Michele Theil, Author at The Orbital

Residents Dissatisfied over Ashdene House

14Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Residents Dissatisfied over Ashdene House

Ashdene House on St Jude’s Road, Englefield Green is being considered as new student accommodation flats. Planning application for the building to be demolished and then rebuilt as 29 student flats was registered a few weeks ago. Many residents in Englefield Green were not pleased with these proposals. In fact, at a public consultation on Oct 4 of this year, 89 people were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding the issue. 83% of the respondents did not want Ashdene House to be turned into student flats and would prefer it to be given over to social housing schemes. People in the popular Facebook group ‘Englefield Greenies’ have commented their stark objections to this student accommodation. One person said that “the green is fast becoming a campus”. Others spoke up about the noi...

9Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Sign Here

Royal Holloway has recently been subject to several petitions, created by students attempting to instil the change they’d like to see at the university. In early September, student Phoebe Dormand created a petition that asked for the Health Centre on campus to be improved. She cited 8 issues that she felt warranted the petition, including but not limited to response time, lack of sympathy, being refused appointments and having only 5 doctors and 1 nurse covering over 9000 students. Comments on the petition found that there were many other issues with the Health Centre that Phoebe had not touched on as well as increasing solidarity between the students. Phoebe’s petition gained over 1500 signatures and led to the SU releasing a survey asking students to review the Health Centre in an ...

8Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Referendum on NSS Boycott Announced

Royal Holloway’s Student’s Union has called for a referendum to vote on whether or not the RHSU should continue to boycott the National Student Survey (NSS). The boycott was passed in a referendum in March of this year, with 282 votes. The original boycott was called for, in conjunction with the National Union of Students (NUS), in response to the NSS being used with the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) to possibly allow universities to charge higher tuition fees. The NSS measures student satisfaction while the TEF measures quality of teaching and results of study. Universities can score Gold or Silver and be placed on the higher end of the spectrum or they could be scored with a Bronze, which is a lower rating. Thus, those that achieved Gold or Silver, under the Government’s initiat...

6Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Celebrating The Comedy Society

RHUL Comedy Society performed yet another show on Friday December 1 to high praise from the audience, judging by their laughter. It was their third show of the term and was marginally centred around the theme of Christmas and the holiday season. The show was called ‘Celebrating the Birth of Christ’, with the Facebook event espousing that there is “no better way to kick off your advent calendar”, accompanied by a charming poster that has host Archie Brooks-Watson’s face on the body of a baby. We can only assume the baby is meant to be Baby Jesus, bringing this Christmas-themed show full circle. The show itself consisted of 12 performers, including the host, of mixed age, degrees, gender and ethnicity, bringing different perspectives to their humour and to the whole evening. Ewan B...

1Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Big Giving for RHUL’s Future Students

On Tuesday 28 November, Royal Holloway launched the Big Give Christmas Challenge here. It is an annual event in the UK that was founded by RHUL Honorary Fellow Sir Alec Reed in 2007. The premise of the Big Give Challenge is simple: any online donations made within the allotted time will be matched in funding, essentially doubling the donation at no extra cost to the donator. It is the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign. The campaign opened nationally on Tuesday at 12pm and will go on until 12pm on Tuesday 5 December. RHUL is attempting to raise funds for scholarships and work placements to be given to students that require financial support to attend university or undergo important work experience. The official statement on RHUL’s website regarding scholarships tells us th...

1Dec

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Lifestyle

The Art of Doing Nothing

As someone who requires constant stimulation, be it from books, Netflix or a conversation, ‘doing nothing’ isn't something that comes easily to me. I have, however, come to appreciate the moments of quiet, where I can just close the door and breathe. At university, where there is always a person down the hall, a lecture to attend and a deadline looming, quiet (and solitude) is exactly what we need sometimes. When I talk about ‘doing nothing’, I don’t necessarily mean that you must sit watching grass grow. It is merely an easy turn of phrase to explain the idea of relaxing and taking some time for yourself, rather than continuing to be at the mercy of your seminar leaders, flatmates or society members. Once, my housemate burst into my room and tried to make me go to gym with her. I vehem...

Offenders Sentenced in Sexual Exploitation Ring

29Nov

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Offenders Sentenced in Sexual Exploitation Ring

A sexual exploitation ring has been discovered in North Surrey and West London. Two people were convicted by a jury in Guildford Crown Court in April, finding them to be guilty of the exploitation of teenage girls in the surrounding areas. Between January and February of 2016, 21 year-old Daniel Pusey and 40 year-old Diane Chilcott would attempt to lure young girls to hotels in Staines, Twickenham, Tolworth and Heathrow. The victims were aged between 13 and 15 at the time of the incidents. They would first consume large amounts of alcohol and smoke cigarettes at Chilcotts House in Chertsey before being driven by the two perpetrators to various hotels. Upon arriving at these hotels, Pusey would subject them to sexual abuse. During the trial, Pusey was found guilty of seven counts o...

Model Defers Royal Holloway Due to Debilitating Illness

29Nov

By Michele TheilNo Comments

News

Model Defers Royal Holloway Due to Debilitating Illness

Destiny Sedlacek, a 19-year old girl from Weybridge, Surrey was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome in 2016. Ehlers Danlos syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that affects a person’s connective tissue. It would lead to symptoms such as skin being stretched out, loose joints and abnormal-looking scars. Prior to her diagnosis, Destiny was previously a model featured in Vogue Magazine. She was the official model for films like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Fury. She has also modelled for popular make-up brand Rimmel London UK. She studied Forensic Science at college but her diagnosis meant she was unable to attend her classes. She “had to finish [her] college work in hospitals”. This has impacted her future ambitions, which includes to go on to Royal Holloway, University of London, to ...

19Nov

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Theatre & Performance

The Devil is loose in Royal Holloway

The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller in the 1950s as a comment on mass hysteria and the dangers of false accusation and is based on true events. Drama Society attempted to transport us to the small and suffocating town of Salem, Massachusetts where Miller’s plot of witchery and paranoia takes place - and it did not disappoint. Before it even begins, Tom Williams’ direction sets the erie tone with Tituba, played by Anna Tamela, on stage as the audience file in singing a quiet tune and mixing what we can only assume is a witch’s brew. Act One begins with ‘the girls’ emotive interpretive movement piece to Hozier’s Arsonist’s Lullaby setting the scene perfectly. The hysteria and screams start early and continually make several appearances, intensifying as they go on and effective in s...

14Nov

By Michele TheilNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Overshadowed

In the previous issue of Orbital Magazine, I wrote an article condemning the issues with Netflix’ portrayal of anorexia in To The Bone. I disagreed with how it glorified eating disorders in many ways and acted like a how-to guide for sufferers. Where Netflix failed though, BBC Three seems to have succeeded with showing people the truth about anorexia – that it is a debilitating illness - without glorifying it or using a romantic storyline to further the plot of recovery. Michelle Fox plays Imogene (Imo), a 17-year-old girl living in Leeds who decides to ‘vlog’ her daily life. It is through the perspective of her camera that the audience are seeing Imogene becoming more and more affected by her anorexia. She becomes more and more withdrawn from her family and friends as well as extremely...