George Walker, DSU President, speaking to the #RippedOff protesters on Friday. Photo credit: Isobel Fox
For probably morbid reasons it has been hard for many of us to pry our eyes away from the news over the last week. Whatever your stance on how the issue should be approached, the death of Jamal Khashoggi is disturbing; the reactions and statements by politicians eye-opening in for everything from their brazenness to their indifference.
On the local scale for us Durham students the #RippedOff campaign fighting against rising accommodation fees held their largest demonstration so far on Friday. Durham City Parish Council unanimously voted down the fees. Thus far, akin to the Khashoggi affair, the protests have not provoked significant response.
All this combines with the emotional roller-coaster ride of many students’ first weeks in Durham – filled with ecstasy, difficulty and radical changes. It is with these three contexts surrounding us that I have chosen this week’s Editor’s Picks:
Toby Rankin – The Khashoggi affair in context
An important and well-surmised introductory read to the significance of the Saudi journalist’s death. Excellent for those seeking an overview of these recent turbulent events.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi offers remarks during POMED’s “Mohammed bin Salman’s Saudi Arabia: A Deeper Look.” /// Photo credit: April Brady/Project on Middle East Democracy
Katie Fraser – Long Distance Relationships
Many of us start or re-start uni with a relationship from back home – and we fret and deliberate over how to make it survive. Katie Fraser speculates and explores the difficulties in these relationships, how to give them the best chance of surviving and academic opinion on long-distance love.
Ellen O’Rourke – How Do You Even English?
The clue is in the name with this one as Ellen O’Rourke discusses the ups and downs of being a first year English student. Don’t be put off if this isn’t your subject or year – much of Ellen’s experiences are accurate reflections of many humanities subjects.
Image Source: Flickr
Charlotte Hartley – Responsible science in an age of advancement
A fascinating feature study of new scientific developments and how they are impacted and limited by ethics. Filled with memes, movie references and genome editing.
Crystal structure of the Cas9 enzyme, used in CRISPR genome editing.
© Nishimasu et al
Jose Narciso – The Value of Introspection
A reflection on the value of introspection on our physical, mental and career well-being, including the compiled thoughts of many great philosophers on this topic. A worthy quick read encouraging us all to take more time out.
Taken by MarineDrive from: Wikipedia Commons
That’s all from me and The Bubble’s first editorial of the academic year,
