news – Page 4 of 10 – The Orbital

Say his name: how Candyman’s sharp social commentary exposes the horrors of reality

16Oct

By Kianna BestNo Comments

Features, Film & TV

Say his name: how Candyman’s sharp social commentary exposes the horrors of reality

Nowhere near as sweet as he sounds, the urban legend of Candyman is rooted in the bitter realities of racism at the hands of white supremacy, birthing a monster and personifying the terrors of oppression. Arguably ahead of its time, the origins of the frightful hook handed menace stem from the realities of a history not so long ago, placing the slasher film and systemic racism alongside each other to induce the greatest levels of fear. The son of slaves and a product of the sinister consequences of the Jim Crow era, Bernard Rose’s Candyman (1992) places on the big screen the constantly perpetuated message that the Black man must be feared. Told from the perspective of graduate student Helen Lyle, the motivations of the Cabrini-Green bogeyman are touched upon but fall back to the ...

15Oct

By Luz Sanchez-Real ZielniewiczNo Comments

Science & Technology

Much Ado About Sleeping

The end of summer feels like the end of a dream. Lie-ins morph into morning lectures; you never seem to win the daily battle with your alarm clock; and all you really want is to finish that dream about the llama and the-- never mind... Sometimes, it seems that getting a good nights’ sleep (and then waking up again) is harder than getting your actual degree. You’re likely aware that there are different stages of sleep which affect how you’ll feel when you wake up. However, it’s difficult to get the timing just right. To paraphrase Shakespeare, ‘the course of true rest never did run smooth’. If we break it down, though, you might just figure out how to wake up feeling fresh as a daisy and ready for all of those 9AMs... The first step to a solid sleep is the non-REM (REM = Rapid ...

Hycean Worlds: A Possible New Frontier in the Search for Life Beyond Earth

15Oct

By Jessica CopelandNo Comments

Science & Technology

Hycean Worlds: A Possible New Frontier in the Search for Life Beyond Earth

The search for extraterrestrial life has conventionally been focused on Earth-like exoplanets -- terrestrial planets orbiting within the habitable zone of their host stars. This method is based on the premise that as life has risen in Earth’s conditions, somewhere with similar conditions could also give rise to life. As such, various exoplanet surveys over the years, including the Kepler and TESS satellites, have catalogued a few thousand Earth-like candidates for further investigation, finding that 1 in 5 Sun-like stars have an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone. However, the candidate pool may have just expanded. In August this year, researchers at Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy proposed a new hypothetical class of habitable exoplanets and dubbed them Hycean worlds, a ...

UCU Announces 8 Day Strike Affecting 60 Universities

8Nov

By Kaelin DignamNo Comments

News

UCU Announces 8 Day Strike Affecting 60 Universities

Two days ago the day this article was written the University and College Union announced eight days of strike starting this month, which will affect 60 universities across the country including Royal Holloway. The strike will take action between Monday 25th of November to Wednesday 4th of December. The action has been called in response to concerns regarding member contributions to the USS pension scheme, pay and conditions. There have been talks which could indicate the dispute could be resolved without industrial action, however this so far seems unlikely. Last week UCU members backed strike action in two separate legal disputes, one on pensions and one on pay and working conditions. Overall, 79% of UCU members voted for strike action in the ballot over changes to pensions. In the ball...

25Oct

By Kaelin DignamNo Comments

News

39 Found Dead Inside Lorry Container

Police reported the vehicle was found just before 1:40 BST at Waterglade Industrial Park in Grays. The report states that the bodies of 38 adults and a young teenager were found within the container, which has been confirmed to have been registered Bulgaria. It has been stated that the people within likely froze to death due to conditions within the container. The police told reporters that the trailer arrived by ferry from Zeebrugge in Belgium into Purfleet-on-Thames. The driver has been identified locally as 25 year old "Mo Robinson" from Northern Ireland and has been detained by the police on suspicion of murder. The police have also stated that identifying the victims has remained their "number one priority" but expected the whole affair to likely be a "lengthy process". Despite th...

Back Gate To Close Overnight, Following Resident Complaints

16Jul

By Jamie WoodsNo Comments

News

Back Gate To Close Overnight, Following Resident Complaints

In what has been described as a "difficult" decision, Royal Holloway College have today announced they are going to resume closing the back gate overnight. From the start of term in September, the gate will be closed at 12:30AM each night, and re-opened at 5AM. The back gate originally closed at 12:45 on Friday and Saturday and 11:15 throughout the remainder of the week. The back entrance to campus is located on Spring Rise by the Senate House Library depository. It had been opened overnight in January 2018 following lengthy campaigns run by students and the Students' Union, starting with a petition in 2015. Access had been provided through the use of swipe cards outside of regular hours. The announcement follows lobbying from local residents, who told the college that students ar...

Evacuation Confusion Reveals RHUL Emergency Unpreparedness

19Mar

By Jack ChellmanNo Comments

News

Evacuation Confusion Reveals RHUL Emergency Unpreparedness

On Wednesday afternoon, a suspicious package at the George Eliot mailroom prompted Surrey Police and College Security to evacuate nearby buildings on campus. Given the spate of bomb scares across the UK this month, one would hope for a well-coordinated response to a similar threat at Royal Holloway. Unfortunately, the university’s evacuation fell far short of “well-coordinated” and contradicted a spokesperson’s suggestion that “the College spends considerable time and resources on emergency planning.” Interviews with community members and an analysis of evacuation messaging reveal the university’s inability to quickly and clearly articulate emergency protocol. To adequately protect its community members, Royal Holloway must address its emergency unpreparedness and communicate more effectiv...

SU Support for ‘Ask for Angela’ campaign

19Feb

By Becca BashfordNo Comments

News

SU Support for ‘Ask for Angela’ campaign

The ‘Ask for Angela’ campaign - first launched by Lincolnshire County Council and now officially supported by the Metropolitan Police - has been rolled out in the Student Union. The main goal of ‘Ask for Angela’, according to the Sexual Violence & Abuse Strategy Coordinator for Lincolnshire County Council, is to “promote a culture change in relation to sexual violence and abuse … and to empower victims to make a decision on whether to report incidents. Sexual abuse and violence is a national issue and all councils have a responsibility to tackle abuse.” The campaign offers discreet help to anyone who is made to feel uncomfortable or unsafe, whether that be by a stranger, a tinder date, or anything in between. Venues which support the campaign provide posters which are displayed in to...

2Jan

By Amal AbdiNo Comments

Opinion

Anger in the Supreme Court

For as long as feminism has been around, the angry feminist has been a stereotype used to dismiss the claims of women. Calling a woman angry is the best way to ignore what she is saying, after all, who would listen to a screaming woman who cannot control her emotions. In the Supreme Court hearing last month, Brett Kavanaugh revealed himself to be an angry man. Throughout American history white men’s rage has been seen as righteous. An angry man is a hero, he is a revolutionist, maybe he is an American Founding Father, a symbol of patriotism to be loved and his angry fetishized. But why is it that every women who is enraged is immediately dismissed? In 1991, Clarence Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court by George H.W. Bush. After his nomination, Anita Hill, a law professor who had p...

10Oct

By Phoebe HaganNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Top 5 Reasons To Join Insanity Radio

Starting university means you have to make a lot of decisions. Which halls you want to live in, what course you want to study - the list goes on. Equally as important a decision is, out of the huge range of them, what sports club, society, or media outlet you choose to join. With so many options out there, from improvised comedy to trampolining, it can be hard to decide, so as Insanity Radio's Head of Music, I'm here with the Top Five Reasons why you should seriously consider joining Royal Holloway's very own radio station, Insanity Radio. 1 - If you like music, you're in the right place. As Head of Music, I'm in charge of the weekly playlists that go out across the station - but if you're into a particularly niche genre or period of music, or feel, like me, that punk music from 197...