It’s the end of term, and Lord knows we’re all ready for it. As we breathe a collective sigh of relief as the summative deadlines pass, and we take a sharp intake of breath at the prospect of exam revision, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the biggest events – both global and within our Durham bubble – that we’ve witnessed.
Just before the start of Epiphany, Michael Wolff rushed ahea
d to early publication his book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White house, releasing sales on 5th January to avoid President Trump’s legal team from preventing the book’s release. The book took the world by storm, exposing the inner working of the Trump White house and resulting in the the legal pursuit of Steve Bannon, previously the Trump’s Chief Strategist.
On the 16th January Cathy Newman’s controversial Channel 4 interview of Jordan Peterson sparked heated arguments on feminism and social hierarchy, of which Bubble editors touched on arguments for and against Peterson’s thinking.
On February 14th the shooting of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school in Florida, U.S. touched the world, bringing to light extensive arguments over gun laws and how to prevent further instances of school shootings, of which there had been 14 in the first 9 weeks of 2018.
On February 22nd Durham lecturers joined in sweeping national strikes on behalf of their union group the UCU, paralysing many aspects of the university. The strikes increased in duration over 4 weeks until March 16th, and due to the absence of a satisfactory proposal on behalf of the universities, will continue to strike for unconfirmed dates in April and June.
On 8th March, international women’s day collided with the announcement from SU President Megan Croll of the University’s abandonment of the promise to allow students to name our new 17th college, instead naming it after the wealthiest donor. Following a successful petition, the university responded saying the students’ position had been considered, but original plans to name the college would go ahead.
On 12th March, it was revealed to the public that a Russian ex-spy had been poisoned on English soil in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Prime Minister Theresa May has since issued a warning to the Putin administration that if the incident continues unexplained, it will be deemed an ‘unlawful use of force’ against the U.K.
Durham students have borne through a plethora of difficult and tragic events this term, on both the local and global scale. Whatever we are divided by, we are united by collective experience – this we can use to discuss and work toward better endings to a number of these events, and be the new generation that makes a change. As such, I would like to thank the entire Bubble team and all who read and contribute to us, for giving your perspectives and engaging with a multitude of issues, allowing us to all expand our horizons.
Below are the perspectives Bubble writers have provided us with for the final time this term.
Kelly Yu offers us an enticing piece of writing about Altered Perspectives, based around a reflective pond
George Mullins investigates the socialist power of folk music, a genre accessible to all, in his article on how ‘the times they are a-changin‘
Issy Parry congratulates and showcases the best work of fashion designer Christian Siriano, who she argues is a ‘breath of fresh air’ to the fashion industry
Katie Fraser reviews the advances and difficulties of gender equality in 2018, concluding that the recent sufferings of women in the news have the silver lining of inspiring a new wave of strong female voices championing women’s rights
Hannah Taylor provides us with the hilarious satire piece on how she tackles writing an essay, including the disastrous stages we’ve all experienced before (and will again).
A thank you again to all of our readers and talented writers, 