Michele Theil, Author at The Orbital

5Oct

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Features

Debrief: Renee Landell

I’d heard about Renee Landell long before I met her. Her reputation as an extremely successful Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) officer for the SU definitely preceded her. Being a member of the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) group myself, it would have been stranger if I hadn’t heard about her. Landell was first elected as BME officer in 2017, when she was a third-year finalist and was recently re-elected for the 2018/19 academic year, just as she is embarking on a PHD in Comparative Literature and Culture. We met at the Boilerhouse Cafe in June, just a few days after Landell won a Laurel Award at the SU. Renee is all smiles when she arrives, pleased that I’m interviewing her and eager to see what questions I have for her. My list of questions is long; I want to get a sense of wh...

Fire Broke Out During Student’s Union Club Night

27Sep

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Fire Broke Out During Student’s Union Club Night

A fire broke out in the Student’s Union (SU) on Wednesday 26 September during the popular club night, Flawless. The fire started in Tommy’s Kitchen, where a speaker caught fire. There is not yet a known cause to the fire but an anonymous source within the SU staff speculated that it was from spilled drinks. Reports suggest that the fire started just before midnight, with staff responding quickly to the incident and evacuating the students. When a fire alarm goes off in the SU, students are to be taken outside and gather in the courtyard until they can safely leave. The fire brigade was called and arrived in order to help union staff contain the fire and manage the students. At 1AM, the fire brigade gave the SU permission to allow people back into the venue as the fire had been dealt wi...

10Sep

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Opinion

A Year On From #MeToo

In the last 525,600 minutes, a lot has happened. We’ve seen the release of Ariana Grande’s amazing new album, thousands of dog Instagram accounts, over 300 mass shootings in America and more - it’s been tumultuous and polarising. But, one of the most important things that have happened in the last year has been the immense cultural shift surrounding catcalling, sexual harassment, inappropriate conduct and sexual assault. In October 2017, Alyssa Milano drew attention to the hashtag #metoo, originally started by activist Tarana Burke, after numerous allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was published in The New York Times. Since then, the movement has grown in leaps and bounds and has even made it to places like South Korea, Japan and the UK recently with allegations coming out a...

2Aug

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Visual Arts

Hope to Nope?

The Design Museum is situated on Kensington High Street, a beautiful building with fascinating exhibits inside. One recent exhibit looked at the graphic design aspects of political activism. Entitled ‘Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008 - 2018’, it sought to explore the evolving nature of design, particularly within the changing landscape of politics in the last decade. The exhibit showcased many beautiful designs, all likely familiar to those who have not only engaged in politics but simply logged onto Facebook in recent years. As soon as you walk in to the ‘Hope to Nope’ exhibit, after an odd descent down a steep staircase, you are greeted by a bright yellow wall, with an explanation for the exhibits existence. The explanation describes the “turbulent decade” we have experienced and...

29Jul

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Opinion

Voting: Restrictions Apply

The introduction of a scheme to force all voters to show a form of ID at polling elections during the May local elections is unneccesary and exclusionary. This scheme was introduced earlier this year and is being trailled in Watford, Bromley, Gosport and Woking before planning to make the scheme country-wide. While forcing voters to have ID seems like a good idea in principle, it doesn’t work when applied to real people who will be significantly adversely affected by it. Voting ID restrictions are meant to maintain the integrity of the ballot box, as many politicians all over the world have said, and at first glance it does do exactly that. After all, who doesn’t have a form of ID? In this ever-changing modern world, it is expected that every person has a passport, a driving license or at...

28Jul

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Science & Technology

Running On Autopilot

Driverless cars are taking the world by storm. Self-driving or driverless cars take different forms, with the most famous likely being Uber previously trialling driverless vehicles in cities like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Tempe, Arizona. Self-driving cars are being developed by companies all over the world, including Tesla, Uber, GM, Google’s Waymo and more. But with more and more accidents involving driverless cars, and even a recent death, can these technologically advanced vehicles really be trusted on the roads? According to the World Health Organization, over 1.25 million people died from “road traffic crashes” while an estimated 20 - 50 million more people are injured non-fatally. A 2008 study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration in the US estimated that...

11Jun

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News, Opinion

Out Of Service

Egham High Street’s electric rising bollars have not worked for several weeks now. The bollards were installed in March 2017 by Surrey County Council (SCC) in order to prevent drivers from entering the street between Monday to Saturday from 11am to 4pm. The High Street is therefore a pedestrianised zone during these times. In recent weeks, the bollards have not been working and many cars have been driving and parking on the street during the day. While there are signs at the entrance to the High Street stating that it is a pedestrian-only area, many drivers are ignoring this and driving up and down the street anyway. According to Get Surrey, Egham resident Anthony Houlden has “reported this porblem numerous times to Runnymede Borough Council (RBC) and SCC” but the issue has persisted. H...

8Jun

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Media Arts Privacy Breach for Finalists

Today (Friday June 8), the Media Arts department sent an email out to all finalists regarding their dissertation results. There was a spreadsheet attached to the email that listed every finalist’s name, student number and dissertation classification. Every finalist who received the email was thus able to see the dissertation grades of every other student in their year. Head of Department Chris Townsend subsequently sent an email to every finalist expressing his apologies for the “clerical error” that resulted in this document being sent off to everyone. Professor Townsend himself stated that this was an “unacceptable breach of privacy and data”, as it gave everyone unprecedented access to information that they wouldn't otherwise have been able to see. Townsend also said that he has “in...

20May

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

“A Delightful Evening of Delights”

This weekend sees Musical Theatre Society’s (MTS) final performance of this academic year, a fun show that stretches each member’s creativity and shows us the vast expanse of Musical Theatre. There are 23 numbers, of varying types, from a wide variety of musicals and it was, as Musical Director and Compere Flynn Sturgeon states, "a delightful evening of delights". The entire show was a spectacle, with loud and enthusiastic accompaniment from the band seated at the front of the SU Main Hall and bright flashing lights all around us. Act 1 begins with a rendition of Joyful Joyful from Sister Act 2, with people coming from every corner and interacting with the audience and amping them up for the rest of the show. Connor Wood and Robbie Carprari-Sharpe, both incoming committee members for MT...

Ruby Wines and Village Pizza Face Eviction

18Apr

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Ruby Wines and Village Pizza Face Eviction

Ruby Wines and Village Pizza are reportedly being threatened with eviction from their rented properties on Victoria Street in Englefield Green. The owners of both establishments told customers about the situation through notices posted in each storefront’s window. Each notice claimed that the landlord was threatening eviction upon the end of each proprietor’s lease in order to open up the spaces for a dental practice instead. This was confirmed by the owner of Ruby Wines, Vikas Sohal, better known as Nick, who stated that he and the owner of Village Pizza were given a written notice of this by their landlord earlier this month. A planning application for this “dental surgery” has been submitted to Runnymede Borough Council (RBC) by the landlord. The application also includes plans ...