, casualisation, workloads, and equality.

Action will begin on Thursday 20th February with a two-day walkout, during which striking lecturers, researchers and service staff will not carry out their university duties. Strikes will escalate over the proceeding four weeks, culminating in a week-long strike between the 9th and 13th March.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “We have seen more members back strikes since the winter walkouts and this next wave of action will affect even more universities and students. If universities want to avoid further disruption they need to deal with rising pension costs, and address the problems over pay and conditions.

“We have been clear from the outset that we would take serious and sustained industrial action if that was what was needed. As well as the strikes starting later this month, we are going to ballot members to ensure that we have a fresh mandate for further action to cover the rest of the academic year if these disputes are not resolved.”

A spokesperson for Oxford University told Cherwell: “The University is disappointed with the outcome of the Oxford UCU ballot in favour of industrial action over USS pensions. We understand the concerns many staff have on pensions, as well as on pay. We also have a duty to ensure our education and research activities continue as far as possible and will therefore have contingency plans in place to minimise the impact of any industrial action on staff, students and visitors.”

While academics at Oxford will strike over both disputes, 27 universities will only be taking action over one of the two disputes, since union members must be balloted for industrial action regarding each dispute individually.

The action follows earlier strikes which were carried out between the 25th November and the 4th December, during which striking UCU members picketed outside many university buildings. At the time Oxford’s branch of the UCU could only strike over pay and working conditions after its ballot over the USS narrowly missed the required turnout of 50%. Following a re-balloting of members in January which met the 50% threshold, the strikes in February will now also concern the USS dispute.

A spokesperson for Oxford’s UCU branch said: “UCU has just announced 14 days of strike action, starting on the 20th of February, for both the USS pensions and the pay & equality disputes. Oxford will now also be joining the USS action after a successful re-ballot, in addition to the pay & equality dispute which we took part in last term. While we have seen important steps in engagement, with employers being prepared to discuss issues that were previously off the table as a result of the first round of strike action, they have failed to make serious commitments in either dispute so far. We have 17 days between now and then, and very much hope that UUK and UCEA will at last come to us with a serious offers on the two disputes. UCUs HEC will meet on the 14th of February to consider any offers that may be on the table between now and then, and we will of course be following developments closely. We do not want to resort to strike action but we are prepared and determined to do so if necessary”

The UCU is also encouraging its members to carry out “action short of a strike,” which involves working strictly to contract, not covering for striking colleagues, and not catching up on work missed due to industrial action.

Renewed action follows months of negotiations between the UCU, Universities UK, who are representing universities in dispute negotiations, the USS, and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). While the UCU and UCEA say that progress has been made on working conditions, the organisations have been unable to make headway with pay negotiations.

If progress is not made, the UCU has threatened to continue strike action until the end of the academic year, although members will need to be re-balloted in this case, since mandates for industrial action expire every six months.

A statement released by the UCEA expressed dismay at the strike action: “We are dismayed, and many HE institutions will be so too, to see UCU’s HEC decide to ask the union’s members to once again use damaging strike action over last year’s national pay demands. Strike action should always be a last resort and we believe that UCU’s 70,000 members in the 147 institutions should now be given a say. There are new ways forward being offered by HE employers – UCEA has made available significant positive proposals on key issues in UCU’s dispute – contractual arrangements, workload / mental health and gender pay gaps / ethnicity pay – developed following two months of talks with UCU. Strikes in less than half the universities in the multi-employer negotiations are not the answer and are in real danger of undermining the national collective pay bargaining arrangements. 

“UCEA has proactively and formally consulted its members in developing our significant new proposals as we can only move with the consensus of our members. UCU members deserve a chance to have their voices heard as to how they feel about the progress that has been made and whether they want to choose an alternative to further disruptive action.”

A USS spokesperson said: “We recognise the difficulties in levying higher contributions but USS, along with all similar pension schemes, faces a challenging environment in which the costs of funding high-quality defined benefits have increased.

“We will be revisiting these issues over the coming months under the 2020 valuation and are committed to working with Higher Education employers to build a secure financial future for our members and their families.”

Responding to the news a spokesperson for Universities UK, representing USS employers, said:

“We regret that UCU are planning further strike action at a time when positive talks on the future of the scheme are making significant progress and are ongoing. Despite this, UCU continue to request that employers pay still higher contributions at unaffordable levels.

“By law, pension costs had to rise to maintain current benefits. Employers have agreed to cover 65% of these increased costs, taking their contribution to 21.1% of salaries from October 2019 – together committing £250m more a year. Members have been asked to make a fair contribution too.

“The best way forward is to work collectively to secure a pension scheme that is highly valued and affordable for all. The current tripartite talks between UCU, USS, and UUK, which are set to continue at least until March, are building a shared understanding on the future of the scheme, jointly developing governance reforms and considering alternative pathways for the 2020 valuation.

“Universities will put in place a series of measures to minimise the impact of industrial action on students, other staff and the wider community.”

Dump Soup

Savannah Hawley
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Dump Soup

Savannah Hawley introduces a comforting recipe to use up your leftovers

In the past several years, the public has seemingly woken up to the disturbing reality of our wasteful habits and how they are directly harming our environment. Elara Oakes outlines a variety of ways to deal with this issue; but while ensuring you’re buying only what you need is the best preventative measure against food waste, there is still the question of what to do with your leftovers and produce that is about to go off.

I love this dish because it is more than what many leftover recipes seem to be – just throwing all your almost-bad food into a skillet and grimacing whilst you eat your stir-fry imposter (a food crime that I, too, am guilty of committing). When I came across this recipe — from a friend who has been thinking of ingenious ways to waste less food since before it was cool — I was thrilled to have something that was as delicious as it was easy and affordable. Affectionately called “Dump Soup,” you might be surprised to find that this dish is incredibly warm and comforting — a meal to brighten those dreary winter days.

Do yourself a favour: stop throwing your vegetables and half-portions of grains into the bin and start throwing them into broth instead. To add another level of flavour to the soup whilst continuing to reduce waste, bake pieces of day-old bread for 20 minutes at 180C to create tasty homemade croutons.

What makes this recipe great is its flexibility, so don’t be afraid to add whichever vegetables and grains you have on hand. The purpose is to use leftovers and vegetables that aren’t at their peak freshness — so, if you have a leftover salad you think might belong in a soup, don’t hesitate to add it.

Credit is due to Karen Bates, whose inventive recipes for wasting less food could fill an entire cookbook.

DUMP SOUP
Serves 8

Ingredients:

700 ml bouillon stock/broth of choice
380 g diced tomatoes
600 g chopped vegetables or leftovers
1 can beans of choice or 150 g grain of choice (barley, quinoa, or rice is suggested)
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp herbs of choice
Pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

1. In a large stock pot or saucepan, combine all the ingredients
2. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes
3. Season to your liking and enjoy

Sustainable Style To Dye For

Emily Capon
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Sustainable Style To Dye For

Muted oranges, deep browns and soft berry pinks make up the childhood palette of New York-based designer, Emily Dawn Long. With a growing Instagram following, the designer is making pioneering steps in the industry towards recycling and reusing things we would otherwise throw out. William Morris said: ‘have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to beautiful’, and Emily Dawn Long proves that even the humblest carrot, onion or cabbage leaf can be, in fact, both. 

Long Dawn Emily, Dawn Long’s label, has a distinct, psychedelic feel. The childish splashes of colour are not chaotic but carefully placed on pieces that include, but are not limited to, shirts, skirts, socks and hats. The influence of a childhood aesthetic is clear in her style; she has spoken to Vogue about staining overalls with berries as a child, in the embryonic stages of her idiosyncratic designs. Her affinity for her garish, distinctive style continued when she studied textile development and design at undergraduate level. She sees dyeing fabric as a process of trial and error, and her pieces certainly speak of the nostalgic, DIY feel of tie-dye. 

Dawn Long has tapped into a reawakening social zeitgeist. An image of 1960s counterculture sartorial success, tie-dye has enjoyed fluctuating levels of popularity since its nativity at Woodstock. Dior’s Spring/Summer collection of 2019 featured kaleidoscopic, tie-dyed dresses, conforming to the collection’s emphasis on the movement of the body, highlighting our own bodily-ness. Dawn Long’s collection is visual fluidity made manifest; the flowers, splashes, swirls and faces bleed into the blank fabric, mirroring the curves of the human form, as the pieces themselves become a frame for the body’s portrait. 

Dawn Long’s collections are steeped in regeneration. She has recently revealed that her favourite dyes are saffron, cabbage and avocado pits, making her process close to completely zero-waste. The rising threats of fast fashion and food waste are no match for Dawn Long’s environmentally savvy label, whose unique and varied designs have a feeling of the bespoke. Not only bespoke, but personal; she often uses leftovers from group dinners, a tradition that began when she simmered down leftover sweet potato skins into a deep brown dye. She has also spoken about rescuing left over vegetables from juice shops in her native New York, making what would otherwise be waste into something unique, wearable and beautiful. 

It’s not only the dyes that are salvaged. She also uses vintage or thrifted pieces as her fabric bases, breathing new life into otherwise discarded items. Dawn Long’s emphasis is on purchasing pieces that wouldn’t otherwise be bought by large wholesale companies; her ethos seems to be the creation of something fresh and original with something classic. Stained clothes are welcome in her armoury of pieces, especially when they would have been thrown away. She doesn’t see something stained as ruined, but rather an opportunity for new design exploration. She’s a specialist in sartorial necromancy. 

Her eclectic, unique garments have garnered considerable attention on social media. Her popularity is testament to the ever-increasing power of social media marketing campaigns; designers and their labels have become more accessible, more relatable. I follow Emily Dawn Long on Instagram. Her comparatively meagre following of fewer than 10,000 makes it feel like an exclusive club, or as if I’m witness to the nativity of a soon-to-be explosively famous label. Her posts are fragmentary and cryptic, making her feed more of a curated exhibition of hand-picked, beautiful objects than a commercialised, product-selling machine. The mysterious and enigmatic continues with her dedication to gentle anonymity: images of her own face are few and far between, hidden behind her phone in a mirror selfie or cut off at the chin. Her own art becomes synecdochic of herself. 

Dawn Long’s philosophy of resourcefulness and renewal brings a fresh, youthful newness to the current fashion scene. Every item touches her own hands, created in her own apartment in New York. The natural, handmade approach is a splash of restorative colour in a world that grows more impersonal, commercialised and separate by the minute. 

A bridge too VAR: Is technology killing the game?

Joe Hyland Deeson
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A bridge too VAR: Is technology killing the game?

For VAR

“KILLING THE PASSION. KILLING THE ATMOSPHERE. KILLING THE GAME. END VAR NOW” read the banner held up by the Crystal Palace Ultras in the first half of their game against Arsenal. Both sets of supporters joined together in the chant of “F*ck VAR”. The last section of the banner was held up again during the 65th minute as a lengthy review following a careless-looking tackle by Pierre-Emerik Aubameyang on Palace midfielder Max Meyer. Two minutes later, the Arsenal man was sent off by referee Paul Tierney under advisement from the Video Assistant Referee in Stockley Park. The banner was quietly lowered as replays played on the big screen inside Selhurst Park showed a horror tackle on Meyer’s ankle, studs up, a definite red. There was an audible gasp inside the stadium, and could be no doubt that the correct decision had been reached. As manager Roy Hodgson observed following the game, the only confusion with the process was why it took so long to reach the decision.

Leaflets distributed to supporters outside the Holmesdale Road stand before the game informed home supporters that this was the beginning of a campaign by Palace’s Ultras group, instructing supporters to chant “It’s not football anymore” when the banners were held up. However, there is no doubt that had those same supporters seen that tackle on Match of the Day in the evening, they would have been incensed if it had not resulted in a dismissal (referee Tierney initially only cautioned Aubameyang).

There can be few arguments against the way VAR was employed in this match. It added a two minute delay, and resulted undoubtedly in a correct decision. It is not, however, this element of the system which faces the most protests. That is reserved for offside decisions. Much is made of so-called armpit calls, players having goals chalked off for infringements that can barely be seen with the naked eye, although quite how an armpit can be the furthest forward part of an individual remains to be seen. Perhaps such supporter’s favourite part of the doughnut is the hole.

There is a lot of focus, too, on the apparent shortcomings of the technology itself. It doesn’t, we are told, film at a high enough rate of Frames per Second to be used so authoritatively; faster players can outrun the cameras. There is a margin of error of three feet! This is nonsense. Such calculations are based on the FPS at which Sky and BT transmit. In reality, officials at Stockley Park have access to a far better quality feed, transmitted live from the stadiums – their margin of error is thought to be less than 2cm with the ultra-motion camera provided by Hawk-Eye.

There are few rules that are objective in football. The offside rule is largely one of them. If a player is in front of the penultimate man of a team’s defence when a ball is played, they are offside. Of course, there is sometimes the debate as to whether a player has been “involved in active play”, although very few of this season’s VAR controversies have had anything to do with this.

Zak will no doubt argue that it kills the atmosphere inside the stadium, and this seems to be one of the most common arguments against the use of technology. Yet it simply adds another dimension to the excitement of the game. I was at Selhurst Park for the Liverpool home match, when a goal scored by James Tomkins was chalked off for a push in the box. Elation quickly turned to disappointment. Yet not only did replays demonstrate that the correct decision had been reached (it seems easier in these situations to blame the technology than the players who are actually demonstrably at fault), there is another side to this argument. I was also in the away end at the London Stadium when Jordan Ayew had a goal given two minutes after it was initially ruled out for offside. As the delay went on longer, excitement built up in the away end and, with this extra delay, the jubilation when the goal was given was greater than in pre-technology circumstances.

VAR is here to stay. The system may be tweaked, but it would be disastrous to remove it completely. Supporters, I must say, have short memories in refusing to recall the decisions missed in previous seasons which are now placed under a microscope, and must learn to work with the new system. It does change the matchday experience, and it does have its drawbacks, but its effect on the game is broadly positive and for this reason it must be embraced.

Against VAR

VAR – the latest footballing controversy. Regardless of which side of the debate you are on, it undeniable that VAR has been one of the big stories of this Premier League season, and it seems to be a discussion point after most games on Match of the Day. For me, VAR is sucking the life out of football. I will show why football doesn’t need, and doesn’t want, VAR.

Firstly, most of football is surviving perfectly fine without VAR. I support Portsmouth, who currently play in League One – VAR could not be further from our game; we don’t even have goal-line technology! Sure, the standard of refereeing is often questionable, and a quick YouTube search would likely unearth many howlers from the past few seasons; but football survives. It’s not as if attendances are dropping off due to poor refereeing!

I have suffered from poor refereeing decisions following Pompey, on numerous occasions. Two games spring to mind. Firstly, away at Luton Town, on a snowy Tuesday night in January 2019, driving through the backroads on the way due to a crash on the M25, Pompey lost 3-2 courtesy of the suspect awarding of a penalty kick and free kick respectively to Luton – both resulted in goals. Less than two weeks later I took the long journey down to Plymouth Argyle, where Pompey drew 1-1, this time courtesy of another direct free-kick for the opposition, which replays showed shouldn’t have been awarded. However, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d rather travel the 6+ hours back from Plymouth feeling that sense of injustice, than sit in a ground and look at a screen, or wait for a referee to do so. In fact, the game away at Luton marked the game where Luton overtook Pompey into top spot, and our season seemed to fall away. Yet still, I’d rather that than the game tried to be made exact. Imperfection is part of football, as I return to later.

The chief reason for my opposition to VAR is that football is a game of emotions, and nothing compares to the ecstasy of scoring a goal. If a goal is contentious in League One, I can take a quick glance at the referee and his relevant assistant, and continue with my celebrations. Last season, Pompey were locked in a battle for automatic promotion, and had to beat Peterborough United at home to maintain any hope. Pompey got the game back to 2-2 from 2-0 down, and then quickly found 2 players through on goal against just the Peterborough ‘keeper – the ball is played square, goal scored, celebrations start… but offside. The decision was instant – one look at the assistant’s flag, and the ecstatic celebrations were cut short (to make it worse, Peterborough scored within minutes and we lost 3-2). The decision was also correct – we didn’t have to wait 5 minutes for dots and lines to be applied, and the game probably wouldn’t have taken the negative turn for us that it did if we did have to wait. But that’s what football is all about – quick play, gaining momentum, scoring whilst you’re on top. Not stopping every few minutes for somebody to re-watch the game on a screen.

As I write this, David Luiz has just been sent off for Arsenal against Chelsea for denying Tammy Abraham an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, and a penalty was given. Clear foul, obvious red card. Yet the Chelsea fans have to hold their celebrations until the VAR check is complete – how deflating. If a player is sent off at Fratton Park, the mocking chants and sarcastic waving commence immediately.

I concede that there have been some occasions when I have enjoyed the use of VAR; but all have been from my sofa at home, watching as a (fairly) neutral spectator. The Manchester United penalty against PSG, which Rashford smashed home, and the Sterling disallowed goal against Spurs, both in the Champions League last season, were two occasions when the drama was brilliant. But football is about so much more than sitting on your sofa at home, watching as a neutral. It’s about standing on the terraces with your mates and family, having a pie before the game, travelling the country (and continent, if you’re fortunate enough) with your team, and then debating the game afterwards.

Joe will undoubtedly produce many technical arguments as to how VAR reduces errors, the type of arguments which admittedly my side lacks. But I ask: why do people play and watch football? It is not for perfection and 100% accuracy – it is for the emotion. This includes the instantaneous joy, disbelief, heartbreak and countless other feelings that football can bring – let’s not let VAR deprive the best sport in the world of this.

Lady Pat. R. Honising – Mumps Mayhem …

Lady Pat R. Honising
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Lady Pat. R. Honising – Mumps Mayhem …

Dear Lady Pat,

I thought I was safe, I thought my parents had set me up to go into the world well loved, rounded and fully vaccinated. Alas, I have recently found out that they may not have fully vaccinated me properly.

At first I just felt a bit ill: headaches, tiredness, loss of appetite. Just your average Oxford week. However a couple of weeks later things took a turn for the worst. I woke up one morning and realised that my cheeks were feeling a bit sore, to my horror when I looked in the mirror, I found that I did indeed look like a chipmunk. My worst fears were confirmed. The plague had reached me. I have mumps. The social shame is at times too much to bear. My room is the only place I feel safe from the judgement of others.

However this is not the sole reason for me writing to you, Lady Pat. Things are indeed worse than this. A couple of days before I realised that I had mumps, those days of distant blissful ignorance of my socially crippling situation, I got with my cherpse. But the question is…. how do I tell this lovely sweet girl about my predicament?

I do not want to be the bearer of bad news that she too may be at risk, yet I fear I must. How do I do it? I really have no idea how to break it to her.

Please help me Lady Pat, you’re my only help!

Alvin (not one of the Chipmunks)

My dear Alvin,

First of all, get well soon. You can’t get mumps through email can you?

Ah well my health and wellness assistant will deal with that. But anyway, mumps. Doesn’t sound pretty. I feel very sorry for you dear, but not much can be done now. First of all you need to get yourself some rest – far, far away from any other humans please. Unless they go to Cambridge because we all know they don’t count. The bonus to hiding away in quarantine is that if you’re lucky, nobody else in college has to see your face!

I understand completely your embarrassment, it always takes a couple of days for my Botox to settle and I feel like… almost a normal person. It’s disgusting. Make the most of the lovely NHS (it’ll be gone by this time next year) and look after yourself – you’ll be right as rain soon.

The real crux of the issue seems to be your ‘cherpse’ however. I have to admit, catching mumps from one of my many lovers is not on my to-do list, but maybe you should see this as an important opportunity to see if she likes you for more than your structured jawbone and hygiene practices. If you get dumped because of the mumps she probably wasn’t the one anyway, to be honest with you.

The thing is though, mumps is highly contagious, and if she didn’t get the MMR vaccine (or even if she did) she might have got it herself. It’s one thing to be the bearer of mumps to your own college, but don’t end up being the reason it gets spread around the whole university. You’ll have to bite the bullet and tell her – before she wakes up with her own chipmunk cheeks and promptly blocks your disease-ridden number.

Don’t worry too much though. Although there is a chance you’ve passed it on, she might also not have got it, or already be immune. In fact, maybe this time next week she’ll be perfectly fine and able to carry out any of the typical Oxford activities like row a boat, head to Bridge, or even write an agony aunt response. Hard as it is, honesty is key darling, and if you don’t tell her she’s bound to find out another way, and unlikely to trust you as much as before.

Being ill is hard, darling. That’s why I pay for private healthcare. You should try it.

Live laugh love,

Lady Pat R. Onising

xoxoxox

Review: Frank Turner’s ‘Love, Ire & Song’

Simone Fraser
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Review: Frank Turner’s ‘Love, Ire & Song’

Frank Turner is an interesting character. Somehow famous enough to play Wembley and the Olympic opening ceremony, but not quite famous enough that you hear him on the radio; he straddles a middle-ground within music. This week however, the 38 year old Hampshire-born musician has proved that his appeal remains enduring, with his 2008 album, Love, Ire & Song officially Brit certified as gold. At nearly twelve years old, why has this album remained such a fan favourite?

Turner has been critiqued in recent years for moving away from his trademark confessional style of music to broader, more political statements. In contrast, Love, Ire & Song is almost uncomfortably personal. We watch Turner bleed out over a crashing guitar line in ‘Imperfect Tense’: “Naked and wretched and retching on a hotel bathroom floor/ somewhere in the City./ Three days not eating, not sleeping, not feeling good anymore/ drenched in sweat and self-pity”. The desperation in Turner’s voice is palpable, and even though it’s been many years since I first discovered the song it never fails to hit me: incredibly personal yet still remaining relatable.

This is a theme that continues throughout the album, notably in ‘Better Half’: another anthem that manages to capture Turner’s disgust in his inability to support “the lover who left me alone”, berating himself with the fact that “there must be a better half somewhere out there” for her, but he is unable to be the person she needs.

The album is not simply a list of Turner’s flaws by any means. Still with his trademark honesty, he jokes his way through ‘Reasons not to be an Idiot’, reminding us that we’re all the same: “you’re not as messed up as you think you are/ your self-absorption makes you messier.” This was a message I needed to hear when I first listened to the song as a melodramatic fifteen year old. Encouraging the reader to “get up, and get down, and get outside”, I frequently used it as a way to hype myself up when I’ve felt particularly bad or nervous about something, and it continues to be a personal favourite for its joy and celebration of everyday happiness.

Other songs move from self-loathing to resignation. Constantly on tour, Turner often talks about his inability to stay in one place, and thus put down any real roots. In ‘Jet Lag’, this is captured perfectly – a slow and melancholy piano melody is the backdrop to simple lyrics that capture his mood well. He’s not devastated, he’s not angry, he’s just okay, which he reminds us is “not the same as being happy”.

That’s one of the remarkable things about Turner’s music, which particularly applies to Love, Ire & Song. Although he has the occasional true love or heartbreak song, his power lies in the ability to translate into lyrics the mundane prickles of emotion that we all go through on a daily basis: the guilt that you’re too busy to spend quality time with your friends; the shame of realising you’re using sex as a coping mechanism; and the mixed emotions of realising you’re not the person your parents hoped you would be, but you’re happier for it.

One of the biggest reasons why I love Frank Turner’s music is because it has been able to uniquely translate emotions that I hadn’t even quite processed myself at the time of listening. As clichéd as it is, as a teenager growing up with lots of feelings, having them realised by someone else was reassuring. Although this is often in relation to the more simple emotions, it also extends to mental health. Turner has been and continues to be candid about his experiences with depression, as well as drug and alcohol addiction; helping to break down fears and stigma alike.

An honourable mention must be given to the first track , ’I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous’. Turner raises a toast to the ‘B-list’ careers of him and his friends: name dropping Dave Danger of The Holloways, and folk singer Jay ‘Beans on Toast’ McAllister. Despite it being for the most part a light-hearted song, he still came out with a line that struck me at the time, and continues to inspire my (somewhat impulsive) attitude to life: “Life is about love, last minutes and lost evenings,/About fire in our bellies and furtive little feelings, /And the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering, /And help us with remembering that the only thing that’s left to do is live.”

The most touching song of all lies three spots from the end of the album: ‘Long Live the Queen.’ A touching tribute to his friend Lex, who had recently passed away from cancer, Turner recalls a conversation they had before her death, where she told him: “now you’ll have to dance for the two of us”. Musically, it’s one of the most joyful songs on the album: rather than expressing grief, Turner celebrates Lex’s legacy in a way that captures the theme of the album, reminding the listener to embrace life and everything that it throws at you.

BREAKING: Climate protesters end occupation of St John’s

Rachel Cordery
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BREAKING: Climate protesters end occupation of St John’s

Climate protesters, camped out on St John’s front quad, have announced the end of their protest.

Direct Action for Divestment (DAD), a large group of students from across Oxford University, set up camp last Wednesday in protest of St John’s College’s investments in fossil fuel companies.

St John’s currently invests £8.1 million in Shell and BP, two of the corporations most guilty for worldwide ecological destruction.

After five days of action, DAD announced they would be leaving St John’s via Facebook. Their exit statement read: “Vulnerable communities across the Global South have long been suffering the effects of climate change. We cannot accept a system in which those with wealth and privilege – like St. John’s College – continue to profit off this. As a result, we will continue to hold the College, and the University as a whole, to account.

“During our occupation, the College disabled the keys of St. John’s students seen to be assisting the protest. They have prevented us from bringing food, hot water, and blankets in from outside, and even responded to our demands with trivialising suggestions that the College switch off the central heating.

“In contrast to the antagonism from College administration, Oxford has united in a show of heartening support and solidarity. Students inside the College have brought food and hot tea; tutors have made our case to senior College officials; alumni have spoken out in support of our cause. We would like to express our deepest gratitude, and crucially to thank college staff for their understanding. This gives us confidence that the discussions around divestment will continue after we leave, on every level of college life.

“We are also delighted to have received many expressions of interest from students at other colleges, who want to see similar escalations elsewhere. Anyone interested in lobbying the University and colleges on their investment practices should contact Oxford Climate Justice Campaign, who has been working for many years to encourage intersectional system change in Oxford.

“Yesterday, our representatives met with President Maggie Snowling to discuss our demands. The President acknowledged that our occupation had brought divestment to the top of the agenda, and we are pleased to say that she has promised to make some small steps in the right direction. She agreed to increase student representation in their Ethical Investments Working Group, and will no longer invite BP and Shell employees to advise on College investment practices. Finally, she said that the working group plans to put forth a recommendation to the Governing Body by the end of the year – two years after St. John’s students first raised divestment. The College has already failed in its duties to its members. If the recommendation is not a strong commitment to divest, the College will have failed in its duties to the world.

“In our five day occupation, we brought divestment to the forefront of people’s minds. We have reignited a conversation not only within St. John’s, but across the University. We will continue to hold the College accountable throughout the divestment process. We are glad that the College has recognised the importance of this issue. We hope that the College will continue to make this a priority. If they do not, we will be back.”

More to follow.

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