Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Blog Page 849

St. John’s JCR votes to fund gender expression

Marianna Spring
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St. John’s JCR votes to fund gender expression

St John’s JCR has resolved to provide £400 for the purchase of items that aid gender expression.

The JCR voted in favour of establishing a fund similar to those already in place at Exeter and Somerville, which can be used by students to purchase items such as binders, concealing underwear, packers and breast-forms.

The motion, proposed by the JCR Trans and Gender Minorities Rep Cas Burton, noted that gender dysphoria—the feeling of distress associated with a disconnect between a person’s perceived gender and their gender identity—affects students at St John’s and across the University.

It suggested that purchasing items for gender expression could help to tackle gender dysphoria, improving welfare and mental health, and that the JCR should strive to develop suitable welfare provisions for all its members, including those of the transgender and gender nonconforming community.

It also noted that these items can improve welfare for gender nonconforming students who may not experience gender dysphoria.

St. John’s JCR LGBTQ+ Officer Kelly van Eerde, who seconded the motion, told Cherwell: “I first came across the idea of a fund of this kind from other reps posting about it on the Oxford college LGBTQ+ reps Facebook group.

It is an initiative that many college reps have expressed an interest in setting up at their colleges.”

Van Eerde continued: “As far as I know, something very similar exists at Exeter College and Wadham College.

“I therefore brought the idea up with our JCR transgender and gender minorities rep, Cas, and we discussed with the JCR treasurer about how best to implement the fund.

“Cas and I then wrote the motion together—they proposed it as it is a topic more relevant to their role specifically.”

Speaking on the long-term effects the motion is predicted to have, van Eerde said: “The benefits of this fund are, I believe, twofold. Firstly, it is beneficial to any individual who makes use of it as it removes the additional financial worry that goes along with buying these items, which can already be intimidating to buy. This allows them to more easily alleviate dysphoria and feel more comfortable within themselves, improving these students’ welfare.

“Secondly, on a more general level, it shows the JCR’s support of our transgender and/or gender nonconforming members. By having this fund in place, it shows people who may be closeted or questioning that the college is a safe and accepting place to explore their gender expression and identity.”

JCR President Amelia Wrigley said: “I’m very proud to belong to such an inclusive and progressive JCR, and grateful for the hard work of my committee’s liberation officers in ensuring everyone at St John’s feels secure and accepted.”

St John’s JCR previously introduced gender-neutral bathrooms around college, and changed the constitution so that it includes gender-neutral language.

The move by John’s comes just weeks after the death of transgender academic Erin Shepherd prompted calls for increased efforts for the University to provide a welcoming environment for transgender students and staff.

Speaking at the time, Orla White, OUSU VP for Women and Equality, told Cherwell: “We know that trans women are often failed by mental health services, which is only compounded by day-to-day experiences of transmisogyny.”

Oxford revealed as sixth most expensive student city in the world

Katherine Pye
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Oxford revealed as sixth most expensive student city in the world

Oxford has been deemed the sixth most expensive city for students in the world, according to new figures from student.com.

The city was beaten only by New York, Washington, Boston and La Jolla in America, and London.

The website this week released its ‘Cities in Focus: Global Student Accommodation Indicator’ report, which reveals the most costly and the most affordable cities for student housing.

Oxford ranked sixth in the world with an average weekly spend of $288—or around £205—a week on rent at the time of the survey.

Hull, Dundee and Sunderland were, in contrast, ranked among the most affordable.

Oxford University, in response to the survey, told Cherwell: “Oxford seeks to recruit the brightest students from the UK and beyond, regardless of background or financial circumstances. We are also aware that Oxford can be an expensive place to live, although it’s important to note that the college system can help lower living costs through rent and food subsidies.

“Oxford also offers one of the most generous financial support packages of any university in the country, and we think it’s really important that prospective students and their families are aware of the financial support available at Oxford.

“This includes the Oxford Bursary— awarded automatically to students from low-income households—and the Moritz-Heyman scholarship programme for undergraduates, as well as more than 1,000 fully funded scholarships to assist postgraduates.”

The University encouraged students to see their website for full details on funding opportunities.

However, Eden Bailey, OUSU VP for Access and Academic Affairs said: “Oxford is indeed a very expensive city to live in, and though there are extensive bursaries and grants offered across both the University and colleges, there is great disparity between colleges and applicants often aren’t aware of this.”

Project Access UK, an organisation to encourage students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds to apply to Oxford highlighted the positive effect of their efforts on students struggling with high living costs.

Oliver Northover-Smith, Magdalen undergraduate and head of Project Access UK told Cherwell: “Project Access is concerned with the impact that high living costs in Oxford and other cities have on prospective students in deterring them from applying. Research by Teach First has demonstrated that cost is a key concern for qualified disadvantaged applicants.

“However, we would like to emphasise the extent of support available—from the Oxford Bursary to college hardship grants.

“Headline rent figures can look scary, but going to Oxford may end up being substantially less expensive than attending another university, due to this support.”

Anna Gross, a former Oriel College undergraduate and co-founder of Project Access said: “We work with students in 20 different countries to ensure that any qualified students, irrespective of socio-economic status, have both the information and help they need to apply for, gain admission to and success at top universities such as Oxford.”

The report encompassed data from over 8,000 students across the world who booked accommodation in 92 global locations using student.com between November 2015 and October 2016.

Luke Nolan, founder of student.com, said: “It’s evident that the big urban centres around the world remain huge magnets for both international and domestic students. On average, students pay more to live in these cities, but that’s not to say that there aren’t more affordable options available.”

“Across Australia, the UK and the US, cities with larger supplies of purpose built student accommodation tend to be, on average, more affordable than cities that are under-supplied.

“As the market grows we’ll continue to see a more diversified range of options that cater to different budgets.”

At Mansfield College, the JCR voted to support fourth year students who will not have college-provided accommodation.

This will mean students across the College will face rent increases as they cover the disparity in cost between college and private sector rent prices.

The survey follows March’s Lloyds Bank findings which revealed that Oxford house prices are 10.7 times higher than annual income, naming Oxford the most expensive in the country outside of London for the second consecutive year.

The research found that Oxford’s average property price, £385,372, is 10.7 times that of the city’s average earnings, £36,033.

Revealed: “Illicit canvassing” of Labour’s Anneliese Dodds in 1998 OUSU elections

Tony Diver
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Revealed: “Illicit canvassing” of Labour’s Anneliese Dodds in 1998 OUSU elections

Allegations of malpractice resurfaced yesterday, after archival research by Cherwell revealed electoral scandal surrounding the OUSU presidential election of Anneliese Dodds (now MEP), during her time at Oxford.

Dodds, 39, is running for parliament as the Labour candidate for Oxford East, which is the constituency of many of Oxford’s colleges.

This week, Cherwell’s investigation shows that 54.2 per cent of Oxford students in the Oxford East constituency intend to vote for Dodds on 8 June.

But a story from Michaelmas Term 1998 has revealed that she was fined £75 for encouraging students at St Hilda’s to work for her campaign via email, in contravention of OUSU rules and the instructions of the Returning Officer.

Her slate were fined £25 each. Dodds, who was eventually successful in her bid for the presidency, was at the time accused by Cherwell of “sleaze”.

Speaking yesterday, Dodds confirmed her electoral malpractice but denied any dishonesty. “I did something that was at the time technically against the OUSU rules, and I didn’t realise it was against the rules,” she said.

“The RO [Returning Officer] said that he knew that I knew that.”

Stephen Moses, Returning Officer of OUSU at the time, concluded that Dodds’ actions had “no determinable impact” on the election, and that her interpretation of ‘canvassing’ was “incorrect but understandable”.

Moses now “advises on investigations into alleged corporate wrongdoing”, according to the website of business law firm Simmons & Simmons. In spite of Moses’ verdict, student media coverage was excoriating.

Dodds yesterday blamed the political bias of the paper for the way the story was reported. “Now Cherwell is a lot more even-handed, but then it took an anti-Labour slant,” she said.

In response, Michaelmas 1998 Editor Hadley Freeman, who is now a columnist for The Guardian, said: “Dodds’ claim is almost as laughable as it is libellous.

“The idea that a student paper is organised enough, or even morally motivated enough, to execute political takedowns is actually rather flattering.

“Still, how delightful it must be to still—at the age of almost 40—blame one’s youthful regrets on non-existent conspiracies.

“After all, both the editor and deputy editor of Cherwell at that time [Rachel Williams] did go on to work at that natural HQ of anti-Labour saboteurs, The Guardian, so her claim does take on a new tinge.

“And of course, national political climate being what it was back in the autumn of 1998, there was no more obviously reader-pleasing pose for a student paper to adopt than an anti-Labour one.

“Bravo, Anneliese, on coming up with such a watertight theory!”

Speaking to Cherwell, OULC co-chair Tom Zagoria said: “I’m convinced that Anneliese will make a fantastic MP for Oxford East, and it’s telling that the worst the MSM have been able to dig up is that she was once accused of being a bit too intent on communicating her vision to students.”

“A fierce accomplishment”

Will Austin
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“A fierce accomplishment”

In 1903, students at the University of Munich gave a performance of Arthur Schnitzler’s newly published Reigen (which translates as a ‘round dance’), a play interrogating the class structure of fin-de-siècle Vienna through a tag-team sequence of sexual encounters between members of its society.

In this play, each character forms a link in a chain—prostitute meets soldier, soldier meets parlour-maid, parlour-maid meets young gentleman – so that eventually even a count is implicated in the debauchery, laid bare (in multiple ways) by that great equaliser, a sexual appetite. As hierarchies began to dissolve in Schnitzer’s play, so did the reputations of those student actors, who were expelled from their studies by Germany’s culture minister. That’s just the beginning of the history of a play which became bound up in Austro-Hungarian politics like no other: demonised by anti-Semitic nationalists, blasted in the Viennese parliament and then banned as pornography, disappearing from the European stage until 1982 (sixty years after its last performance).

Cut to 2017 and The Oxford German Play, led by director Louise Mayer-Jacquelin, have attempted to add a fresh chapter to that history. They’ve done so by bringing a reflexivity to the text which was barely present in the original, and are highly successful in showcasing it both as historical rarity and relevant postmodern discourse.

The innovations are apparent even on first entering the studio. The set comprises an array of furniture under white sheets, as if in storage. In the centre is a costume rack: it is around this rack that the actors – playing actors – first assemble, dressed in black and talking amongst themselves. Then they draws lots from a hat in order to assign parts, remiscent of Max Gill’s London production in February of this year (although that production was truly random: this one is not).

Roles assigned the actors dress, and act. The costuming is troublingly inconsistent: although ostensibly keeping to a fin-de-siècle Viennese setting, the Soldier resembles a U.S. Marine. However Ruth Eichinger, who doubles both as Soldier and Young Wife (calculated to emphasise the play’s feminist current), is superb in her characterisation. Similar praise goes to Philip Schimpf (Parlour Maid and Husband), as well as Steph Spreadborough (Sweet Young Thing): Schnitzer’s dialogue is at its sharpest in the scenes involving these three. The narrative introduction to the fourth scene (during which a cast member reads aloud Schnitzer’s stage directions, which are hurriedly followed by the Gentleman), is a highlight.

Although a few mistakes creep into the acting as the play progresses (there are also hiccups with the subtitling, leaving this monoglot grasping for a phrase-book), the final scene is brilliantly crafted by Mayer-Jacquelin. In another innovation, she has all the characters enter the stage in a movement that is half dance, half orgy. In pairs they partially undress each other, then exit: the discarded clothes remain to form the squalor of the prostitute’s room, which is the setting of the scene proper. Clever.

The whole, with its slick acting and illuminating reflexivity, is a fierce accomplishment. No student expulsions will be required after this production.

Christ Church and Wadham primed for Summer Eights headships

Matthew Roller
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Christ Church and Wadham primed for Summer Eights headships

Christ Church and Wadham go into the final day of racing as Head of the River in the Men’s and Women’s competitions respectively at this year’s Summer Eights.

After a dramatic first three days on the Isis, Christ Church M1 are set to seal a record 33rd headship, which would see them draw clear of Oriel into outright first. Wadham W1, meanwhile, are primed for a fourth consecutive headship, meaning that the headships are currently aligned with Cherwell Sport‘s predictions.

The College is the second-wealthiest at the University, and has been accused of making lucrative offers to graduate students who row to boost its Eights chances.

This year, Christ Church finished Torpids in a disappointing sixth position, but have been boosted this week by the presence of Boat Race winners William Warr and Ollie Cook in the boat.

On Wednesday, Oriel held Christ Church off until the crossover, but were bumped as second-favourites Keble rowed over in third position.

Then, in yesterday’s racing, Keble—labelled ‘Blues-buyers’ by Oriel College Boat Club’s Facebook page—also managed to bump the Torpids winners, despite Oriel getting to within a length of Christ Church.

On Friday, all of the top eight boats in Men’s Division 1 rowed over, meaning that Christ Church enter Saturday’s racing as Head of the River and hot favourites.

In the Women’s competition, Wadham and Pembroke have rowed over on all three days, meaning that they remain the top two in Division 1.

Christ Church W1 have also enjoyed a particularly successful week: boosted by the presence of Boat Race rower Harriet Austin of New Zealand, they bumped Magdalen and Univ. at the start of the week’s racing to go into Saturday’s racing in third.

St. Edmund Hall start Saturday’s racing eighth, so have no chance of achieving the headship, but will be looking to but the pressure on Magdalen.

Magdalen have endured a torrid week, getting bumped on all three days, and Teddy Hall are seeking Blades after success every day so far: given the confidence of the respective camps, a bump there may prove to be a canny bet.

However, whilst the top of each division is the most important part of Saturday’s rowing for some, there are over 1500 competitors in this year’s Eights, and the whole day of racing will be a great spectacle.

Indeed, several crews will be looking to secure Blades after a strong week and even for those involved in lower divisions, the prospect of a final-day bump is a tantalising one.

With tens of thousands of spectators expected on the riverbank and balmy weather forecast, it promises to be a fantastic day.

Outbreak of mumps plagues Oxford’s colleges

Felix Pope
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Outbreak of mumps plagues Oxford’s colleges

An outbreak of mumps has left students sent home, cricket games cancelled, and preliminary and final exams under threat as students across Oxford come down with the infection.

Cherwell has learned that major outbreaks have occurred at Exeter, Corpus Christi and St Anne’s colleges, with as many as several dozen students falling ill across the entire university.

It is possible that the infection, an airbourne virus transmitted through coughing or sneezing, was spread at recent college balls. In serious cases, it can cause deafness and meningitis. Four Anne’s students have reportedly been confined to their rooms, while two have been sent home to recover in quarantine.

At Corpus, at least three students are affected, all of whom have either been asked to remain in their rooms or go to home for a brief period.

Jack Counsell is a second year mathematician at Corpus who has contracted mumps and is sitting exams this term.

Speaking to Cherwell, he said: “How I got mumps is a mystery, as the incubation time is between 2-3 weeks.”

Although the “the college has been supportive and useful” by rearranging tutorials and relaxing deadlines, he said, he is concerned about upcoming examinations. He added that he “can’t really work, and as it’s a viral infection, you can only treat the symptoms.”

A post on the Corpus Christi College Cricket Club Facebook page announced that the St Anne’s side had had to concede this week’s scheduled match “[D]ue to an outbreak of mumps and food poisoning.”

According to Jack Beadsworth, a second year at Corpus, feeling in college was relatively jovial.

He told Cherwell: “Oddly enough people really don’t seem to be that worried about it at all. It’s more of a cause for humour than a genuine cause for concern.”

Speaking exclusively to Cherwell, St Anne’s JCR President Pranay Shah said: “‘The mumps outbreak around a few Oxford colleges is a pretty terrible coincidence with finals, prelims and other exams for the majority of students, but the response from staff has been very helpful.

“As well as warning people of the transfection methods and symptoms, advice from the NHS and college nurse has been provided too.”

One student who has contracted mumps told Cherwell: “The first I heard about it, someone I knew caught it and had been shipped home.

“Then one evening I got sharp pains in the corner of my jaw which were pretty uncomfortable but I didn’t think much of it. Overnight, I was pretty feverish.”

“I woke up the next day with my face all swollen up on the right hand side. “I went to the doctor who confirmed it was mumps, so College told me to stay in my room in quarantine or go home.

“College have been pretty good about it—they moved me to a room with en-suite so I could be a bit more comfortable, and the nurse has been around to check on me, but I’m not allowed to use kitchens or communal bathrooms.”

The student was also concerned about their academic work.

“It’s made it pretty hard to work, getting books from libraries isn’t easy—my friends have been amazing.

They added: “I’ve been able to do some stuff but mainly I’ve had to cry off. I’m lucky, I don’t have exams so it’s not the end of the world but there probably will be some catching up to do.

“The first couple of days of infection were pretty grim, I was really weak, walking to Jericho meant I had to sleep for almost the rest of the day, and everything ached. I had dizziness, headaches and a high temperature, and a large swelling around the back of my jawbone.”

Both the Oxford University health guidelines and NHS website recommend that people entering higher education for the first time have the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine.

In 2010, a similar outbreak saw forty-one students contract mumps. Students with symptoms are advised to seek medical assistance.

Huge increase in students using University Counselling Service

Jordan Bernstein
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Huge increase in students using University Counselling Service

New statistics obtained by Cherwell show a dramatic increase in the number of Oxford students accessing the University Counselling Service.

Figures obtained by a Freedom of Information request show that between 2011 and 2016, the number of students contacting the counselling service per academic year jumped by a surprising 84 per cent, from 1,521 to 2,795.

There was also a dramatic increase in the number of students who receive counselling in a given academic year. Whilst in 2011/12 the number was 1,179, in 2015/16 it jumped to 2,079—an increase of 76 per cent.

The figures obtained by Cherwell also point to several marked shifts in the type of issue for which students seek counselling. There was a 63 per cent increase between 2013 and 2016 in the number of students being counselled for ‘transitions’—changes in life stages or roles, including gender transitioning.

27 per cent more students in 2015/16 were being counselled for “depression, anger or mood change or disorder”. Counselled cases of anxiety also increased by 32 per cent over the same period.

Yet strikingly, only an additional seven per cent were being counselled for academic issues. The figures come after The Guardian’s report earlier this week that the results are typical of the national picture.

According to a survey sent out to 90 universities, 87,914 students requested counselling in 2015/16, compared with 68,614 in 2013/14—an increase of 28%. Some universities who responded to The Guardian’s survey indicated that while figures for this year were not yet final, demand for counselling was currently outstripping that of previous years.

Many universities also put this apparent increase down to increased awareness of mental health services.

Speaking of the national increase, former health minister Norman Lamb said there was “a crisis on campus with respect to students’ mental health”. “Counselling provision should be a priority so that all students can access effective support for problems like anxiety, but we know that these services are too often underfunded,” he said.

Data released by the Higher Education Statistics Agency also showed that between 2009 and 2015, there was a near-trebling in the number of students who were dropping out of their university courses for reasons relating to mental health.

Student health GP, Dr Dominique Thompson, said that the gulf between school teaching and university education may be “compounding the recognised increase in mental health issues we are seeing”.

Meanwhile, Oxford University said the findings of the FOI request were indicative of a “sector-wide phenomenon, occurring across the UK”.

A University spokesperson said: “The University has worked hard in recent years to increase awareness of emotional, psychological and mental health issues among students and to encourage them to seek help as soon as possible.

“We see the increase in students accessing the University’s professional counselling services as a positive step forward, that shows they are comfortable sharing concerns and are therefore more prepared to seek support.

“It also shows that the University and colleges are identifying students with difficulties earlier and referring them for help. We know this approach works—after using the Counselling Service the majority of students report they are less likely to withdraw from their course, feel better able to study and feel better equipped to seek future employment.”

Compared to other universities, Oxford was also clear that, in the University’s view, the Counselling service was doing an excellent job.

They concluded: “The statistics highlighted in the article reflect Oxford’s efforts to increase awareness of and resources for counselling and mental health services, and to ensure that they are as accessible as possible. Waiting times for securing a first appointment are much lower at Oxford than the national average, 91 per cent of students rated these waiting times as manageable.

“Clinical evidence shows a very high levels of effectiveness, and that these services make a difference to our students lives. The overall numbers accessing the Counselling Service is approximately 12 per cent.”

A survey carried out by Sodexo before the start of term also found that students at Oxford were the hardest working but unhappiest in the UK. The survey found that 22% of students at both Oxford University and Oxford Brookes regretted enrolling.

Whilst the data obtained by Cherwell also showed that the percentage of those receiving counselling being graduate students had remained fairly constant between 2011 and 2016 at roughly 40 per cent of cases overall, a study earlier this year by Ghent University in Belgium found that one in two PhD students experience “psychological distress”, whilst a third are at risk of developing depression or another common psychiatric disorder.

The Oxford figures also show that in the five years before 2016, it remained the case that roughly two thirds of call cases of counselling for mental health issues concerned women. At last count, women made up 64.3 per cent of cases overall at Oxford.

OUSU was contacted for comment.

“A moving and engaging performance… beyond the level of most student drama”

Freddie Crowley
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“A moving and engaging performance… beyond the level of most student drama”

Reviewing the National Theatre production of Pomona in 2015, Matt Trueman likened Alistair McDowall’s structure to a Möbius strip.  This metaphor perfectly captures the continuous form, at once straight road and loop, always undermining conceptions of reality and fiction, with a shifting, ambiguous chronology.  Themes of circularity, futility and choice run through many of the play’s interactions and one-sided ‘conversations’, underlining the danger of ‘getting involved’, a trope explored through reference to Indiana Jones and a box of McDonald’s chicken nuggets as well as the mysterious criminal network central to plot.

The jumbled chronology is made digestible in this direct, compelling production which creates an ambience to convey the plot and unsettle the audience without over-complication.  Emily Pullen’s minimal block-based set neatly delineates the bare stage and is moved around in some very slick, well-rehearsed scene changes, locked-in with precise lighting and sound cues.  Jonny Danciger does a masterful job with his green-tinged lighting and rumbling sound design, which heighten the uneasy atmosphere, whilst still allowing the audience space to digest the drama on their own terms.  The direction team of Lucy Hayes and Finlay Stroud works cleverly on the disconnect between fiction and reality, with powerful extremes of movement on the stage.  Much of the blocking is necessarily static, but the forward-thrusting energy rarely slips and the full-company RPG realisations are tight and well-thought-out.  The cast works very cohesively as a company in these scenes and, amongst the challenging, rapid narration shared between them, the very few slips-ups on lines or timing were almost unnoticeable.

Joe Peden instills the drama with gripping energy right from the off with a brilliantly-paced monologue, and his virtuosic depiction of an apathetic seagull must also be commended.  The damaged, resigned Fay is impressively portrayed by Miranda Collins, working well with India Phillips, who particularly comes into her own as her character becomes more distressed later in the play.  Lucy Miles’s shifting power-dynamics are convincing as her dominance suddenly topples under the powerful stillness of Fran Amewudah-Rivers, who plays Keaton with expertly-controlled intensity.  James Tibbles and Hugo McPherson form a great double-act, with impeccable comic timing and a well-judged polarisation of the two ‘security guards’, Charlie and Moe, drawn together by their desires for ignorance.

Sitting in the middle of the main bank of seating, Pomona was an engrossing experience.  It would seem, however, that those sitting in the smaller areas of seating down the sides missed out on many of the effects designed for a front-facing stage, so it would be advisable to arrive early and secure a central seat.

Without a weak link in the cast, this was a moving and engaging performance, while very strong design and tech bring Pomona beyond the level of most student drama on the production level.

Oxford academic caught in Russia ‘fake news’ row

Akshay Bilolikar and Jack Hunter
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Oxford academic caught in Russia ‘fake news’ row

An Oxford University academic has expressed his concern over “misappropriation” after an interview he gave to a Russian-backed news agency was used as part of an ongoing row over the United States’ military policy.

In an inteview with the online site Radio Sputnik published last week, Dr Michael Robillard, a post-doctoral researcher at the Oxford Uehiro Centre, highlighted “ethical concerns” with the alleged US Special Operations Command programme to develop so-called ‘super soldiers’—human beings enhanced through eugenics and genetic engineering. The US project reportedly intends to “push the limits” of human performance using nutritional supplements and performance enhancing drugs.

Yet Robillard, a former combat soldier in the US Army, has since raised concern that his comments may have been “misappropriated” by Sputnik—a Russian-backed news agency—to serve its military political aims.

“In this present age of ‘post-truth’ and ‘alternative facts’ […] the pervasiveness of factual distortions are at an all time high,” Robillard exclusively told Cherwell.

He expressed his “worry” over “the potential for state and non-state actors to manipulate our thoughts and actions or simply bamboozle us into a state of continual confusion”.

Robillard said: “Academics and scholars now find themselves in a very vulnerable position when it comes to their ideas becoming distorted and/or misappropriated for ends that they never intended.”

“Accordingly—and as I’ve just learned through personal experience this past week—scholars must be more vigilant and active in deliberately managing the distributuion of their ideas to the world.”

Sputnik’s chief, Dmitry Kiselyov, has described the outlet as intended to counter the “aggressive propaganda that is now being fed to the world.” However, the news outlet has been labled by Foreign Policy as the “BuzzFeed of propaganda.”

A paper released in 2016 by the Centre for European Policy Analysis, a think tank, described Sputnik as “propaganda in a new orbit”, claiming that its output “appears to be not balanced, but the exact opposite: one-sided hostility to the mainstream.”

Attention has focused on Russia’s state-owned media organisations, which also include the broadcaster RT, after American intelligence agencies judged with “high confidence” in January that Russia had led a campaign to “undermine public faith in the US democratic process.”

Robillard recommends that scholars “take more active efforts to engage in the public sphere, to vet media outlets more aggressively, and to make a more robust presence on social media. Media training for scholars for these new platforms could also be highly useful.”

Sputnik was contacted for comment.

The future of medical diagnosis is now

Ellie Blake
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The future of medical diagnosis is now

In the endeavour to increase the efficacy of diagnostic tools used in the clinic, the need for the introduction of modern diagnostic technologies is now greater than ever before. Over the past few years, media attention has been drawn to a number of new and innovative molecular tools that have generated widespread excitement about their potential use in a clinical setting.

One example of this type of technology is the Biomeme two3TM device, highlighted by a recent Nature technology feature as a perfect example of the direction that diagnostic techniques should be moving in. This is an attachment that can be fixed onto an iPhone 5S to carry out amplification and analysis of DNA and RNA in the field in less than an hour, without the need for WiFi or a mobile data connection. It has a huge amount of potential to be used to detect the presence of known pathogens, seen in field trials in the Everglades National Park, where the technology was used to successfully detect RNA viruses in mosquitoes. Although this device is currently marked as being for research use only, its potential for use in disease diagnostics is evident. The company plans to move a number of its products through the US regulatory system in the near future, but until FDA approval is given, it remains to be seen whether this technology will have as much success in the healthcare system as is expected.

Another very promising technique, described as ‘antigen surrogate’ technology, has been developed in work carried out at The Scripps Research Institute. This involves synthesising huge numbers of peptoids—a type of small protein chain—for their ability to bind to antibodies produced in response to a specific pathogen. Artificially utilising this ability facilitates the detection of diseases which have poorly understood biochemistries, as the target antigen doesn’t need to be known to obtain the peptoids that are successful in detecting the disease. Recently, the team that developed this technology displayed its success in detecting neuromyelitis optica (NMO—a disease characterised by swelling of the optic nerve) in the blood serum of known patients. This binding was seen only in NMO sufferers, allowing an efficient and clear result for distinguishing affected individuals. As current diagnostic tests require the antigen to be known and administered to detect whether the relevant antibodies are present in the blood, the introduction of devices that use this method of detection would be a huge step in diagnosing diseases for which the antigen isn’t known.

While the technologies described above have gathered a huge amount of attention both in the media and the scientific community, it can be hard to visualise their impact on healthcare, as both are in the early stages of development. It can also be said that while they hold a huge amount of potential for increasing the ease and efficacy of diagnosis, they are not particularly reflective of the extent of the diagnostic revolution that is currently taking place and has already had a huge impact on our approach to medicine.

One of the biggest diagnostic ventures that is currently being carried out is the 100,000 Genomes Project, launched in 2012 and undertaken by Genomics England. This enormous project aims to sequence 100,000 genomes from 70,000 participants, mainly consisting of NHS patients suffering from rare diseases, as well as their family members. The incorporation of vast amounts of sequence data into the current system of medical records opens up many doors for improving care, such as identifying genetic variants that may indicate responsiveness to a certain treatment. For diagnostics in particular, the implications of this type of project are huge. Identification of rare and poorly understood diseases will improve significantly as any characteristic genetic markers are found.

The implications for the progress of disease diagnostics that these newly developed techniques present are truly exciting, and they show that there is a lot of scope for increasing the ease of diagnosis. The attention surrounding these approaches indicates a general attitude of shifting diagnostics towards a more modern, efficient and technology-based style of healthcare, which is a much-needed step for professionals and patients alike.

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