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Opinion / Page 8
Scotland, Empire and George Floyd
The extrajudicial killing of George Floyd has served as a moment of reckoning for racial justice across the United States. It has spawned a wave of protests and riots across the nation and led to calls for an overhaul of policing. These protests have taken on an international angle with large scale protests reported across […]
Lockdown or Locked-Up?
There has been a strong feeling of injustice among the innocent people of Britain. The pandemic has locked us up and given us a ‘stay at home’ sentence that has felt unwarranted, and sometimes eternal. The virus has – without being overly dramatic – ruined our lives, imprisoned us in our homes and kept us […]
Why Remove a Statue?
To hear the ‘moderate’ response to the removal of the statue of Edward Colston, such as the view recently given by Keir Starmer, is to hear what best resembles a commentary of a tennis match. A point is served before some sort of ‘but’ is attached to the end as a return shot, helping to […]
Why We Aren’t So Different To Edward Colston
On a sunny afternoon in Bristol the statue of Edward Colston, a former slave trader, was torn down by Black Lives Matter protestors amid cheers and jubilation. It was promptly dumped into the River Avon. Whilst many have praised this as a sign of progression and justice, it belies a worrying trend towards an absolute […]
The Cummings Affair
2020 has been relentless. Many of its hotly debated topics, scandals and events have transpired as a result of Covid-19 and the various national responses to it. The U.K. government has been widely criticised for (deep breath) its failure to procure adequate amounts of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS staff members; its mixed messaging […]
This Not That: Disney
Disney is one of the best known companies in the world. Since we were children – since our parents were children – Disney has been filling our minds with wonder and fairytales. But underneath the smiles and whimsy of our favorite animated movies hides something sinister. Have you ever re-watched a Disney movie you loved […]
Rupaul’s Drag Race Season 12 Was A Cultural Reset
Possibly the best season since season 6 (spoilers ahead) On Saturday I sat down to watch the finale of this season’s Rupaul’s Drag Race (RPDR for those in the know). Jaida Essence Hall was a deserving winner, although I would honestly have been happy if any of the top three won Rupaul’s one hundred thousand […]
The Washstation Nightmare Lives On
Halls prepared. Students aware. Plans in place. Having endured several months of criticism, the million-pound goliath that is Washstation, in addition to the concessions already plucked from them in Autumn, finally deigned to speak with its customers. Promising free laundry to all of those who showed, representatives from Washstation repeated ad nauseum how much they […]
Veganuary Revisited: Fast Food Goes Green(?)
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that fast food doesn’t tend to cater itself towards the vegan/vegetarian community. At best, they offer mediocre sides and, without prior knowledge of how to “hack” the meals to make it vegan/vegetarian, it is a struggle to eat well. However, things are changing! Veganuary may have paved the way for […]
The Top Ten Worst Songs of 2019
2019 has been an unusual year in pop music. The biggest hits of the year have come from completely fresh artists (Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Lizzo, to name a few) while the traditional big names in pop have been floundering relative to these newcomers. The charts have become an odd melting point for a […]
Review: November 2019 4th Annual Climate Strike
The morning of the 29th of November saw the 4th global climate strike in St Andrews, accompanied by sunshine and blue skies. It began at St Salvator’s quad, where third year student and co-founder of Climate Action St Andrews, Léa Weimann, began by addressing the eager crowd. She rallied hearts with her earnest hope and […]
Climate Action St Andrews Holds Strike: November 2019 Preview
This Friday, we will once more be met with a call to action by climate activist Greta Thunberg to continue striking on behalf of the dangerous levels of carbon dioxide continuing to enter into the atmosphere. Here in St Andrews, our very own Climate Action group will be holding a strike, starting in Salvator’s Quad at 11am […]
Why we all need CASH!
Dan Marshall, a 5th year student studying Astrophysics, set up the Campaign for Affordable Student Housing (CASH), officially launching on the 16th of November with a massive team of students behind him. Dan set up the campaign because he was tired of seeing students having to work long hours and move out of St Andrews just to […]
FREE ME FROM THIS CURSED FLESH-TOMB, or, The Art of Bitching
I have a bad habit. When someone asks how I’m doing I say, ‘Pretty good’, and then a second later I look up at them and correct myself: ‘Actually, pretty shit’. Usually, they chuckle uneasily; sometimes they adopt a look of concern and ask me why. That always makes me laugh. Why? Why the hell not? I’m […]
RENT IS A FUCK, or, Why My Former Letting Agency is Garbage
‘30,000,000 landlords and rich peasants will have to be destroyed’, stated a Chinese Communist Party bulletin just before Mao Zedong’s rise to power, heralding the beginning of what later would be called a ‘classicide’; and while most right-thinking people today would disapprove strongly of the method, one cannot help but sympathise with the motive. My […]
The St Andrews Illuminati
Imagine there was a group of people, whose faces we have never seen and names we do not know, that sit around in a secret room and dictate the university’s strategy and finances, covering issues from housing to the number of Americans that are here (no offence Americans, you are great but there is just […]
In Defence of Climate Activism
It was a sight to behold: merely two weeks after hundreds of St Andrews students formed a front against a climate change, united in unanimous acknowledgment that we, the human species, are killing almost everything we can, already they are derided. Not simply derided by local newspapers but by an online publication run by fellow […]
The Laundry Machines of St Andrews Are Broken and So is The System
Sometimes you just get frustrated. Like, things are supposed to get better, aren’t they? Even if it’s gradual, even if it’s tortuous. The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice, as MLK said. We shall overcome. Onwards and upwards. Ever to excel. That sort of thing. And yet, here we are. When […]