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ISSUE 757 20 MAR 2024 exepose.com @Exepose
THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1987
Exeter students raise concerns over South West Water pollution
Male involvement on International Women’s Day Pages 13
Image: Grace Gurr
Anabel Costa-Ferreira Editor-in-Chief
Mother and me Page 23
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OLLOWING intense criticism at the end of 2023, South West Water are once again being questioned over sewage pollution issues. Concerns across the Devon coast have arisen consistently across the news as South West Water continues to perform “significantly below target for pollution incidents for the twelfth year running.” Accusations made against the utility company range from burst pipes to alleged illegal spills and sewage associated illnesses. At a university so close to the sea, this is not only a feature that draws many students to apply but is also an important
part of many individuals’ weekly routines. Exeter University Open Water Swimming Society (EUOWSS) has been incredibly impacted by these incidents, being forced to cancel several weekly swims due to poor water quality. Typically, weekly swims are held at Dawlish Warren, yet due to the sewage issues this location has frequently been changes and they’ve been unable to swim there no more than five times this entire academic year. Speaking to committee members, they detailed further concern surrounding the impact this is having on students who use this activity as a way to cope with stress. EUOWSS President Indra Sellars stated that “open water swimming is really beneficial for mental health” and the weekly nature of the event “encou-
rages people to make friends with like-minded students.” EUOWSS continued that “obviously swimming in the sea is free which makes it accessible to most people” and that following the “sewage dumping, we can’t swim and there’s not really any replacement.” Committee members shared with Exeposé that several students “depend on open water swimming to destress and a safe space to be after a stressful university week.” Therefore, any societies that rely on the closeness of the sea are left in both an impossible and incredibly frustrating situation. The Guild echoed the importance of wellbeing opportunities, sharing that “our Give it a Go events often provide space and activities which can improve health and wellbeing.” As well as sign-
posting society events and sports programmes run by Exeter Sport such as the free ‘Pitch Up and Play’ programme. Keeping an open dialogue with their members, after consecutive weeks of cancelled swims EUOWSS utilised social media to explain that they only cancel swims due to safety issues. These explanations also included maps and links to sites such as SAS.org.uk and Surfline. com which allow individuals to monitor pollution levels and risk across the UK. The criticism of South West Water has also been raised often by the local Liberal Democrat party, who in previous months called for a CEO bonus ban within the water industry. Continued on page 4
EUCA criticised over ‘Port and Policy’ event (who has requested anonymity) re-
Anabel Costa-Ferreira and Livvy ported witnessing “serious xenophoMason-Myhill bia, misogyny, and blatant racism that Editors-in-Chief was met with applause and cheers.”
Mystery sea creature discovered in UK waters Page 29
Images (top to bottom): Marc Nozell, Wikimedia Commons, : vitya_maly, GoodFon.com, wannapik.com
THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS CONTENT RELATING TO HOMOPHOBIA, SEXISM, RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA WHICH SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING
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N the 27th February the Exeter University Conservative Association (EUCA) attended their ninth ‘Port and Policy’ event of the year, which has since been accused of several concerning statements. An attendee
While EUCA deny the claims, the witness, and their friend both shared with Exeposé that phones were confiscated at the start, viewing this as an indication what is spoken during the evening is knowingly wrong and would face criticism from the student body. The event itself is reported to have used several vague debate titles to generate discussion and combined with alcohol resulted in many controversial statements. One anonymous attendee recounted
hearing a member make the racist remark, “all Asians look the same,” and noted that when given the chance to retract his statement, the individual refused. The event also included votes on emigration with troubling opinions expressed, such as, “I have no problem with Englishmen going abroad, but I do with people coming to England,” alongside derogatory jabs aimed at Russians, French, and Welsh individuals. The structure of the debate itself seemed engineered to provoke controversy, with deliberately vague titles allowing for interpretations that catered to what has been de-
scribed as the “ladish nature” of the event. Highly misogynistic comments surfaced throughout the night, with one debate titled “This house would pay for it” leading to a disturbing argument against paying for abortions, which according to the anonymous witness, suggested instead that women should resort to using coat hangers if all other options were exhausted. Another debate, under the guise of discussing expansion, allegedly devolved into derogatory jokes about plus-sized women. Continued on page 4