opinion – Page 3 of 3

Which Undergraduate are you: Miracle Child or Hustler?

18Oct

By Bridget OSullivanNo Comments

Features, Opinion

Which Undergraduate are you: Miracle Child or Hustler?

The ‘Are They Still Alive?’ One Whether you’re a halls resident plagued nightly by the 2am orchestral onslaught of returning Medicine and SU drunkards or living in a private house on the Shott where the thump of electro-beats is never far off, there’s no way you’re letting anyone interrupt your slumber. Throughout sixth form you were consistently deprived of sleep; you look back on those days and shudder. You’ll never take the bliss of an alarm-less morning for granted again. You’ll never feel anything but earnest gratitude on those cold, January mornings when you have the privilege of attending your lecture from bed (thanks to Royal Holloway’s adoption of the Open University model). You exploit the minimal university schedule for all it’s worth - midday begins to feel like 7am. When y...

18Oct

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

Opinion

Laurence Fox’s ‘Reclaim Party’

Laurence Fox used to be known more for his acting in TV Shows such asLewis and Victoria, and films such as Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Now he’sapparently a politician. Fox first politically came to the public's attention last January aftercontroversial interviews and debates on Good Morning Britain and QuestionTime over Sam Mendes' 1917's choice to include Sikh soldiers in the WW1 film.Fox claimed that it was 'forced diversity' and continued to comment on MeganMarkle's treatment by the press and the 'woke' generation as well as sayingthat he would boycott the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's after itannounced support of Black History Month. In April he ran for London Mayor after announcing in November 2020 that hewas founding 'The Reclaim Party' due to his disappointment in theC...

Extinction Rebellion and the Future of Climate Change: how helpful is the movement at creating long-lasting preventative change?

18Oct

By Accalia SmithNo Comments

Opinion

Extinction Rebellion and the Future of Climate Change: how helpful is the movement at creating long-lasting preventative change?

Success is subjective and often put numerically, but with a movement and protest group like XR how can their success be measured? Since launching in the UK at the end of October in 2018 they have had an aim to make ‘decision makers take notice’ and ‘increase the conversation about the depth of Climate change’. Extinction Rebellion’s main tool is protest. As of Thursday 2nd September, 483 people were arrested over the protests, according to The Guardian. During that week Police officers battled with protestors for control of an open top bus blocking London Bridge. Police are reported to have wrestled with protestors in a new desperate attempt to reduce the disruption. In the same week, there were also numerous protests from those against vaccination. A growing number of people disagree wit...

The Emphasis On Drinking During Freshers’ Week

18Oct

By Ilayda KaplankiranNo Comments

News, Opinion

The Emphasis On Drinking During Freshers’ Week

With COVID-19 restrictions lifted and a gradual return to normality, Freshers’ Week will be going ahead as planned. While some will be enjoying the social opportunities that the legendary week has to offer, others might have a less than satisfactory experience; especially when we consider the pressure being placed upon students to consume excessive amounts of alcohol during the week. Either way, there will be a mixture of responses, but nevertheless it is integral that we normalise the inability to make friends in the first couple of weeks, and the stress that resonates with joining a new community. It’s easy to forget as a second or third year how isolating the first term of first year can be. All too often, university life has been circumscribed to the pervasive stereotype that...

Beautiful World, Where Are You? review: Rooney’s best book yet?

16Oct

By Eva Townsend BiltonNo Comments

Literature

Beautiful World, Where Are You? review: Rooney’s best book yet?

Whether you read a hundred books a year or struggle finishing just one, you’ve probably heard of Sally Rooney, or at least her second novel Normal People. In the four years since the release of her 2017 debut, Conversations with Friends, Rooney has made herself a household name, and her third novel is acutely aware of it. Beautiful World, Where Are You? follows university friends Alice and Eileen, both on the cusp of turning thirty and both navigating romances that form the basis of the novel’s plot. Famous author, Alice, has moved back to Ireland after the pressures of celebrity life in New York proved too much to handle. Despite their less-than-perfect Tinder date, she invites local warehouse worker, Felix, to join her on a work-trip to Rome. Eileen lives in Dublin, flitting betwe...

12Mar

By Martha LochheadNo Comments

Lifestyle

The Real Fur Debate

Those of you who have seen videos of fur farming will have, no doubt, been appalled by the gruesome and bloody images, and quite naturally will have proclaimed yourself anti-fur. Yet, on the runways of Paris, New York, London and Milan when the new winter season comes, fur is still prominently featured. There seems to be a gap between the average customer and the world of real fur. This is an opportune moment in which to shed a little light on the subject, exploring both viewpoints and possibly seeing if there is a middle way. My partner in this Martha Lochhead, an anti-fur voice, who has joined me in an open-minded discussion on the matter, to attempt to find a way through the heated voices on both sides and reach a place where fashion and compassion can coexist. Tom: So Martha, I d...

Doctor Who’s regenerating – in more ways than one…

21Jul

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV

Doctor Who’s regenerating – in more ways than one…

The casting of a new Doctor is actually a reflection of the intended audience, writes Beth Carr. Months of speculation and waiting ended at the weekend: not only did Federer win Wimbledon in straight sets but the identity of the next Doctor in Doctor Who was revealed. A hood was dropped and the secret of Jodie Whittaker’s casting was out. You might know her from Broadchurch, working with Doctor Who’s new showrunner Chris Chibnall, or from playing ditsy Beverley in St Trinian’s. She’s also no stranger to sci-fi after starring in 2011 film Attack the Block. Despite this success under her belt, Whittaker’s casting has caused a tsunami of response from both fans and non-fans of the show. The reason? She is a woman taking over a role traditionally and exclusively played by men, a Time Lor...

27Sep

By Beth CarrNo Comments

Opinion

Smile! You’re Being Tracked…

Last Thursday night saw the premiere of Channel 4’s gripping new series, Hunted, in which members of the public go on the run for 28 days and try to escape detection by the hunters. Aided by high-tech equipment used by the police and security services, they know a surprising amount about how far the fugitives have travelled and this has, as Channel 4 intended, flagged up to us how hard it is to disappear completely in today’s society. What I found incredibly fascinating was the idea that we create patterns. As students we probably have the most freedom of anyone in how we structure our days, but most people tend to have a natural body clock, influencing their sleeping and waking patterns. With the colossal rise of social media, our phones are usually the first and last things we reach f...