Magazine Issue 724 Autumn 2019 - SHIFT - Pi Media
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Magazine Issue 724 Autumn 2019 SHIFT
‘SHIFT’
“As we approach the end of a decade, it is clear
that our world has been through tumultuous
changes. ‘SHIFT’ intends to capture that, consider-
ing the transformation of situations and perspec-
tives that have culminated in innumerable events.
From fashion to technology, we are continuously
navigating shifts as they converge and generate
responses on both a personal and political level.
The following articles present a series of insightful
contemplations and criticisms along the theme of
‘SHIFT’, condemning the present, reflecting on the
past and preempting the future of our university
and beyond.
A common theme throughout this edition is that
the decisions we make can span far beyond our
immediate environment, more now than ever
before. Whether this is via our choices as a con-
sumer or through the power of protest, we have an
impact. As the next generation, we have a duty to
educate ourselves about the challenges facing us so
we may inspire and control a shift of our own.
While uncertainty is inevitable, a shift is never
final and will always present the opportunity for
growth and progression.
We are very proud to say that 100% of the content
in this magazine - writing, art, and photography -
is sourced from UCL students. Thank you to all the
writers, editors, artists and photographers who
helped us put the magazine together!
We hope you enjoy reading the 724th issue of Pi
Magazine.”
- Kinzah Khan & Eleanor Lee
Cover Photo by Pietro Sambuy Pi Magazine, Editors-in-Chief 2019-20
Contents
Perception
‘This photograph
resulted from
a seeming
mistake. Through
a failure to
roll the film,
three separate
moments became
superimposed
onto one
another,
morphing into
one. Doing so
captured a shift
in perception,
position and
time’ - Stan
Majewski, UCL
Photography
Society
4-5 Term 1 RoundUp: News to 16-17 Humanising the & Laura Toms / Viky Klein & Tori
Know Refugee Crisis: How tutoring a Simpson
Tharani Ahillan, Aliy Faisal, Syrian Refugee has altered my
Maggie Durovcikova, Tom Cross, worldview “The BackPages”
Joe Kenelm, Daria Mosolova & Lara Andrews / Isabella Tjalve 32-33 A Decade in Review
Varun Vassanth / Christelle Troost Olivia Olphin & Kirese Narinesingh
Science & Laura Toms / Sara Engardt
News 18-19 FoodTech Champions 34-35 Style on Campus
6-7 Confronting Eugenics: Barnabé Colin / Freya Parkinson Lifestyle Writers / Enerzaya
UCL unveils Introductory 22-23 Mental Health in Gundalai & Christelle Troost
Programme for New Students Retrospect 36 Science RoundUp
Vanessa Tsao / Bella Peng Rebecca Daly and Matthew Bazley Callum Limbrick, Dhruv Krishna,
8-9 A Shift to Sustainability / Hsin Liu* Sabina-Maria Mitroi, Tharani
Daria Mosolova Ahillan, Ahmed Al-Shihabi &
Lifestyle Charles Constant / Viky Klein
Opinion 24-25 Lingerie Wars: Victoria’s 37 Opinions from the Editors
Secret vs. Savage X Fenty
10-11 The World Has Shifted, Hannah Connolly / Kezhu Wang Zoe West-Taylor, Izzi Zawartka,
Joe Kenelm / Yuval Caspi
but Has Our Mindset?
Tatiana Škultétyová / Freya 26-27 Can Fast Fashion Make 38 A Defence for Change and
Way for Sustainable Style? the Power it Requires
Parkinson
Deepali Foster / Pietro Sambuy Noah Eckstein.
12-13 When Knowledge is Lost,
What Should We Know? Niccolò
Fantini / Olivia Bessant Culture 39 Committee, Section Editors,
28-29 The Culture of Protest Get Involved, Contact
Features Jamie Singleton & Chloe
14-15 Is Russia Finally Waking Rossington / Pietro Sambuy 20-21 Pi X PhotoSoc
Up to Climate Change? 30-31 Our Consumption of Competition Winner
Lizzy Nidz / Jennifer Oguguo Culture
*spelling rectified from print edition. Appologies for
Kirese Narinesingh & Olivia Olphin this error.
www.uclpimedia.com 3
NEWS
Term 1 RoundUp: News to Know
UCL Launches Smoke-Free Scheme only with UNISON) the IWGB campaign ‘#EndOut-
Think of a university in London. Chances are that sourcingNow’ began balloting their members (number-
‘clean air’ isn’t the phrase that pops into your head. But ing around 300) on whether to call a strike to demand
UCL is aiming to achieve just that with the introduc- that outsourcing companies give staff the same rights as
tion of its smoke-free policy. Implemented on the 23rd UCL’s employees. On 6th November, IWGB announced
September, the scheme builds on UCL’s existing poli- the biggest strike of outsourced workers in the history
cies, which includes a ban on smoking, possession of of UK higher education, after an overwhelming vote in
lit cigarettes, and e-cigarettes in areas occupied by UCL favour of strike action, which took place on 19th No-
staff, students, and visitors, as well as in UCL vehicles. vember.
The new scheme goes further, extending the area by Aliy Faisal
where smoking is prohibited to all of UCL, including
outdoor spaces. This means that Malet Place, Foster Phineas Bar gets a New Look
Court, the Main Quad, South Quad, and the Wilkins For years, Phineas bar has been a staple for UCL stu-
Terrace are now ‘smoke-free zones’. Previously, people dents, who regularly flock to it in search of a cheap pint
were allowed to smoke right outside of entrances and and the famous strawberry toilet. Following its closure
open windows. Now, smokers must be at least five me- in March 2019 for refurbishment, the bar recently reo-
tres away from buildings before they light up a cigarette. pened with a brand new look, which has evoked a range
The policy also aims to strengthen existing support for of responses from students.
staff and students at UCL who want to quit smoking. Generally, the lighting seems to be an issue for stu-
by Tharani Ahillan dents, who say the bar feels ‘institutional’ and suggest
making it darker. But not all impressions of the new
Growing Campaigns to End Outsourcing at UCL face of Phineas are negative: some like the new chairs,
Campaigns to bring outsourced UCL staff, such as while others appreciate having more space and floors
cleaners, porters and security officers, back in-house that aren’t sticky.
have been making headway. The campaigns are organ- The bar’s mascot, Phineas, has also been a source of
ised by two trade unions: the long established, primarily controversy. During refurbishment, it was discovered
public-sector union, UNISON, which has a recognition that the statue had a historical connection to the Boer
agreement with the university, and the smaller IWGB, War, which prompted the Students’ Union to question
whose base is made up of independent gig-economy whether a reminder of British colonialism is suitable for
workers. UNISON held a protest in the Main Quad on a university that tries to promote diversity and inclu-
17th October, at which workers shared their experi- siveness. An online consultation was opened to allow
ences and UNISON’s General Secretary, Dave Prentis, students to express their opinions on the issue.
spoke about how the union is winning similar battles by Maggie Durovcikova
across the public sector.
Following the protest, it was announced on 21st Extinction Rebellion Protests Continue
October that the university had committed to giving Extinction Rebellion (XR), the climate protest group
outsourced workers parity of terms with direct employ- whose aim is to force governments and companies into
ees by August 2021, with the earliest improvement for acting to combat global warming, has been taking over
workers being an increase in their holiday allowance at London. A group of UCL students attended the XR
the end of this year. Students Rise Up meeting and debate on 11th October,
After receiving a dismissive response from the uni- hosted at one of Extinction Rebellion’s new camps on
versity administration (the university has negotiated Lambeth Council land near Vauxhall station.
4 www.uclpimedia.com
NEWS
Although turnout was low, those present at the UK Government’s fourth attempt to formulate the con-
meeting were not concerned, remarking that UCL XR ditions under which Britain’s divorce from the Europe-
is still young and is not yet a cohesive organisation. an Union will take place.
They agreed that they would need to do more to raise As lawmakers voted on the Letwin Amendment in
awareness among students. Other XR members were the House of Commons, the rain-soaked protesters on
highly positive about the assembly, remarking that it the other side of the Parliament walls had their eyes
had been “incredibly successful” and that in the past glued to a large screen, live-streaming the outcome of
two months they had “managed to facilitate 25 more the vote. The announcement that the amendment had
[university] groups”. passed by 322 votes to 306 aroused deafening cheer-
There was substantial presence of both police and ing as the chant ‘we demand a People’s Vote’ rippled
community officers, but their actions were limited to through the crowd.
simply patrolling the campsite. On 14th October, Met- The later rejection of this deal has led the EU to grant
ropolitan Police declared that all XR protests in London the government another three-month extension until
are illegal. The ban was lifted four days later, but on 6th January 2020 to find a solution to the deadlock. The
of November it was ruled unlawful by the high court. question of the second referendum will be a key issue in
by Tom Cross the campaign leading up to the snap election being held
on the 12th December.
UCL Pledges Net Zero Carbon Emissions by Daria Mosolova
by 2030
In October, UCL launched a new Sustainability Inclusive Curriculum: Establishing a Baseline
Strategy, announcing that it will divest from fossil fu- The Inclusive Curriculum Project, headed by Dr
els by the end of 2019. The Strategy for Sustainable Cathy Elliott, was run over the summer of 2019 by a
UCL 2019-24 targets a 40% reduction in energy con- diverse group of students from UCL’s Political Science
sumption by 2024, when all UCL buildings will be net department. Content analysis carried out on a random
zero carbon and energy supply will be from renewable sample of the School of Public Policy’s reading lists
sources exclusively. aimed to find out who was not being heard in the schol-
These targets underpin one of the strategy’s three arship we read.
signature campaigns, ‘Positive Climate.’ This campaign They found that just 7% of the readings assigned are
also includes promises to review UCL’s portfolio invest- authored by scholars of colour and a mere 24% are writ-
ments (prioritising funds which have a positive envi- ten by female academics. This is neither representative
ronmental impact), and to ensure catering for events of the general UK population, and even less representa-
and hospitality is entirely vegetarian. tive of UCL’s student body.
Among the other six headline commitments, the In recent years there has been a student-led move-
strategy promises that every student will have the op- ment for a more inclusive university curriculum. Rec-
portunity to study and be involved with sustainability, ognition of how scholarship is dominated by white men
citing induction programmes centring on sustainabili- is a starting point, but must be justified with empirical
ty, and a new cross-disciplinary climate change module. evidence as a benchmark to start increasing the diversi-
by Joe Kenelm ty of voices we hear.
The Inclusive Curriculum researchers will be pre-
More Brexit Trouble senting their findings as part of Decolonising the Cur-
On Saturday 19th October, over a million protesters riculum Week 2019 to suggest how more voices can be
stretched out from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of heard.
Parliament to speak out in favour of a People’s Vote on by Varun Vassanth
Brexit, in one of the largest demonstrations in British
history. Three years after the initial Brexit referendum, Art by Christelle Troost
the new deal proposed by PM Boris Johnson was the
www.uclpimedia.com 5
NEWS
Confronting Eugenics: UCL Unveils
Introductory Programme for New Students
UCL will be rolling out an interactive, online ori- The feedback survey showed that a majority of stu-
entation site for all new students starting from 2020 dents enjoyed the IP as a whole. Many students es-
onwards. The ‘Introductory Programme’ (IP) aims to pecially liked its interactive quizzes and interesting
familiarise incoming freshers with UCL’s history, ar- content of UCL Origins including the comparison of
chitecture and icons, instilling a sense of belonging in UCL’s architecture to that of Oxbridge and what the
them. differences symbolise. However, workshop attendees
The website, still in its pilot phase, features four and first-year student Stanislava Dimitrova raised the
main sections: UCL Origins, Discovery at UCL, point that a trigger warning should be included in the
Global London, and Future UCL (which is currently a ‘Jeremy Bentham DNA sequencing’ video. She de-
work-in-progress). scribed the video to show Bentham’s head, the sudden
The IP is filled with engaging multimedia elements appearance of which Dimitrova found gruesome and
such as a quiz to see if you could be admitted to Ox- shocking.
bridge in the early 19th century, and a comparison
between an old photo of the Gustave Tuck Lecture Discovery at UCL
Theatre and its current appearance. Students can also The Discovery at UCL section attempts to address
watch academics discuss scientific research or current the mixed legacy of scientific research at UCL, brief-
students talking about their favourite spots on cam- ly describing ethical violations by various scientists.
pus. Artefacts in this section also include the Kathleen
Four departments have been invited to experience Lonsdale Building, the Grant Museum, and two ob-
the pilot IP, and students that filled out a form with jects that are yet to be decided. However, the page
their feedback may choose to attend the IP feedback describing ethical violations in scientific research is
workshop, held on 23 October, to discuss their re- more sparse in text than other sections. This is espe-
sponses in person. The workshop was hosted by the cially significant as the history of eugenics is not ad-
IP’s academic lead Dr. Tim Beasley-Murray, pro- dressed. This historical link stems from the influence
gramme manager Viki Burnage, senior teaching fel- of Francis Galton, the Victorian scientist who coined
low Dr. Silvia Colaiacomo, and Steve Rowett from the term ‘eugenics’, and Karl Pearson, the influential
digital education. While only a handful of students statistician. Academic lead Tim Beasley-Murray ex-
attended the feedback workshop, there was a produc- plained that the process of producing this material
tive, intensive two hour long discussion on all aspects must be put on hold until the Commission of Inquiry
of the programme and how it could be improved. into the History of Eugenics at UCL has concluded its
investigation. This should take place by the end of the
UCL Origins year.
6 www.uclpimedia.com
NEWS
Beasley-Murray said, “The material we have cur- Suggested Content for Global London
rently produced is not right, and it’s challenging to Since the fourth object for the ‘Global London’
address the difficulty of Galton and Pearson’s legacy...
theme is currently undecided, the IP Committee in-
Pearson’s valuable contribution to statistics [at UCL] vited students to brainstorm with them for a suita-
is wrapped up in his racist eugenics view, but this ble idea. Some initial suggestions they had were: the
should still be talked about.” statues in the Bloomsbury gardens (e.g. Gandhi stat-
ue), Czechoslovakia’s first president Tomáš Garrigue
Global London Masaryk, or an exploration of how migration shaped
This was not the only controversial issue surround- UCL and London. Most students in the workshop
ing race that the IP is yet to address. Under Global voted for migration as the fourth piece of content
London, the section ‘Black Bloomsbury’ touches on since it fits the broader theme and is still a relevant
black history at UCL, celebrating the achievements as topic today.
well as drawing attention to the racism faced by black
students. It also discusses UCL’s initiative of ‘Liberat- Future UCL
ing the Curriculum’ for BAME students and women. Finally, the ‘Future UCL’ theme is still a work-in-
The Committee raised the question “would non- progress. Dr. Beasley-Murray said that the IP Com-
BAME students be interested in the ‘Black Blooms- mittee hoped to follow up the online orientation with
bury’ content?” Students responded that there would an activity that would engage students once they ar-
still be some interest. The subsequent discussion rived at UCL. One suggestion put forward in the dis-
between the Committee and students questioned if cussion was a scavenger hunt that would help students
‘Black Bloomsbury’ was diverse and inclusive enough. become more familiar with UCL’s campus by seeing
The reaction was mixed: some believed it should re- the objects in real life after having read about it online.
main the way it is, while others felt that black histo- The IP Committee hopes to host another feedback
ry should be embedded throughout the site, just like session when the website has been updated, and ad-
women’s contributions were. However, master’s stu- dress the incorporation of eugenics history after the
dent Innocent Aforlabi-Logoh said: “If the content in inquiry has concluded.
‘Black Bloomsbury’ were spread into other sections UCL is shifting towards educating future students
and [didn’t] have its own section, then its prominence about the university’s rich history and culture. New
would go down.” and returning students alike should explore the pro-
Other concerns about diversity included the lack of gramme when it is completed to see what they have
BAME academics in videos, as well as the claim that yet to discover about UCL.
there should be more LGBTQ+ presence in the IP. by Vanessa Tsao
Currently, there is none. The IP Committee also said Art by Bella Peng
that the visual and hearing accessibility of the website
will be improved.
www.uclpimedia.com 7
NEWS
A Shift to
tabled by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who claimed
it was a ‘huge step forward’. Despite Corbyn’s positivity,
this status does not legally compel the government to act.
Sustainability In response to the declaration, UCL (among other
UK institutions) is adopting new sustainability stand-
ards. 2019 was the fourth consecutive year that UCL
In 2015, 179 states signed the Paris Agreement, pledg- was awarded a First Class honours status in the People
ing to cut down carbon emissions in an attempt to limit & Planet rankings. It reached 18th place out of 154 uni-
the rise of global temperatures to 1.5 °C. Three years lat- versities in the University ‘Green’ League. Moreover, a
er, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reduction of carbon emissions by 14% (relative to 2005)
(IPCC) released a special report, estimating that in order has been achieved through the construction of energy
to reach the goal, there is an urgent need to cut down efficient buildings and engagement programmes like the
the global human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide. Easter Switch Off, encouraging students to switch off
The measure takes place relative to the levels recorded in non-essential electrical items before the Easter weekend.
2010, aiming to cut emissions by 45% by 2030, striving UCL Provost Professor Michael Arthur stated in 2017
to reach ‘net zero’ by 2050. that “the student momentum has inspired the Board to
Although the agreement apparently signals an in- collectively consider the repercussions of the climate
creasing willingness of governments to act on global crisis, and how we urgently need to tackle its various
warming, the world is currently not on track to meet the technicalities.” Furthermore, UCL’s Climate Action So-
objectives decided upon in the Agreement. Russia, the ciety (CAS) reports increasing student involvement with
world’s fourth biggest greenhouse polluter, only ratified environmental societies, reflected in CAS’s membership
the Agreement in 2019, while the US formally started purchases increasing from 600 in 2018 to over 800 in
the process to withdraw its commitments to the interna- 2019. The society’s mailing list has now reached over
tional community, early in November. 7000 subscribers from across the UK!
The growing anxiety over the impact of climate Student opinion appears to be changing as efforts are
change has prompted the emergence of environmental made by various student bodies to raise awareness about
activist groups, such as Extinction Rebellion and School the climate emergency. After attending CAS’ flagship
Strike for the Climate movement led by the 16-year-old event, the Sustainability Symposium in October, Felipe
Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg. 2018 saw a Riquelme – an Energy Systems and Data Analytics MSc
series of global demonstrations, where activists put pres- student – told Pi: “I do not yet consider myself an envi-
sure on politicians to prioritise objectives to cut down ronmentalist; I think I need to learn more.” Following
carbon emissions. With the upcoming elections in both the Symposium, Riquelme also said he would look into
the UK and USA, this rhetoric continues, with activists new ways of learning about sustainability and changing
demanding their voices be heard. some of his habits. Switching to a vegetarian diet was one
The May 2019 environmental strikes in the UK saw of the changes he hoped to make.
over a million citizens protest political inaction. The pro- Aliza Ayaz, founder of CAS, believes these shifting
testors won this battle as the UK Government sided with student views on environmentalism can go a long way
the demonstrators, proclaiming a state of climate emer- in changing university policy: “we made it clear that
gency. The declaration was voted on, following a motion from now on, policies would have to engage student
opinion. It should have consultation sessions so we can
translate the principles of climate science into powerful
campaigns. As a result, we were able to develop the Pos-
itive Climate, Wild Bloomsbury and The Loop,” Ayaz
said referring to the three signature campaigns of
the newly released ‘Strategy for a Sustainable UCL
2019-2024’. In accordance with the Strategy, the
university pledged a campus free from single-use
plastic, a 20% reduction of waste per person and
net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
The implementation of new environmental
schemes on campus comes as a result of a collabora-
tive process between the UCL Board and the students.
“Students have been a key part of developing the strate-
8 www.uclpimedia.com
NEWS
gy and many of the ideas have been in energy efficiency improvements list of priorities. Jackson confirmed:
drawn from this student engage- and greening projects.” “We have had a lot of support for the
ment,” said Richard Jackson, Sus- The strategy also includes the goal new Strategy. We have been bolder
tainability Director at UCL, adding for UCL to become a ‘climate-posi- and more ambitious with the com-
that the programme is now moving tive investor’ by reviewing their port- mitments which we have set as we
into an implementation phase with folio investments and prioritising [as a society] face some major chal-
a number of projects already being investment in the funds which have lenges. We have not encountered any
taken forward. “It is our intention a positive environmental impact. clashes and hope that we can use the
that full implementation plans for all Until 2019, UCL held around £16 Strategy and our commitments as
of the Strategy commitments will be million in fossil fuel shares, notably a way to bring together our whole
drawn up and approval sought from in Royal Dutch Shell. The decision community to find effective solu-
the UCL Sustainability Steering to divest entirely from fossil compa- tions.”
Group, [which is] chaired by Prof nies was made in October following Alongside some of the changes
Geraint Rees, with staff and student a seven-year protest campaign by the made on campus, some UCL socie-
representation,” explained Jackson. group Fossil Free UCL. ties have extended their reach to the
UCL hopes to achieve the tar- Unfortunately, UCL’s unwill- level of national politics. “We meet
get of further reducing energy con- ingness to divest for the past seven MPs [and] regularly attend parlia-
sumption by 40% by 2024 by fo- years has led to scepticism among mentary sessions to debate momen-
cusing on energy efficient building tum on renewables, clean energy and
construction, which includes in- outsourcing vegan supplies. We
vestment in insulation as well offer consultation [and] help
as energy efficient equip- them organise events in
ment on campus. The their boroughs, stat-
University’s em- ed Ayaz. Currently,
phasis on ‘green CAS is planning to
architecture’ was lead a workshop
exemplified in on integrating
the recently com- climate resilience
pleted Student in urban develop-
Centre, which ment at the World
has been awarded Urban Forum in
the BREEAM Out- Abu Dhabi in 2020.
standing rating, making Overall, there is a
it one of 320 buildings in growing trend of involve-
the world to achieve this status. ment in environmental action
Alongside this, UCL’s Sustainability both on a national level and among
Team is looking for ways to source the student population of the uni- university students and staff. With
renewable energy, which might in- versity’s approach to sustainability. more scientific findings corrobo-
clude investment in renewable en- “I think sustainability tends to be rating the current climate crisis and
ergy schemes such as wind turbines. used as a bit of a buzzword by UCL increasing collaboration between
According to Jackson, “much of to green-wash itself, and is fuelled by UCL’s Board and student body, the
the investment in sustainability ini- an ulterior motive of expanding the university is seizing the opportuni-
tiatives has been integrated into ex- university’s capital. Whilst branding ty to enable positive change, helping
isting budgets and expenditure. For themselves as sustainable, UCL have tackle the global climate emergency
example, the investment in new re- also held corporate events support- and making environmental and so-
newable energy was included in pro- ing fossil fuel companies, who are cial sustainability an everyday norm.
ject costs rather than part of a sepa- largely the culprits of climate break- The shift from an uneducated, un-
rate ‘sustainability’ budget. The costs down,” said Ruby Harrop, a Fos- sustainable past is gradually bring-
of the ‘Ditch the Disposable’ cam- sil Free UCL campaigner. In other ing UCL’s community into a new
paign have been included in cater- words, there is a long way to go. phase, defined by environmental re-
ing costs.” Finally, Jackson adds that Nevertheless, signs of reconcilia- sponsibility.
“UCL has also established a sustain- tion have emerged as UCL has start- by Daria Mosolova
ability capital budget for investment ed to push sustainability up on its
www.uclpimedia.com 9
OPINION
The World has Shifted, but
has Our Mindset?
How many of the world’s one-year-old children to- overestimating our global development? In a sense,
day have been vaccinated? How many girls in low in- maybe yes. The overly negative view of the world may
come countries across the world complete fifth grade? serve as a very strong incentive to continue working
How many people in the world have access to elec- on and investing in the resolution of issues such as
tricity? poverty, inequality, or environmental degradation, as
These are just a few examples of the questions used their acuteness is stressed. At the same time, however,
by Hans Rosling, author of the critically acclaimed the ever-present negativity might be mitigating our ef-
book ‘Factfulness’, to challenge a wide variety of pro- forts by spreading a sense of desperation and helpless-
fessionals and the general public. Men and women, ness. Human beings often possess a simple outlook;
ranging from scientists to UN economists, have re- when they don’t see progress, they lose hope in the
ceived those questions in a multiple-choice format process of improvement. Rosling’s research sees only
to test their knowledge of the condition of modern 5% of Americans correctly identifying that world pov-
progress. Shockingly, and quite sadly, the vast major- erty has been halved in the past 20 years. 95% believe
ity scored worse than chimpanzees would if they an- that it has either remained the same or even doubled.
swered randomly. In fact, most participants saw the These numbers are extremely alarming: if we believe
world in a far more negative state than reality. that charity work and global projects are not contrib-
Coming back to the questions, 80% of children uting to poverty reduction, do we abandon them,
are vaccinated, 60% of girls in low-income countries thus risking a descent into a pit where we believe that
complete fifth grade, and 80% of people have some nothing can be done? Of course not! In order to move
access to electricity. That doesn’t sound so bad. Are even further forwards in tackling all kinds of issues
you surprised? I know I definitely was, together with and making the world a better place, it is crucial to
a large proportion of people who have taken Rosling’s first see the world in its truest colours. And a good
test. It is truly astonishing how little we seem to actu- place to start is recognising why we feel so pessimistic
ally know about the current state of the world. about the present and the future, despite overwhelm-
You might be wondering – why does this matter? ing empirical evidence.
Isn’t it better that we are underestimating rather than The boom of media, especially in recent years of
10 www.uclpimedia.comOPINION
social media, has transformed our knowledge and saying that all of these issues have been eradicated
perspective of the world. After all, it has never been and that poverty is no longer a concern, I do believe
easier to stay on track with what is going on in each that we have curated a very narrow view of low in-
corner of the world. While this quick and efficient come countries. We are overlooking the fact that, even
dissemination of information offers great platforms though a country may struggle with issues surround-
to draw attention to important issues, and is allowing ing poverty, they may have also accomplished a lot, as
virtually all of us to partake in solving them, it is also many countries in Africa have done so in the past few
a great source of dramatisation and underestimation decades. Indeed, populations are becoming increas-
of achievement. Inherently, news stories sell better ingly educated, healthier, and wealthier. This must be
when they broadcast something outrageous, alarming acknowledged no matter how small the steps are.
or even scary. Creating a sense of panic is what gener- What do these accomplishments look like in num-
ates the farthest-reaching and fastest-spreading head- bers? In 1820, only 12% of the world was literate, in
lines. The incentive to report on something that is sad, 2016, only 14% remained illiterate and this number
something that is only getting worse, and something has steadily decreased by 4-5% every 5 years. Amaz-
we should be worried about, is higher than produc- ing success. While Africa still holds 9 out of 10 deaths
ing a congratulatory article about how we have man- by malaria, it has made tremendous progress by al-
aged to increase literacy over a span of 20 years. On most halving the number of infected people in only 15
top of this, Rosling’s testing has shown that only 20% years. Access to improved water sources has increased
of US media members and an astonishing 6% of EU from 76% in 1991 to 91% in 2015.
media members were able to pick the correct answer All of these figures are great examples of achieve-
for how many children are vaccinated against measles. ment, and there are plenty more similar statistics
This shows that the incentive to depict progress is not mapping out positive trends. Ultimately, this proves
only lower, but that reporters themselves are unaware that our collective endeavours are working, and that
of it taking place. It is no surprise then that readers the world is shifting towards the better. This is exact-
are blind to much of our global improvements them- ly the message I’m hoping to streamline – the world
selves. has gone through an incredible development in the
Such reporting, full of pessimistic prognoses and past 10 years alone, and is constantly improving. Yes,
worrisome statistics, has naturally seeped into our there are still people experiencing extreme poverty,
lives. It is something we were reminded of during children going to bed hungry, people suffering from
school and throughout our childhood. We were con- serious diseases and yes, it is important to be aware of
sistently shown countries in Africa as examples of that. But it is equally necessary to be aware of how far
poverty, not to mention our parents using the infa- we have managed to come, in order to motivate us in
mous line, “there are children in the world that have the future. Indeed, the world has shifted and now it is
nothing to eat and you are going to waste all this time for our mindsets to adjust as well so that we are
food.” Subconsciously, in the back of our minds, we able to keep the train of development going.
have therefore created an image of low income coun-
tries as places where children are starving, women are by Tatiana Škultétyová
being abused, and there is hardly any water or food, Photography by Freya Parkinson
not to mention access to education. While I am not
www.uclpimedia.com 11OPINION
an additional outcome of creation.
If this revelation marked a heavy
blow to human consciousness, the
When Knowledge is consequences were still relatively
contained. It was thanks to Galileo
Lost, What Should
and his human capacities that this
dramatic revision of understand-
ing took place. It was a triumph of
We Know?
the human mind, and it confirmed
the role of our species as the great
orderer of all things. What the 21st
century’s AI revolution means is
The Economist recently held dates, and awarded it a much lower that our supposed superiority as
its annual essay competition for score. Hopefully that will console knowledge-possessing and rational
young people, posing the ques- you a bit. Indeed, most judges champions might soon be lost.
tion of which fundamental chang- rejected the essay due to lack of In his ‘21 Lessons for the 21st
es should be undertaken in the originality, poor construction of Century,’ Yuval Harari writes, ‘if
fight against climate change. Af- arguments, an excessive amount we invest too much in developing
ter a winner was chosen and an- of rhetorical questions, and an im- AI and too little in developing hu-
nounced, the magazine conduct- balanced structure. Unfortunately,
ed an experiment. It fed the same this only means that the matter is
question and a brief description much more serious than it appears.
of the writing task into an AI al- If we have reached a point where
gorithm called GPT-2, which also we hope to find proof of the infe-
produced an essay on the topic. riority of AI’s performance, it only
The result, which can be found on implies that we have - consciously
The Economist’s website, is aston- or not - entered into a competition
ishing. with technology, where our up-
In around 400 words, this ‘ro- per-hand is no longer guaranteed.
bot-contester’ discussed, elabo- Human beings are facing one of
rated on, and put forth practical the greatest collective challeng-
solutions to one of the most press- es that we have ever encountered:
ing global issues. Reading the fi- finding our place in reality.
nal product is a mind-blowing We have always assumed our
experience, and the quality of this superiority, claiming that this po-
text hardly resembles what would sition is derived from our predom-
be expected from a machine. The inance in ‘knowing.’ The capacity
level of analysis and the depth of to rationalise the world and the
criticism are especially astonish- universe according to what we
ing given that we usually accredit deem to be ‘true’ is dependent on
these abilities as key discrimina- our ability to obtain, dissect, and
tors between human and artificial make sense of knowledge. Galileo
intelligence. When we are done Galilei, most famously, opposed
with reading the AI-written es- the Christian vision of the Earth
say, we are left with a disturbing being located at the centre of the
question: what will humans be left universe. For many, this was a
with once technology is capable of crucial and revolutionary discov-
challenging our defining abilities? ery, yet the Church tried to sup-
If it consoles you a bit, judges press it. This is precisely because
of the actual ‘Open Future’ youth it would have radically changed
essay competition reviewed the our self-understanding. In short,
AI-Essay with the same parame- our species would no longer be at
ters applied to the human candi- the centre of everything, but just
12 www.uclpimedia.comOPINION
man consciousness, the very so- the things that are, that they are,
phisticated artificial intelligence and of the things that are not, that
of computers might only serve to they are not.’ We build social struc-
empower the natural stupidity (sic) tures, moral codes, economies,
of humans’. It is a bold claim, but, religions and much more on the
“Human beings
as unpalatable as it might seem, it (nearly dogmatic) assumption that are facing one
points in the right direction. Hu- we are legitimised in doing so. We
man consciousness is, ultimately, believe to possess, by virtue of our of the greatest
what we all rely on when it comes superior perceptive capacities, the
to making sense of the world right to order the world according
collective
around us. Our organisation and to our image. While this has been challenges our
engagement with society is based accepted as truth for much of the
on what we think we are and what past, this idea of infallibility has species has ever
we perceive we are capable of. increasingly come under scrutiny
Already, in the 5th century BC, over the past decades.
encountered:
Greek philosopher Protagoras was Returning to the topic of climate finding our
somehow anticipating Harari’s change, we feel responsible for the
thoughts when he claimed that ‘of planet we inhabit and how we treat place in reality.”
all things the measure is Man, of it. This is largely because we place
ourselves in such
a high position,
bearing responsi-
bility for its sur-
vival. Vegans and shifted to the position of a passive
vegetarians com- bystander. Have dogs ever been
monly argue that responsible for the deeds of their
we sit at the top masters? Their masters were, for
of a hierarchy, sure.
constructed by So, in light of incipient change,
us, and therefore we should ask who is going to be
have the innate the master, and why. We should
ability to make prioritise re-discovery of what be-
ethical choices. ing human actually means. Who
As a result, we are we? What are we here for? If
have the power algorithms are already arguing
to be proactive and ‘thinking’ the same way we
and should make do (even if, at least currently, with
it our duty to do inferior results), then we should
so. These and pause for a moment and serious-
other environ- ly consider what we are useful for.
mentally-orient- After Galileo, the (Western) world
ed ideas are root- was forced to undertake a similar
ed in a special project, and settled for a knowl-
way of making edge-based conception of humani-
sense of our spe- ty, in which science and rationality
cies. Arguments triumphed. We cannot rely on these
like these would assumptions anymore. If humanity
lose ground un- is going to be lost, we should start
der their feet if looking for ways in which to guide
humans were to it out of this maze.
forfeit their cur- by Niccolò Fantini
rent standing, Art by Olivia Bessant
and were instead
www.uclpimedia.com 13FEATURES
Is Russia Finally Waking up to Climate Change?
The belated ratification of the Paris Climate Agree- panies not to disclose information about emissions.
ment might signal a welcome shift in Russia’s envi- Furthermore, as Sofia Villo’s analysis of Russia’s major
ronmental policy. With warming happening 2.5 times oil producer reveals, environmental illiteracy is sys-
faster in Russia than elsewhere, wildfires ravaging temic among senior management and the lack of fis-
Siberia this summer, and melting Arctic ice releas- cal incentives to abide by environmental regulations
ing carbon locked in the permafrost even faster than provides no impetus for this to change. Putin himself
predicted, the world’s fourth most polluting nation is has previously denied that global warming is caused
aching for change. Better late than never, right? by humans, and according to Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin
The decision to ratify has been met with scepticism, Press Secretary, his position remains unchanged, de-
and some fear that this is simply a new, greener façade spite Russia’s ratification of the Paris climate accord.
for business to keep going as usual. The countries that It is, admittedly, inconvenient to believe in an-
endorse the Paris climate accord are permitted to set thropogenic climate change when Russia’s economy
their own targets. Russia has pledged to reduce emis-
sions to 25-30% below 1990 levels by 2030. However,
in 2017, Russia’s emissions were 32% lower than in “They do not plan and never did
1990, meaning that Russia can actually continue pol- plan to really do anything
luting on a grand scale whilst still meeting its targets.
Government regulation of emissions, carbon quotas
about it, and do not
and carbon taxes initially proposed by the Ministry of understand why they should.”
Economic Development as potential ways of imple-
menting the Paris agreement have all been rejected by and geopolitical capital rely heavily on polluting in-
officials, who instead propose relying on “voluntary dustries, which are set to profit from the very warm-
measures”. ing they have engendered. In 2018, a container ship
“Tragic predictions are becoming a reality,” says crossed the Arctic sea for the first time in history due
Michael Yulkin, director of the Environmental Invest- to a record low in sea ice levels. Seeing not a warning,
ment Centre. “They do not plan and never did plan but an opportunity, Putin subsequently announced a
to really do anything about it, and do not understand 6-year plan to boost shipping traffic by 80 million tons
why they should”. on what has been dubbed the “Northern Sea Route”.
‘Project Ecology,’ which launched last year with the The route shortens the distance between Europe and
professed goal of improving environmental protection East Asia by 10-15 days compared to traditional ship-
by 2024 on ten fronts, is the most comprehensive doc- ping routes via the Suez Canal. As China’s natural
ument to date outlining environmental strategy. Not gas consumption is projected to triple between 2018-
unlike Russia’s ratification of the Paris Agreement, 2050, Russia is looking at a lucrative opportunity to
Project Ecology sets non-binding goals that contain consolidate its place among competitors in the Arctic.
loopholes, allowing practices to remain the same. For This summer, Vostok Coal, which aims to supply
instance, as Alexei Yaroshenko of Greenpeace Russia 19 million tons of coal to transport along the route by
suspects, the lack of a universal measure for wildfire 2024, built the Chaika and Severny coal terminals in
damage means that targets outlined in the docu- Maduza Bay. The bay was a protected territory until
ment can appear to be met if the measuring system is the boundary of the Arctic National Park was redrawn
tweaked. The project has been branded “pointless” by by the federal government to facilitate the project. This
experts, and even the Minister of Natural Resources came after Vostok Coal was fined 600 million rubles
and the Environment admitted that it was “prepared (£7.3 million) as a result of an environmental audit
in a hurry”. uncovering its illegal mining practices that endanger
Consistent malpractice is perpetuated by the the vulnerable Arctic tundra.
lack of transparency or industry accountability that Nevertheless, there are some tell-tale signs that
plagues attempts to tackle environmental problems Russia is feeling somewhat challenged by interna-
in Russia. No open access environmental database ex- tional climate efforts, which helps to explain why the
ists since the trade secret protection law allows com- Paris Agreement has finally been agreed to. Some of
14 www.uclpimedia.comFEATURES
Russia’s largest companies lost up to
WELL...
one third of their international in-
vestors last year, driven by ‘greener
demand.’ Enel Russia, the biggest
foreign-owned utilities compa-
ny operating in the country, is re-
sponding to the challenge with di-
vestment, recently selling its biggest
coal-burning power station, Reftin-
skaya. The sale reduces its revenues
and installed generation capacity in
the short term, but its improved ESG
score increases the company’s valu-
ation. Enel is also rapidly investing
in Russian renewable energy, which
is projected to constitute 45% of the
company’s earnings within 5 years.
The extremely negative portrayal
of Extinction Rebellion and Greta
Thunberg by state media may betray
a fear of Russians’ growing eco-con-
sciousness. Commentator Mikhail
Leontiev has called Greta “a sick girl
who is as stupid as she is naïve…the
prophet of a new totalitarian wave,
which is something like radical Is-
lam for the post-Christian West”. Af-
ter Vasily Vlasov, deputy of the State
Duma invited the young eco-activist
to come and speak, TASS, the state
news agency, swiftly revoked the in-
vitation, noting that he did not have
the authority to extend it in the first
place.
Encouragingly, Vlasov is one of
many rebellious voices both in and
out of the Russian government, as
Russian universities and independ-
ent news agencies are almost unani-
mously critical of the current state of
environmental policy. It seems that
the “new totalitarian wave” is lap-
ping at Putin’s heels.
by Lizzy Nidz
Art by Jennifer Oguguo
www.uclpimedia.com 15FEATURES
Humanising the Refugee Crisis:
How Tutoring a Syrian Refugee Has
Shifted my Worldview
When I signed up to the non-profit organisation come so desensitised to the erosion of rights that the
‘Opportutoring’ at UCL, a service providing English real-life consequences of such legislation are largely
lessons for refugees via Skype, I did not anticipate overlooked. How can two people, who navigate the
the personal lessons I would take away from the ex- world in such similar ways, can be valued so differ-
perience. I was paired with a Syrian refugee living in ently by virtue of their birthplace? It seems starkly
Turkey, and within a couple of weeks I realised how
oblivious I had been to the human implications of
the Refugee Crisis: it had become just another ‘in-
tellectual issue’ to be debated, without a human face. “How can two
Despite having grown up in different countries
and cultures, our lessons allowed me to recognise people who navigate
the similarities between us. We navigate the world
with a similar value system, based on beliefs rooted the world in such
in equality, and a desire to make the world a more
compassionate place. We spent our lessons talking similar ways be
and writing about our favourite books and movies,
about our family lives and cultures. We developed valued so differently
his language skills, continually discovering common
ground between us. The time I spent with him began
by virtue of their
to humanise the refugee crisis for me. Often, the im-
personal debates around refugees present them as a
birthplace? It seems
‘problem’, an ‘issue’ to be debated, as an ‘Other’ to us.
Then, about four months into our lessons, he told
starkly unjust to
me that Syrian rights were being revoked in Turkey.
Under this new policy, he would be sent back to Syr-
me.”
ia immediately if he was caught outside of the city
that he initially registered in. He had been living in
Turkey for five years and had built a life for himself.
Within two months of Syrian rights being revoked, unjust to me. Engaging with his struggle to live an
he was forced to return to the town he had registered ordinary life, while refugee voices are systematically
in. What shocked me most was how quickly a life silenced has fundementally shifted my worldview.
can be uprooted, without justification, explanation The week of the policy change, he wrote a para-
or consideration of the real-life ramifications for in- graph for me on the experience of living as a refugee.
dividuals. I wanted to provide a platform for his story in this
In following the news coverage I was appalled that article:
the policy change had evoked so little outrage. It be-
came apparent to me that the Western world has be-
16 www.uclpimedia.comFEATURES
“Do you think there is a best place to live?
Which kind of places do you think are the best to
settle down in?
Many people, when they are looking for
the best place to live in, whether when retir-
ing, going to school or looking for a fresh start,
think about many factors which can impact their
choice.
Some of these factors are: the size of the city,
the climate, the culture and the outdoor life. Of
course these factors are important when making
the decision, but as always there is an exception.
The exception is people who have no other
choice but to leave their home. People who are
looking to stay alive. People who are looking for
protection against death for themselves and their
children, and from the crazy decisions of people
who decided the war against other countries.
Syrian refugees don’t care where they go
after leaving their homes: escaping this dirty,
crazy war, which has stolen their safety.
Syrian refugees don’t care about the size
of the city or town, the economy of that new
place or even the climate…etc. They only care
about safety. But what is happening is they dis- vide them with a better life. Being a refugee is
cover that there is no place that provides what not a crime, the crime is what refugees’ face. The
they need! crime is this world, which is losing its humani-
At the beginning of the crisis, many ty.
countries demonstrated their willingness to host Since refugees didn’t choose this crisis, every-
refugees, encouraging Syrian refugees to think one has to fight to protect them until they are able
about leaving their homes and businesses to ex- to go back to their land and live safely again.”
perience different ways of life in the hope of find-
ing a new safe life. The harsh reality of the refugee crisis has become
apparent to me. It has heightened my awareness of
But when they moved they discovered it
my own privilege and the incredible strength of ref-
was fake, most of the governments and people ugees in the face of adversity. But most importantly,
especially the nationalists stood against refugees tutoring has shown me the power in small acts of
and raised their voices to restrict the movement kindness. Contemporary problems can often feel in-
of refugees. surmountable and many individuals feel powerless
In Turkey, the government created a new to facilitate real change. However, when we take the
rule last month asking Syrian refugees to go time to support others we breakdown the narrative
back to the cities where they registered when that individual actions can’t make a difference. For
they came from Syria at the beginning. The cit- me, this experience has highlighted that, as a soci-
ies are the southern cities of Turkey. Those poor ety, we need to adjust the way we look at refugees.
(and small cities) can’t provide for all of these We need a shift from viewing them as a collective, to
Syrian refugees for sure, which in turn means seeing them as individuals.
To name them, is to acknowledge them. And I
there is no option but to go back to Syria.
name my friend, Kamal - a man who believes, ‘all
All people are equal and should have the people are equal and should have the same rights.’
same rights. They should have the right to move by Lara Andrews
and to live in places where they think could pro- Photography by Isabella Tjalve
www.uclpimedia.com 17SCIENCE
FoodTech Champions
Environmental awareness has grown exponentially this outdated mode of production and consumption.
since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreements. Each year, FoodTech companies are transforming the food system
we become increasingly aware of a particular pressing and putting sustainability at the heart of this shift.
issue. 2018 was the year of plastics, as images of beaches
inundated the web, demonstrating the extent of our Agriculture Technology: Vertical Farming
societies’ waste disposal inefficacy. In 2019, we watched New Jersey based Aerofarms is the champion of
the heart breaking destruction of the Amazon rainforest. vertical farming, an agricultural method that grows crops
What we fail to acknowledge is that the catalyst for both layer by layer inside warehouses. This allows growers to
deforestation and waste is our model of consumption, use control factors such as data analysis, aeroponics, and
in particular, the way we eat. Food systems contribute high efficiency LED lighting, making the technique 400
21–37% of global greenhouse gas emission through the times more productive per square foot than conventional
cumulative footprint of agriculture, transportation, and agriculture.
the retail industry. While each year we become more Vertical farming has the potential to shift our
aware of the climate crisis, every day we participate in approach to food production, due to its energy efficiency.
prolonging a destructive form of consumption. Climate Cultivation can take place all year-round and farms can
targets are extended, natural disasters are on the rise operate in cities. Ultimately, this reduces emissions from
and pollution peaks in major cities. In short, stagnation transport and water use, while removing the need for
seems to prevail. While the EU’s ban on Single Use pesticides.
Plastics is an example of political momentum, it lacks Specialising in baby greens and herbs, Aerofarms sells
the transformative approach required. We have never its products to restaurants, schools, and multinationals.
been more aware of our own footprint, and yet we have However, it is just one leader in a fast-growing global
never been more wasteful and sedentary in our approach market. Closer to home, Waitrose’s Ocado recently
to food. invested £17m in Jones Food, a vertical farm in
Scunthorpe, in an effort to reduce the ecological
How did we get here? footprint of its fruit and vegetables sales. Additionally,
Our current model of agriculture grew out of a Growing Underground, a 7,000 square foot farm located
programme undertaken almost 70 years ago in Mexico. 100 metres beneath Clapham High Street in London,
The project aimed to eliminate hunger by increasing food provides salad to Marks & Spencer and Planet Organic.
production — something it achieved through the heavy One of agriculture’s key challenges is how the two most
application of chemical fertilisers and agro-chemicals. precious resources — land and water — are conserved.
Numerous problems have resulted from this farming Vertical farming offers the key to efficiency: with more
method, with danger to human health from pesticides, consumer awareness and reduced energy costs, it is set to
an industry in need of large quantities of oil and gas, become a key player in agricultural sustainability.
and an unequal concentration of yields leading to
unprecedented malnutrition and food waste. Food Service: Too Good to Go
We are trapped in a system where at least one third of Too Good to Go has transformed the idea of online
all produced food is never eaten. Globally, 820 million food services in an attempt to fight food waste. The
people are undernourished and over 650 million people concept is simple – on a Gumtree-like app, restaurants,
are obese. Arable land and ecosystems are disappearing hotels and supermarkets offer their leftovers at a
and deforestation is at an all-time high. As the population reduced price. People can then collect a meal that would
grows to 10 billion by 2050 and environmental otherwise be thrown out. Too Good To Go is fighting
emergencies intensify, so does the risk of a food crisis. a significant problem, with 1.9 million tonnes of food
Emerging technologies are offering tools to challenge wasted each year in the UK alone. It is now present in
18 www.uclpimedia.comYou can also read
