frontpage – Page 17 of 20

7Aug

By Victoria ChapmanNo Comments

Lifestyle

The Gender Pay Gap: What Can You Do?

You’ve probably heard or read about Orbital’s breaking story on the comments made by Principal Paul Layzell about the gender pay gap recently. But, the question is what can you do as a fellow student to combat this problem as you move ever closer to a career yourself? In late March, a group called RHOccupy camped outside the Principal’s office, campaigning against the lack of support for Royal Holloway’s lecturing staff during the UCU strikes. The outcome was incredible - not only did the Principal agree to sign their list of demands and meet with them to discuss their concerns, but this reflected a wider idea of how a demonstration of students can affect university politics. This does not just apply to the strikes. This is our university which means we have the power to instil as much ...

4Aug

By Natasha LamNo Comments

Science & Technology

Spare Parts?

Lab-grown body parts aren’t just science fiction. Scientists all over the world are attempting to use stem cells to grow ears, livers, hearts, kidneys, blood vessels, skin and bladders in labs that are transplantable into real people. Though rare, some people are walking around with lab-grown bladders. Around 80% of the world’s transplants come from the deceased while the other 20% is mainly made up of living donors and a small percentage attributed to a lab. Many people question whether the future could see people receiving transplants from a lab, or even a ‘farm’ of lab-grown human body parts, mass produced for transplants all over the world. These organs are greatly needed. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), there are over 100,000 people waiting for a lifesaving...

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...

31Jul

By Louisa WicksNo Comments

Sports & Socs

A Spotlight on Eton Fives

Eton Fives only officially became a club this year, and has since been gaining more and more success. I met with the club’s president, Ollie Avery, to find out more about what they do and what they’ve achieved so far. Ollie described the sport as a variation of handball, or like “squash with hands”. Essentially the aim of the game is to hit the small cork ball above a ledge on the wall and to “play a shot that the other team cannot continue”. There are usually two people on each team, but there is no referee. As it is a rather informal sport, you must discuss with the other team whether a shot was legal or not. Ollie says that this “teaches you to play the game like a human”. The informality of the club was something that Ollie emphasised; he said that you can “play at your own leisure”...

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...

28Jul

By Samantha DavisNo Comments

News

Dogs at Risk in Surrey

Locals to the Englefield Green area have been warned to be extra vigilant of their dogs after several cases of potential dognapping have been reported. Cases started being compiled mid-April when an increasing amount of reports were taken from local residents saying strangers had been paying particular attention to their pets or had been caught attempting to lure them away from their owners. Runnymede Beat (Surrey Police) took to Facebook on Friday 13 to warn followers that at around 20.45 that evening a resident had witnessed a man on her driveway showing a great interest in her Jack Russell which had got out into the front garden. The owner described the man to be Chinese or mixed raced and in his mid-40s. He spoke with a ‘local accent’ and was wearing jeans with a dark grey t-shirt ...

7Jul

By Samantha DavisNo Comments

Sports & Socs

Dancing To Victory

It’s hard to deny that this year has been great for sporting achievements across the Royal Holloway sport societies. Dance Society in particular have had an incredible run of competitions, achieving more wins than students can remember achieving since the society was set up. This year started off with a bang on Saturday 25 November when the Wildcard dancers won first place at Kings College London. This champion routine was expertly choreographed for this competition by Emily Coombes. The winning streak continued as Dance Society came away from their competition on December 7 with six dance numbers coming away with top three placings. The contemporary dance, ‘Death Row’, choreographed by Marie de Rooy and Ashley Parry achieved first place alongside the Tap piece, ‘Tribal Beats’, choreogra...

13Jun

By Emma HalahanNo Comments

Culture & Literature

Street Art

Getting that perfect gram isn’t easy – but a beautiful and edgy background always helps. Just a stone throw (and fourty minute train ride) from London, we walk you through the best spots to get your Insta fix. East London , without a doubt, is the home and lifeblood of traditional London street art. We recommend heading to Shoreditch to find some of the most well loved London street art. Get down to Rivington Street to even catch one of the famous Banksy’s in real life. South London has its fair share of street art with Brixton and for those more graffiti inclined the Southbank at its disposal. Brixton has a wealth of art cropping up daily but we still love the David Bowie tribute directly opposite Brixton Station. The Southbank’s skate park is a great place for the edgier of you all t...

11Jun

By Emma HalahanNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Visual Arts

Activism Gets A Makeover

Activism hasn’t always been the prettiest or the most aesthetically pleasing activity. The activist activities of marches and sit ins, often complete with their associated ‘grunge’, were not exactly the most photogenic. And whilst this old style activism is inspiring to those inclined to appreciate activists methods and beliefs – the appeal of activism can often be lost on may due to this less than sanitary image. So how do you go about cleaning up activisms image problem? Artivism is the word on every activist thinkers lips, a timely amalgamation of art and activism as though the two haven’t been deeply intertwined for decades that promises to bring us a hip, gentrified and altogether better looking kind of activism. Artivism can range from graffiti to political resistance posters and de...