pax 2015-2016 bl 1: the limits issue

PAX

LIMITLESS SOLIDARITY WITH REFUGEES / LUC FACULTY TALKS LOVE, LIFE AND SETBACKS / BEYOND AVB: a look into the houses of third years /APPROACHING POWERFUL DUTCHIES & SO MUCH more

2015-2016 THE LIMITS ISSUE

IN THIS ISSUEPAX Block I Year 2015-2016

LUC EXPLORING LIMITS

> LUC > THE HAGUE

> THE WORLD

16 // VISUALIZING JOHANNESBURG / THE HAGUE 21 // APPROACHING POWERFUL DUTCHIES 24 // MORE THAN STARBUCKS? 26 // BOOK REVIEW: BETWEEN THE WORLD & ME 28 // TUURE TAKES ON MAASTRICHT 30 // ADAPTING TO A DIFFERENT SOCIETY 32 // LIMITS OF THE EU 36 // LIMITLESS SOLIDARITY

4 // PHOTO OF THE BLOCK

6 // LUC FACULTY ON LIFE, LOVE & SETBACKS 8 // FORTUNA TALK

9 // BLOCK 1 ANALYSIS 10 // LIVING BEYOND AVB

12 // LUCIO WITH ROOS

14 // SHORT STORY: UNSPOKEN OBJECTIVES 38 // THE ALUMINATI 39 // AGENDA NEXT BLOCK

FOOTNOTE NO BORDERS, NO NATIONS JOSEPH TANS The European continent recently witnessed yet another marvellous milestone in its history. After 25 years of tearing down walls, Central and Eastern European countries decided that the closed borders should be brought back to life. Not only do they believe it is an effective mean to defend Fortress Europe from the thousands of refugees that try to reach Europe and will take advantage of our wealth, it also pro-tects our societies from violence and extremism.

The Iron Wall, or antifaschistischer Schutzwall (anti-fascist protection wall) as the German Democratic Republic named it, needs some re-branding. Therefore I propose to erect those walls as part of a greater project: the Wolfahrtstaatlicher Schutzwall, or Welfare State Protection Wall. It would be a shame if the European project fails when political adversaries will come in and take away part of our wealth.

16 // VISUALIZING JOHANNESBURG / THE HAGUE 21 // APPROACHING POWERFUL DUTCHIES 24 // MORE THAN STARBUCKS? 26 // BOOK REVIEW: BETWEEN THE WORLD & ME 28 // TUURE TAKES ON MAASTRICHT 30 // ADAPTING TO A DIFFERENT SOCIETY 32 // LIMITS OF THE EU 36 // LIMITLESS SOLIDARITY

“A point or level beyond which something does not or may not extend or

pass” Dear reader, PAX is back after a long first block. Week 8 is ahead of us, so instead of reading another aca-demic paper to give you a new insight for your final essays, just read this magazine! Before the long, maybe already forgotten summer, the PAX team sat together and planned a ‘revolution’ to further improve the magazine. Many of these ‘revolutionary’ ideas are now put in practice. The PAX team, after many chalkboard-mind-map-sessions, had the idea to give every magazine a special theme to provide the reader with a central topic and the writers more guidance. Of course, without limiting the contributors’ creativity. We also changed the structures within the PAX team, now we have different coordinators for ‘every step’ in the process of creating this magazine. We are still amazed by the enthusiastic responses we got during these first brainstorming ses-sions. Many writers, designers and photographers, from all years, voiced their ideas that now shaped this PAX magazine. “A point or level beyond which something does not or may not extend or pass.” The magazine you are about to read touches upon many limits. The paradox of choice makes an LUC student often reach its own limits. What do I really want to do? Write an article for PAX? Play football two times week or participate in a LUC Volunteer activity? LUC and Fortu-na creates an environment where you can choose so much that you sometimes lose every focus. “This lecture is really interesting, should I go there? Is the topic the same as my webpost for the end of the week? Should I skip the football practice or do I cancel my dinner with friends?” A lot of possibilities is what makes it LUC, yet sometimes it’s all too much. Besides LUC’s limits, current crises on the borders of Europe influence our daily lives in- and outside of LUC. Refugees seeking for a better life attempt to cross dangerous borders such as the Mediterranean or Hungarian fences. Should we limit them: “You may not pass, the Euro-pean Fortress needs to be defended?” I hope you enjoy reading this magazine! Jarre Middeljans Chair PAX

PAX| 4LUC

PHOTOOF

THEBLOCK:INTRO WEEK

THROWBACK

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TEXT BY LEAH-HELAINE EVANS

They pass us in the corridors, we occasionally share brief or somewhat awkward elevators rides with them. How-ever, we often never give much thought to the fact that our professors actually are some of the most interesting individuals. LUC is a hub of intellectual wonder, at-tracting the best and brightest faculty. However, before entering into their current professions LUC teachers have experiences far more life, love and set-backs than we have. We have a great deal to learn from these indi-viduals. They have seen it all, done it all. They possess interesting, thought provoking opinions on a range of differing topics.

In pursuit of some interesting stories I met with a handful of the LUC faculty individually, some of which I had never had much interaction with. Upon completing my research, I realised that I had collected a bounty of quality stories, opinions and advice. From fas-cinations with “death” to sound love advice, our teachers have some interesting things to say if we are interested in hearing them. Here are some of the winners, see if you can guess the bright minds?

When asked some “limits” themed questions such as “When do you think your own limits have been pushed the furthest?” Professor Y delved into a detailed description of his childhood fear of the water and how he overcame this with the help of a summer camp instruc-tor. He said that the importance of having this limit pushed was to open up a range of new opportunities and possibilities that he never thought possible. His story stresses the importance of challenging ourselves constantly. This professor had much more to say regarding the development of our own emotional capabilities and the thresh-old of what we can “handle” or at least what we think we can “han-

dle”. To make this more relatable, professor Y told another descrip-tive story resembling a modernized fairytale (minus the immediate happy ending). His story contained an evil stepfather conning him out of his savings at the tender age of 22, right after the death of his mother. However, the story had an eventual happy ending after reaching that point where your sentiments are simply, “I cannot get more fucked, than I’ve just been fucked”. Following this, came the realization that once you have been pushed to these limits with cir-cumstances you thought impossible, you will inevitably be forced to realize strength and perseverance you never knew you had.

We can see that there is much to be learned from the powers that be at LUC. Although in one particularly morbid interview, Professor Doomsday delved into an explanation of his fascination with death and the fact that the “only thing that matters is the fact that you are going to die. This is the only certainty. Everything else is pretty triv-ial. However, we have distractibility working in our favour which can be viewed as a evolutionary aspect since it is not very conducive to a successful life to sit around and think about death all the time.” However, Professor Doomsday points out, “good feelings are essen-tially bullshit” and “living is, constantly dying”. This being said, the passionate manner in which this morbid fascination was discussed

made it thought provoking rather than depressing. The main thing to take away from this observation is that everything that may consume us with stress is actually ridiculously trivial and not worth wasting our precious time on earth over.

What the LUC faculty have to say about love, life, stress & setbacks

#ATMOSPHERE

“I WOULD QUITE HAPPILY GIVE UP A DECADE OF LIVING TO

SEE HOW IT ALL WORKS OUT. IT’S LIKE A SHITTY ENDING TO A

GOOD MOVIE.”

LUC PAX| 6

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Subsequently, I asked about future predictions on how the world will look in 100 years and what limits of humanity may be pushed or surpassed. As should have been expected from such independent thinkers, I received a range of contrasting views and opinions. We have our optimists such as Professor Bubbles (who compares us all to cockroaches), believing that we will find a way to adapt and con-tinue to thrive whatever happens. Then there are the pessimists or rather realists, such as Professor Red who conceives that it is inevita-ble that the world will look unrecognisable, whether it is because of mass use of renewable energy defacing our surroundings or because we have moved to Mars.

When asked what time era he would most like to live in, Professor Red let us into his personal wish to fast forward to the very end of it all. “I would quite happily give up a decade of living to see how it all ends, it seems so unfair that we have to die and not see how it all works out. It’s like a shitty ending to a good movie.” This differed greatly from Professor Bubbles’s assertion that we should be happy

and content with the era we are living in as “we have never lived longer, we have never been happier, we have never had more op-portunities. I’m 100% against this romantic view that it was better in the past. No it wasn’t better…We are the lucky ones”. Or with Professor X’s insistence of indifference, “I do not care, I will not be there” following a fascinating story about his time in the war zones in Afghanistan as a clue to who this always captivating character is.

Finally when asked the more light-hearted question of what love ad-

vice they would give their 16 year old selves, much deliberation was taken but their eventual answers were priceless. Professor X took the decisive approach with the simple but effective “go for it,

do not wait”. Professor Y told another interesting story with the conclusion; “Do not waste your time barking up the wrong trees, just walk past the trees, say hi and see who says hi back”. Professor Bubbles’ answer, the most priceless of them all, was, “put on “three little birds” and listen to Bob Marley, everything is going to be okay. It is not as problematic as you think it is.”

With all our LUC obligations usually imposed on us by some of the individuals referred to in the article, it may end up being the case that we stop viewing our professors are individuals but rather as sa-distic authority figures. However, when it all comes down to it, they have been through the same life hurdles we are faced with today. We have even further common ground, LUC. There must be a reason we were all attracted to this one of a kind institution?

Professor Y: David Zetland

Professor Doomsday: Adam Buben

Professor Bubbles: Thijs Bosker

Professor Red: Paul Behrens

Professor X: Aernout van Lynden

“FOLLOWING THIS CAME THE REALIZATION THAT ONCE YOU HAVE BEEN PUSHED TO THESE LIMITS WITH CIRCUM-STANCES YOU THOUGHT IMPOSSIBLE, YOU WILL BE FORCED TO REALIZE FORCE AND PERSEVERANCE.”

“PUT ON THREE LITTLE BIRDS AND LISTEN TO BOB MARLEY. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OKAY. IT IS NOT AS PROBLEMATIC AS YOU THINK IT IS.”

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THE FORTUNA BOARD

When you take a long and exhaustive hike, it is only at a certain distance that you start to allow yourself to look back and see how far you have reached. As we are ending the first block of this academic year, this may best describe our hesitance to review this block.

As I write this, the Fortuna Board has just passed into more quiet waters. Our most essential step, the budget approval at the General Assembly, has been made. The budget cuts, needed for healthy financial management, were a hard pill to swallow, for the committees and thus also for us. It was difficult to see personal relations being sometimes strained as a result of professional choices, but we greatly appreciated the almost unanimous vote in favour of the propo-sed budget. As a result, committees have been able to buy new equipment and organize a few wonderful events. Sports have started their training sessions—resulting in a great performance by the men’s football team, beating the diplomats from Foreign Affairs—and the first parties, games and lectures have been organized.

Along with these activities, other important issues are now at stake. How do we maintain good Fortuna-LUC relations in light of our recent conflicts of interest? Should we continue to keep automatic membership enrolment for all students? To what extent should we still support certain formal structures at LUC? We notice more and more members would like to see the values of our college, such as sustainability, fairness, and equality, become practice here as prevalent as they expected. Without spending more words on this matter, it is important that we keep asking critical questions. I am confident that our newly elected members to the Programme and College Council will do exactly that.

For now, we, the Fortuna Board, shall continue to enrich student life through some of the most ordinary tasks that happen behind the screen. Plans for the Lustrum season of Fortuna are in the making, and your input will be of incredible importance. Keep an eye on the website and contact me if you have any comments, questions or concerns.

Have a great autumn break! Jelle DorstChair Fortuna

Message from the Chair of Fortuna

PAX| 10LUC

“We notice more and more members would like to see the values of our

college, such as sustainability, fairness and equality, become practice here as

prevalent as they expected.”

JELLE DORST

Message froMTHE CHAIR OF FORTUNA

LUC PAX| 8

THE FORTUNA BOARD

When you take a long and exhaustive hike, it is only at a certain distance that you start to allow yourself to look back and see how far you have reached. As we are ending the first block of this academic year, this may best describe our hesitance to review this block.

As I write this, the Fortuna Board has just passed into more quiet waters. Our most essential step, the budget approval at the General Assembly, has been made. The budget cuts, needed for healthy financial management, were a hard pill to swallow, for the committees and thus also for us. It was difficult to see personal relations being sometimes strained as a result of professional choices, but we greatly appreciated the almost unanimous vote in favour of the propo-sed budget. As a result, committees have been able to buy new equipment and organize a few wonderful events. Sports have started their training sessions—resulting in a great performance by the men’s football team, beating the diplomats from Foreign Affairs—and the first parties, games and lectures have been organized.

Along with these activities, other important issues are now at stake. How do we maintain good Fortuna-LUC relations in light of our recent conflicts of interest? Should we continue to keep automatic membership enrolment for all students? To what extent should we still support certain formal structures at LUC? We notice more and more members would like to see the values of our college, such as sustainability, fairness, and equality, become practice here as prevalent as they expected. Without spending more words on this matter, it is important that we keep asking critical questions. I am confident that our newly elected members to the Programme and College Council will do exactly that.

For now, we, the Fortuna Board, shall continue to enrich student life through some of the most ordinary tasks that happen behind the screen. Plans for the Lustrum season of Fortuna are in the making, and your input will be of incredible importance. Keep an eye on the website and contact me if you have any comments, questions or concerns.

Have a great autumn break! Jelle DorstChair Fortuna

Message from the Chair of Fortuna

PAX| 10LUC

“We notice more and more members would like to see the values of our

college, such as sustainability, fairness and equality, become practice here as

prevalent as they expected.”

JELLE DORST

And then it all starts over again. After 3 months of hearing nothing from the people you thought were your best-ever LUC friends - except for one message on Facebook saying happy birthday in Dutch (wrongly spelled) - summer ends and block I starts. With it come usual patterns of partying, studying, getting sick, studying, partying, and exhaustion. Thank God I learned that there is more in life: Institutions.

As an accomplished second year at LUC, a fearful dive into my major – innocently abbreviated as GED – began. Fortu-nately, interaction with undiscovered and complex first years brought immediate explanation to my equally undiscovered and complex major. Institutions: What about ‘em and what if they lack in constraining?

In my toga, I felt happy to witness the Homecoming party turning into a true Greek Forum, bringing me understanding of the institutional core in GED. The missing “restrictions on human behavior” forced one to flee the “unrestricted” human tongues quenching their thirst (even I kissed a woman – something highly controversial for my gender identity), after which the significant economic loss of having no institutions becomes clear: in this case a traumatizing night and the Magistrat entrance fee. This simple calculation advocating the importance of institutionalization explains all further under-development in our horrendous world, too.

However, this loss turned out not to be as big as the feeling of emptiness that hit during week 2; as page-long emails telling me to go outside, not to break any honor codes, and to “drop a line” when I’m in need of anything, no longer appeared in my inbox. To me, the pace in which our former SLO really institutionalized her emails into my daily life is worth a com-pliment. Therefore, I would love to dedicate the watermelon I threw out of the window during introduction week to my ex-SLO (adding another LUC-related ‘ex’ to a list I keep on promising won’t grow any longer every block).

Speaking of constraints, it seemed this block that there is another unwritten rule restricting our ‘virtuous’ behavior in this college. It surprised me to see the always-calm Confession Bear pointing out to Obviously Unnecessary Otter that he (or she) is unwelcome and “that there is only place for one” in LUC. I feel we should collectively break this digitally-set norm, by introducing an Advocating Armadillo - ready to solve the issues arising between our digital, unnecessary, socially-constructed creatures.

Limiting-conservatism, however, did not only hit me in the face with our new SLO. The constraining thought of “the good old days” reached an all-time height when I walked by the new Fortuna board members hanging up their decorations for For-tunity Week, and I discovered myself not helping them out, but, instead, talking to myself softly in a French accent and making sarcastic British jokes about legal structures of Fortu-na. If you want to overcome that conservatism just like me, go and attend GAs. It was true bureaucratic fun seeing men (and one woman!) talking about money and acting like they were about to finance a highly secret, new, and terribly important mission to Iraq (not for oil, but to establish democracy).

As it took me 8 weeks and writing this article, I can under-stand the difficulty in comprehending institutional theory. Thus, for those of you who still don’t understand the principle of institutions: another good example of an institution would be if all students of a certain college are socially enforced to participate in a march for refugees, or otherwise the students may get socially punished and classified as “not wanting a bet-ter world”. Of course, this would never happen here, because everybody understands that there are people both in favor of welcoming refugees and some are not. Still, it is a good hypo-thetical example in which our Advocating Armadillo might resolve conflict.

Enjoy your break, peeps.

INSTITUTIONS A critical Analysis of Block I

By Regis Hijnekamp

LUC PAX| 11PAX| 9

LUC PAX| 12

EXTENDING YOUR

For most of us LUC and Anna van Bueren life are one and the same, we live, love and learn here. Most of our lives are so incorporated into AvB that our LUC experience can at times be totally AvB orientated. This is not a bad thing but it is interesting to see what LUC life looks like when AvB is simply your office and not your everything. I followed some third years to their beautiful abodes, scattered all around The Hague. From Laan to Weimarstraat, you can find third years living their blissful lives untouched by academic/housing dramas of AvB. They may still get the Facebook notifications on the “AvB housing group” but this is the only remnant of AvB living they are faced with.

My journey of enlightenment started small or should I say flashy when I visited Theresiastraat to see how third years, David Boers, Jack Lindsey, Tim Kluwen and Viktor Gijsbers live these days. A humble doorstep and stairway gave way to a unexpectedly remarkable studio apartment, with a huge open plan lounge and kitchen fitted with state of the art equipment. These included the likes of a fridge that dispensed all the different forms of ice possible, and tap that runs boiling water, cause who has time to wait for a kettle to boil?! The rooms matched the impressive start of the tour, with David’s upstairs room taking the cake for grandeur. Upon leaving their student apartment (if you could call it that) I had unrealistically high expectations for the rest of my inquiry.

BY LEAH-HELAINE EVANS

“Most of our lives are so incorporated into AvB that our LUC experience can at times be

totally AvB orientated. This is not a bad thing but it is

interesting to see what LUC life looks ike when AvB is

simply your office and not your everything.”

“The next third years housing I explored was the LUC

“commune” of sorts which neighbours a

retirement home on Laan. Here you can find a maze of

confusing stairways leading to the rooms of familiar

LUC students.”

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LIMITS BEYOND AVB

The next third years housing I explored was the LUC “commune” of sorts which neighbours a retirement home on Laan. Here you can find a maze of confusing stairways leading to the rooms of familiar LUC students. The building has a cozy, familiar atmosphere, with various third years having casual conversations in the kitchens or be-drooms on each floor. PAX’s very own, Bene Colenbrander showed me around the building including their several balconies and common rooms. The social atmosphere of the building was pal-pable. It is simply too bad that their neighbours aren’t as forgiving about late night noise as would be desired.

Following Laan, I explored the quaint abode that Bente Fonkert, Lisa Staadegaard and Lily Wiggers call home. Neat and tidy, Bente showed me around their apartment which consisted of three bedrooms, one large, and two smaller ones, the later of which I wasn’t allowed to enter due to owners perception that it was too messy. Bente’s room was an example of ingenious use of space as her bunk bed created a cozy living room underneath. With a piano and large couch in their open plan living room the apartment was overall extremely “gezellig”.

Finally, I headed for Weimarstraat, where I visited the much-anticipated dwelling of Boudewijn van Eerd and Erik Post. These two have truly embraced the concept of dividing LUC and life. This alternatively decorated bachelor pad hosts two balconies, a large living room, a few guitars on the wall and multiple miniature dinosaurs hidden in random locations. I was warmly welcomed with wine, a demonstration of ACDC and a MTV Cribs style tour. The location of the apartment is prime, far enough from AvB and surrounded by a beautiful mix of trashy and hip bars. This collaboration perfectly depicts the potential of The Hague beyond the limits of AvB.

“bachelor pad hosts two balconies, a large living room, a few

guitars on the wall and multiple miniature dinosaurs hidden in

random locations. I was warmly welcomed with wine, a

demonstration of ACDC and a MTV Cribs style tour.”

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LUCIO PROFILE:Roos Craanen

TEXT BY LUCID “Both my grandmas played the piano. One of my grandma’s fathers was actually sort of a performer, but at the time when my grandma was a little girl, she would play the piano. One of my other grandma’s wish was that we would have a piano. As soon as she passed away I started playing. I was really dedicated and committed and I loved it. I love music. I think for me it was

nice instead of just listening to music, you get to make it your-self. And then I used to play it with my other grandma, the one whose father was a comedian. We would play together and when I was younger it really motivated me to keep on playing because my grandma played so well, my mother played the piano, and so did my dad. My mum always told me that when she was young, she would come home, her mother would be playing the piano and it would bring so much more, you know, like ‘’gezelligheid’’ to the house. I think at one point after a couple of years it just started becoming a part of me.

I have been playing for 14 years now. If I do not have a piano, if I cannot play it, I actually get really agitated, because it is be-come a sort of a way of expressing myself. It is my type of releas-ing all energy; I can say things without verbally saying them.

I

think I am definitely lucky with my neighbours that they do not mind that I play. Before LUC, I was not used to playing around people at all, because I was always just playing at my own house and I never really played at school. So when I first played the piano downstairs, I saw random people walking in and saying: ‘’ah it sounds so nice!’’ and I would be so over-whelmed saying ‘’okay!’’ Also, in the beginning here, I was concerned I would bother my neighbours. But actually, for example last time my neighbour’s girlfriend gave me this really sweet compliment saying: ‘’I never hear you play anymore! I miss it!’

There was this one moment before, when in the beginning playing the piano was just something I would do every day, and my mum used to love listening, my dad as well. I remember, when I was home alone, and technically too late to play, I was bothering my neighbours but I did not really care. I think that

“it has just become a form of expressing myself.

You become dependent on the things you do”

was the realization that I was never going to stop playing the piano. I think I was around 12. I realized from that age on that it brought me a lot of joy and it relaxed me so much. I loved just being able to play and from that moment I just knew that to some extent the piano would always be a part of my life. It is just become a form of expressing myself. If I don’t have it, I do not function as well. You become dependent on the things you do.’’

“And then I used to play just for my grandma, the one whose father was a comedian. We would play together and wehen I was younger it really motivated me

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I would like to dedicate the following short story to all those who help others see light at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel. This story speaks of the crossing of limits and of the impact of empathy. I have constructed the protagonist with the intention to convey how small gestures can comfort those being confronted with hardship, or how the very quirks of life can bring courage to a truly saddened soul. I was inspired to write this short story after trying to comfort a person dear to me, who had gone through a ‘rough patch’ in life. Time and time again, I have discovered that the fear of doing something wrong accompanies close to every effort to help those around us. In these moments, I have often found myself at the borders of linguistic expression, struggling to find the ‘right words’. Yet, I believe it is through small gestures that we give others the courage to leave their ‘old baggage’ behind and move on. With this short story, I hope to give you a bit of courage and I hope it will leave you reflecting on the impact you have on those around you.

UNWRITTENOBJECTIVES

A SHORT STORY BY CHRISTINE NIKANDER

PAX| 14LUC

The air was too thick, too thick to breathe. The faint smell of alcohol pierced the room. The ceiling hung low. My face was turned toward the darkness at the ending of the corridor. Drops of unfulfilled expec-tations pearled down my cheeks, yet my hands were locked in place at the sides of my body. I felt like a log drifting down the river. I was travelling somewhere, but where to was not even a question to be asked. They say that life throws you curve balls, but what does that even mean? I have been drifting here, and at times I am not even sure if I am afloat.

The air hummed with words, words that seem meaningless. The air has left my lungs. I have no words left within. I have no desire to filter my mind to construct sentences. It seems as if nothing I think can be expressed with words, as if applying tension to my lips and vocal cords would be too much. At a loss for words, I have settled for silence.

Familiar voices are growing closer. At the cheerful tone, I readjust the angle of my face. I have spoken too many words from my tooth-ached jawline and I have thoroughly burnt my tongue on a social cup of tea. My mouth aches and I am left pondering if words lose their meaning when excessively used.

If only I could describe how I feel. I think I feel like a satellite in-be-tween two planets – am I to orbit both one after the other, am I to be pulled into two or will I end up encircling a sole mass? Life is a load of undefinable matter, and I am a vector quantity without direction or magnitude. I am off key. There is no harmony within me, no res-onance either – just what I judge to be compressions of irregularity.

What if it turns out that I have a hole in my soul? A deep, dark black hole piercing my chest without dividing me into two. A seemingly empty space lurking with an impenetrable mist of darkness. What if this hole never closes, never heals? What if my cells have been ren-dered dead by invisible droplets of hydrogen peroxide – what if all is

gone, forever? If I can never think a clear thought, never love without doubt, never rejoice without regret – what does life become then? I hope you never feel darkness growing like Aspergillus niger1 within your heart.

The voices that had been so faint were coming closer and closer, in an unchanged tone and still entranced in light small talk. Just as I thought that I had managed to hide in plain sight, I felt a warm touch on the inner side of my elbow. He knew that I had turned my face. I had stayed in the corridor unsure of whether my hope was to rebal-ance myself or to be found. I had been at loss on how to act and had turned my face to protect the joy of those that were now next to me.

I had gotten stuck in this moment and been unaware of my next move. He knew this, his gestures gave it away. The look in his eyes along with the absence of the ever-so imposing “what?”-question re-vealed his familiarity with what I was experiencing. The gentle strok-ing of my wool-covered arm now caught the attention of his neigh-bors, who turned to face me. What they saw caused them genuine alarm, and after sounding a short “oh” under their breathes, they expressed their concern in the most admirable of ways that had been known to me up until a few moments before. What they did not realize was that I had just been comforted in a way that no words could do justice to.

I had been looked at in comfort without judgment, in a way that opens the hole rather than forcing it shut. In this muddled moment, I had been touched by a near stranger without even the slightest taste of expectation, unfamiliarity or discomfort. Meeting a warm heart – through a single mesmerizing glance and the soft stroking touch of a gentle hand – changed my perspective both of the moment in time that I felt stuck in and of the time yet to come.

1 a black mold that consumes nutrients as it grows from the center outwards

PAX| 15

The HagueJohannesburg

IMAGES & TEXT BY ANASOFIA BIZOS

A city’s make-up will consist of all the usual suspects: brick and wood, glass and metal, concrete and grass. A city will have its nooks and crannies, its walls and its limits, and its own very particu-lar quirks. Johannesburg and The Hague are no different. Using analogue film, I set out to explore both of these worlds; my cities of birth and my adopted home.

“Between us a brick wall stoodFirm as a pyramidThick as the stones Pharaohs used for the making of the pyramid”

Sipho Zungu

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APPROACHING POWERFUL

DUTCHIES: MISSION

(IM)POSSIBLE?

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This will hopefully inspire you to try out “café hopping” as well.”

More than Starbucks?

BY TWAN VAN DER TOGT & FRANCISKA GRADZIKIEWICZ

more thanSTARBUCKS

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First, some context. Black people are being murdered in America. To be more specific, unarmed Black peo-ple are being murdered by police officers in America, and they repeatedly face no consequences. As Coates

On my way back to LUC this August, I had a three-hour layover in Salt Lake City International Airport. If you have never been to Utah, here’s a friendly tip: there is not much to do. Honestly, finding a good book to occupy you until departure is the best way to spend your time there. Thankfully, I found a bookstore that stocked Between the World and Me. It even had a comfy armchair, so I could sit down and enjoy the bookshop atmosphere while I read. I had heard of the book and knew it would be a heavy read, but considering it would help distract me from Utah, I figured it was worth it.

Cut to an hour and a half later when I closed the book. The bored-looking cashier was giving me a con-cerned look, which made sense in retrospect. I was crying. Not the teary-eyed, mild crying, mind you. It was ugly. There was snot. I quickly left the bookshop. Thank god it was a quick read, because I barely made it back to my gate in time to board my flight out of there.

put it in his novel, “[the police] will rarely be held accountable. Mostly they will receive pensions.”

Every month, the website mappingpoliceviolence.org analyzes deaths at the hands of the police and pub-lishes a report. In the US during the month of July, 31 Black people were killed by police officers – one person every 24 hours – which was a 39% increase from June. Of these victims, 45% were unarmed.

“[the police] will rare-ly be held account-

able. Mostly they will recieve pensions”

Between the World and Me by Ta-Ne-heisi Coates Book Review by

Cris van Eijk

The World PAX|27

First, some context. Black people are being murdered in America. To be more specific, unarmed Black peo-ple are being murdered by police officers in America, and they repeatedly face no consequences. As Coates


Cut to an hour and a half later when I closed the book. The bored-looking cashier was giving me a con-cerned look, which made sense in retrospect. I was crying. Not the teary-eyed, mild crying, mind you. It was ugly. There was snot. I quickly left the bookshop. Thank god it was a quick read, because I barely made it back to my gate in time to board my flight out of there.

put it in his novel, “[the police] will rarely be held accountable. Mostly they will receive pensions.”

Every month, the website mappingpoliceviolence.org analyzes deaths at the hands of the police and pub-lishes a report. In the US during the month of July, 31 Black people were killed by police officers – one person every 24 hours – which was a 39% increase from June. Of these victims, 45% were unarmed.

“[the police] will rare-ly be held account-

able. Mostly they will recieve pensions”

Between the World and Me by Ta-Ne-heisi Coates Book Review by

Cris van Eijk

The World PAX|27

THE WORLD PAX| 26


These trends are not new, but they are hitting the headlines more frequently lately. What the headlines miss is the so-ciological impact this violence has on Black people. Read-ing a crime report, a list of names, or even an obituary does not do the situation justice. Coates tries to rectify this by showing us a glimpse of what he sees as a culture of fear running through Black America. He supplements this with his viscerally-told, eye-opening experiences of police bru-tality against African Americans.

Coates writes his book as an extended letter to his son, try-Cut to an hour and a half later when I closed the book. The bored-looking cashier was giving me a concerned look, which made sense in retrospect. I was crying. Not the teary-eyed, mild crying, mind you. It was ugly. There was snot. I quickly left the bookshop. Thank god it was a quick read, because I barely made it back to my gate in time to board my flight out of there.

First, some context. Black people are being murdered in

ing to explain to him that the country they both live in is not as equal as it por-trays itself to be. “I write you in your fifteenth year,” he says on page nine. “I am writing you because this was the year you saw Eric Garner choked to death for selling cigarettes; be-cause you know now that Renisha McBride was shot for seeking help, that John Crawford was shot down for browsing in a depart-ment store… All of this is

America. To be more specific, unarmed Black people are being murdered by police officers in America, and they repeatedly face no consequences. As Coates put it in his novel, “[the police] will rarely be held accountable. Mostly they will receive pensions.”

Every month, the website mappingpoliceviolence.org ana-lyzes deaths at the hands of the police and publishes a re-port. In the US during the month of July, 31 Black people were killed by police officers – one person every 24 hours – which was a 39% increase from June. Of these victims, 45% were unarmed. These reports are available for every month, and the numbers are terrifying.

“‘I do not believe we can stop [the Dreamers ]’ he tells his son in the end. ‘Because they must ultimately stop them-

selves’ common to black people. All of this is old for black people. No one is held responsible.”

The message is delivered through a careful mix of anec-dotes from Coates’ past supported by wider sociological observations. It begins with him as a young boy in a Black neighborhood of Baltimore. He describes the culture there as one shaped by a system built by White people, for White people. Except Coates quickly begins avoiding the phrase “White people”. Instead, he frames the infamous Black American Struggle as one against “the Dreamers”, the cre-ators and perpetuators of The American Dream. As he puts it, “the Dream rests on our backs, the bedding made from our bodies.”

The World PAX|27PAX| 27

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TUURE TAKES

BY TUURE-EERIK

“it is easy to find hip coffeehouses and

restaurants, be them vegan, organic or

gluten-free. According to a local Maastricht student, you will even find nightlife

that is downright carnivorous. ”

Due to its significant student population, Maastricht has an atmosphere quite different from The Hague. It is city with a pleasant and relaxed ambiance. While the Markt and the Vrijthof squares are full of those conventional cafés where everything is a bit overpriced, it is easy to find hip cof-feehouses and restaurants, be them vegan, organic or gluten-free. According to a local

For a Hagenaar, Maastricht seems to be in the middle of nowhere. During the three-hour train ride one cannot but wonder why the Romans decided to establish a military base on the banks of River Maas. On the European continent, Maastricht is the southernmost city you can reach in the Dutch kingdom. Situated right next to the Belgian and German borders, the city prides itself as “where Europe meets.” Indeed, the history of Maastricht is parallel to our cont-inent’s – wars have been fought and treaties signed, borders have been moved.

This dynamic past has definitely had an influence on the cityscape: you have the Roman walls, the medieval fortifications, the Spanish and Dutch townhouses. Every single World Politics major should know that it was in this city that the founding treaty of the European Union was signed – and European integration and mobility can definitely be sensed in the waves of Belgian and German tourists that conduct their weekend shopping sprees.

But Maastricht is suitable for other things than shopping, too. It is a picturesque and quaint town, a suitable backdrop for selfies. More importantly, it is home to the Maastricht University and its university college – and what would be more wonderful than having a little liberal arts and sciences bonding? A good place to spot these kids is on the city wall right next to the UCM building, where people gather to chill (whenever the sun shines, that is).

Maastricht student, you will even find nightlife that is downright carnivorous.

Maastricht has had a predominantly Catholic past and the city centre is full of churches – you will find statues of saints everywhere. The Dominicanenkerk on the Dominicanerplein maybe represents a more contemporary approach to these beautiful old buildings – a former church has been renovated to house a bookstore. You can enjoy your soya latte and shop your Jean-Paul Sartres while admiring the heavenly architecture – sounds quite hip, right? In general, Maastricht seems like the sacred land of cool twenty-somethings.

For a more down-to-earth boogie, head to the hills. In Dutch standards, the heights around the city definitely classify as moun-tains. It must feel quite exciting to climb up a mountain that has an elevation of around one hundred meters. A visitor interested in history might want to check out the eigh-teenth-century fort at the Sint-Petersberg, located just outside the city centre. If you prefer to stay in the immediate city centre,

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ON MAASTRICHT

Just a bit further away towards the Sint Servaasbrug bridge is the cosy Zondag café, recommended by everyone for everything: breakfast, lunch, drinks.

The River Maas is the central element of Maastricht: flowing peacefully, towards the North, finally draining to the North Sea next to Rotterdam. Maastricht is not exhausting, it is not necessarily exciting either. But maybe next time, I’ll get to experience that nightlife I heard so much about, discovering the edgier nature of Maastricht. Until then, this city has definitely charmed we with its gezelligheid.

“Maastricht is well-known for hosting

different events and festivals throughout

the year. In the spring, the city is filled with art connoisseurs from all

around the continent as more than two hundred

galleries come to showcase their work at the TEFAF Maastricht.”

you can climb up to the bell tower of Sint-Janskerk, offering a perfect view over the city.

Maastricht is well-known for hosting different events and festivals throughout the year. In the spring, the city is filled with art connoisseurs from all around the continent as more than two hundred galleries come to showcase their work at the TEFAF Maastricht. If you want to come and collect some art, you better start saving up soon – the TEFAF is where some of the most expensive artworks and antiques are traded. Last year’s catalogue included Ptolemaic mummy wrappings and Michelangelo’s drawings. Adding to its glam, apparently even Kanye West is known for frequenting the event.

For findings that are more affordable, stroll on the Stationstraat during Saturdays where a modest but endearing flea market is arranged.

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THE HAGUE PAX| 30

ON MAASTRICHT

Just a bit further away towards the Sint Servaasbrug bridge is the cosy Zondag café, recommended by everyone for everything: breakfast, lunch, drinks.

The River Maas is the central element of Maastricht: flowing peacefully, towards the North, finally draining to the North Sea next to Rotterdam. Maastricht is not exhausting, it is not necessarily exciting either. But maybe next time, I’ll get to experience that nightlife I heard so much about, discovering the edgier nature of Maastricht. Until then, this city has definitely charmed we with its gezelligheid.

“Maastricht is well-known for hosting

different events and festivals throughout

the year. In the spring, the city is filled with art connoisseurs from all

around the continent as more than two hundred

galleries come to showcase their work at the TEFAF Maastricht.”

you can climb up to the bell tower of Sint-Janskerk, offering a perfect view over the city.

Maastricht is well-known for hosting different events and festivals throughout the year. In the spring, the city is filled with art connoisseurs from all around the continent as more than two hundred galleries come to showcase their work at the TEFAF Maastricht. If you want to come and collect some art, you better start saving up soon – the TEFAF is where some of the most expensive artworks and antiques are traded. Last year’s catalogue included Ptolemaic mummy wrappings and Michelangelo’s drawings. Adding to its glam, apparently even Kanye West is known for frequenting the event.

For findings that are more affordable, stroll on the Stationstraat during Saturdays where a modest but endearing flea market is arranged.

PAX| 29

Walking the line:

The limits of

adapting to another

society

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Walking the line:

The limits of

adapting to another

society

THE WORLD

PAX| 31

Walking the line:

The limits of

adapting to another

society

THE WORLD PAX| 32

If Europe were the fortress it is often portrayed as, I imagine it would look like the French island commune of Mont Saint-Michel. Its history, one could argue, resembles that of Europe. Over the centuries, many lords, bishops and even emperors have laid claim to the island. It has served as a fortress and a prison, was besieged by Romans, Gauls, Franks and Vikings, attacked by Bretons and by Britons. The island lived through it all, resisting these historical storms like the tidal waves infinitely crashing on its walls. In recent times, Mont Saint-Michel became a safer, a more peaceful place. From miles around, people can now see the famous structure that had become the symbol of the is-land. This structure is not a watch-tower or a castle, but a chapel. It is a symbol not of force, but of values. A bridge now permanently connects Mont Saint-Michel to the mainland, welcoming people from all over the world.

The Limits of The European DreamCasper Gelderblom

THE WORLD 33

Like all historical analogies, this one too only goes so far. Europe, unlike Mont Saint-Michel, is not one place: ask different people about what Europe is and from where to where it stretches, and you will receive diffe-rent answers. And whatever your perception of Europe is, the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, the involvement of European countries in the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and the terrorist attacks in Spain, the United King-dom. Most recently the terrorists attacks in France make it impossible to view the continent’s recent history as safe and peaceful. Perhaps the most important objection to be made to the analogy above, is that Europe –or, more spe-cifically, the European Union– is absolutely not an idyllic embodiment of noble values. Sadly, as this summer has proven, my imagination could not be further removed from reality.

On the first page of the Treaty of Lisbon, the consti-tutional basis of the European Union, the EU is proclai-med to be founded on “the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights.” These values constitute the core of the European dream. For a long time, I conside-red the European Union to be a legitimate and authentic flagbearer of these values. In discussions with sceptics, I defended the EU by arguing that shortcomings like the painful democratic deficit in the EU’s structure were of a necessarily temporal nature. The European project, after all, was a moving process: we were witnessing the construction of a polity that truly embodied the values described above and the work just wasn’t finished yet. I believed, in other words, that the beating heart of that project, the European dream, guaranteed its ultimate suc-cess.

The crises of the past months have revealed the limits of this European dream. In the Greek crisis, the troika of the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Com-mission (EC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) –all lacking democratic support from the European pu-blic–systematically undermined any attempts by the de-mocratically elected government of Greece to develop an alternative agenda to Brussels’ doctrine of austerity and

«When the Greek government subsequently decided to let the Greek people vote about the troika’s demands, the EU establishment not only condemned their democratic impulse, but EC-president Juncker also warned that voting oxi (no) would only lead to even harsher demands.»

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If Europe were the fortress it is often portrayed as, I imagine it would look like the French island commune of Mont Saint-Michel. Its history, one could argue, resembles that of Europe. Over the centuries, many lords, bishops and even emperors have laid claim to the island. It has served as a fortress and a prison, was besieged by Romans, Gauls, Franks and Vikings, attacked by Bretons and by Britons. The island lived through it all, resisting these historical storms like the tidal waves infinitely crashing on its walls. In recent times, Mont Saint-Michel became a safer, a more peaceful place. From miles around, people can now see the famous structure that had become the symbol of the is-land. This structure is not a watch-tower or a castle, but a chapel. It is a symbol not of force, but of values. A bridge now permanently connects Mont Saint-Michel to the mainland, welcoming people from all over the world.

The Limits of The European DreamCasper Gelderblom

THE WORLD 33





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THE WORLD PAX| 34

privatisation. When the Greek government introduced measures to fight tax evasion by multinationals operating in the country, for example, the troika demanded they be reversed if Greece wanted to receive further financial help. Their demands were supported by the Eurogroup, an informal council of the Eurozone’s finance ministers, the negligible legal competences of which made its pro-mient role in the crisis extremely controversial.

The troika and the Eurogroup proved not ready to even discuss a revision of the approach that had led to so much economic and social misery in Greece –sky-high (youth) unemployment (respectively 60 and 26%), a sharp rise in suicide rates (35%) and prostitution (1500% (!)), hundreds of thousands of young and often well-trained people leaving the country, just to name a few examples. When the Greek government subsequently decided to let the Greek people vote about the troika’s demands, the EU establishment not only condemned their democratic impulse, but EC-president Juncker also warned that vo-ting oxi (no) would only lead to even harsher demands.

The rest is history. After the referendum, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras was forced to accept a ‘deal’ based on a strategy that had clearly failed in the years before, and that would almost certainly deepen the humanitarian cri-sis Greece already found itself in. In the EU’s handling of the Greek crisis, supposedly European values were

trampled underfoot one by one. Through undemocratic bodies (the ECB, EC and IMF) and a council that ope-rated outside of what the rule of law permitted (the Eu-rogroup), the EU’s establishment completely overruled not only a democratically elected government, but also the direct democratic vote of the Greek population. It did so to push through a program that would almost cer-tainly infringe on the human dignity of many Greeks.

In March this year, a so called “supertide” flooded the bridge connecting the island of Mont Saint-Michel with the French mainland. Mammoth waves crashing on the old stones of the island’s walls posed a serious threat to the people behind them. Returning to my analogy, the Greek crisis would of course be one of the waves hitting the fortress’ walls hard. Another, maybe even bigger wave arrived when the human tragedy of the European refugee

«Not only Greece, the European asylum po-licies and member states’ solidarity that are in crisis: first and foremost, it is the Eu-ropean Union itself. By failing to stay true to its foundational values, the European Union has shown that in its current form, it can only endanger the European dream.»

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privatisation. When the Greek government introduced measures to fight tax evasion by multinationals operating in the country, for example, the troika demanded they be reversed if Greece wanted to receive further financial help. Their demands were supported by the Eurogroup, an informal council of the Eurozone’s finance ministers, the negligible legal competences of which made its pro-mient role in the crisis extremely controversial.

The troika and the Eurogroup proved not ready to even discuss a revision of the approach that had led to so much economic and social misery in Greece –sky-high (youth) unemployment (respectively 60 and 26%), a sharp rise in suicide rates (35%) and prostitution (1500% (!)), hundreds of thousands of young and often well-trained people leaving the country, just to name a few examples. When the Greek government subsequently decided to let the Greek people vote about the troika’s demands, the EU establishment not only condemned their democratic impulse, but EC-president Juncker also warned that vo-ting oxi (no) would only lead to even harsher demands.

The rest is history. After the referendum, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras was forced to accept a ‘deal’ based on a strategy that had clearly failed in the years before, and that would almost certainly deepen the humanitarian cri-sis Greece already found itself in. In the EU’s handling of the Greek crisis, supposedly European values were

trampled underfoot one by one. Through undemocratic bodies (the ECB, EC and IMF) and a council that ope-rated outside of what the rule of law permitted (the Eu-rogroup), the EU’s establishment completely overruled not only a democratically elected government, but also the direct democratic vote of the Greek population. It did so to push through a program that would almost cer-tainly infringe on the human dignity of many Greeks.

In March this year, a so called “supertide” flooded the bridge connecting the island of Mont Saint-Michel with the French mainland. Mammoth waves crashing on the old stones of the island’s walls posed a serious threat to the people behind them. Returning to my analogy, the Greek crisis would of course be one of the waves hitting the fortress’ walls hard. Another, maybe even bigger wave arrived when the human tragedy of the European refugee

«Not only Greece, the European asylum po-licies and member states’ solidarity that are in crisis: first and foremost, it is the Eu-ropean Union itself. By failing to stay true to its foundational values, the European Union has shown that in its current form, it can only endanger the European dream.»

THE WORLD 35

crisis that had been going on for a long time already took on unprecedented proportions. Fleeing war and oppres-sion, hundreds of thousands of people were now risking their lives to find refuge in Europe.

Before the summer, the European Commission launched a plan to improve the EU’s failing asylum sys-tem. It included a much-needed reform of refugee re-gistration regulations, as well as a proposal to ‘redistri-bute’ 40.000 refugees across the member states so that the ‘burden’ would not end up being carried by a handful of countries. This plan met with strong resistance from countries with an opt-out from EU immigration policies, such as Denmark and the U.K., and from eastern and central European countries fearing social tensions.

In a matter of months if not weeks, it became clear that in spite of all the resistance, the scale of the Com-mission’s plans was far too small. In September, estimates indicated that Germany alone should expect 1 million people to seek refuge in 2015. In the meantime, European politicians have yet to catch with reality on the ground, let alone get ahead of it. Existing asylum policies, like registration at the point of arrival in the EU, are either not functioning or plainly bypassed. Europe’s transport networks are under stress and the Schengen treaty seems to be temporarily cancelled so that borders can be closed and fences can be built.

But by far the most painful problem is the fact that even in the face of so much human suffering, so much pure injustice, the EU has not managed to overco-me internal division to honour the very values that form its foundation. How can we preach “respect for human rights” if we do nothing but hypocritically mourn the hundreds of desperate men, women and children who lost their lives while trying to cross the Mediterranean? How can we celebrate “equality” when some member states openly refuse to take in any refugee with a religion they do not like? And how can anyone maintain belief in a Europe that so shamefully disgraces the very values it was founded on?

Not only Greece, the European asylum policies and member states’ solidarity that are in crisis: first and foremost, it is the European Union itself. By failing to stay true to its foundational values, the European Union has shown that in its current form, it can only endanger the European dream. So how can me move forward? It was Antonio Gramsci who said that “[a] crisis consists

precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born.” A European Union in which an indi-vidual member state’s interests carry more weight than democracy, human rights and equality, which has become so far removed from the European dream, cannot keep on living. Profound change is needed. A different Europe is needed, one in which solidarity, democracy and the Lis-bon Treaty values are more than empty words.

Paradoxically, it may be so that the changes that are necessary for such a Europe to be born can only be realised through the historic challenges we are faced with. Historic challenges, after all, offer historic opportunities. Europe has the opportunity to turn today’s crises into a catalyst for renewal and progress tomorrow. We all have a responsibility in seizing that opportunity. By sharing ideas, joining protests, taking action or signing petitions we can contribute. Only by seizing this opportunity can we hope that Europe, when low tide comes, will look a bit more like Mont Saint-Michel.

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TEXT BY FILIPPA BRAARUD, PHOTOS BY GREG KEGELS

We have seen the images. We have been told the stories. We have heard the numbers.

There is an immense tragedy unfolding on Europe’s borders and within them. From the capsized boats

in the Mediterranean to the abandoned truck in Austria to little baby Aylan that washed ashore the

coast of Bodrum, together with our humanity.

We can’t continue to allow thousands to die trying to reach Europe as they search for safety, hope and

the chance to live another day.

We can’t stay silent anymore as our politicians and the media are stigmatizing these men, women and

children as threats and burdens. We can’t let our governments close all our borders

and build fences to keep people in need out. That’s not what Europe should be about.

These were the words expressed by the initiators of the European Day of Action for the Refugees that took place across Europe on the 12th of September. The initiative came as a response to politicians and decision-makers across Europe who were in desperate disarray over how to address the escalating refugee crisis, as the people of Europe collectively demonstrate the urgency of the situation. The event was attended by thousands of people across Europe, who all contributed by collecting, donating, distributing, applauding, demonstrating and demanding human rights protection and social justice, amongst others.

GRENZELOZE SOLIDARITEIT IN EEN GRENZELOOS EUROPA LIMITLESS SOLIDARITY IN A LIMITLESS EUROPE

“THERE ARE A NUMBER OFUNDOCUMENTED ASYLUM SEEKERS LIVINGIN THE HAGUE. THEIR LIVS ARE EXTREMELY COMPLICATED AS THEIR APPLICATIONSMAY ALREADY HAVE BEEN REJECTED

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“OBVIOUSLY, WE WERE REALLY EXCITED TO DO SOMETHING

THIS BIG!” - HOBA GULL,

LUC HUMANITIES

In the Hague, several initiatives were started by students and young people who all made significant contributions to the demonstration of collective solidarity with the refugees. A group of students from International Studies at Leiden University Campus The Hague initi-ated a collect under the name The Hague Welcomes Refugees, col-lecting personalized welcome packages for the refugees to be housed in The Hague. Everything from stuffed animals for the children, to

toiletries, hats and gloves to Dutch stroopwafels were collected the whole Saturday morning. LUC Humanity was called upon to help out with the collect and logistics at the Central Station, and the thirty LUC volunteers an estimated 1500 care packages were col-lected that day, as well as an impressive amount of clothes. The care packages were so abundant, so as a solution to the lack of storing space they were preliminarily stored in one of the common rooms in Anna van Buerenplein before the Red Cross would distribute the packages in asylum centres across the Netherlands. The welcome

packages are now in the process of being distributed to refugees who have already entered the Netherlands and are awaiting the finaliza-tion of their asylum procedure.

However, there are also a number of undocumented asylum seekers living in The Hague. Their lives are extremely complicated as their applications may have already been rejected and many are waiting for a two-year period to elapse in order to be able to reapply for asylum. This makes their residence in the country illegal, which as a corollary means they are not allowed to work, live or receive social benefits in the Netherlands. As they have nowhere else to go and the situation in their home countries is deteriorating, many end up seeking shelter in empty buildings, such as churches, old factories, storage buildings amongst others, and live exclusively on charity from activists and NGOs providing supplies, medical care and legal advice.

LUC Humanity and LUC Volunteering are thus focusing on tar-geting their works at these refugees, refugees who live in our own neighborhoods in The Hague, by providing donations and language classes, to mention some. Additionally, members of the LUC staff, headed by Ann Wilson, are intending to start a project to involve these committees to provide help and assistance to refugees who have already been given asylum and live close to LUC – so that students can positively contribute to their arrival in the Netherlands, provide Dutch classes and integrate them through other social activities.

GRENZELOZE SOLIDARITEIT IN EEN GRENZELOOS EUROPA LIMITLESS SOLIDARITY IN A LIMITLESS EUROPE

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TEXT BY BOB PIERIK

Life after LUC is illuminating. I broke down the barriers of the bubble and now I see clearly: there is more to life than that student existence in The Hague or that proto-diplomat lifestyle we have always been so fond of. Or at least I think that is what you expect to hear from a ‘life after LUC’ col-umn.

In reality, life is not that different. I am, like I once was at LUC, a new stu-dent at a new university meeting new people. I am even moving to a con-tainer-apartment like I did in my (first) first year. Just google Stamkartstraat, the original residential campus (you know, back when LUC was real, and all that veteran alumni braggadocio.) University life is kind of cyclical.

That is also because in many ways, the Dutch university system is just plain silly. They chopped up the old four year degrees into Bachelors of three year and Masters of one or two year, for the sake of sounding international. Before this happened, anyone with a university degree would have spent at least four years in college (if not way more), so nowadays you still need at least a Master’s degree for an entry-level job.

So you when you graduate, it feels a bit like a sham. On the one hand you get to cheer: ‘End of college!’ But then you think critically (like you were taught) and quickly realize: ‘Well, the end of this particular college, because I need to go back to school.’ I envision a terrific bad Hollywood comedy in which a bunch of American students accidently get one of those degrees and then they have to go Back 2 School. Add some of the usual liberal arts humor and hilarity ensues.

But I do not want to sound pessimistic because it is also pretty great. Be-sides the system providing a great moment for internships and gap years (if you can afford those, though), it also forces you to go to a new place, meet new people and discover a new place. If you think about it, LUC is actually structured to force you out of the bubble. Sort of.

A MESSAGE FROM THE ALUMINATI

LUC 39

AGENDA

ACT Aware Starting with a big event, the World Food Day (3/11) where one can experience the world’s dis-tribution of food. There will also be a workshop held that teaches how to make household products (17/11), so join if you always wanted to make your own soap.

Beyond Arts Rehearsals for “The Dining Room” will be going strong, as the final performance is happening in Week 4. Also, we’ll have our first karaoke night of the year at the beginning of the block so come along for some shameless singing with the rest of the community; it pro-mises to be a great night!

Diversity One thing we know for sure is happening is a Borrel with our counterparts at the Bachelors of Inter-national Studies, in week 4. We are also planning a poetry slam. Spoken word poetry is a medium that’s used by many marginalized groups to express their experiences, and we hope to invite some poets and encourage LUC people to participate! Hopefully it will be cozy and awesome!

LUC V In Block 2 we are planning to organize volunteer activities that will help the Bezuidenhout-West neighbrhood which is made up of mostly social housing including many people with refugee status. Hopefully we can also organize volunteer activities such as teaching Dutch and En glish

and working with kids.

A lot of things seem to have occurred during the past 8 weeks since the LUC committees were proven extremely active and exciting... Read on to find out what was going on during Block 1 and what some committees are already pre-paring for the new block!





ACT Aware Highlights include the Indoor Garde-ning Workshop where students were taught how to plant all sorts of seeds. Furthermore, the Green Tour gave students the opportunity to engage with The Hague in a sustainable, green way by visiting various shops, supermarkets, and loca-tions that support sustainable living within the city.

Beyond Arts We organized LUC’s very first StuRoFest with artistic performances all over The Hague, Theatre Arts is having weekly improv sessions, Dance has screened Black Swan, Literary Arts and Music have groups of people regularly coming together and sharing talents. We have also been involved in the Lustrum and are busy pro-moting the artistic side of LUC’s 5th birthday! As you can see, lots of things are happening.

Diversity In Week 3 of Block 1, Diversity organized its first discussion on the topic of labels. It was informal and intimate, but some really interesting conversations started that we are excited to continue, every other week starting in Week 6.

LUC V During “volunteer week” we helped a woman who suffers from severe neuromuscular disease move from her apartment and also visited an elderly home in which we helped organize an arts and crafts afternoon with elderly people.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT BLOCK

Angy Odysseos

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LUC 39

AGENDA

ACT Aware Starting with a big event, the World Food Day (3/11) where one can experience the world’s dis-tribution of food. There will also be a workshop held that teaches how to make household products (17/11), so join if you always wanted to make your own soap.

Beyond Arts Rehearsals for “The Dining Room” will be going strong, as the final performance is happening in Week 4. Also, we’ll have our first karaoke night of the year at the beginning of the block so come along for some shameless singing with the rest of the community; it pro-mises to be a great night!

Diversity One thing we know for sure is happening is a Borrel with our counterparts at the Bachelors of Inter-national Studies, in week 4. We are also planning a poetry slam. Spoken word poetry is a medium that’s used by many marginalized groups to express their experiences, and we hope to invite some poets and encourage LUC people to participate! Hopefully it will be cozy and awesome!

LUC V In Block 2 we are planning to organize volunteer activities that will help the Bezuidenhout-West neighbrhood which is made up of mostly social housing including many people with refugee status. Hopefully we can also organize volunteer activities such as teaching Dutch and En glish

and working with kids.






ACT Aware Highlights include the Indoor Garde-ning Workshop where students were taught how to plant all sorts of seeds. Furthermore, the Green Tour gave students the opportunity to engage with The Hague in a sustainable, green way by visiting various shops, supermarkets, and loca-tions that support sustainable living within the city.

Beyond Arts We organized LUC’s very first StuRoFest with artistic performances all over The Hague, Theatre Arts is having weekly improv sessions, Dance has screened Black Swan, Literary Arts and Music have groups of people regularly coming together and sharing talents. We have also been involved in the Lustrum and are busy pro-moting the artistic side of LUC’s 5th birthday! As you can see, lots of things are happening.

Diversity In Week 3 of Block 1, Diversity organized its first discussion on the topic of labels. It was informal and intimate, but some really interesting conversations started that we are excited to continue, every other week starting in Week 6.

LUC V During “volunteer week” we helped a woman who suffers from severe neuromuscular disease move from her apartment and also visited an elderly home in which we helped organize an arts and crafts afternoon with elderly people.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT BLOCK

Angy Odysseos

PAX| 39LUC

PAXCONTRIBUTORS

EDITORS

JARRE MIDDELJANS (CHAIR)CLAUDIA GALGAU & MARGRIET OLDENBURG (DESIGN COORDINATORS) LEAH-HELAINE EVANS (EDITING COORDINATOR) FILIPPA SOFIA BRAARUD (SOCIAL COORDINATOR) BENE COLENBRANDER (ILLUSTRATION COORDINATOR) FELIPE VAN DE KERKHOF (TREASURER)

DESIGN

LAURA OMBOLET / RANIA MATTAR / SARAH BERMOND

TEXT & VISUALS

CHRISTINE NIKANDER / ANA SOFIA BIZOS / REGIS HIJNEKAMP / BOB PIERIK / TWAN VAN DER TOGT / FRANCISKA GRADZIKIEWICZ / JANNA VAN WERMESKERKEN / LOIC MICHIELS / CRIS VAN EIJK / TUURE-EERIK NIEMI / JELLE DROST & FORTUNA / CASPER GELDERBLOM / URSULA BERGWERFF / ANGY ODYSSEOS / CHRISTIAN SCHWIETER / LUCID’S LUCIO / OMAR-AMIN SAALGREG KEGELS (COVER PHOTO) / MARIEKE SCHMIDT (ILLUSTRATIONS)

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