Issue10

WWW.MANCUNION.COM

28th NOVEMBER 2016 / ISSUE 10 FREE

110th

University sustainability rankings

3rd

The University of Manchester fares poorly in environmental sustainability, while Manchester Metropolitan University ranks an impressive third place: Page 2 Photos: Wikimedia Commons

Chinatown fire kills two

Photo: Junaid Ali Bokhari

Jennifer Sterne Editor-in-chief A huge fire broke out in the early hours of last Friday morning in a building on Nicholas Street, lighting up Chinatown’s imperial arch.

The fire, inside a multi-storey commercial building, started at around 02:15 GMT, according to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue.

Police later confirmed that two bodies were found on the first floor of the building.

Manchester Borough Manager Paul Etches speaking to the media at the scene said the deceased are believed to be homeless. Adding that the building is very unsafe and has been unoccupied and has been for some time.

Police have suggested it is possible the fire may have been started in the building for warmth. The building is known locally to often be inhabited by the homeless. However the police stress that the investigation into the incident has only just begun.

Continued on page two...

Our university has turned into a creche

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Petition started to introduce cyclists’ road insurance

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A student life: treasurer of the cheese and wine society

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News

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ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

University of Manchester ranked among Highlights lowest for environmental sustainability Niamh Cashell Reporter

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Science : May pledges £2bn a year to science

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The University of Manchester was ranked as a third class university in terms of its environmental sustainability in a recent league table published by People and Planet.

Universities are scored on a variety of issues relating to sustainability, including their commitment to reduce the institution’s carbon footprint, as well as the receipt of funding and investment from the fossil fuel industry. Also included are employment factors, such as whether universities pay staff the national living wage.

The University of Manchester was poorly ranked at 110 out of 150 universities, and whilst only 25 per cent of universities were

on track to reduce their carbon emissions by the targeted 43 per cent from 2005 to 2020, we are among the worst.

In stark contrast to our low position, Manchester Metropolitan University ranked at an impressive third place in the league table.

Manchester Metropolitan Vice- Chancellor MalcoLm Press in a statement described the university’s success as, “a wonderful affirmation of the hard work that goes into ensuring that we embed sustainability across everything we do at Manchester Metropolitan”.

Measures implemented by Manchester Metropolitan to increase environmental sustainability include LED lighting,

Continued from page one...

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P18 Photo: Junaid Ali Bokhari

Film: Review: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Chief Inspector Gareth Parkin, said: “These are tragic circumstances and we working to identify the people who were found in the building.

“A joint investigation with GMFRS is in its early stages and we will be carrying out a number of enquiries to establish how this fire started.”

Councillor Paul Andrews, executive member for adult health and wellbeing for Manchester city council said in response to the news: “This is tragic and shocking news and our hearts go out to those affected by it.

“Our message to anyone who is sleeping rough is please come and access the help and support available. We will find you somewhere safe to stay.”

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Arts: Artist Rooms: Andy Whitworth

Photo: London Commodity Markets @Flickr

A large fire broke out near Manchester’s Chinatown overnight, with the police confirming that two bodies were been discovered at the scene

Features:

Warhol at the

self-cleaning glass, and University-wide recycling.

After being scored 91st in the League in 2007, Manchester Metropolitan has worked hard to achieve a top three position for three consecutive years now.

In comparison, the University of Manchester scored particularly badly in its connections with the fossil fuel industry, receiving over £27 million worth of research funding from companies such as BP and Shell.

However, a spokesperson from the University of Manchester criticised the league table, stating “many of the findings in this league table are either out of date, incorrect or measure issues with questionable validity”. For example, Manchester’s environmental strategy reduced both gas and water consumption by 20 per cent from 2012 to 2015.

The spokesperson also highlighted that “Manchester is the only UK University to have social responsibility as a key goal in its strategic plan, of which environmental sustainability is a key part.”

For example, the university has just launched its 10,000 Actions programme encouraging staff to develop their own personal sustainability plan, the largest programme of its kind in the UK. All details of the university’s environmental strategies can be found on the website.

Editor-in-chief: Jennifer Sterne editor@mancunion.com Deputy Editor-in-chief: Elise Gallagher deputyed@mancunion.com Postal address: University of Manchester Students’ Union, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PR Phone: 0161 275 2989 Subeditors: Gemma Sowerby, Robert Parris, Jane Simmons, Hannah Foy, Christopher Tchen, Lauren Bramley, Adriana Elgueta, Lauren Pizzey, Stevie Grieves sub@mancunion.com

Amanda Croome, manager of Manchester’s Booth Centre, which offers advice and support for rough sleepers, speaking to the Manchester Evening News said she was stunned by the tragedy.

She told the MEN: “If it is confirmed that the people who were in the building were homeless it is completely awful. I hope that they find the families and are able to break the news to them in a sensitive way.

“Our thoughts are with those families of those people. Dealing with homelessness in the city has got to be a priority. We have all got to work together.

“It is not about attributing blame. The reasons for homelessness are complex. It is never just one

problem and never just one solution. But there is just an urgent need to end homelessness in Manchester because more of these type of situations will occur.”

Rough sleeping has dominated headlines over the past few years, with the numbers of homeless increasing dramatically. The most recent official figures by council officials, counted 70 rough sleepers on one night. The reality is believed to be much worse.

Roads were closed around the area, as a fleet of fire engines were needed to tackle the blaze, causing traffic chaos throughout Friday morning.

The fire has been brought under control, but a GMFRS spokesperson confirmed the building has “severe damage” although “no further fire damage to other buildings is expected”.

Bus services were severely affected, with both Stagecoach and First Manchester unable to serve Piccadilly Gardens, causing congestion for students attempting to get in from Fallowfield and Black Friday shoppers.

Portland street was closed between Charlotte Street and Princess Street, until around 10:30 Friday morning.

Phil Nelson, group manager of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, confirmed that the use of “two aerial appliances” were used to contain “the fire” and prevent the “spread to other buildings”.

Due to falling debris at the scene, the fire crew were forced to keep back from the severely damaged multi-storey commercial building.

The fire brigade said the blaze was contained by about 6am.

Greater Manchester Police are urging anyone with information about the incident to come forward.

Editorial Adviser: Charlie Spargo

lifestyle@mancunion.com

Head News Editor: Yasmin Mannan Deputy News Editor: Len Cotton Science Editor: Georgie Hines news@mancunion.com science@mancunion.com

Head Music Editor: Joe Casson Deputy Music Editor: Katie Shepherd music@mancunion.com

Head Features Editor: Jacob Nicholas Deputy Features Editor: Emma Shanks features@mancunion.com Head Opinion Editor: Tristan Parsons Deputy Opinion Editor: Marina Iskander opinion@mancunion.com Head Fashion Editor: Sarah Kilcourse Deputy Fashion Editors: Sophie Soar and Talia Lee Skudder fashion@mancunion.com Head Food & Drink Editor: Felix Sanders foodanddrink@mancunion.com Head Film Editor: Eliza Slawther Deputy Film Editor: Shema Begum film@mancunion.com Head Lifestyle Editor: Rachel Adams Deputy Lifestyle Editor: Araddhna Patel

Head Sport Editor: Harry Newton Deputy Sport Editor: Alex Whitcomb University Sport Editor: Ben Ryan sport@mancunion.com Books Editor: Roma Havers books@mancunion.com Games Editor: Stephen Lewis games@mancunion.com Theatre Editor: Brogen Campbell theatre@mancunion.com Arts Editor: Laura Joyce arts@mancunion.com Head Online Editor Rebecca Carr Deputy Online Editor: Holly Smith online@mancunion.com Photographers: Junaid Ali Bokhari Copyright belongs to the photographers. If you wish to reproduce them contact them

The Mancunion is the official student newspaper of the University of Manchester., established in 1969 with a readership of around 20,000. It is printed weekly for 20 editions and is distributed across campus and the city.

All writers are volunteers and new contributors are always welcome. No previous experience is necessary, just a passion for student media and a good story. You can get involved by turning up to a meeting, the times of which are listed on the Mancunion website’s Join page.

We gladly accept contributors from outside the University of Manchester.

The Mancunion is part of the Manchester Media Group, along with Fuse FM and Fuse TV. This body encompasses all of the Union’s official media outlets, and organises training, outside speakers, and social events for Manchester students interested in student media.

If you have any comments, questions, complaints, or would like to contribute, please e-mail the Editorin-chief or Deputy Editor-in-chief.

News 3

ISSUE 12 / 30th JANUARY 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NSS boycott launched as NSS boycott threatens university opts into TEF student economics

society campaign Ethan Davies News Reporter

Charlie Spargo Editorial Adviser The University of Manchester has chosen to enter the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), as the Students' Union launches their NSS boycott campaign, #DontFillItIn. The National Student Survey (NSS), sent to final year students every year by Ipsos MORI to measure their satisfaction with their course and university, is currently used in league tables nationwide to scrutinise universities’ performance, but until now has never been linked to tuition fees.

The NSS will be one of the metrics used as a part of the TEF, a rating system which will give universities either a Bronze, Silver or Gold award and allow them to allocate their fees accordingly, beyond the current £9,000 cap.

The TEF will be based on three metrics — "teaching quality”, utilising the NSS; “learning environment”, including dropout rate as well as technology and extracurricular activities; and “student outcomes & learning gain", including data on employment levels six months after graduation.

It is opposed by many, including the NUS, who not only oppose the permitting of institutions to raise tuition fees even further — as it will further limit disadvantaged students' access to the best-performing universities — but also the TEF's methods.

Up until the deadline to sign up to the TEF at midday on the 26th of January, the University of Manchester was one of few universities not to have declared whether they had opted in or not.

In the same week, the Vice-Chancellor of the Open University, Peter Horrocks, has declared that his institution will not be signing up to the TEF, as he is not confident it “is a true measure of teaching excellence across the whole sector”.

Students from the OU tend to have much more varied and unique backgrounds than those at

mainstream higher education institutions, and Horrocks has outlined his concerns that the benchmarking of the TEF will unfairly reflect on the students of the institution, who often have few or no prior qualifications, occasionally progress from one year to the next at different times, and often study at the same time as working.

He has not ruled out joining at a later date once the trial year is done.

A statement by the University of Manchester Students’ Union outlined that "as passed by 90% of Student Senate" they "are actively boycotting the National Student Survey (NSS) as of Thursday 26th of January.

"This campaign aims to raise awareness that the results of the NSS, taken by final year undergraduates, will be used to justify the government’s plans to allow universities to increase tuition fees again in September."

The aim of an NSS boycott is that incomplete data will invalidate the results, leading to the TEF being seriously hindered or even blocked completely.

Education Officer Emma Atkins added: “We have launched #DontFillItIn to encourage students to reject filling in the NSS as the University of Manchester has opted into the Teaching Excellence Framework (the TEF) on the 26 January 2017.

"As the University of Manchester has entered the TEF, the NSS will be a source of data that will be used to increase tuition fees. This is a national initiative, with 25 other unions (and counting) taking part.

"We acknowledge that student feedback is very important however and have therefore created an alternative survey called the Manchester Student Survey.”

The University of Manchester confirmed their decision to join the TEF but had no further comment to give at this stage.

The University of Manchester’s Post-Crash Economics Society (PCES) has argued that the boycott of the National Student Survey (NSS), which is backed by the NUS and the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union, threatens one of their key methods of campaigning.

PCES encourage economics students to mark economics teaching down in the survey, hoping that the downward pressure from the Vice-Chancellor’s office on to the department will force some change.

Cahal Moran, the Chairman of PCES, arguing against the boycott of the NSS, said: “I would prefer students to fill out the NSS with a critical mindset than to boycott it”, with Hannah Dewhirst, Head of the PCES Conference Committee, adding “If the point of the NSS is to gain student feedback then I think it’s more effective to use it to give really negative feedback/highlight problems with the course.

Also, not boycotting the NSS doesn’t mean we can’t simultaneously continue to campaign for another, better, kind of student feedback mechanism”.

However, Moran did later recognise that a boycott could be justified as in his view, “the department clearly haven’t listened to the NSS”.

The boycott of the NSS is in response to the government’s plans to allow universities to increase tuition fees from September 2017, depending on their rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The TEF will use the results of the NSS to calculate the ratings of each university. According to their website, the NUS is “campaigning against any rise in fees and calling on the government to abandon its plans.”

Mr Moran, speaking to The Mancunion, said he recognises the fault in the TEF creating a situation where a boycott is considered an option. He says that, “ideally the TEF would not have to exist, but as things are hopefully it will shift the focus away from the TEF and mean universities have to respond more to the demands of students.”

The society aims to change the way economics is taught at university. In their quest to do so, they are attracting more attention than ever in the national media.

One major development has been the publication of a new book last October, ‘The Econocracy: The Perils of Leaving Economics to the Experts’.

Moran describes it as a summary of “our main arguments about the state of economics and why it’s important for everyone that it should be changed.”

It was this book that saw The Financial Times photograph members of the society. Moran calls this “reinvigorating,” adding that,“often it can feel like little is changing in the day-to-day grind of campaigning, but things like the release of the book can help to keep the conversation about reforming economics education going, and hopefully to inform it a little.”

It is this use of the word “grind” that perhaps is most telling. Despite the media attention, very little has changed since PCES started in 2008. Mo-

ran blames “institutional inertia” for this lack of change, alongside “narrow demands of modern top-down research frameworks,” resulting in little plurality in the curriculum, even at the biggest university in the UK.

In spite of this, there have been some victories; BEconSc students can now opt to do a dissertation, as well as the introduction Diane Coyle’s course on the economics of public policy, which Moran is a tutor for. He admits that, “there is still a long way to go, but PCES are pushing for new modules on topics such as economic history and inequality,” in order to make the curriculum more relevant and engaging.

PCES is at interesting point in its recent history, with pressure mounts against the TEF and with an NSS boycott, PCES may need to find new ways to campaign for the change they want.

Responding to these criticisms the University of Manchester Students’ Union Exec team said: “The boycott is a tactic to influence the Teaching Excellence Framework and National Higher Education policy. We completely understand that students also use the NSS to critically analyse their course and to lobby the university. We would at any other time encourage them to do this.

“However there is a one time opportunity to make our voices heard over the TEF which will change Higher Education forever. In order to allow students to still have a voice, we are also launching the Manchester Student Survey which is similar to the NSS but will be used for genuine feedback to improve our education. The survey will launch on the 30th January and we encourage all student to fill it out (as it’s more valuable for ALL students to have their say, not just those who are about to leave), and especially final years, INSTEAD of the NSS.”

NUS react to Ipsos MORI’s early release of the NSS Jennifer Sterne Editor-in-chief The National Student Survey (NSS) was emailed

by Ipsos MORI to final year students before their institutions’ NSS release date, on the 19th of January, a move which has been criticised by the National Union of Students (NUS).

The NSS is aimed at final year undergraduates, and gathers their opinions on their experiences at their institutions. The NSS website sgates this is an “influential source of public information about higher education and gives students a powerful collective voice to help shape the future of their course and their university or college”.

The NUS is boycotting the NSS as the results of

the survey will be one of the ways universities will be assessed on their teaching quality through the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), along with dropout rates and graduate destinations and salaries.

Through the TEF universities will receive a bronze, silver or gold ranking, and these rankings will decide the levels of fee increases each institution can make, with the higher ranked being allowed to charge more.

In a recent article in The Guardian Sorana Vieru, NUS Vice President (Higher Education), said: “The government has left us with no choice. We cannot stand by and allow misinterpreted student feedback to be used as a sly way of raising tuition fees.

That is why, following students voting for this at our national conference, the NUS is coordinating a

national boycott of the NSS.” Vieru responded to the early release of the emails, arguing that this decision was made because “IPSOS MORI is bricking it”.

Vieru stated that “as more unions sign up to the NSS boycott weekly, the impact of mass student action is clearly being felt. It’s really quite concerning that IPSOS MORI are contacting students in advance of their institution’s NSS release date in order to promote the survey. It’s not standard practice, and it’s a clear indication that the boycott is working”.

She added that “students are busy revising for exams and doing their essays. They don’t need to be distracted by panicked pleas to fill out the NSS. There’s a simple solution to this, the government needs to drop the TEF”.

The University of Manchester Students’ Union is also boycotting the NSS, after a motion to join the boycott was passed through senate last semester.

In a statement to The Mancunion the University of Manchester Students’ Union said: “Final years have already been receiving emails from Ipsos MORI asking them to complete the National Student Survey (NSS). We resent that Ipsos MORI are pressuring students to focus on the NSS while stressful exams and assignments are going on.”

The Mancunion contacted Sami Benyahia, Director of Higher Education (HE) Research at Ipsos MORI, but he declined to comment on the situation.

We have also contacted Jo Johnson for a comment, but are yet to receive a reply.

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News

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Students fundraise for landmine-removing charity In the lead up to their main event, the group raise awareness and funds for lifesaving organisation, MAG

Katie Bell News Contributor

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Trump settles lawsuit against Trump University Donald Trump has bailed out his controversial University, Trump U, out of a £25 million lawsuit Tom Patterson News Contributor The US Presidentelect, Donald Trump, has settled a lawsuit brought by students against Trump University for £25 million.

Trump U has faced widespread criticism for failing to deliver on promises to its students and actively encouraging aggressive marketing strategies. Staff were rewarded for hardselling courses to even financially vulnerable adults. Ronald Schnackenberg, a former sales manager at the headquarters in New York, quit in May 2007 because he believed that “Trump University was engaging in misleading,

fraudulent and dishonest conduct”.

It initially offered online classes but soon switched the focus to live seminars and events, which were purchased either on an individual basis or as part of larger package deals. However, according to an article in the New Yorker (2nd of June 2016), from when it started operating in 2005, the company was repeatedly warned by the Attorney General’s office that it was breaking the law by calling itself a university. Universities in New York State have to obtain a charter to be officially recognised.

As a sales manager, Schnackenberg re-

ceived calls from students after they had taken the seminars and said that “in my experience, virtually all students who purchased a Trump University seminar were dissatisfied with the program they purchased”.

Trump had stated he would not settle “out of principle” and had previously criticised one of the judges as being automatically biased against him due to the judge’s Mexican heritage. His lawyers recently filed to postpone the trial date until after his inauguration, in order to give more time for a potential out-of-court settlement.

Having now backtracked on his earlier as-

On Monday 14th of November, students successfully organized a pub quiz, followed by a vibrant club night on the 15th, to raise the profile of landmine-removing charity The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and their upcoming auction.

The quiz took place at the social hub of Fallowfield’s student residence, Squirrels.

Well-attended and enjoyed by all, the quiz proved to be a success. The mix of year groups produced a competitive occasion, as the quiz goers’ knowledge on the 90s was rewarded with a Breakout Game for first place.

While the second-best team walked home with charity gift items, third prize was free entry for the following club night. Tuesday night at Koh Tao was different to those gone before, as the team provided a night to “move for MAG” with all proceeds go-

ing to the charity. Acting as a night of promotion, the team was also proud to give female DJs the spotlight, going against the male-dominated DJ scene in Manchester and in the wider music industry.

The group was extremely happy with the turnout for the events and even more so by the growth in student awareness of the issues that MAG deals with.

The Mines Advisory Group is the international humanitarian charity that co-won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for their contribution to the campaign for the Mine Ban Treaty.

Vietnam and Cambodia are popular destinations for students who have already been travelling or who are looking to discover more of the world after studies. They are also among the main focus countries, where MAG removes mines, rebuilds communities and frees up land for cultivation and construction.

As well as increasing the profile of MAG, the students

are organising a larger scale project. Their efforts will culminate in the Music Beats Mines auction, a 10-day live auction of items donated by artists and celebrities. Like previous years, the auction looks to raise money for the vital Emergency Response teams, which are the first on the scene to advise NGOs and local authorities on how to react to landmine incidents.

The student group are encouraging people to check out MAG’s website to see for themselves the life-saving work the charity carry out.

They will be releasing allimportant information, such as what items are up for grabs and how to bid, on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

The auction kicks off on 1st of December and closes on the 11th.

“A perfect place to find Christmas presents” they say “while doing your bit to help others”.

sertion to see the case to trial, Trump announced on Twitter; “I settled the Trump University lawsuit for a small fraction of the potential award because as President I have to focus on our country.” He later added; “The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!”

Although the case did not make it to trial in the end, the shadow of the lawsuit will no doubt remain over Trump as his inauguration approaches.

Photo: Katie Bell

Preview: Interfaith Evening – ‘We Stand Together’

Event held to forge solidarity between different faiths Yasmin Mannan News Editor On Wednesday 7th December, the Students’ Union, Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and Faith Network 4 Manchester, as part of a wider community week, will be hosting ‘We Stand Together’ — an event to promote community Photo: Students’ Union

cohesion and celebrate the diversity of faiths in Manchester.

Among the organisers of the event are Rabbi Warren Elf and award-winning novelist Qaisra Shahraz, who The Mancunion interviewed in March.

There will be talks by students of different faiths, prompting discussions of shared

values and beliefs and promoting messages of peace and unity. An abundance and variety of wonderful food will also be provided.

Manchester is the second most diverse city in the UK, and an interfaith event is an important way to showcase the cohesion of different faiths within the city. In a particularly

politically and culturally divisive climate, interfaith events remind us that we have much more in common than that which divides us.

‘We Stand Together’ will take place in the Council Chambers in the Students’ Union from 6pm–8pm on 7th of December. Everyone is welcome.

News 5

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

32,000 sign petition in favour of proposition to charge cyclists road insurance Drivers are pushing for cyclists to pay for insurance and hold a license to use public roads

Photo: John Loo @ Flickr

Len Cotton Deputy News Editor A petition created on change.org to pass legislation to charge cyclists road insurance and make them hold a legal cycling licence has received over 32,000 signatures. The petition was created by a faction of angry motorists who claimed to be ‘fed up’ of cyclists disobeying the rules of the road.

This comes after Theresa May has been pressurised to propose changes to try and increase road safety and awareness amongst cyclists after 21,287 bike-related accidents occurred in 2014 alone.

The proposal is being pushed by the group to be debated in Parliament as many drivers feel that they are being unfairly penalised in cycling-related accidents, when it is actually the cyclist who is at fault.

The petition’s creator, Owen McDermott stated, “If a cyclist throws him or herself into the back of a stationary motor vehicle, who’s to blame? Not the cyclist. The driver of the motor vehicle would have to pay their own excess to repair the damages” However, many students have come forward in opposition to this campaign, feeling that increasing the cost of cycling would be an act of unjust discrimination against those who cannot afford to drive.

With the cheapest car insurance quotes often totalling approximately £800 per year, bus passes £200 and railcards £25 per year, cycling

is the cheapest method of transport available to students and young people.

After Manchester council have spent the last two years refurbishing Oxford Road to accommodate for cyclists travelling from Fallowfield to the city centre, the proposal has aroused a large amount of controversy.

Second year History and Politics student, Beth, said: “By making people pay for licences and regulating cyclists more it would put me and probably many more people off cycling as they have chosen to cycling as a cheap and easy option of transport.”

If prices for cyclists’ road insurance and licenses are to be anything similar to that of cars, then bike-users could be looking at paying an extra £1,000 — almost ten times that of a good quality road bike.

What is more, the proposition to implement road insurance and license fees for cyclists poses another blow to an already declining green initiative in Britain. After the Department for Energy and Climate Change faced severe cut backs upon Theresa May becoming Prime Minister students at Manchester have been questioning how the petition’s content could threaten the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Indeed, Cyclingscheme.co.uk released the statistics that 44,000 tonnes of CO2 would be saved each week if all 5 mile commutes in England were made by bike. Furthermore, as cycling is a healthier alternative to driving or catching public transport, their research also found that £83m was saved annually by cycle commuters tak-

Teenagers stabbed outside Manchester college Two students are seriously injured after they were stabbed outside of Manchester college.

Jenny Sterne Editor-in-Chief Greater Manchester Police are appealing for information after two teenagers were stabbed outside Manchester college.

Police were called at around 11.10pm, Thursday 24 of November 2016, after it was reported that two teenagers had been stabbed on outside the college on Chorlton Street, North Manchester.

A 17 year-old boy was taken to hospital with a stab would to his chest and an 18 year-old was taken with stab wounds to his back. Both received treatment for their injuries and are now in stable conditions.

Eye-witnesses told the Manchester Evening News the violence broke out due to a ‘row over a girl’ during their morning break.

A 17 year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of attempted

murder. He is currently in police custody for questioning. Greater Manchester Police are continuing to appeal for any witnesses to come forward.

Lisa O’Loughlin, principal at Manchester College, said on the day: “An incident occurred this morning at our Shena Simon campus in which two of our students were injured.

Students reported that some of the campus remained in lockdown for about an hour after the attack.

Others were advised to stay in their lessons, before the campus was eventually closed for the rest of the day.

Greater Manchester Police have said they recovered a knife from the scene and are appealing for anyone with information to come forward.

Chief Inspector Gareth Parkin, said: “We currently have two people with serious injuries in hospital so it is imperative that

anyone with information comes forward and helps us with our investigation.

“We have recovered a knife from the scene, which will be forensically examined but we still need people to contact us with any information that they have.

“I’d like to reassure the community that we have a number of highly skilled officers working on this investigation and will continue to carry out extensive enquiries.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting reference number 757 of 24/11/16 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Photo: Google Maps

ing one day less off sick each year.

The government are yet to respond to the petition, but with its popularity increasing at a rapid rate, it could well be possible that extra charges for cyclists will be implemented in the future.

Photo: William Murphy@Flickr

UoM Feminist Collective puts on groundbreaking ‘BAME voices’ poetry night The Feminist Collective BAME Officer spoke to The Mancunion about the importance of representing minorities.

Yasmin Mannan News Editor On Thursday 25th of November, The University of Manchester’s Feminist Collective put on the pioneering poetry night ‘BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) voices’.

The night focussed on poetry dealing with issues which disproportionately affect the BAME community but everyone was welcome.

There was an impressive setlist of professional and amateur poets, including poets from The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University, who presented spoken-word, prose, and verse pieces on topics such as police brutality, cultural identity, and Donald Trump.

Every piece that was read was met with a warm reception from the full room. The audience was made up primarily of students, including but not restricted to members of The University of Man-

Photo: UoM Feminst Collective

chester’s Creative Writing Society and ex-part time Students’ Union officers, as well as members of the Feminist Collective.

The organiser of the night and BAME officer of UOM Feminist Collective, Seevena Raghubeer, told The Mancunion: “I started ‘the Feminist Collective Presents’ to provide a platform for marginalised groups to share their thoughts, feelings and ideas on topics that disproportionately af-

fect us.

“The first event, BAME voice, was even more important to do because of recent events that have left the BAME community worried and fearful for the future.

It is a space for feeling safe, loved and most importantly, empowered in our own skin.”

The excellent reception and response to the empowering evening means that it will likely be repeated in the future.

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Science

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

May pledges £2bn a year to science Theresa May promises an annual £2 billion to scientific research and development (R&D) by 2020 and review of current tax incentives to help the UK’s science and technology industry Georgie Hines Science & Technology Editor

The Prime Minister has announced plans to increase spending in the science and technology sector to “help put post-Brexit Britain at the cutting edge of science and tech”.

Ms May wants to transform Britain into the “global go-to place for scientists, innovators and tech investors”, far from the opinion of the CBI who have said the country is more of a “follower rather than a leader”.

“Today, Britain has firms and researchers leading in some of the most exciting fields of human discovery. We need to back them and turn research strengths into commercial success”, she said.

“That means not only investing more in research and development (R&D), but ensuring we invest that money wisely, supporting technologies and sectors that have the potential to deliver long-term benefits for Britain.”

Continuing, she says that, “it is not about propping up failing industries or picking winners but creating the conditions where winners can emerge and grow.

“It is about backing those winners all the way, to encourage them to invest” “It is about backing those winners all the way, to encourage them to invest in the long-term future of Britain, and about delivering jobs and economic growth to every community and corner

of the country.”

The address, which took place at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference, has come after frustrations have continued to grow over Ms May’s leadership and lack of support for businesses.

Carolyn Fairbairn, the director general of the CBI, has openly slammed the Prime Minister’s stance on business – accusing her of effectively “closing the door” on Britain’s open economy. She also told Labour MP’s that major businesses were becoming increasingly irritated with the Conservative party’s seemingly “big business bad” message.

She said: “The UK will need to work hard to become the frontrunner in global innovation, creating a pioneering economic role for itself that drives prosperity in every corner of the UK.” Research has shown that whilst private R&D spending has risen by 5 per cent in 2015 to £20.9 billion, its share in the national income has remained the same for the last decade.

Professor Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, President of the Royal Society, has also voiced his concern. He told BBC News that, “an influx of money on its own won’t be sufficient in itself if we are to make the best use of this money.

“We need to hire the best talent. Hopefully a lot of that will be home-grown. But there is no substitute for attracting the best in the world so we can be the best in the world.”

In contradiction, Ms May, known for her tough stance on immigration, has spoken on this matter also – stating that to attract the best scientific talent, we had to bring immigration down to “sustainable levels”.

New tax incentives, such as the drop from 20 to 17 per cent by 2020 in corporation tax, is thought to be a way of influencing big companies to stay in the UK after the vote for Brexit.

On this, the Prime Minister has said: “My aim is not simply for the UK to have the lowest corporation tax in the G20, but also one that is profoundly pro-innvovation”.

Poorest countries aim to eliminate fossil fuels Some of the poorest countries in the world, who are heavily affected by increasingly extreme weather conditions, have promised to run on 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050 Tom Patterson Science Reporter

Members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) have announced that they are aiming for 100 per cent renewable energy production for all domestic needs by between 2030 and 2050. The forum is made up of the countries which are “highly vulnerable to a warming planet”.

Some of the countries involved are experiencing extreme weather conditions as a result of climate change. According to the BBC, Mattlan Zackhras, a representative from the Marshall Islands, said: “We are pioneering the transformation towards 100 per cent renewable energy, but we want other countries to follow in our footsteps in order to evade [the] catastrophic impacts we are experiencing through hurricanes, flooding and droughts.”

Not all CVF countries have fully developed energy infrastructures, so part of the plan involves creating not only power stations but the power lines as well. According to an article from The Guardian in July, one in five people in the world is still without power. The same article stated that “investment in renewable energy was higher in the world’s poorest countries than the richest ones for the first time in 2015.” Recent advances in energy storage and transportation are also helping to boost the renewable energy

market.

A lot of the finance required for the CVF’s plan will be coming from richer nations as part of the Paris climate deal. There is however some uncertainty over the future of the USA’s involvement.

Although the country had promised $3 billion towards the green climate fund, and has currently paid around $500 million, Donald Trump plans to stop further US contributions towards global warming initiatives.

Even with concerns over investment, there is a growing movement towards green energy and it is often smaller innovators who are leading the change. In 2002, self-taught William Kamkwamba achieved fame by building a windmill out of junk to bring electricity to his Millawian village. He had to drop out of school when his family could no longer afford the £50 a year fee but maintained his education by going to his local library. Aged 14 at the time, he came across an image of a windmill in a science text book and, having seen the potential for bringing power and pumping water, he decided to build one himself.

As the Marrakesh conference draws to a close, the CVF has received widespread support for its pledge. Miguel Arias Canete, the EU climate commissioner said: “The commitments made by the Climate Vulnerable Forum today are both impressive and inspirational.”

With or without all the promised financial support, it looks like the CVF will be leading the way towards positive change.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Photo: ukhomeoffice@ Flickr

Student’s new cane design to change visually impaired lives Georgie Hines Science & Technology Editor

Vasileios Tsormpatzoudis, a PhD student and the University of Manchester’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, has upgraded the traditional white cane used by the blind and visually impaired by adding a sensor.

He explains, “mySmartCane allows visual impaired people to sense their environment beyond the physical length of their cane.

“The user is alerted to approaching objects using gentle audio, rather than waiting for the cane to physically bump into the object. Navigation is therefore easier and much faster.”

Mr Tsormpatzoudis explained that this project felt very personal to him. He said: “My main inspiration was my mother, who has retinis pigmentosa. I have seen first-hand the struggle visual impaired people have to put up with when they try to navigate with the traditional white cane.

“In preparation for the project, I conducted many conversations with existing white cane users. The key takeaway was that my modernised white-cane had to be as simple and lowcost, so I used 3D printing and cheap sensors to create an ultrasonic sensory ball, which attaches to the bottom of most existing white-canes.”

The sensor used is an ultrasonic ball that can measure the distance of the cane from surrounding objects. It then converts the data into a sound that can be heard with a bone-conducting headphone.

This means the user can gauge the object distance by the frequency of the sound without becoming too distracted by the environment and reliant on support from others.

Talking of the future, Mr Tsormpatzoudis said: “I do have many ideas to refine the design further. For example, I want to add an additional sensor to detect overhead obstacles such as sign-posts or doorways which could cause injury and are impossible to detect with a normal white-cane. Another innovation could be using vibration rather sound.”

Mr Tsormpatzoudis’ project supervisor at National Instruments, where the design was made, Richard Roberts has said: “It’s also a testament to practical engineering skills taught at The University of Manchester, the power of National Instruments technologies and, of course, Vasileios’ unbounded creativity. I think this highlights that Manchester is a hotbed of engineering talent.”

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Feature

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

“You’re a total cuck mangina” We take a look at some of our favourite comments

Photo: Tookapic@Pexels

Jacob Nicholas Features editor

W

e all know them. You watch a video, you read an article, you foolishly scroll down and there they are — the comments.

On The Mancunion comment section you can use any username you like, and you do not even need to use a real email address.

We have had our fair share of ridiculous, abusive, and just plain bizarre comments. Not all of them are trolling, or being deliberately provocative, many clearly just disagree with our writers and choose to voice their frustration in a petty, personal way, but many are worth reading. Here are some of our favourites: ‘guz’ on ‘A response to ‘Dear fresher females studying STEM’’: “It’s hilarious how you can sense the indignation and anger of this prissy writer grow through the article. By the end she is starting to realise that being born with a vagina entitles her to nothing... Shameful article overall and shows just how conceited feminist has made many women.”

‘Rachel’ on ‘Are celebrities ruining Sport Relief?’: “Harry Newton, how you could write this is beyond me. What Eddie is doing is utterly inspiring. I feel dirty even commenting on this because you were quite obviously controversy-fishing when you wrote it. But I cannot stand by and watch a bored, and to be quite frank, boring student write this in the hope of losing his virginity tonight. Harry, Sport Relief is a fantastic cause and it is people like you who detract from it by writing such sceptical garbage, not people like Eddie.”

“She is starting to realise that being born with a vagina entitles her to nothing...” ‘tonysprout’ on ‘The Executive Team doesn’t need a Men’s Officer’ (an article from 2011): … “’men are already vastly over represented…’ Yes, by patriarchs that believe that women are special snowflakes and therefore need more protection than men. IOW, women can’t hold their own and will never be equal. They are to be treated and protected like children. I see I’m a little late, but the date at the top of this page is Nov 22, 2016. Today’s date, so I’ll post anyway.”

The election of Trump has also attracted many commentators: ‘firstpostcommenter’ (who was second) on ‘Two

slogans that define our world’: “I am not saying that all Muslims are Terrorists but all Terrorists are Muslims Why arent politicians like Hillary saying openly that All Terrorists are Muslims....

People dont [sic] want to hear Political correctness...they want to hear ‘actual’ correctness i.e. to say things as they are”.

‘NosSig’ on ‘Harvard suspends men’s soccer team over sexual comments’: “Hey JM… just a friendly reminder, no one cares about your attempts at virtue signalling”.

“i bet you wear your wifes dresses when she’s at work .lmao at you” ‘eric strickland’ on the same article: “you’re a total cuck mangina,i bet you wear your wifes dresses when she’s at work .lmao at you”.

One inexplicable comment thread is this frankly bizarre incident where somebody impersonated one of our writers and… her mum: ‘P’ on ‘53% of University of Manchester students in favour of monarchy’: “What a well written article”.

‘Stevie’: “Thanks Mom – yours truly Stevie”.

Why would anyone bother doing that? However, perhaps more damaging was when someone pretended to be Naa Acquah, the SU’s General Secretary. Or rather, it might have been damaging, if they could spell her name properly: ‘Naa Acqua’ on ‘Response to SU apology’: “There is nothing to settle. You made a colossal blunder and you can’t even apologise with dignity. This article just makes you look bad. Off to a great start guys.”

Opinion naturally gets by far the most comments and debates, and so by extension the most trolls.

However, these trolls appear to be a cut above, at least in their eloquence and seeming lack of blind rage: ‘John Smith’ on ‘Can The Labour Party sell 21st century socialism?’: “I must say I loved this article, my favourite kind of opinion piece is so often the type that gives me about as much information as i would obtain from the back of a penguin wrapper!

Kind regards John Smith” ‘Catmanface’ on ‘Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell’s disrespect for the student body’: “The only thing we deserve in this situation is better journalism. Aside from the author’s apparent use of this article to practice for his Key Stage 2 ‘how to use analogies’ homework, he clearly isn’t in the real world.

Another anology might pertain to Mr Nicholas reminiscing of an inept Brutus, stabbing his friend in the

back but failing, with neither grace or charm, to kill her, and instead biting the hand that feeds him.”

‘John Marchant’ on ‘The fight for the European Union is not over’: “Oh stop whinging. If you really want to be in the EU then take the opportunity afforded you now. Move to the EU country of your choice and settle and establish yourselves there.

In 2 years or whenever we leave you will have the time to take residency and then its pretty much guaranteed you can stay.

Its simple really, or is this just Remoaners or Remainiacs having a whinge who will never actually get off their arse and do it. Oh i forgot its Manchester, of course it is.”

Although this relative politeness sometimes slips: ‘Student’ on ‘An NUS women’s officer is unnecessary’: “#I’mHolierThanThouTriggered #DoesNotUnderstandTheMeaningOfOpinionArticlesTriggered #EditorsAreBiasedAsTheyLetOpinionArticlesContrayToMineBePublishedTriggered” However, whilst trolls are often largely harmless, pointless rage, they can commit terrible acts. Research by CiviliNation found that 12.9 per cent of people have been physically threatened online, breaking the barrier between online and offline life.

Trolls are also becoming more dangerous — both because they are getting more aggressive and because we are putting more and more of ourselves online. According to trolling expert Professor Joseph Reagle simply saying “don’t feed the trolls” is “no longer sufficient. The trolls in the 90s are not the same trolls we have today.”

One example of just how dangerous trolls can be

“The trolls in the 90s are not the same trolls we have today” is Gamergate. A movement ostensibly about improving ethics in videogame journalism, in practice it has seen online trolls carry out a systematic, blatantly sexist campaign of abuse. It has led to several women being forced to flee their homes after their personal details were published online and they received countless threats of rape and violence.

“Next time she shows up at a conference we... give her a crippling injury that’s never going to fully heal... a good solid injury to the knees. I’d say a brain damage, but we don’t want to make it so she ends up too retarded to fear us” was one such threat, aimed at developer Zoe Quinn, one of the women who had to change address. Another, Anita Sarkeesian, had to cancel a planned talk, after an anonymous threat that “a Montreal Massacre style attack will be carried out against the attendees, as well as the

students and staff at the nearby Women’s Center” – referring to a 1989 antifeminist massacre where 14 women were killed. Even controversial conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, who was a supporter of the movement, had to cancel an event after a bomb threat.

But what makes people become a troll? According to a variety of recent studies, there appear to be two main reasons. Firstly, the anonymity provided by many websites removes people’s inhibitions along with their identity — something called deindividuation. Just as crowds can turn into violence and rioting, people online feel they are free to do as they please, with little real consequence.

Secondly, trolling makes people feel better about

“A Montreal Massacre style attack will be carried out against the attendees, as well as the students and staff” themselves — an act of digital narcissism like the selfie. Trolls are likely unable to command the same attention or get the same sense of power and control in real life, so they exert it as much as possible online. The average troll is young, male, white — look at Linford House, who burned a poppy in protest against “squadey cunts,” or Sean Duffy, who trolled the Facebook pages of dead teenagers.

Of course there are exceptions, but in the bulk of situations these trolls are individuals wanting attention. They are scared by the slow ending of their traditionally dominant position in society and the increasingly poor economic prospects of our generation and so they lash out.

So, while trolls are often hilarious, they can just as often be terrifying. What they are not, however, is evil — the ones who commit the more despicable acts are just deeply troubled and desperate for attention in order to feel good about themselves. So next time somebody calls you a “total cuck mangina”, tell them to engage in some more positive digital self-love, to whack out that Snapchat dog filter and take some selfies. But do not try to respond to them seriously — you would not want to feed the troll.

All usernames and comments appear here exactly as they were originally posted

Feature 9

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

A student life: treasurer of the cheese and wine society

Diego Garcia & Camp Thunder Cove: The UK’s Dark Secret Madeleine Jones uncovers the truth behind the UK’s dealings with Diego Garcia

Photo: Siddhu Sundaram

Stevie Grieves Features Contributor

B

efore we start, Ollie Carr — treasurer of the University of Manchester Cheese and Wine Society — wants to get straight to the important issues: the Cheese and Wine society does provide vegan cheese.

“It’s expensive,” he laughs, “and no-one ever eats it!” For a society that really does what it says on the tin, you might think this dairy-centric crowd would not be the place for a vegan, but the emphasis of the group is really on getting as many people as they can involved — so soft drinks and even vegan cheese are on the menu!

Ollie’s commitment to making the society one for everyone is clear when he talks about the events they’ve already held this year. “The society has a really simple ethic — meet up in a room or a bar or a venue, maybe a room in the SU or a bar in central Manchester” to do what they do best: eat cheese and drink wine!

So what can we expect from the events, are they formal and into discussing the quality of last year’s Beaujolais, or are they more relaxed about it all?

“We’re not poncy, you can wear what you want, do what you want, speak to who you want, we just provide the cheese and wine! It’s completely a social thing… we’re not trying to educate you or enforce anything you, make you drink different things at different times, if you have any questions we’re happy to talk about the specifics of it, but it’s just a really chilled vibe!”

With this, it’s no wonder that the events the society holds are extremely popular among the student body; the past two events have sold out in under five minutes.

“The tickets have gone absolutely flying, which from a treasurer’s perspective is maybe not good, because we could be selling more tickets and charging more, but that’s not the ethos of the society. We just aim to break even, and if we do make a small amount of profit, we put it all back into better, subsidised events, so then we can bring the prices down even lower.”

“We had our first event at the SU; it was the first event so we had it as a bring-your-own bottle event, I think it was only two or three pounds, and we provided the cheese! It was quite a small event, only about 40 or 50 people, which sold out immediately and went really well!”

The next event they held was a slightly bigger affair at the Liquor Store in Spinningfields, which again sold out and had in attendance near to 80 fans of cheese and wine.

I want to know if the same people tend to go the events or is it easy to meet new people each time, and Ollie laughs: “Sometimes you see familiar faces, there are some real cheese and winos who will probably be on the committee next year, who probably deserve the committee place more than me!”

To read the rest of our interview with Ollie, and all our other features, head to www.mancunion.com

Y

ou may know about the island on which, a couple of years ago, one conspiracy theory believed the missing Malaysian airlines flight MH370 to have landed. But I’m not here to talk about that.

Diego Garcia is the biggest island in the Chagos Archipelago, a collection of small islands in the centre of the Indian Ocean. It was formerly occupied by the British and French during a time when slavery still existed. The inhabitants of the island are numbered at roughly 2,000. That is until 1967 when the UK, who still technically owed the island, decided to force the indigenous population to leave so that the USA could build a military base there.

People don’t often realise that during the slavery era, the Caribbean Islands were not the only places to which European colonisers took those from African countries. They were also taken to islands in the Indian Ocean to work on plantations.

As far as historians can tell, many Indian Ocean islands were uninhabited before European colonisers decided to make use of them. European powers took people from their colonies, including India, East Africa and even China, to work on the Indian Ocean islands, hence why countries in this region are now so ethnically, linguistically and religiously diverse.

The Chagos Islands are a key example of this. When slavery ended and the population continued living there, they made a happy home. Elsewhere, many of the islands were actually submerged, meaning that Diego Garcia had the highest land mass and was therefore the most populous of them all.

Since the early 18th century, Diego Garcia was a territory of nearby Mauritius where it was governed from. However, Mauritius was not independent from Britain until 1968, so Britain had always technically owned Diego Garcia. One condition of Mauritian independence was that the British gained full control over Diego Garcia, a move which led to the Chagos Islands becoming part of the

Photo: Jeff Laitila@Flickr

British Indian Ocean Territory.

This was when things started to get tactical. There was a reason European colonisers chose to colonise many of the Indian Ocean islands.

They were strategic gems. Located with direct access to southern Asia, eastern Africa, Australasia and the Middle East, this gave the colonisers reliable control over their colonies.

By the time the British had full control over Diego Garcia, the Middle East was their key target in mind.

The UK leased Diego Garcia to the US, who needed a military base that was close (but not too close) to the Middle East. A remote location was perfect.

Just one problem: the people who lived on the island. The answer? Simple – remove them.

UK and US officials removed all Chagossian people using brute force.

It’s clear that the British government still saw the Chagos people as colonial subjects. The remote location was chosen deliberately. They knew no one would notice or care.

As a privileged Westerner, one cannot even begin to imagine the horrific ordeal the Chagossian people, and those living on the surrounding Chagos islands, had to endure. Western authorities forced them onto ships, similar to those used to transport slaves hundreds of years ago, like cattle to take them to slums in either Mauritius or the Seychelles. Before boarding the ships, pets were gassed to death in front of their owners. The Chagossian people were simply left on the shores of foreign islands with no money and no help from anyone.

The Mauritian government has never seemed to care for the Chagossians either. Compensation of £650,000 was given to the Mauritian government in 1972 to be distributed amongst the Chagossians. It wasn’t given until five years later, and that amount of money across 2,000 people is hardly enough to start life in a brand new country against ones own will. Regardless of how much money the Chagossians were given, nothing could erase their trauma.

So what has the US military been up to on the island since the military

base was built?

According to the website Commander, Navy Installations Command, the mission on Diego Garcia is “to provide logistic support to operational forces forward deployed to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf AORs [areas of responsibility] in support of national policy objectives”.

The base is known as Camp Thunder Cove (formerly Camp Justice) and has become a reportedly multibillion-dollar Navy and Air Force base for the Middle East and its supplies. It has been essential to the US’s role in the Gulf War, the Iraq and Afghan Wars, and intervention in Libya and Syria. According to Global Security, as of May 2016, the island has 1,700 military personnel and 1,500 civilian contractors. Most are American, with a handful from Britain.

Numerous reports from publications such as Time Magazine, The Guardian, The Telegraph and many

“In no way will we be accepting this as an exchange of our right to return” other less-established media sites have gained evidence indicating that the island has been used for torturing terror suspects as part of the USA’s “Global War on Terror”.

Unlike other torturing sites (such as Guantanamo Bay), the media can get nowhere near it. It is strictly off-limits to any non-military personnel. However, in recent years, many images have been in public circulation, due the rise of the internet.

After decades of tireless campaigning by the Chagossian people, last week the British government announced yet again, unsurprisingly, that it would not allow the islanders to return to their home. The only way

they could do is if the USA and UK decided that they no longer needed the military base and, realistically, this won’t happen any time soon.

Though, on a more positive note, it was announced that £40 million would be given in compensation.

The sad truth is that, for the Chagossian people, compensation will never rectify the damage already done.

Speaking about the compensation, Allen Vincatassin, president of the provisional government of the Chagos Islands, told the BBC: “We will need to discuss further [with the UK] how this money will be spent to change the lives of our people. This should have been given to us years ago. But in no way will we be accepting this as an exchange of our right to return.”

The British government maintains that it did not act illegally by forcibly removing the Chagossian people.

But since when did something being legal automatically make it right? If dragging people from their homes and forcing them into slums is legal, then perhaps it is the British government’s moral standing that we should be calling into question.

Intergenerational grief from the trauma still hangs over all Chagossian people. Their fight is nowhere near over. Approximately 4,000 Chagossians have been born into exile. When Chagossians talk of their family members dying, though it may be in medical terms (often due to the poverty of living in slums), they often add that they died of “sadness”.

It is a little too early to fully know or understand the magnitude of President-elect Trump’s foreign policy.

However, if his cabinet is anything to go by, the USA’s stance on the Middle East isn’t likely to soften.

We tend to think of colonisation as something of a time gone by, given that slavery was abolished well over 150 years ago, but what happened to the people of the Chagos Islands is clear evidence that Western powers are still trying to exercise their colonial rule.

Opinion

10

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Have an opinion?

Come to our meetings: Monday 5:15pm, first floor of the Students’ Union

Role models: Trump and Farage Elrica Degirmen Contributor These days, people are becoming increasingly sick of politicians that represent establishment interests and repeat party lines without passion behind what they are saying. Irrespective of your political beliefs, no one can deny that both Nigel Farage and President-elect Donald Trump managed to connect with ordinary people, in the UK and US respectfully. In pursuit of their goals, both beat the odds against them: Farage gathered public backing for the UK to leave the European Union and Trump made it to the White House.

Lessons can be learned from the events of this year. It signals a change in way we view our representatives: we do not want prim and perfect individuals.

Rather, we prefer individuals who have battled through setbacks, made mistakes, and are ready to admit that they are imperfect people. Many accuse politicians of being out-of-touch, but it takes a lot for a politician to admit that they have made mistakes and then not let it get in the way of their work.

“We do not want our representatives to be prim and perfect” It is true that politicians are in a position of high authority. Naturally, we would expect them to behave appropriately and show respect. But there is a fine line between being diplomatic to all parties and being a push-over.

David Cameron’s leadership of the Conservative Party was case-in-point of the latter. He appealed to the centre of the party and facilitated a broad church of views. This encouraged resentment from traditional conservatives within the party, with many feeling that the Tories no longer stood for their values.

The Labour Party is arguably having the opposite problem.

Many ardent Corbynites feel that Jeremy Corbyn is returning the party back to its old working class roots, but much of the Parliamentary Labour Party feel that electability is more important. It is often said that it is better to be in government than to be in opposition.

I beg to differ.

This is an excerpt. To read Elrica’s full article, head to www.mancunion.com

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Our university has turned into a creche

Opinion Writer Colm Lock argues that the student body, and our generation as a whole, has become over-sensitive Well, I hope you are all bloody proud of yourselves. Well, are you? You have behaved like petulant, spoilt children, and there is no one to blame for this mess but yourselves. You bunch of self-centred, virtue signalling, “oh look at me I’m so righteous” students. You as a group have, over the course of the last year and a half, shown exactly why the older generation seem to have such contempt for the young of today. To be honest, I do not blame them. I wince at the thought of being associated with the student body as a whole. You must be questioning why this is — why I, a fellow student, am so disappointed with the behaviour of my peers. It is because ever since the general election back in May 2015, you have all been shown to have the emotional maturity and selfcontrol of a tantrum-throwing toddler.

“We face unparalleled levels of idiocy from students at every turn” We are in a dire situation in the western world. We face unparalleled levels of idiocy and arrogance from students at every turn. I will start with the most odious event that has occurred recently — the fracas in the SU on the US election night.

The strength of feeling involved was not proportional to the effects on the people in that room. I entered the bar that night at around 11 and struggled to find anyone who was actually American, or knew about the election in enough detail to warrant them staying up all night to see the results through. It was simply a gathering of people who wanted good old red vs. blue drama, with their goody Clinton vs. the baddy Trump. Few people there actually understood what was going on, as was

Photo: Chris Beckett @ Flickr

made apparent by the loud cheers following anything remotely in the Democrats’ favour happened — even if it was just a Senate seat.

Now my candidate, Gary Johnson, did not win. In fact he only got 5 million votes.

However, did this mean that my disagreement with the other sides boiled over into a physical expression of rage? No, because I am a bloody grown up. Even though I am an American who travels to the States regularly and has family who may suffer because of Trumps victory, I did not feel the need to lash out against the tit wearing a flag and donning the infamous red cap. Neither, however, did I feel the need to publicly revel in the loss of Clinton and so antagonise her already defeated supporters — I am not in the business of kicking people when they are down. Clearly the Trump side — none of whom were American — were not gracious in their victory and behaved like asses the entire night.

However, that does not excuse the behaviour of the Clinton camp, with their throwing of water and physical abuse.

We saw similar behaviour from youths when the Conservatives won a majority back in 2015 and some young people seemed to lose their collective minds.

They protested, blocked London’s streets, and some even vandalised a war memorial.

But, the prize for biggest collective idiots of the year goes, once again, to the SU. These people, our student leaders, do nothing to calm down the student body and bring them back to reality. They are alarmist and quick to label enemies. They seek to coddle us from opinions deemed “dangerous.” Anyone who disagrees with them is immediately a racist, sexist, transphobic, islamophobic Nazi. Yet, in spite of such ridiculous accusations, there are those who will pick up this mantra and parrot it, only spreading the plague of regressive ideas further. These are the sorts of people who would probably stand up for participation trophies and reward failure.

Now, I may still not be getting through to you about the problem with our age

group. So, I will take a different tack to get my message across. For all the many reasons we are an embarrassment, however, there is one reason which pervades all aspects of society and demonstrates the sickness that these types are helping to inflict on our society. From both the right and the left, we are seeing the triumph of cultural Marxism, whereby everything in life is now political. It is a very sorry state of affairs when people can feel threatened by a statue, get triggered by being called “he” or “she”, and even consider normal Halloween costumes offensive. Why does our generation believe in these things?

Well it is simple. We have never faced or seen real adversity or experienced a world on someone else’s terms. We have grown up in a world free from large scale tyranny, free from conflicts near to home, free from actual racism, bigotry and oppression.

“What’s next? Will I be told that I need to use gender neutral pronouns when addressing my cat?

So, what we now do is invent these grievances. We concoct and conjure up problems where there need be none. It shows a glaring level of ignorance on the part of the student body that they are quite happy to isolate themselves so completely from the real world — leaving university is going to come as a shock. We now politicise everything in society. What’s next? Will I be told my favourite tea and scones are racist and imperialist? Will I be told that I need to use gender neutral pronouns when addressing my cat?

Where will it end? And when will we all grow up?

Consumerism: always on the rise From politics to the holiday season, globalisation and consumerism have given celebrity culture too much control over our lives Marina Iskander Deputy Opinion Editor

As November comes to an end, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving and “the day after Thanksgiving.” For some reason, so do we. Their four-day weekend makes Black Friday the perfect day to attract customers with low prices and crazy offers.

Here in the UK, with no historical nor logistical reasons to observe this day, shops are having their very own Black Friday sales.

On the either side of the pond, one thing is for sure: consumer culture is more alive than ever.

We were born and raised in the age of consumerism and ultimately, we know no other way of life. Hypocritically, our complaints have been over-done by now.

But, as time goes by, we get more and more sucked into this excessive lifestyle: Kylie Jenner has got us waiting on her lipsticks, Kanye West on his Yeezys, and Rihanna on her Creepers. Just last Saturday, customers waited outside of FootLocker from 8am to get the new Adidas Ultra-boosts.

They sold out so fast that even an employee working there at the time did not get the chance to grab a pair — all this because Kanye wears them.

Producing limited quantities of celebrity-created, or even merely celebrity-endorsed, products for a limited amount of time almost makes the matter one of obsession. Out of personal experience, and after failing three times already, I am going to keep trying to catch at least one Kylie Cosmetics release.

There is something about the thrill of “winning” and getting the lipsticks in the

six minutes before they sell out that makes you forget just how much your spending, or, more importantly, that you are getting really competitive about an over-hyped make up collection. It makes you feel like you are part of something bigger, that you are in a community with millions of others who share the same interests.

Apps such as Snapchat and Instagram bring celebrities so much closer to us, the images of their lives become far easier to relate to. It becomes an almost personal endeavour to support Kylie on her newest launch. Even these apps — which are, ironically, free — flood us with advertisements at every tap. It is a process of globalisation

“Our consumerism of popular culture, has crept its way into the political sphere” that reaches so far into our pockets, we don not even seem to notice.

Our obsession with celebrity lifestyle has even found its way into the recent US elections. After the results, many turned to analyse Hilary Clinton’s heavily reliance on celebrity endorsement to generate youth appeal. For example, Beyoncé often performed at Clinton’s rallies, casting a different light on the presidential candidate’s campaign. This aura of fake political legitimacy “yas queen slay”-ed Clinton all the way to losing.

Photo: Friend Kemosabe @Flickr

Our consumerism, namely that of popculture, has crept its way into the political sphere, almost belittling it. The election was not a pure democratic process — it was a sad, drawn-out reality TV episode.

The world has become so used to Keeping up with the Kardashians that America’s only way of keeping politics interesting was by electing a President who engages in constant Twitter wars with fellow celebrities.

And as much as Trump would like to deny it, this consumer culture is not just harming us, it is also harming the planet.

In fact, the only shred of hope in this constant rise is that consumerism may be reaching the apex after which we can hope it will decline. With rising populations all over the world and the majority of us now increasingly living in urban areas, the dangers of our excessiveness have gone beyond potential threats — they are now a concrete reality.

Consumerism brings with it gas-guzzling cars, plastic water bottles, and takeaway menus. It necessarily displaces money into the hands of the wrong, rather wasteful people. The money we hand over to said-celebrities and designers — some more so than others — goes towards their

animal-tested, toxic-waste-producing products. All the while, we advocate for recycling and reducing our carbon footprint, oblivious to the fact that our daily lifestyle is a threat to life itself. While we often cannot escape the over-powering consumerist narrative, we could at least be more conscious about where we spend our money.

For now, commercialised holidays are just around the corner. Christmas movies and songs are all the rage — all pushing us to show our loved ones we care in the only way we know: spending. It is not even December yet and I have already lost my chance of getting the Kylie Holiday Collection. Consumer culture has changed the holidays from a relaxing time with family and friends into a fast-paced survival-ofthe fittest scenario, and we are too weak to do anything to resist it.

The world has not always been this way.

Soon enough, we will realise that we do not need to be so blindingly impressed by big names — nor will we need the constant flickering on our social media accounts of the minute, day-to-day details of people’s lives that are so far removed from our own.

Opinion11

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Gigi Hadid, Melania Trump, and the rise of virtue signalling

Opinion Writer Romy Biscoe uses the controversy at the AMAs as a window to explore the modern phenomenon of ‘virtue signalling’ and its role in the US election The American Music Awards (AMAs) has never been short of controversy. In 2009 its public voting system was criticised for posthumously nominating Michael Jackson for awards such as Artist of the Year; it also received complaints concerning Adam Lambert’s ‘racy’ performance at the ceremony.

This year was no different. This time it was one of the hosts, Gigi Hadid, who drew unwanted attention. It was to be expected that a joke about President-elect Donald Trump was going to be made, given his momentous victory over Hillary Clinton earlier in November, and the plethora of material he has handed to the media to satirise.

Gigi Hadid’s impression of Melania Trump at the awards ceremony on Sunday highlighted a few things, and there are many questions that could be debated: was it racist? Should she have had to apologise? The stunt involved her imitating Melania’s facial expressions and Slovenian accent, and saying “I love my husband, President Barack Obama,” playing on Melania’s plagiarising of Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in 2008. In that case, the lack of foresight of both Melania and her speechwriter was dumbfounding, particularly in an internet age where nothing can be fully erased or forgotten.

Regarding Hadid’s impression, initially, I felt that it was an unnecessarily personal and spiteful attack on someone who has remained relatively removed from the political sphere. Reflecting on my initial thoughts about the incident, though, it seems clear that she should not have felt compelled to apologise. The impression was based on something Melania had done, and was rightly criticised for.

While imitating her facial expression seemed particularly spiteful, and didn’t add any humour to the segment, double standards of the ‘acceptability’ of mocking others must not be tolerated.

“This ‘group think’ and fear of diverging from popular rhetoric that lets someone like Trump gain traction” To me, this event illuminated something about the way in which people engaged with the US election and Donald Trump. The process exposed the prominence of ‘virtue signalling’ in our society.

Virtue signalling, a phrase coined by author James Bartholomew, is defined by Mark Judge in an article for Acculturated as, “the popular modern habit of indicating that one has virtue merely by expressing disgust or favor for certain political ideas, cultural happenings, or even the weather.”

I noticed that throughout the UK’s European Union referendum campaign, and more acutely during the U.S. presidential election campaign, a competition arose to see who could denounce certain ideas the most. This was particularly the case on social media, irrespective of whether claims were backed up with evidence.

Political discussion and debate on social media

Photo: Disney | ABC Teleivision Group @ Flickr

platforms have too often become what Bartholomew notes as “indicating” that you share “the right, approved, liberal media-elite opinions” and that you are of a “kind, decent, and virtuous” sort .

In no way did I support Trump in the election — I found the election to be demoralising. It seemed, however, that any allegiance to Trump was deemed completely unacceptable and unfathomable; any and every supporter was immediately branded a racist, ignorant bigot. This labelling does not encourage the challenging debate that is so needed in the current political climate — this is a whole other discussion to be had.

The link between Gigi Hadid’s impression and virtue signalling may not be immediately clear.

However, for me, it drew into focus the ‘group think’ mentality that goes hand-in-hand with virtue signalling. It highlighted the connection between celebrity culture and politics, and how this perpetuated the sense of ‘moral superiority’ that Ben Shapiro talks of — which undoubtedly contributed to Trump’s victory. The very overt presentation of morality and decency portrayed by celebrities and others reflects how most of the time it is for their personal ‘aggrandisement’; for an ego-trip.

People are able to place themselves in the camp of

virtue and “enjoy a sense of community” and “feel confirmed” in their viewpoint. All of this has been exasperated by celebrity culture and liberal mainstream media.

Some people I spoke to about Trump knew as much as possible about his policy aims. However, the majority seemed to rely upon vague popular discourse and lacked concrete backing to their arguments against him. This is one reason why ‘virtue signalling’ became so prevalent during his campaign, it seemed as though it was a fight for who could shout the loudest in denouncement of him.

There is plenty to say in attempting to reason with Trump’s victory, though it is not the focus of this article. Sunday’s incident, however, highlighted a growing problem in society. There is too much concern with appearing in a certain way and conforming to the “right” way of thinking. It is exactly this “group think” and fear of diverging from popular rhetoric that lets someone like Trump gain traction and build support. Instead of concentrating on solutions, we are stuck in denouncing him and failing to fully address the issues behind his discourse.

It also brings in the focus the American public’s rejection of the intertwining of celebrity culture with political strategy, despite Hillary Clinton’s best

War on drugs: Fabric reopens the debate With new rules, Fabric is due to reopen; with it, the age-long debate on drugs is back

There may be some readers who are too young to remember having read anything that does not relate in some way to Brexit or Trump. To those people this may come as a surprise, but this article concerns something entirely different, and in all regards is about a far more shocking event: Fabric will be reopened.

And in just the utterance of the phrase ‘Fabric reopens’, the drug market re-emerges from the depths and begins to grow stronger. This is sad news, as the announcement some weeks ago that the UK wanted out of Fabric all but decimated any trade value that drugs had prior. An explosion of graphs, after the initial revoking of Fabric’s license, showed share-prices calling it quits and jumping off the cliff edge in the most slapstick and carefree of manners.

Fabric was then unravelled, the jig was up; the war on drugs had been won.

“In just the utterance of the phrase ‘Fabric reopens’, the drug market re-emerges and begins to grow stronger.”

This war, dating back to the beginning of time itself, seemed to be finally over. As we know, the conflict originally arose long ago, in Biblical times, when Eve ate drugs off a tree with the only excuse being that a talking snake, that was also Satan, told her to do it. Such was the strength of the drugs.

However, rumbles of the conflict re-emerged, as the idea gained momentum that the permanent closure was not in fact permanent, and that some form of ‘soft closure’ could be negotiated. This seems to be the standard operation nowadays — the leftists and liberals were not happy with people having opinions differing from their own and believed that the wrong decision had been made.

One novelist, claiming to be Scottish, yet named Irvine Welsh, went so far as to suggest that “It’s not a war on drugs, it’s a war on people. The war on drugs is a war on you. It’s a war on alternate lifestyles. It’s a civil war — the State against the citizens.” But then

deterrence against illegal drug taking.”

Many started attacking the legal process itself by which the license was revoked just because things did not go their way. Maybe the decision to close down Fabric did not quite get the popular vote, but the decision was nonetheless made, and should have therefore been supported by all self-respecting citizens. News alert: That is how democracy works. Or, well, it is not exactly quite how democracy works, but it is how things go.

“I for one will be starting my ‘#SaveLuxuryApartments’ campaign right away.”

Photo: duncan c @Flickr

Elliot Mills Opinion Writer again, the novelist will be likely to have an overdeveloped imagination overwhelming his perception of the truth. It is also likely that, as a Scottish person, he will have an overdeveloped partiality to drugs.

“In my eyes, Fabric’s closure means Fabric’s closure. No ifs, no buts.”

Accusations were put forward that those in favour of saying goodbye to Fabric were misinformed and had been fed false claims about how the club was damaging to the UK. In fact, even the present writer became embroiled in the accusations of falsity when left-wing radicals cited a prior article on Fab-

ric’s closure. They highlighted some small inaccuracies, namely that the club never purported to be “a laser quest arena,” nor did a night at Fabric ever entail “dolphins and humans merrily having it off with each other whilst on a melange of substances.”

Moreover, Islington Council’s claimed to invest the £350 million per week saved from the Fabric wear and tear allowance into the NHS. Those rallying against the decision to revoke Fabric’s license said that this claim was, for various reasons, fanciful at best.

But surely over-analysing the actual claims that were made as to Fabric’s closure is simply a diversion strategy. Even worse, it is a strategy that conveniently ignores the fact that it was originally decided that Fabric was to be closed! In my eyes, Fabric’s closure means Fabric’s closure. No ifs, no buts, and certainly no “you have completely falsified your statistics regarding how many tigers had to be released into the club by the authorities as a

As it stands however, those in power have shamelessly softened and are now allowing the club to reopen on the grounds that security procedures are tightened. Significant among the changes is the new rule that only those over the age of 19 will be able to enter and that IDs will be scanned by a machine.

To ensure that they work on the machine, a man with a towel will be on hand to wipe clean your IDs and indeed any other cards from whatever states they were previously in. There will also be lifetime bans for those who are caught taking drugs, buying them, selling them, or using them as seasoning on any foodstuffs. Those caught making snow angels in illicit substances will be escorted out of the UK. Additionally, the level of surveillance is set to increase. In terms of standard surveillance, one hundred golden eagles will be in rotation on club nights, flying above the crowds whilst using their highly accurate eyesight to identify anyone taking drugs.

They will then use their speed of descent, mighty talons, and sharp beak to attack and eat the miscreant.

Regarding covert surveillance, an F-117 Nighthawk stealth reconnaissance aircraft will sit undetected in the centre of the dance floor.

All this just seems like typical Fabric bureaucracy to me, and I for one will be starting my ‘#SaveLuxuryApartments’ campaign right away.

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Feature

A South Side Showcase Chicago Hip-Hop comes to Manchester Chance the Rapper and Mick Jenkins bring Chicago toManchester for the weekend, writes Harrison Kersey

Harison Kersey Hip-Hop Correspondant

8/10

Photos: Harrison Kersey

Last weekend Manchester was blessed with a tag-team of talent from Chicago’s South Side; two rappers who grew up not far from each other and developed their talents on the same music scene, now on separate international tours. One of them has come so far it’s fair to say he needs no introduction — Chance the Rapper has been one of 2016’s brightest talents, with his stellar verse on ‘Ultralight Beam’ (the opening track of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo) bringing him firmly into the mainstream of rap, followed up by the acclaimed mixtape Coloring Book which boasted features from his “big brother” Kanye, Lil Wayne, and Jay Electronica. Less well known but decidedly on the rise is Mick Jenkins, whose tape The Waters made big waves (sorry...) on arrival in 2014, showing off smart bars, a gravelly yet agile delivery, and an ear for hooks.

Friday’s show at Gorilla marked the last European gig of Jenkins’ “A Quest for Love” world tour. London talent Jay Prince played a well-received warm-up set, winning new fans and laying down some solid hip-hop vibrations. A buzzing crowd greeted Jenkins when he took the stage, looking fired-up and ready for some last-show-in-Europe catharsis. Kicking off with a cut from his new album followed by ‘Comfortable From The Waters’, Jenkins sounded

slick and on-point; capably singing the hook to the latter track along with the crowd.

The setlist stuck mostly to older, more familiar material, a smart choice given the density of his bars. Old or new, the tracks were no trouble for the man on stage, as he flipped complex rhymes over a live drummer who added a lot to the energy of the show. A standout moment was a pause of about twenty seconds where Jenkins stood deadly still, glowering at the crowd, before spitting a brilliantly menacing drums-only rendition of ‘Daniel’s Bloom’, a song about the fear of growing up pacifist on the South Side of Chicago, where gun violence claims hundreds of lives per year. Despite his dark, raspy delivery, Jenkins is a man on a mission: his constant call-and-response always reminding the crowd to “spread love!” Coming from where he’s from, it’s not hard to see why, and his performance made a clear impression on the audience.

Love is also a central theme of Chance’s music, more evident than ever on Coloring Book, and Saturday night’s sold-out show at the Academy was no exception. Just as Jenkins’ music seeks to enlighten listeners, post-Pablo Chance preaches the good news like it’s going out of fashion. However, while the size of Gorilla helped keep things personal, the

Live Album

Live: Bastille 6th November at Manchester Arena

“Just as Jenkins’ music seeks to enlighten listeners, post-Pablo Chance preaches the good news like it’s going out of fashion” However, despite the lack of intimacy, the crowd was testament to Chance’s global success and appeal. When the 2500 tickets available for the show were announced way back in July, they sold out in under a day, with some selling online for over £150 in the past few weeks. Not bad for an independent artist who’s yet to even release an official album.

Playing mostly songs from Coloring Book, Chance got the crowd whipped up into a sea of positivity; the singalong on the chorus of ‘Blessings’ would have made a gospel preacher proud.

When he played older material from Acid Rap and

Ten Day, the crowd was split into those who knew pretty much every line and the post-Kanye converts, with the second group mainly those aged under eighteen or over thirty. However, while the diehards might have liked to hear more throwbacks, it’s clear that Chance is set on the more gospel-focused sound of Coloring Book.

While he’s been name-dropping the most high since way back, it wasn’t ‘til he took the spotlight on The Life of Pablo’s jaw-dropping first track ‘Ultralight Beam’ that Chance really crystallised the style that would be heard on Coloring Book, so it figures that it should be the standout moment of a show based around that tape. With most of the crowd ignoring the line “this is my part, nobody else speak” and shouting the lyrics as though joining in prayer, the Academy has never seen such a holy moment.

All considered, it was an outstanding weekend for hip-hop, with two artists from Chicago, a place with plenty of darkness of its own, bringing light to the cold and rain of Manchester. If you couldn’t be there, check out the music for yourself: Mick Jenkins’ new album The Healing Component is out on Spotify and Apple Music, and you can download all three of Chance the Rapper’s mixtapes for free with a quick Google search.

Bastille captivated Manchester Arena with a bar-raising performance, writes Katie Shepherd

Katie Shepherd Deputy Music Editor If I am being totally honest, when I first heard that Bastille were playing Manchester Arena I was a little sceptical. I had seen them perform at Reading Festival the year before and had been disappointed, it had lacked that electricity that ignites a crowd into being part of it. I enjoyed it, but I just did not really feel it.

Any doubts I had, however, dissolved the minute the foursome filled the arena with the invigoratingly joyful ‘Send Them Off!’ No time was wasted in pulling the seated to their feet and the standing into the air as the crowd and band threw themselves into the show.

Vocalist, Dan Smith, successfully captured every member

huge capacity of the Academy made Chance seem like a pastor in a megachurch.

9/10 of the audience no matter how far back from the main stage they were. During hit track ‘Flaws’ he walked straight through the entire standing crowd, and though this, unsurprisingly, impacted on his vocals the impact on the room was incredible.

“It was intelligent, both

captivating

and unsettling and ultimately

set

to

raise the standards of arena shows” One of the most unique parts of the show was the dystopia-

inspired concept running behind it. A politician introduced the bands on screen, opening and closing the show and TV screens throughout showed ‘broadcasts’ from WWCOMMS, a corporation invented by the band and runs behind the theme of the entire Wild World album. It was intelligent, both captivating and unsettling and ultimately set to raise the standards of arena shows.

Bastille have risen to heights that so few bands do, and yet their performance at Manchester Arena made it undeniably evident that they are exactly where they deserve to be. None of this felt even remotely lost on the band either; I lost count of the number of times Dan exclaimed “Thank

you so much!” throughout the set and joy seemed to emanate through every track.

They delivered tracks spanning across their career, from the recent ‘Good Grief’ to the defining and ever brilliant ‘Pompeii’. However, some of the greatest moments came from their lesser-known tracks such as the powerful ‘The Draw’ and ‘Glory’, the track Dan named as being the explanation behind the album concept.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable and truly exciting show that determined Bastille as a band set to define the standards of live performances from now on.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Feature

the

Feature

Should you ever meet your heroes?

Lessons learned from a Meet and Greet

The golden rule reads that you should never meet your heroes - how does Jeni Lambert fare when she meets hers?

Jeni Lambert Music Critic You have £150 and you decide to treat yourself. What would you buy? Perhaps you would purchase one remarkably cute kitten?

Or 600 of Cadbury’s finest Freddos to store for winter hibernation? Or would you spend it on breaking the golden rule of never meeting your heroes? I chose the latter of the three – as tempting as the other options sound.

Myles Kennedy, otherwise known as the hardest working man in rock music today and two-time winner of Loudwire’s Best Vocalist award, is a human I am very much in awe of. So when Kennedy’s band, Alter Bridge, offered a meet and greet package for UK fans, it was nigh on impossible to resist spending some of my hard-earned cash on a brief encounter with the man himself.

After purchasing this golden ticket, I started to hope that I was going to be as lucky as Jack (of magic beans fame). Was this daylight robbery or will this really be a little piece of magic that I’ll treasure forever? The package promised: a photo with the band, access to soundcheck, early access to the venue, a limited edition poster and a tour laminate. A selfie with Bieber is $2,000, so this was feeling like a pretty good deal.

However, I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d just purchased a ticket to this century’s interpretation of a freak show; a human zoo in which we all queue to gawp at these celestial beings.

For preparation purposes, I resorted to YouTube to seek out what to expect from an Alter Bridge meet and greet. Fan-made videos showed four men sat behind a table with the pictorial definition of ‘perturbed’ splattered

across their faces. I was surprised at the pluck of some of the fans, shoving cameras in the band’s faces with the same vigour one would encounter in a Tom & Jerry pie-throwing duel. It was at this point that I started to doubt that I’d signed my soul - and £150 - away to the right cause.

I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d just purchased a ticket to this century’s interpretation of a freak show; a human zoo in which we all queue to gawp at these celestial beings.

On the day of the meet and greet, my stomach was an aviary of wingèd creatures. After experiencing three stages of queuing purgatory at Manchester Arena, a stern lady approached us and asserted that she and the security team would be “ruling our meet and greet with an iron fist.”

The whole experience was all too reminiscent of queuing for lunch in primary school, contending with the draconian command of dinner ladies in a quest to get a slice of that highly sought after rainbow sprinkles cake.

However, I was pleasantly surprised by the camaraderie among the fans who were present. It was wonderful to be nestled into this

personification of a patchwork quilt, all unique pieces but all part of the same foundation that contribute to the success of Alter Bridge. We should never underestimate the sheer power music has in connecting the dots of our individualistic society.

Overall, we spent no more than fifteen minutes in the presence of the band, and only one of these minutes allowed for any face-to-face interaction. We danced the Hokey Cokey for two hours, a very strict ‘inout, in-out’ policy when it came to moments with the band.

This rush left me with very little time to compute the reality of the situation. Thus, when my 10 seconds with Myles Kennedy arrived, “it’s a pleasure to meet you” was all I could squeak – twenty-one years of training in the art of conversation and this is what I produced. The cat got my tongue with ferocious tenacity.

I knew I should have said more, but out of fear of Ms Iron Fist and her security minions, I swiftly exited the room as instructed.

At time of writing, my photo with the band is yet to be revealed, but one can only hope that my ability to keep my eyes open during the taking of a photo is superior to that of my language production skills.

So to whoever said you should never meet your heroes, I wholly empathise with you after this communicative fiasco. Furthermore, was the package worth £150?

Probably not. But if you do get the chance to meet your hero, grab it – despite my conversational glitch, I’m still smiling from meeting mine.

Album

Photo: Jeni Lambert

Album

Sleigh Bells - Jessica Rabbit Thee Oh Sees - An Odd Entrances Sleigh Bells’ fourth album is an underwhelming attempt to deviate from the style they’ve established, writes Calum Pinder Calum Pinder Music Critic In 2010 Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller stepped onto the scene with their debut album Treats. It was a colourful expedition into noise-pop. Krauss’s playful vocals floated over the distorted guitars and simple drum lines Miller had crafted. Treats was well received and proved that the formula the duo had crafted worked well.

A year later Sleigh Bells released their sophomore album Reign of Terror. Given the success of Treats it was no surprise that the band chose to stick with their established style. A few things were tweaked; complex drum lines and more confidence in Krauss’ heavier vocal delivery gave the project a more developed sound. The counter-side of this was a loss of the primalism that made Treats so appealing. Hits like ‘Riot Rhythm’ and ‘Infinity Guitars’ that basked in their own simplicity were replaced with more thoughtful tracks like the nostalgic ‘End of the Line’ or the sinister ‘Never Say Die’.

The trend was not unsurprising. Keeping the original sound that had served Sleigh Bells so well, whilst trying to branch into more experimental territories seemed logical. The problem is that the success of Treats was partly due to its rejection of the experimental rhythms or genre blending that begins to creep into their later albums That’s where Jessica Rabbit enters. Named after the mysterious and enigmatic cartoon icon, this album is packed with sharp dynamic changes, gimmicky tempo shifts, clashing melodies and absurd lyrics. With many artists this sort of endeavour into experimentalism, whilst trying to develop old formulas, would be necessary. But this is Sleigh Bells.

Mix these interesting features into Sleigh Bells signature sound and the result comes off less mys-

11th November via Torn Clean Records

4/10

Photo: Album Artwork

terious and enigmatic, and more embarrassingly cartoonish. Instead of an intriguing LP waiting to be unravelled, this feels like a plea from a pop band wanting to be taken seriously.

That’s not to say the whole project is a disappointment. On ‘Loyal For’ we catch a glimpse of what Jessica Rabbit could have been. Urgent cellos, echoing pianos and dark synth fill the space between Krauss’ cries in an atmospheric interlude. ‘Rule Number One’ manages to capture a little of Sleigh Bells old magic, but even this effect begins to wear thin quickly.

Loyal fans and dedicated NME readers may still enjoy the attempts at experimentation from this album. Particularly as it never deviates too far from the established Sleigh Bells formula. However, to the less attached listener Jessica Rabbit comes off as an underwhelming fourth album, devoid of anything particularly remarkable.

Thee Oh Sees add yet another great addition to their impressive catalogue of albums with this latest release, writes Ollie Clack

18th November via Castle Face Records

Ollie Clack Contributor An Odd Entrances is the eighteenth album by the Californian band and their second of 2016, following August’s A Weird Exits. It is impossible to describe An Odd Entrances without the context of A Weird Exits; the two albums, the first to be recorded with the new two drummer line up, were recorded during the same session and are undoubtedly companion pieces.

A Weird Exits took the bands trademark garage rock sound and gave it a more psychedelic, almost cosmic edge, all the while maintaining the energetic noise rock elements synonymous with Thee Oh Sees incredible live performances.

An Odd Entrances’ six tracks, three of which are instrumentals, take the sound from A Weird Exists and stretch it into several different genres expanding on themes that subtly inhabit the previous album.

Tracks like ‘The Poem’ seem an ode to sixties folk with a violin throughout and Tolkieneque lyrics, while ‘Jammed Exit’ is a continuation of A Weird Exits’ ‘Jammed Entrances’ sharing the same groove but adding an oddly well-fitting wayward flute to the mix of droning synths and metronomic drum and bassline.

The following track ‘At The End, On The Stairs’ is one of the odder tracks on the record sounding as though it wouldn’t be out of place on a sixties smooth jazz album, if it weren’t for the occasional psych rock guitar solo.

The next track ‘Unwrap the Fiend, Pt.1’ is a prelude to the A Weird Exits track ‘Unwrap the Fiend, Pt.2’ which, despite the confusion of releasing the prelude after the main track, is probably one of the best tracks on the album with a great drumming that

6.5/10

Photo: Album Artwork

highlights the fantastic rolling guitars.

The final track ‘Nervous Tech (Nah John)’ exemplifies the reason for having two drummers both of whom get to show their talent as noise driven guitars start and stop giving the track a sporadic, almost improvised feel.

It is hard to argue that An Odd Entrances is not an album of leftovers from the A Weird Exists session.

While almost all the tracks individually are fantastic, the lack of consistency means there is no coherent message within the album, but that may be the point; the confusing track listing and even more incoherent album names gives this pair of albums a sense of disorganisation indicative of the bands sound.

While I doubt anyone would call An Odd Entrances the best album from the Californian rockers, for fans of Thee Oh Sees this is another good addition to their impressively consistent catalogue of albums.

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Live

Live: The Front Bottoms

22nd November at O2 Ritz

A poor choice of songs gives an unflattering impression of the folk-punk fourpiece — but they play with unbridled, endearing energy to an enthusiastic crowd, writes Joe Casson Joe Casson Head Music Editor

6/10

I missed the Front Bottoms at Academy 2 in February, something I have been sore about since: no matter though, because only a few months later the folk-punk four-piece have returned to Manchester, this time headlining the larger Ritz. From the outset, it is easy to see why they came back: it is not often you see that romanticised rock & roll image of arms in the air and strangers hugging, and it is even rarer to see such a scene a matter of seconds into the show.

The band opens with the punchy ‘Skeleton’ from 2013’s Talon of the Hawk. One of their catchier, more memorable songs, it is a fine choice, and captures the band’s ‘getting-stoned-and-cryingon-a-skateboard’ appeal. They continue by playing a lot of songs really fast, bolstering their teen angst credentials with lyrics like “I’m scared I’m gonna die as lonely as I feel” and “would you kick me in the face please, it’ll make whatever I say sound like poetry”. These relatably juvenile sentiments are reflected in the domestic scene on stage, decorated with lamps, sofas and a small television, bringing to mind a small-town small world where every emotional hurdle feels like the end of the world.

It is potent stuff, and despite the propensity of the Ritz to overwhelm bands of The Front Bottoms’ stature, Brian Sella and co. do it justice: the songs are bold, loud and clear, and the venue is

material is dominated by straightforward drumming and swaggering riffs. It is also a shame the bubble machines and inflatable mascots associated with the band’s live show are absent.

“Despite the propensity of the Ritz to overwhelm bands of The Front Bottoms’ stature, Brian Sella and co. do it justice: the songs are bold, loud and clear, and the venue is packed with devout fans shaking the floor while howling every line back at the band” Photo: Chloe Muro @flickr

packed with devout fans shaking the floor while howling every line back at the band. The Front Bottoms have clearly built a strong rapport with fans through extensive touring: Sella is confident joking around, responding sharply to the surprise appearance of a toilet roll tossed onto the stage (“if you hit me in the head, we’ll play ten more songs”).

It is just a shame that, despite their endearing presence, the Front Bottoms are let down by their

choice of songs. Much of the set is pulled from last year’s disappointing Back On Top, which completed a move away from needly acoustic guitars and horns for a heavier, generic pop-punk sound. The songs sound better live than on record, but there’s little of the eclecticism which made cuts like ‘Maps’ and ‘Swimming Pool’ so charming. Save for the all-too-rare plinking of cheap keyboards or blaring trumpets signifying older cuts, the new

This may be unfair: my dissatisfaction with the material clearly placed me in the minority, and it is hard to argue with the crowd’s rapturous response. It is testament to the band’s performing chops that they created an exciting performance and enjoyable atmosphere even from what I would consider to be a fairly uninspired setlist.

Fair play to them – it is just an odd feeling to see a crowd lose it for songs I would receive as nothing more than a fine opportunity for a loo break.

Live

Live: Cigarettes After Sex

23rd November at Deaf Institute

Cigarettes After Sex endure as one of the most captivating live acts around, writes Jay Plent Jay Plent Contributor

8/10

Photo: Album Artwork

Cigarettes After Sex have always been shudderingly romantic. Everything from their sound to their imagery to their mood evokes the tension and passion of a secret love affair, and every show they do feels just as intimate.

From the very start, the mood set is one of eerie anticipation. The stage set-up at Deaf Institute’s music hall is minimal, a simple tom, ride and snare combo for the drums, a keyboard, one mic, and amps for

Top 5: Songs to introduce you to classical music Finding yourself out of the loop when your musical friends talk classical? Stuart Grantham has compiled an introduction to catch you up in no time

guitar and bass, and that’s it. There’s nothing to suggest that the sound coming from such a meagre set of instruments will be gigantic, and yet, like Cigarettes After Sex’s talent, the music is exactly that.

This isn’t to say that Cigarettes After Sex are an energetic live band — they aren’t. What emerges from the metaphorical mist the band swirls around themselves is a unique and poignant form of mood music, one which permeates every facet of the soul and sits there in your system like a rush of serotonin.

Their allure stems from honesty and modesty. Few words are exchanged, but the hint of a grin that takes over Gonzalez’s face at the end of every track (all of which are given a standing ovation) are communication enough. Particular highlights included the smolderingly gorgeous ‘Affection’ and the sensational ‘Keep On Loving You’, a track which, unbeknownst to some, is a cover which vastly improves on its original counterpart by REO Speedwagon.

Elsewhere in the set, new tracks for the band’s as yet unannounced debut album mesh beautifully with the rest of the show. ‘John Wayne’ and ‘K’ were highly praised by the crowd and with good reason, although they did highlight the one criticism you would be fair to levy against the band, which is that the arrangements of their tracks are all very similar.

However this doesn’t really matter, and it certainly never detracts from the songs, which are, at their core, wonderfully written, wonderfully performed, and wonderfully received. Cigarettes After Sex are one of the most captivating bands around, and the audience was held tight from start to finish..

5. ‘Piano Trio No. 2’ - Franz Schubert

4. ‘Piano Sonata No. 8’ -

3. ‘Clair de Lune’ -

Ludwig van Beethoven

Claude Debussy

We’re looking for keen and enthusiastic writers to contribute to the paper, so if you fancy writing for The Mancunion Music section drop us an email, join our facebook page or simply come along to a meeting.

Meetings are Monday 5.30 in the Students Union Email us at music@mancunion.com Or join The Mancunion Section 2.0 on Facebook to ge involved facebook: The Mancunion Music Section Twitter: @MancunionMusic

2. ‘Clapping Music’ - Steve Reich This track perfectly sums up

1. ‘Tannhäuser Overture’ by Richard Wagner

A piece from the Romanic

Light, airy, charming, and

period, in just nine minutes

with an easy to follow motif

piano sonatas ever written,

minimalist modern classical

one of the best opera compos-

Schubert gives us a comprehen-

throughout. This piece is a per-

and well deserving of its

music, so simply you and a

ers ever born, its bombastic

sive introduction to the capabili-

fect introduction to Beethov-

popularity. This Romantic-

friend could perform it, yet its

brilliance is emulated in many

ties of the piano, violin and cello

en’s Classical and Romantic

era track overflows with

weaving rhythms can entertain

modern film scores including

through exploring one simple

compositions.

beauty.

you far more than the 3:49 run

Star Wars and Indiana Jones.

line of melody.

One of the most played

Want to get involved?

time.

One of the best overtures from

Games 15

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Review

Nintendo Classic - Review Alec Wilby Games Contributor When the NES Classic Mini console was announced, I knew I wanted one. Not for nostalgic reasons (I wasn’t alive when most of these games were released) but because, for £50, you get many of the best games from that era on one unit. I pre-ordered one the next day assuming that, like most Nintendo products these days, stock would be hilariously limited.

The release date has come and gone, it seems I was correct. My local GAME store had in exactly enough for pre-order customers and the situation appears to be the same all over again.

The console itself is very true to the original, just significantly smaller. The controller is exactly the same, other than having a Wii compatible connector on the end rather than the original NES connector. A second controller was available for an extra £7.99, though I find it a little odd that they didn’t just package it with 2 in the first place. The console itself is powered by micro-USB — it’ll probably run itself from your TV’s USB port if it has one — and runs the games very crisply over HDMI. The interface is quite well designed and offers you 4 save slots on each game which you can save to or load from at any time, as well as allowing you to alter the picture to look like an old TV, or display the games how the designers intended.

30 games are built into the unit with no capability to add more, and while Nintendo has received some criticism for this, I don’t see it as much of an issue.

Most of the 30 games on there represent

Photo: Alec Wilby

some of the best and most famous titles for the console and the combined play time is huge. The only game I particularly wish it could play which isn’t present is the 1991 Star Wars game for the NES but presumably there would have been licensing issues, or it just wasn’t deemed popular enough.

After about two weeks with it, my early impression is that I’m quite bad at most of the NES titles I’ve tried. I still haven’t got round to playing everything (essays) but so far ‘Gradius’ and ‘Ghosts and Goblins’ have been my favourite.

‘Gradius’ is fairly similar to other side scrolling space shooters such as ‘R-type’ and is punishingly difficult. Waves of enemies come at you and killing all of them generally results in a powerup dropping. If you can find the time away from shooting the other stuff that fills the screen, pressing B spends that power-up on an upgrade for your ship (faster engines, missiles or a shield). The most devastating aspect of the game is that when you die (you will, a lot) any upgrades disappear, and you have to continue from a checkpoint with

nothing. In the first level, you will fight two volcanoes, followed by a boss that fills 1/3 of the screen. After that, things got weird pretty quickly (the enemies were mostly the Easter Island heads) and I haven’t managed to get much further.

‘Ghosts and Goblins’ is basically 2D Dark Souls. The premise seems to be that some bad guy has kidnapped a princess (your girlfriend?) and so you don a nearby suit of armour and fight your way through endless waves of zombies, crows and gargoyles (I have yet to see any ghosts or goblins). 1 hit removes your

armour and another kills you: surviving a minute in this hellish universe seems like a major accomplishment. At one point I made it to the second level, before promptly dying to what might have been a flying burrito.

Other games present like Super Mario Bros 1, 2 and 3, ‘Metroid’ and ‘Double Dragon II’ are undeniably classics, and still hold up today (particularly when played 2-player to share the pain of defeat). Other games such as PAC-MAN and ‘Galaga’ are decent but do seem a little like filler, particularly considering they can be played pretty much anywhere on the internet.

A few of the titles are, at least in my opinion, quite bad though; I’m no American Football fan but ‘Tecmo Bowl’ is incredibly confusing, for example, play is interrupted around once per second for you to choose an action for your team from the screen and I didn’t manage to score once. ‘Bubble Bobble’ — highly critically acclaimed at the time — is a bizarre, brightly coloured, platformer that perhaps just hasn’t aged well.

For £50, the NES Classic is worth buying. Most of the time I’ve spent on it has been 2-player and the frustrating nature of most of the games makes you want to keep going. As is all too common with Nintendo products however, it seems that the available stock has been too low to satisfy eventual demand, resulting in ridiculously high resale value and disappointed customers.

Hopefully Nintendo will pick up on this and approach the (surely inevitable?)

SNES Classic release with more finesse.

Review

Battlefield 1 – Review David Edwards Games Contributor

It’s been just over a month since the highly anticipated launch of Battlefield 1, so what’s the skinny? Was it worth the wait?

EA and DICE are back once again to take over our screens with their latest release, Battlefield 1. Set amongst the desperate strife and bloodshed of World War 1, the game tackles a period all too often neglected by game developers. However, it does this flawlessly, creating a unique style of game play while simultaneously shaking up the world of first person shooters. The winning combination of dynamic large-scale warfare and objective driven game play returns in this instalment of the battlefield franchise, creating jaw dropping theatrical battles that will leave you in awe and most definitely wanting more.

Battlefield 1’s campaign is short but sweet, consisting of seven separate story lines. Each of these serves as a poignant reminder of the human side of a conflict that claimed the lives of over 17 million people. Despite this range of stories, the missions were far too short to develop any kind of emotional attachment with the different protagonists and I often found myself skipping scenes just to get back to the action. The story is

littered with interesting insights into some of the major battles that took place during the war, but this isn’t enough to realise the true potential that the campaign had.

DICE clearly tried to stress the truly global aspect of World War 1 by shifting the focus away from the trenches and onto numerous unexplored conflicts that raged across the world. This has allowed the developers to produce some visually stunning environments, which in true Battlefield style are almost completely destructible.

Expect to see everything from Sikhs fighting for king and country, to Arabs revolting against the Ottomans, or even the Harlem Hellfighters showing the role of black troops during the War. There’s no Hollywood whitewashing here.

Missions are linear, with players being directed from checkpoint to checkpoint with very little truly emotive story telling in between. This left the campaign feeling more like an extended tutorial, with each story line focusing on teaching you about the different features of the game such as vehicles or tactics to prepare you for playing online.

Now we come to Battlefield 1’s main selling point - the online element of the game. With up to 64 players in one match, Battlefield 1 provides countless hours of entertainment in which no

A modern shooter goes back to the past for its latest entry Photo: BagoGames@Flickr

two rounds are ever the same. DICE have kept their class system, offering four choices: assault, medic, support and scout. Each with their own advantages and limitations, allowing players to tailor their load-out and tactics to suit their playing style. The EA servers run smoothly once you make it through the loading screens that last for what feels like an eternity.

There are still a few issues with the matchmaking, and some loitering bugs remain, such as flying tanks or planes that float in the air after crashing, but these are rarities that hardly detract from the immersive and beautiful maps of Battlefield 1.

The numerous game types on offer make clever use of the relatively limited number of maps that come with the game. Splitting maps into segments and restricting game modes such as domination to them produces

fast-paced, exhilarating game play that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat. The game mode ‘Operations’ is a personal favourite, allowing players to attack or defend objectives at each segment as you battle across a map.

Destructible features and dynamic weather can change a map in a matter of seconds. Fog can roll in at any moment to reduce visibility to a matter of metres, forcing players to adapt tactics accordingly; you better have that shotgun at the ready.

Many developers would have fallen flat at the task of incorporating a restrictive old-school arsenal into a modern first person shooter. Yet EA and DICE do this perfectly and, most importantly, it hasn’t been done at the expense of the fluid and fast paced game play that the Battlefield franchise is known for.

Many weapons, however, do require

a certain level of skill on behalf of the player, but once mastered they provide hours of entertainment.

Nothing beats a perfectly placed head shot from halfway across the map with a rusty old bolt-action rifle or, if subtlety isn’t your strong suit, why not charge your enemies from horseback while wielding a sabre?

Battlefield 1 is the historical firstperson shooter that the market has been crying out for. EA’s decision to head off in the opposite direction to other market leaders has proved an undeniable success. If you’re looking for a visually stunning and realistic shooter that requires a little more skill than button mashing then look no further. Battlefield 1 is undoubtedly the new king of the genre.

Want to meet fellow gamers in Manchester?

Come and visit the University of Manchester Gaming Society stall at this years freshers fair! We host weekly events and have always been a good place to make friends and play some amazing games as a community.

Fashion & Beauty

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The statement of status

Deputy Fashion and Beauty Editor Sophie Soar explores how celebrity outings prove the statement of status and denial of compromise from the red carpet to a night out

Photo: disneyabc @ Flickr

Since the Ancient Egyptian era, women have endured the torturous motions of the high heel. But the days of blistered toes, aching feet, and grazed knees seem to be drawing to a close.

An event caused uproar last year when it was reported that some women were banned from entering a Cannes Film Festival event for wearing flats instead of heels, as they were deemed ‘inappropriate’.

Although heels give the illusion of longer, more slender legs, thus enhancing our figure, studies show they actually have a negative effect on your body. By pushing your lower back forward they cause the spine and hips to come out of alignment. At the same time, they increase the pressure on the balls of your feet by giving the illusion that you are walking on a ramp.

Victoria Beckham has officially hung up her heels and she was seen taking her final bow at her label’s 2016 show in New York wearing a pair of Adidas trainers. She told the Telegraph ‘I just can’t do heels anymore.’ At Milan Fashion Week’s Autumn/Winter 2016 shows, Giorgio Armani, Missoni and Tods were among some of the

Evening wear for men Jai Joshi gives you the lowdown on evening wear for men and his top style tips Winter is filled with a plethora of events, from birthday parties to society dos right through to the annual Christmas ball and other themed bashes. It can be difficult to find appropriate outfits for every occasion. Fear not, we have you covered. Whether you choose to splash the cash or simply find a stylishly-savvy outfit continue reading to discover the most coveted evening-wear available for men.

For formal evening-wear opt for suit jackets in navy, grey or black and do not shy away from trying various textures such as velvet or satin. For those super glamourous events, a tuxedo jacket with velvet lapels is an appropriate way to make a statement. Dare to be different? If so, opt for a patterned blazer or one which has embellished collars which will definitely make you stand out in the crowd. Style tip: do keep in mind to maintain the same colour accessories. For instance, if your belt is black ensure that your shoes are too. Take note of the finer details like the metal of the buckle and correlate that with

It is a fact of life today that our lives revolve around social media: a sad but undeniable reality. I, for one, spend a lot of my spare time perusing ‘click-bait’ and reading stories starting ‘owner enters kitchen to find dog in fridge - you’ll never guess what happens next’ or ‘Cutest kid reads a book. This story will change your life forever’. I invariably fall for it and then, after watching a pointless six minute video to see nothing happen, I vow never to waste any more minutes of my life on such articles. This internal conversation occurs on a daily basis.

Yet I convince myself that reading Vogue articles — which make up the majority of my Facebook news-feed — is forgivable. Is it not a valuable lesson learnt to see what eyebrow shape Cara Delevingne ‘revolutionised’ or ‘who wore it best’ to the VMAs? Forever remaining impartial, this includes every female celebrity who attended but still, one of ninety outfit pictures may beat the rest and I must appraise, approve, judge and vow never to wear that custom made Valentino dress when I myself walk down the red carpet with Ryan Gosling on my arm.

I was initially shocked and somewhat offended when my father pointed out the satirical edge to Vogue articles. My response was something along the lines of: “Well of course they take themselves seriously,” with reference to the articles telling us which ten shades of Dior lipstick must be in our make-up bags this season or which coat under £1,000 is essential in our wardrobes. I accompanied my defence with a roll of the eyes, perhaps even a dramatic exit for added effect, to hide the realisation seeping into my expression.

This isn’t to suggest that Vogue indefinitely relays stories designed to mock the devout fashion types who follow the magazine as if prophesy. I do not exclude myself from this category asI nearly chased the postman down the drive when he damaged my most recent edition through brutally ramming it through the letterbox. I calmed myself by thinking it’s not lack of respect to Vogue but just post in general.

What my father meant was simply: take their statements with a pinch of salt.

So when we habitually follow that ‘click-bait’ to see what Rihanna or Karlie Kloss wore as a statement evening wear piece, which we must recreate for a fraction of the price — that still costs a month’s rent or

designers who sent their models down the catwalk wearing flats.

The designers proved that flat shoes with your evening wear don’t mean you have to look boring!

Forget the day-to-day dolly shoe and focus on a shoe with the glamour of a heel but the comfort of a slipper, like the ASOS Lux Chain Detail Ballet Flats. These velvet beauties come with a pointed toe and straps lined with silvers chains that cross elegantly over the arch of your foot, all for £15. They’re perfect for wearing with a long dress or skirt for an evening party. If you’re all for the comfort of a flat but want the added height from your shoe, try a flatform: a clever invention you can wear with almost any evening outfit. These remove the uncomfortable factor of your foot being at an agonising angle but add the height of a heeled shoe — win win!

Flats with your evening wear are an ultimate yes from me: less pain, more comfort, and you can dance all night long!

requires compromising water or electricity for a few years — we know this is not a definitive instruction to stop exactly what we’re doing and head to Net-a-Porter. What perhaps psychologically stops us from assuming these articles are direct instruction to imminent bankruptcy is not insinuated from what designer items envelop these celebs but actually the context in which they wear them.

Chrissy Teigen made headlines this week with a large ‘censored’ sticker slapped across her nether regions, as she followed the trend of the all-too-revealing dress that caused inevitable mishap and a flashing frenzy. Whilst the price tag and designer label suggest economic status and the hundreds of photos suggest celebrity status, the context around wearing such a dress suggests another kind of status: luxury lifestyle. This is not a dress you would wear when travelling via the tube or magic bus to the red carpet. This dress is designed to be worn in a luxurious context, luxury travel to your destination, luxury circles who wouldn’t even question or contemplate the practicality of such an item - even the luxury of knowing the most revered fashion magazines will not report such a wardrobe mishap.

We mere mortals know all about wardrobe malfunctions from predictable outcomes to inappropriate decisions. After all, autumn might mean endless Mancunian rain but fake fur will still be worn in spite of geographical location and meteorological warning signs. So when Vogue pictures the radiant Hadid sisters sauntering around town in their pristine floor length coats or spotless thigh high suede boots, we know the photograph was not taken after a quick dash to the bus stop, long-jumping puddles or left-over takeaway boxes.

These women wear such outfits as a statement of luxury. Why worry about your ball gown collecting dirt when you’ll only walk a mere fifteen metres in it? Why raise concerns about a risque slit when no one will judge you within the confines of the event? It marks a luxury status that goes hand-in-hand with complacency, marking the distinct difference from those of us who plan our Friday night outfits around warm coats and suitable footwear whilst staring enviously at our iPhones, huddled next to the bus radiator and willing our faux fur to dry out before we catch a cold.

Denim isn’t just for the day...

Adorned, embellished, laced up denim jackets are a key accessory to accentuate both the modern and sexy eveningwear attire. Tarun Daryanani investigates the DNA of the newly created FADE DENIM ‘FADE’ denim is a rebellious, creative canvas of washed, hugging denim jackets emblazoned with pop culture emojis and studs that impersonate a die hard rock fan. The birth of the brand arose from the creative minds of a group of third year University of Manchester fashion marketing students. The underlying inspiration? Denim is a hot trend and being able to express its versatility through day and evening wear is a key, unique fashion statement. The creative minds behind the brand are: Marcia Wiggins, Katherine Elizabeth, Nicole Olive, Isabel Pegg and Chelsea Saunt, all of whom exude their ideas and inspiration through a line of denim jackets.

Denim jackets are a piece that can be paired with, and layer, evening body-con dresses, or sheer jumpsuits; why not channel Gigi Hadid or the Kardashians? Stand out of the crowd.

Fusing distressed day wear with glitzy party wear births a powerful creation; one that makes heads turn the minute you strut down the street. The ‘FADE’ denim jackets come in many variations - try channelling vintage Paris Hilton vibes with a white faux fur lining. Others came with shiny studs, tracks of pinned on pockets - channelling your inner rock star has never been more appealing. The hot favourite? A Simple dark blue jacket paired with a significantly large glittery eye on the back, as if you were the member of a new, secret fashion cult; symbolic and powerful. Children’s jackets reflect the same styles as those for the adults; perfect idea for matching parents and their

stylish kids.

The jackets are so versatile they can channel any look: hipster, mod and even straightforwardly provocative. Priced at £45-50 for adults and £25 for children, this line mixes high quality craftsmanship with affordability.

‘FADE’ denim isn’t afraid of pushing creative boundaries; the existing designs can be customised even further whether the look channels Japanese anime — hello kitty emojis — or the lust for an ice cream cone, an emoji for that too! Showcasing their vision, with a hint of ironic humour, upon a simple garment shows that this brand has a chance to inject individual messages into a denim jacket.

Whether it be freedom, self-expression or even downright fun, ‘FADE’ denim never fears standing out. “The collaborative team effort and the idea of putting our own inspirations and thoughts was truly enjoyable,” says Marcia Wiggins who casually wore the brand’s glitter lip emoji jacket. In the height of the festive season, embellishment and beading is truly fitting! For the fashion forward in your life ‘FADE’ denim makes for the ideal gift. Creative rebellion is spreading across the youth and there are no boundaries; beaded cuffs and worn rips accentuate the staple wardrobe piece. Scan their Instagram @fadedenim to lust over their uber chic, diverse denim outerwear.

The brands signatures will be sold at the Christmas market at the Manchester Students Union on 13th December.

Couture dreaming Fashion and Beauty Editor Sarah Kilcourse runs through of the dizzying heights of fashion’s most exclusive and luxurious club

Flats for evening wear: yes or no?

Do we dare pair flats with our eveningwear? If Victoria Beckham has hung up the heels, why shouldn’t we? Jenny Knowles investigates

your jewellery.

Accessories are vital to perfecting that glamourous evening-wear look whether it be formal or smart casual. Ensure you purchase a belt that is made of good quality leather so that it is long lasting. You should have several, each for individual occasions from the simple buckle belts to iconic showstoppers that you only wear to the finest soirees. Ties, cravats, pocket squares and silk scarves are dependent on what type of occasion you are attending. Tired of wearing a tie all the time, then choose a cravat instead. Be sure to add a pop of colour to your pocket square and coordinate your tie/cravat colour to make your evening look complete.

Finally, to finish your look, take care of footwear and outerwear, as they are just as important. Be sure to choose the appropriate shoe, mostly the derby shoe goes with everything but you can always switch it up with velvet loafers instead. When wearing navy tones, choose a brown shoe to complete your look. The classic pea coat is a formal outerwear favourite and available at both high-end and highstreet stores.

For high-end looks visit Selfridges and Harvey Nichols. To discover suitable options from Paul Smith, Armani Collezioni, Turnbull & Asser, Dolce & Gabbana and Tom Fow. For high-street options visit H&M, Mango, Reiss, Topman, T.M & Lewin, PINK and Gives & Hawkes.

“Ties, cravats, pocket squares and silk scarves are dependent on what type of occasion you are attending”

Fashion & Beauty 17

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Photo: The Mancunion

Ralph & Russo epitomise all the is luxurious in the world of couture. There is no playing it safe with their designs; they are a full celebration of the spectacular beauty of fashion and the female form. The waist was a central feature in all the Autumn/Winter 2016 looks, whether it was a pencil skirt, or a form fitting dress backed with a cape — every look followed the line of the body. A feminine colour palette made up of pastels, creams and pinks added to the ethereal glamour of their show. The designs Ralph & Russo create hark back to a bygone era of glamour that probably never existed, other than on the pages of magazines, an era we all wish we could have spent at least one evening in.

Alexander McQueen may be the reigning British fashion house of couture, but Giles Deacon is next in line to the throne. His designs are full of drama and texture; renaissance designs and art influence the statuesque designs.

The big houses still hold an huge influence in the couture world. Chanel asserted Cara and Kendall as real deal super models when they were cast as couture brides; it is a couture tradition that the final look should be a wedding gown. A couture is a spectacle on a new scale — Chanel have created casinos and paper-cut gardens in recent seasons.

This winter, were I given my chose of couture, I would be wearing Elie Saab’s art deco, royal blue, velvet gown, with a its belted waist, thigh high slit and swallow-esque broaches. Truthfully, I can think of no occasion upon which such a beautiful dress could be worn, but my lord, it is divine. Pure fashion ecstasy.

For us mere mortals couture may be a ridiculous extravagance we could never dream of owning, but I would hate to see it disappear. Couture is everything fashion can be, it is ludicrously expensive but ludicrously pretty. It managed to make it through the 2008 recession, so surely couture can continue to shine its majesty on fashion lovers around the world.

Photo: elliotjames @ Flickr

Couture fashion week exists on another plain to the other fashion seasons. Couture is season-less. The clientele is a small community of the wealthiest individuals, many of whom only want bespoke pieces, so that the influence of couture does not trickle down to high street in the way ready-to-wear does. Couture is a haze of fashion that very few get to see.

Fortunately, the internet exists, and images of couture fashion week can be broadcast across the globe — so at least from afar it can be admired. As the end of year festivities arise, and with the award season lingering in the opening months of 2017, couture makes another venture into the public eye.

So it is only fair to dance through a few of the most glorious, full, sheer, metallic, embroidered, structural, or whatever else gowns of couture.

Photo: elliotjames @ Flickr

The evening wear staple: The leather skirt

Deputy Fashion and Beauty Editor Talia Lee-Skudder reveals the investment piece every girl should have hanging in her wardrobe as her go-to evening staple

Photo: thekooples.co.uk

The leather skirt is a slick update on the classic black skirt, making it the perfect choice for all of your evening engagements. The leather skirt has become a much sought after item on the British high- street in recent years, prior to this it was probably more likely to be at home on a throwback photo of your mum in the eighties.

However, now with a number of brands jumping on board the trend, the leather skirt is an enviable and irreplaceable item in many wardrobes.

From ASOS to Oasis and Tophsop, our favourite high-street brands have created countless skirts in different styles to suit all body types. The pencil leather skirt compliments those ladies with hourglass figures whilst a mini skirt is great for flashing those pins. Whilst these brands do create good quality leather skirts at affordable prices, they also cater for those who don’t want to splash their cash on one item and design skirts made of PU which give the same effect for a fraction of the price.

The leather skirt is my go to item for evening wear, especially when it is a last minute outing that I haven’t had time to prep for. I bought my trusty leather skirt over three years ago from ASOS and it has been my faithful companion ever since. It is good quality leather and has only got better with age and wear.

Usually I team my miniskirt with strappy black heels and a crisp white shirt for a simple and classic evening wear look that you can wear again and again. The versatility of the skirt is enough to persuade even the most frugal to invest in good quality leather.

Not only is it ideal for evening wear, it is also perfect for daywear. It looks as fabulous with a pair of heels as it does with a jumper and a pair of boots. Look at this item as an investment that you will wear for years rather than a colossal waste of money that could have been better spent on food. Believe me, the perfect leather skirt will have a firm place in your wardrobe for many years to follow.

For the more adventurous, why not try a leather skirt in a metal-

lic PU? Most high-street stores and online shopping sites will have some variation of the leather skirt and usually in some lust-worthy metallic shades. A metallic skirt will be the statement piece of your outfit, so keep your top plain and simple, all attention should be on your beauty of a skirt. Gold, silver and rose gold skirts are stylish updates on your classic black leather. If you love a style and know it suits you, then obviously you must buy it in every colour available.

Thankfully, it seems most brands create their pieces with this philosophy in mind.

The leather skirt is sophisticated but also exudes sexiness and is an edgy update on your boring black mini or pencil skirt. Banish them to the back of your wardrobe and invest in what will be your new evening wear staple. Whether you opt for the classic black or brave the metallic trend, the leather skirt will be the best purchase you have made all year. It is an investment after all.

Film

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Top 5

Films and TV shows currently on Netflix The film editor’s top picks of TV shows and films on UK Netflix

Review

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

JK Rowling begins a new era of magic with highly-anticipated prequel Shema Begum Deputy Film Editor

Photo: New Line Cinema

Eliza Slawther Head Film Editor I often find UK Netflix to be a source of much frustration, containing a plethora of low-budget horror films and uninteresting health food documentaries, relying too heavily on its wide selection of hit-and-miss original sitcoms which make subscribing just about worth the money. However, if you trawl through the masses there are a few must-see films and TV shows — and with the Christmas break coming up it is the perfect time to binge-watch all the best that Netflix has to offer.

4.) Requiem for a Dream Darren Aronofsky’s cult classic is a must-see film exploring the dark horrors of drug addiction, combining dark comedy with the tragic reality of life for addiction sufferers of all types. Perhaps most famous for its dramatic, instantly recognisable score, Requiem for a Dream is perhaps one of the most powerful and moving films of all time.

This being said, it can be very emotionally draining so best to have a few episodes of Arrested Development lined up to lighten the postviewing mood.

3.) Arrested Development A four-series show which just keeps giving, Arrested Development is hilarious on all levels. Although each episode is a brilliant comedy in itself, the best jokes are the more subtle, self-referrential ones which have gifted the show with the cult-following and critical acclaim it deserves. For this reason it is crucial to watch the show in order and pay attention — this is more than your average cheap-pun sitcom.

2.) The Lobster Featuring an absurd world in which humans must find love or be turned into an animal of their choice, The Lobster brings to light complicated questions about relationships, the individual and humanity.

The beauty of the film lies in it simplicity, there is no need to question the premise or plausibility of the film — instead the cinematography, humour and characterisations speak for themselves.

It has been five years since “Potterheads” have been able to see the Warner Brothers logo appear on screen, followed by John Williams’ iconic Hedwig’s theme. JK Rowling has brought the magic and adventure back into our lives once more with the latest instalment in the Potter-verse. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the first of the five films planned in this spin-off series, which is set to feature some very familiar characters, including Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, who is to be played

by Johnny Depp — a controversial choice considering recent events. Studios now more than ever seem to be opting for spin-offs, and the Harry Potter franchise certainly isn’t the first to be joining this trend. Rogue One, the Star Wars spin-off, comes out next month, and it doesn’t stop there. A young Han Solo film is underway, and this is rumoured to be followed by a Boba Fett film.

As exciting it is for fans to see the expansion of these beloved worlds, scepticism always looms. Studios want greater financial control, and what guarantees them profits more than anything are spin-offs. An audience already exists, who will not only line up at cinemas to watch the film, but will go on to buy the DVDs, books and any other merchandise that is churned out of the film, no matter how bad it may be. Considering all eight Harry Potter films generated over $7 billion, it is a safe bet for Warner Brothers that Fantastic Beasts will go on to be another box office success.

You cannot help but think such films are a gimmick of this money making scheme, and so inevitably you question whether it will be good at all. As entertaining Fantastic Beasts gets, it is another commercial endeavour for the studio.

Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne is the socially awkward, animal loving hero, Newt Scamander. The casting choice could not be more ideal. Redmayne offers a certain

Photo: Heyday Films

charm and quirk which makes Newt so loveable. The British wizard arrives in New York in 1926 with a suitcase full of intriguing but reckless creatures. After an incident at the bank, Newt loses his suitcase to No-Maj/ Muggle Jacob (Dan Fogler). Fogler’s character has become an instant fan favourite who provides the more comical elements of the film. The ex-soldier who dreams to open up his own bakery is thrown into the mayhem of the magical world, after all animals escape from the suitcase. Jacob and Newt are joined

by Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) a worker at MACUSA, the American equivalent of the Ministry of Magic; she lives with her telepathic sister Queenie (Alison Sudol) who forms a bond with Jacob.

The entertainment and fun of the wizarding world is reprised in Fantastic Beasts. David Yates returns to this prequel series, which helps to keep the consistency in the franchise, though arguably he is also in the best position to depict this new era of magic. The mythical creatures are enchanting, and as Newt goes on the hunt for them, the film matches the wondrous and exhilarating experiences of the Potter films.

However, this is only a part of the storyline.

Rowling has as expected focused on a more darker and dangerous matter. Mary Lou (Samantha Morton) and her adopted children, including Credence (Ezra Miller)

A beautiful fantasty film about a young girl called Ofelia in post-Civil war Spain, this film combines the horror of war with a dark fantasy world. Featuring striking cinematography and a gorgeous colour palatte alongside a captivating tale which truly captures the twisted, surreal fairytale world which becomes Ofelia’s reality, Pan’s Labyrinth really is one-of-a-kind.

Notable mentions: Bojack Horseman Dazed and Confused, The Thin Red Line, Slow West, Boyhood, Clerks, Gone Girl, Under the Skin, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Photo: Film4

3.5/5

Review

Indignation

Emefa Setranah Film Critic

1.) Pan’s Labyrinth

proselytise anti-witchcraft messages across the city. This gives way to what perhaps will be the underlying aspect of the series — a battle between witches and wizards and Muggles (X-Men anyone?).

The subplots don’t stop there. Jon Voight plays Henry Shaw, a character whose family seem to be very powerful and influential in the political realm. The issue, which arises here, is that with the inclusion of all these different aspects to the narrative, it just isn’t very cohesive. You don’t get to learn a lot about the different events happening.

Similarly, with the introduction to so many characters you don’t get to know much about them either, this includes the protagonist Newt, and some of the characters are just underused. Though it is enjoyable to watch, the film doesn’t do a good enough job in building up to the climax, which includes a very surprising twist. It is merely satisfactory, and many gaps are left which cannot be justified on the basis that this is going to be a series. Fantastic Beasts essentially works to show what the series will entail, and so the film fails to connect and engage with you.

Despite the flaws of the film, Fantastic Beasts has done enough for you to expect much more in the films to come, as some very interesting ideas have been introduced.

Sexual promiscuity, room mate quarrels and psychological breakdowns. These are just a few of the themes present in the film which any university student can relate to. However, the immersive world created by Schamus is far from modern. Indignation premiered at Sundance film festival earlier on this year.

It is the eighth novel by Philip Roth to be adapted into a film.

Winesburg university student Marcus Messner played by Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) is the son of a kosher butcher. It is thanks to his intellectual capabilities that Messner avoids getting drafted into the army. With the Korean war raging in the background, a few years at university is inevitably the better option.

Despite his Jewish upbringing, Messner is an atheist and struggles to acclimate to the strong christian values of the university.

He also finds trouble coexisting in a small dorm with eccentric room mates and cannot stand attending chapel every week.

Things begin to look up for him when he strikes an infatuation with the delectable Olivia Hutton (Sarah Gadon). She is the embodiment of a 1950s girl-next-door. With perfectly curled blond hair, sultry red lipstick and a flirtatious nature, its easy to see why she piques Marcus’ interest.

Gadon’s performance at first appears robotic and un-emotive, but as the the film goes on and more is revealed about Olivia, Gadon’s detached line delivery makes sense. Olivia has many secrets and one of them is revealed through a scar on her left wrist. The mark was left behind after she took a razor to herself.

First time director, James Schamus, has a welcome case of beginners luck with the triumphant Indignation

Photo: Summit Entertainment

Shamus deals with this very painful and triggering subject matter in a delicate way. The films tone, if at times slow paced, is very calm and spacious. The action peaks and troughs as the characters meander through life in a historically difficult time in America. We get the sense that Marcus’ back is constantly to the wall and Lerman’s portrayal of a highly intelligent awkward outsider is acted with tentative accuracy and believability.

Temporally, the film begins with the present day Olivia in a nursing home and we delve into her nostalgic thoughts of the past. There is a full circle resolution when we are met with this very same image for the ending. The cinematography and editing stitch together the shots in a soft hazy glow, in keeping with the nostalgic representation of Olivia’s memories.

The serious nature of the film may be off putting for some, but this particular time in American history was undoubtedly serious. I think the oppressive nature of the time was effectively and sensitively captured by Schamus.

3.5/5

Film 19

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Review

The 20th UK International Jewish Film Festival

The Kind Words and Moos stand out as eye-opening insights into modern Jewish life layers of the film, but the conclusion is vague and unresolved, the story’s buzz falls flat.

The film’s serious core matter is balanced out with underlying dry sarcasm, jokes and digs about religion, sexuality, and identity in general is a refreshing touch in the tense current socio-political climate of the world.

This does not make the film lighthearted as such, as the gently thoughtprovoking script reminds us how Israelis are perceived by the world and how they perceive it in return.

Photo: Kemna & Zonen

Eloïse Wright Film Contributor A few days ago, the 20th annual Jewish Film Festival took place in Manchester. A variety of diverse films were shown at HOME. Attentive to family dynamics, Shemi Zarhin’s latest film The Kind Words is a story set in Jerusalem. Based around two brothers and a sister, who each discover in their own ways that any notion of identity they have is in fact a lie. Each of the siblings are dealing with their own individual issues: the first scene introduces Dorona, the female lead played by Rotem Zissman-Cohen, a young woman that has given up on motherhood, having suffered multiple miscarriages; the eldest brother of the trio, Nethanel (Roy Assaf) has recently

become religious to please his new wife’s standards and raise his triplets, although he seems conflicted about this decision; and Shai, the youngest (Assaf Ben-Shimon), is dealing with a recent breakup, and trying to balance fathering his son via Skype, who lives in Hungary with his ex-partner.

A death in the family is followed by a startling discovery, that brings the siblings to an impromptu trip to Paris, then to Marseille, in search for answers to questions that shed new light onto their perceptions of themselves and each other. Although the plot has potential and shows us the storytelling talents of the Israeli director, its development lacks density.

The complexity of the protagonists’ relationships to any other character builds the viewer’s interest in the many

The Kind Words does not distinguish itself from the customary cluster of melodramas, as we follow once again a linear progression of events with some heated fights, witty jokes, and romantic interests. This is Zarhin’s sixth feature film, and one can’t help but feel somewhat dissatisfied in his failure, this far into his career, to exhaust the full potential of his very real talents.

In the same milieu of melodrama, coming to us from the Netherlands is a sweet Jewish comedy entitled Moos. As one can guess, the central character’s name is Moos (Jip Smit), a young woman who aspires to be accepted into the most influential, well regarded drama school in Amsterdam, yet fails miserably at the auditions due to her song being in Hebrew.

The story begins on the first night of

Hanukkah — everything is ritualistic and familiar. Childhood friend Sam (Daniel Cornelissen) shakes up the monotony by returning from Israel, surprising Moos and witnesses the series of peculiar events that take place in Moos’ life.

Director, Job Gosschalk, explained his idea for the movie to originally focus on two protagonists, Sam and Moos, the story shifting its point of view from one to the other. Though the film now only focuses on Moos as the main protagonist, the title — a sort of inside joke amongst Dutch Jewish people specifically, who are generally familiar with the stories of fictional figures Samuel and Moses, “Sam and Moos” for short — hints at the origins of the script. Samuel and Moses are renowned for dealing with their daily mishaps through self-mockery and sarcasm, a trait we pick up on between the characters Sam and Moos in the film. Other typical Jewish stereotypes come forth, as many scenes take place in the loud, bustling and almost always busy family delicatessen, the centre of gossip and life in the movie.

The film is heart-warming, with the typical rise and fall and rise again of the main character, as she overcomes her fears and faces her problems, mixed with the traditional Jewish rituals such as a young boy’s Bar mitzvah or the circumcision of a new born baby, and with the guest appearance of small

Hebrew-singing sensation Asaf Hertz, the guilty pleasure felt whilst watching Love Actually is not experienced when the credits roll on screen.

Kind words aside, this is no Hollywood film.

Intended for television, not for cinema release, the director’s standards are not aiming for highbrow cinema. Moos is not your typical heroine, she is unpolished, clumsy, lost. By no means is she the family’s pride and joy, although the ending obviously fixes that with a touching Father-Daughter scene.

Gosschalk stated that his aim was to feature ordinary people with everyday issues, steering clear of anything excessively grave or that required intensive reflexion, so the wider public could relate in some way to one or multiple characters and situations.

These are merely two of many other films presented during the 20th annual Jewish Film Festival in Manchester, but definitely worth seeing. Managing to take away from the taboos and blindness to a heritage that is widely overlooked and skirted around by the media, it is refreshing to observe in the modern daily life of Jewish people in different parts of the globe, in the form of melodramas, which simultaneously celebrate and offer a new perspective of this rich culture.

Review

I, Olga Hepnarova Mritunjay Sharma Film Critic

The first thing that comes up when you google this film is that it is about a Czechoslovakian mass murderer who mercilessly killed 8 people on the 10th of July 1973, using a truck as a weapon. This description leads you to imagine and expect a high adrenaline film with mystery and violence.

But the film is mostly the opposite to what is being described above. This is a film shot on a black-and-white reel, and the adrenaline taken out of the soul is by the little or no movement of the camera, very slow and stable cuts. The absence of any kind of background score is complemented with most of the film being shot indoors, which adds to the silence of the whole film. This silence can also be treated as a silence of the main character that is Olga Hepnarova and with the risk of sounding clichéd, I must say the silence is also an indicator of the storm that comes in the end, and takes away the lives of 8 people.

I, Olga Hepnarova is an emotionally charged insight into the mind of a mass murderer

It is these emotions that makes her fall in love with a fellow car driver, a woman of almost the same age, but more socially active, and more friendly than Olga. It is these emotions that help her take her bra off in the club and dance, and make out with her girlfriend. The intense love she has for her is because of these emotions. She also felt the pain of not being loved by her father, and being thrashed by the inmates in jail for no apparent reason. This film is also a critique on society in general, the way we treat people who are unable to communicate their feelings, who don’t know the difference between right or wrong, the constant pressure of being good

and doing everything right. Olga is fed up of all of this and constantly feels choked and uncomfortable. She, in one of her last letters to the newspaper, summons the society and writes: “I, Olga Hepnarova , the victim of your bestiality, sentence you to a death penalty”.

This film was shown at the panorama section at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival. And I am sure this film still has a long journey to cover.

When we think of mass murderers we always have the image of them being cruel and emotionless people who can kill for no reason. But this is not the case of Olga. Olga is full of emotions, yes she is socially awkward and doesn’t know how to react to the common situations of life. But she definitely has emotions, and this film helps us to understand the kind of emotions this mass murderer goes through before committing her crime.

Photo: Black Balance

Books

20

Top 5

ISSUE 10/ 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Top 5: Books that shaped my year

Roma Havers reflects on a year of great reading and highlights the top five books and the quotes from them that stood out Pansy Andrea Gibson In 2015 I saw Andrea Gibson perform at The Deaf Institute, I was just starting out on my own performance poetry and it inspired me to continue. When I got this book for Christmas, it was like a pocket-full of joy, so much of what inspires me as an artist is in this book, but the

“I have never trusted anyone with the pulled back bow of my spine the way I trusted ones who come undone at the throat” ‘The Nutritionist’

she weaves.

Each of these poems recounts a side of her life

“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by payment plans” (Kate Tempest)

(Andrea Gibson)

Photo: Wolf Gang@flickr

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel I didn’t just read this once this year, I read it three times. If nothing else sways you to take a look, it should be this, I’ve read fifty books so far this year and this one won the top spot. This tragicomic (or graphic novel) is an autobiographical account of Alison Bechdel’s relationship with her father. The story spans three different timelines, as a young girl, her time at college and as an adult the same age her father was when he died.

“Sometimes, when things were going well, I think my father actually enjoyed having a family[...]A sort of still life with children.”

(Alison Bechdel) The graphic novel is funny and poignant and one of the most honest portrayals of family relations I’ve ever read, and this is from the woman most known for her infamous Bechdel Test to see if a film is worth seeing. I’ll be honest, this book really was a bit of a miracle, it echoed so many of my own life experiences and so many of Bechdel’s thoughts comforted me and empowered me in a time of personal upheaval.

Just read it. There is also a broadway musical of Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic with an amazing soundtrack.

Photo: Vernon Barford School@flickr

an imaginative beautiful use of language.

It also just made me really really glad that I’m not a teenager any more.

Photo: Emily Mills@flickr

openness and vulnerability they show through their poetry amazes me. This book is the kind of book you need on your bedside table when you wake up in the middle of the night petrified.

The Golden Gate Vikram Seth This book surprised me a little, it was another Christmas present that was given to me based on a Radio 4 suggestion. I didn’t really know what to expect, the whole novel— and it’s a novel— is written in verse. It is intricate and funny and not what you would expect from what is essentially an epic poem for a contemporary audience.

Following one man’s life over a series of years it forges astounding characters and relationships all without breaking form. It is a feat of poetry that inspires me to just keep on going.

Hold Your Own Kate Tempest Three poetry books in a row, I guess you’re sensing a pattern, but I thought I’d still add this one. If anyone is aware of Kate Tempest’s poetry; she generally performs live, or on albums, and her work generally creates narratives of characters often in London. This book is completely different, there is so much of her in it, you forget how often she takes herself out of the narratives

Photo: Rencontres Trans Musicales@flickr

we don’t get to see very often; from her tragic and often violent relationship with her partner for many years, through to her early years being bullied. It is always wonderful to get a true insight into another side of a person and something about this book felt so personal that I can’t help but get that warm feeling when someone trusts you with a secret.

“When I draw it, I’m going to make my skin see-through and what you’ll see is that all the animals in the zoo of me have broken out of their cages.”

(Jandy Nelson)

I’ll Give You the Sun Jandy Nelson This is the odd one of bunch, I picked it up after a long library shift over the summer, it was on the Young Adult section but the cover was interesting and I was looking for a lighter read. I went through this book in one sitting, despite it being over 400 pages.

It tracks the story of two twins from ten to sixteen as their relationship falls apart in the wake of their mother’s death. I’ve never read a Young Adult novel that engages so intimately with the effects of trauma and with such

Photo: Pixabay

Book Recommendation of the week

The Circle Dave Eggers “An engaging read on the perils of a super-connected world. The premise of the book bares a scary resemblance to many real-world tech giants *ahem, Google*. Jonathan Safran Foer could well be commenting on the story when he said, “I fear the closer the world gets to our fingertips, the further it gets from our hearts.”

Recommended by: Aiswarya Kishor, International Student studying Tissue Engineering Photo: David Yu@flickr

CLEAN THE COMMUNITY Come along and clean up our community with local residents where we will be cleaning up leaves and gardening.

Sunday 4th December, 12pm, Old Moat Park Tuesday 6th December, 10am - 12pm, Ladybarn Park

HIDDEN GEMS TOUR Come along and discover the hidden gems around Manchester on this exciting tour – see a side of Manchester that you haven’t seen already!

Tuesday 6th December at 12pm Manchester Student Homes Unit 1-3 Ladybarn House, Fallowfield, M14 6ND

WE STAND TOGETHER – INTERFAITH EVENING Come along for and celebrate the diversity of Manchester with talks and discussion on different faiths and an evening of amazing food!

Wednesday 7th December 6pm - 8pm Council Chambers, Students’ Union

CELEBRATION EVENING Come along and celebrate the fantastic work carried out by all volunteers this week with a quiz, games and food.

Friday 9th December 6pm – 7.30pm Room 6 Students’ Union

Food & Drink

22

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

For anyone who has worked as a waiter or waitress, you will probably have been treated in a way that the majority of the population has not been subjected to. People talk down to waiters, people talk down to restaurant staff, all the social graces and manners that people in Britain have can mysteriously disappear when their steak is over-cooked, or they are sat too close to the bathrooms. It is a sad reality, but what is one notch worse than the treatment of restaurant waiters and waitresses, is the treatment of people who work at fast-food outlets.

I have seen it, they way certain men order food in kebab and chicken shops, if they aren’t banging on the counter and running into cars there is still a kind of rhetoric that comes with order-

This notion of supremacy manifests itself overtly in the arena of the chicken shop. As I witnessed last Monday, when a ‘white lad’ ordered from a BME restaurant worker, he attempted to establish himself in all his hollow alpha masculinity. It was just after 1.00am on Wilmslow Road, Fallowfield. It was in a chicken shop. The guy who was cooking that night, who I often see working there, has these terrible hours yet still manages to provide a fast, personable service. I have been going there for years, and something that keeps me coming back is that service. So when I see, first hand, lad supremacists talking to him in a derogatory, condescending tone weighted with the full force of British ignorance and prejudice, it makes my skin crawl.

I had ordered, sat down, when these two young guys walked in with that distant, drunken look in their eyes. Bearing in mind there is a huge menu printed above the counter. One

Bar San Juan Miriam Mizzi Contributor

asked, ‘how much for three fillets?’ the chef tells him it’s 50p a fillet but chips are extra. “What?

Where’s the other guy? The other guy normally does me three nice fillets and puts some chips in their as well”, at this point his friend mumbled something about not having much money but was quickly assured by the one ordering that, “don’t worry it’s fine”. He continued, “look can we get six fillets with chips, three quid”. It wasn’t a question, he wasn’t really ordering, he was telling the chef what he wanted and how much he was going to pay for it.

‘‘Corcoran was convicted of assaulting a police officer and racially aggravated harassment’’ And so it went on, similar to a thousand other scenes like it all over the country that probably happen every night. I imagine you have seen it too, maybe not a loud, brazen display like that of Michael Corcoran, but probably something a little more back-handed, more clandestine.

In something as small as the tone of voice of a drunken man, can exist decades worth of deeply entrenched ideas of racial superiority.

Even when you remove race from the equation, the language a man will use arguably reveals something. The derogatory, patronising words he uses are chosen in an attempt to exert authority. Maybe he is searching for order in a life that

When we opened the door and apologetically let a gust of the winter wind blow inside, that almost froze the nearest table, we were pleased to find out we could wait at their ‘bar’ and a table would likely become free within the next half an hour. We were ushered to the back of the restaurant, perched on some small wooden stools, and ordered two pints of San Miguel. I couldn’t help but compare the interior to a classic tapas bar I went to in Barcelona and almost thanked the waiter with an overenthusiastic ‘Gracias’ (Check out El Xampanyet if you are ever in Barcelona!)

Beech Road in Chorlton is full of bars and restaurants that are bustling any night of the week, hence when I heard you could not book at Bar San Juan, I was a little bit apprehensive. Despite my better instincts, my dining partner Dylan and I made the trip to this trendy part of South Manchester and were met by this tiny, absolutely packed tapas bar. Its painted exterior—canary yellow and red—was brash and somewhat in-your-face, but it really

This kind of behaviour is not secluded to fastfood restaurants, it happens everywhere. There is no immediate, magnanimous solution but one incident told to me by a friend when I was in the process of writing this article, serves as a kind of model of what we can strive to do. So this friend, N, was in Sheffield, at a kebab shop after midnight. A middle-aged man was being told that he had to wait in line to get his order, like everyone else. He worked himself into a rage and stormed out uttering the most archaic of British racial slurs, ‘P***i’, loudly under his breath. N has never appeared to me a confrontational person but she said, that on this occasion, she could not contain herself. She followed this man of nearly 50 years out the door and called him on what he had said. “You CAN’T say that to people”, “it was just a joke, I…I…”, it doesn’t matter if it was “a joke, you CANNOT call people that”. The man was left dumbstruck at being made to swallow his pride at the hands of a woman half his age.

Call them on it, don’t let it go unchecked.

‘‘We were waved off by the kindly staff and set off on our journey back to the now less appealing Fallowfield ’’

worked, and immediately, I just wanted to get inside.

Bar San Juan has long been at the top of TripAdvisor’s best Manchester restaurants list, however, I do not normally trust TripAdvisor, least of all when trying to find some good, cheap food. Aside from its chart-topping ability, Bar San Juan has frequently been mentioned in my ear by my trustworthy housemates: “When are you going to try the best tapas there is?” they’d ask. So, on Tuesday, I did.

is otherwise spiralling out of control. For what these displays of macho arrogance reveal to us is not strength, but weakness. They attempt to bolster their claims at manhood by ‘looking tough’ in front of their friends, yet their insecurity shines.

Photo:Flickr@SophieBarr

A case in point would be that of a Michael Corcoran, a former Cardiff and Oxford United footballer. He drank over a gallon of beer before ending his night at Kebab Zero in Kingsland Road, Shoreditch. There he chanted racist abuse at Michelle Kwarteng, banging on the shop counter and staring into her eyes. Having been identified by Kwarteng, PC Tracey Chapman attempted to arrest Corcoran outside Shoreditch Town Hall, he pushed her aside and fled across the road, running straight into a car and then requiring treatment for minor injuries by paramedics.

Corcoran was convicted of assaulting a police officer and racially aggravated harassment in January 2016, and was ordered to carry out 220 hours unpaid work and pay £1,085 in fines and costs at Thames Magistrates’ Court. (Hackney Gazette)

ing their fast food late at night. Something about being inebriated, under the cover of night, and surrounded by their friends makes them talk in a certain way. It is symptomatic of ladism, of lad culture. Although, I find the marriage of the word lad and culture unsettling in itself, the way lads behave is so dramatically divorced from anything that gets described in cultural terms, perhaps they need a new name? Try lad supremacy, for one of the many heinous characteristics of the lad in 2016 are his delusions of grandeur, the idea that he is better than everyone else, that he must have the last most authoritative word on everything.

Felix Sanders Food & Drink Editor

By the time we had finished our drinks, we were beckoned over to a newly emptied table and presented with a traditional-looking menu. By looking around at some fellow diners tables, we had already spotted a few tapas dishes we were certain on getting. I wished it was socially acceptable to ask tables next to you what it is they have ordered, but I reigned myself in as I knew Dylan would be totally embarrassed. Instead we guessed, and did a pretty decent job of it.

Before we knew it, our lovely waiter filled our table with little plates of goodness. First, we dived into Saquitos Cordero: filo parcels packed full with slow cooked lamb, and were taken by the textures of the crisp pastry mixing with the soft succulent meat.

We knew from then onwards that Bar San Juan was going to the top of our ‘favourite restaurants list’. Next, we fought over the Pisto Manchego: a small dish full of a vegetable sauce made up of tomatoes, aubergine, and onions, topped with delicious, earthy cheese, a hands-down winner in our eyes. We went on to order, Calamari, Gambas Pil-Pil—our favourite Spanish prawn dish—Al-

bondigas: lamb and pork meatballs, and then, Solomillo: garlicky potatoes topped with steak and Padron peppers, and Conjundo Murciano: chorizo with quail’s eggs.

When we had finished our multiple outstanding dishes, we realised we were sticking out from the crowd like sore thumbs. Everyone else in the restaurant had decided to take a classic Spanish approach and eat slowly, savouring every bite of each expertly executed plate. We laughed at our overt Englishness but did not for one minute regret our eating style, and even if we had, we wouldn’t have been able to stop ourselves from demolishing our food in what must have been record time.

We stayed for a while, sipping on our drinks and continuing to soak up the warming atmosphere for as long we possibly could before we reluctantly realised the other eager customers waiting at the bar for a table just as we had been doing a while before. We were waved off by the kindly staff and set off on our journey back to the now less appealing Fallowfield to ask our other friends: “When are you going to go to try the best tapas there is?” @hungoverhabits

Photo: Bar San Juan

Chicken Shop Supremecy

56 Beech Rd, Manchester M21 9EG

Food & Drink 23

ISSUE 10 / 28th NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

63 Degrees Lily Carden Contributor

Photo: 63 Degrees

Any time a family member drops by Manchester for a visit it turns into a food extravaganza. I look at my restaurant wish list, pick one or two that are out of my price range and hope they’ve got a table free. Last weekend was no exception.

Mum arrived on Friday to homemade mac and cheese (a guilty pleasure) before ramping up to The Day of Food.

Saturday was to involve lunch at 63 Degrees, supper at El Gato Negro (chef’s table no less, although that did mean eating at the unfashionably early time of 6:15pm) and to top it all off, drinks at The Refuge.

Believe you me, if I could have fitted brunch in there I would have! Instead, we made do with croissants and homemade jam. Between all of this bounty, we explored the Christmas markets, nibbling on Dutch baby pancakes sprin-

kled prettily with icing sugar and shopped to our hearts content (ok, about 30 minutes before the crowds beat us).

63 Degrees is tucked away in the Northern Quarter (as all restaurants in this area of town appear to be). It is a family run french establishment with an expensive à la carte menu and an ultra reasonable set menu at £20 for 3 courses (available Tuesday to Friday from noon until 2.30pm, as well as Saturday and Sunday from midday until 5.00pm.) Having instructed mum that she couldn’t have what I wanted, and not to touch the food before I’d gotten a photo (she promptly forgot this edict), we ordered.

The set menu is to the point, with three starters and three main courses, all well chosen. Unlike many restaurants in France itself, vegetarians are well catered for here with a soup of the day (pumpkin, if I remember correctly) and a parsnip risotto with coconut milk.

We bypassed these possibilities and went for the pork and chicken terrine, and the scallop ‘crumble’ with sweet potato. I don’t know quite what the crumble was, but the sweet potato puree was phenomenal, and the scallops perfectly cooked.

A side note here, I often think that the bread offered by a restaurant serves as a good barometer

‘‘The set menu is to the point, with three starters and three main courses, all well chosen. Unlike many restaurants in France itself, vegetarians are well catered for here with a soup of the day’’ for the quality of the restaurant as a whole, and this bread was no exception. Served both with the terrine and for the table, was a light walnut bread that was so good that I went back for more.

Sticking with seafood, I chose sea bass with fennel for the main, served with a hollandaise sauce. It was simply executed and tasted exactly as it should. My mum ordered the restaurant’s signature dish, Volaille 63 degrés, which was a ballotine of chicken stuffed with mushrooms and served with cauliflower. While I’m not the greatest fan of mushrooms, I must say that this was also a well thought out plate of food.

My only problem with the meal was the lack of carbohydrates, so if you would like anything more than bread, you need to remember to order it. The portion sizes are perfect for lunch or a light supper and we still had room for dessert.

The à la carte menu features macarons and cakes from the amazing Didsbury patisserie, Bisou Bisou, among other offerings. The set menu gives a choice between french cheeses and a crème brulée. As my mum loves crème brulée we ordered one with two spoons (I was saving myself for pancakes later on).

Intriguingly, the pudding’s description merely said “flavours from childhood”. The sugar glaze was lit in front of us, and provided an entertain-

ing show as the flame danced over the plate. The idea of a childhood flavour to the crème puzzled us for we recognised the taste but couldn’t quite place it. It was sweeter than just vanilla but not overpowering. In the end, a waiter put us out of out misery and announced it was bubblegum.

Thankfully, it’s just a hint and not the strident flavour I remember from my days on the playground.

I cannot recommend 63 Degrees highly enough, whether your parents are visiting or you simply want a treat, you won’t be disappointed. If only there were a restaurant this good in the sleepy french village where we spend Christmas.

P.S. El Gato Negro is pretty damn good too, but costs so much more. Graduation, maybe?

104 High St, Manchester M4 1HQ @gorgeousgateaux

Recipe

Chicken Katsu Curry

Lily Carden Contributor

Serves 4 Oven at 180˚ fan Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes Ingredients 3 medium sweet potatoes ½ tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds olive oil Diced onion 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1tsp ground turmeric 200g red lentils 400ml coconut milk 600ml vegetable stock 3 handfuls spinach (or 3 blocks of frozen spinach) Naan (optional)

Heat the oven to 180˚. Dice the sweet potatoes (wash them but leave the skin on) into 2cm cubes and place on a roasting tray. Sprinkle over the fennel and cumin seeds with a glug of olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Roast in oven for 40 minutes, turning occasionally until cooked through.

Heat a little more olive oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan (essential to stop the lentils from burning) and add the diced onion. Cook until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spices — cinnamon, cumin, coriander, turmeric — and stir through the softened onions.

Pour in the lentils, coconut milk and vegetable stock to the pan, stir, and bring to a simmer. Ensure the hob is on the lowest heat and leave the dal to cook for 25 minutes, stirring frequently to stop the lentils from sticking to the bottom. Add some hot water if necessary to stop the lentils from burning.

Drop the spinach into the cooked dal and stir to wilt.

Serve with the sweet potatoes on top and naan on the side.

Photos: Lily Carden

It’s so cold outside that all I want to eat is a big bowl of carbs. Unfortunately that’s not a very healthy option, so instead I make this dal. Lentils can get a bad rap but this dish changes that, it’s full of flavour — perfect for those on a pre-Christmas budget. The sweet potatoes are what makes it special although the naan can make a great addition.

Handy hint; if you buy it from your lo-

cal takeaway it’ll taste so much better than supermarket ones and cost about the same.

Arts

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ISSUE 10 / 28TH NOVEMBER 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Review

Artist Rooms: Andy Warhol at the Whitworth Arguably the most exciting exhibition of the year comes to the University of Manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery, Georgia Welch takes a look

The Whitworth Art Gallery has been host to a range of interesting and widely-discussed exhibitions since its renovation and reopening in early 2015, but perhaps none more hotlyanticipated than Artist Rooms’ new Andy Warhol exhibition, presenting a plethora of his works, many of which have never been seen before in the UK. I attended a preview to the exhibition in which art dealer, curator and longtime friend of Warhol, Anthony d’Offay introduced the works he kindly donated to the Tate, now on loan to the Whitworth.

He explained, as is evidenced in the works displayed, the extent to which Andy Warhol’s near-fatal assassination by playwright and radical

feminist, Valerie Solanas, in 1968 affected the tone of his work. Warhol was ultimately pronounced dead as a result of this attack, and subsequently revived, so it is unsurprising that ideas of mortality and death feature so heavily in his work in the wake of the event.

With this core theme in mind, one of the most recognisable items from the collection was his 1981 piece, ‘Gun’, depicting the exact model of revolver used in his attempted assassination. His familiar striking screen print style is as visually resonant as ever in this piece, reminding us once again why his pop art techniques became such a hallmark of 20th century counter culture. Continuing this theme in a

far more visceral manner is Warhol’s self-published photograph of the shocking scars etched across his torso following the bullet wounds he garnered as a result of his 1968 attack. The gravitas of the event is vividly manifested throughout much of his later work, and many of the pieces on display in the exhibition.

The thematic diversity of Warhol’s work does not end here, however, with other clusters of work instead focusing on more complex and grandiose ideas about America, its politics and religion, with pieces such as ‘Are You Different?’ casting a spotlight on the issues surrounding Warhol’s own sexuality and the way it conflicted with his heavily Catholic background.

Naturally, his screen print ‘Dollar Sign’ pieces make an appearance — capturing Warhol at perhaps his most iconic, exploring ideas of consumerism and capitalism in 20th century America. The varying tones and different concepts explored within the exhibition act as an excellent, all-encompassing representation of the multitudinous facets of Warhol’s artistic career, and the influence of significant life events on his world views. Thanks to the carefully-considered curation by Anthony d’Offay and the Whitworth, people of all ages and backgrounds now have the opportunity to see some of Warhol’s most important, poignant and stirring works of art right here in the heart of Manchester.

Photo: Georgia Welch

Artist Rooms: Andy Warhol at Whitworth Art Gallery – 19th November 2016 - 16th April 2017 Photo: Georgia Welch

Editor’s Picks

What’s on this week?

Albert Einstein predicted that humans would only live for four years if bees were to die out. So what happens to us after the bees?

After The Bees Manchester Museum 16 November 2016–01 July 2017 Exploring the consequences of a world without bees through a series of artworks, the exhibition tells a poignant tale of loss. Artist, photographer and filmmaker Megan Powell will celebrate the beauty of this most-Manchester of creatures, and tell the story of the haunting aftermath in a world without pollinators. After the Bees includes interviews with academics, ecologists and specialists who help to uncover the language of the hive, as well as photography and filming of urban honeybee hives across the city.

After the Bees also features highly-detailed, magnified images of specimens from Powell’s own collection, taken using electron microscopes at The University of Manchester, alongside close-up shots of taxidermy birds from the museum’s collection. The latter will suggest the repercussions of environmental change across species in an echo of the museum’s other showcase exhibition, Extinction or Survival?, which looks into instances of extinction caused by humans.

Review

Castlefield Gallery: Miniature World The Castlefield Gallery hosts an exhibition of “the incomprehensibly minute to the unimaginably massive” in Miniature World

Emily Driscoll Contributor The new exhibition at the Castlefield Gallery is a small wonder in many respects. Miniature World encapsulates many aspects of the search for better understanding of the world around us, in many different mediums showing the small steps to the bigger picture. The exhibition holds artefacts and diagrams of scientific concepts, miniature models of fantastical scenes, and more close-to-reality situations. It is these models depicting scenes closest to my own heart that captured my imagination.

Claire Tindale’s exhibits holds tiny models of ‘behind the scenes’ medical equipment which looks at the roles involved in taking care of dementia patients. The models are accompanied by scaled down versions of the rooms created from the memories of the patients, which makes the models — that by themselves can be clinical — really come to life. As the rooms are empty, it brought to mind

the sense of loss that dementia can bring to patients and to their families, as well as to those working closely with them. I think anyone with a connection to the disease would find this part of the exhibition particularly interesting.

Another fascinating collection of pieces was created by Iain Andrews, an array of monsters, figurines, and the paintings they inspired based on folk tales and biblical narratives. His beautifully historical style of painting and the traditional themes surrounding them are in juxtaposition with the strange creatures that have been modelled and painted into them. Altogether, the images created are thought provoking —the longer you look at them the more detail you find raising more questions rather than providing answers.

The exhibition as a whole is odd, it’s hard to find a link that would put each collection under the same title. Whilst each artist’s collection is intriguing and stunning in its own right, the ensemble seems disjointed. Regardless, I would recommend this

exhibition to anyone looking to think deeply about the world around them as it was all I could think about for hours after leaving.

The Castlefield Gallery is showing the collection until the 22nd January 2017 and I may be visiting again before it leaves.

Fancy getting involved?

If you enjoy art, and would like to write for the Arts section, join our Facebook group : Mancunion Arts Contributors 2016/2017.

OR Come along to our weekly meetings in the Activities Space in the Students’ Union. at 5.30pm on Mondays.

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Interview

Interview: Daisy Lewis Brogen Campbell spoke to Daisy Lewis about being apart of the National Youth Theatre and why you should audiition

Brogen Campbell Theatre Editor How did you first hear about the National Youth Theatre (NYT)?

I first heard about it as someone put it up on a noticeboard at my school. My drama teacher told me to give it a go.

Did you know much about it before you auditioned?

There had been chinese whispers amongst us students about what it was and I heard that lots of famous people did it. That was pretty much all I knew about it. I knew that some famous actors had done that and so I wanted to try to. That’s pretty much the only reason why. I came from a family who couldn’t have less to do with acting.

The closest thing my family had to do with the acting profession was watching Corrie (Coronation Street).

There was absolutely nobody in the Dorset village that I grew up in who was involved with the profession. I think the closest they got to a stage was watching ‘panto’. I was just like how do I get into this. I think this is what I want to do. I know that I love it. I know I’m happiest when I’m in the school play. How do I keep doing this outside of my school holidays? In the village I grew up in there was nothing in the holidays. When I saw this and I could do it outside of school time and have an excuse to go to London and check that out, I was on it like a car bonnet.

I was like, this sounds great.

Did you get in on your first attempt or did it take you a few tries?

I didn’t get in on my first attempt. I will tell anyone who didn’t get in on their first attempt to just try again. Just keep going until they turn you away at the door. If you want something fight for it. Like anything in life you are not going to be good at something the first time you do it, that’s not how life works. The first time I tried to walk I’m pretty sure I fell on my arse. And then I tried again and again. The first time I tried to speak I was not delivering Shakespeare. But I think we live in a culture nowadays where we expect so much of our selves and we expect ourselves to be the best immediately.

How many attempts did it take you in the end?

Okay I made it sound like I had to try like 15 times, I didn’t: I did get in on my second go. I had never done an audition before in my life. I didn’t even know what an audition was. The first time I was there I was just like okay what do I do. They said to me “I don’t think you are ready for this” and I wasn’t. The second time I went I had done some more work on my speeches, I was a year older and that makes a big difference in your teens.

When I came to do the course in London it was the first time I was away from my family, my first time in London, it was a big deal. The National Youth Theatre have a responsibility of care to the kids who come and audition and they told me I wasn’t ready and I should come back next year and they were right. It’s a big deal. You are

Photo: The Corner Shop

being pushed when you do your courses. It’s the most fun you’ll ever have and it’s also the most frightening experience you’ll ever have.

Review

Ghosts

Henrik Ibsen’s play Ghosts is revitalised in an enthralling and thought-provoking new production at HOME Manchester

What is the best production you’ve ever been involved in with NYT? Silence by Moira Buffini. It was my last show I did with NYT and it was the most special production to date that I’ve been in. The costumes were so cool, the set was worked by the actors, the play dealt with themes like sexual identity, feminism, love, sex and drugs. We got to tour it. The costumes were amazing and they were designed by Chloe Lampford who is now the most sought after designer in England. It was one of those moments where the stars align and you’re given a role and you just go for it and it’s all very special. There are so many moments in the National Youth Theatre that were like that.

Did you make friends whilst being a part of NYT and do you stay in touch?

Yes, 100 per cent. A lot of them aren’t actors. A lot of them decided they didn’t want to do this as a job, because it is a really tough job. It’s not for everyone. It’s very unstable. It means you don’t know where you are going to be living. You don’t know what you are going to be doing, 99 per cent of actors are out of work at any time. It will make you re-evaluate the things that you think are important in your life. Like living in a nice flat, being able to afford clothes, being able to eat anything except for tuna. But you get moments of beauty, honesty and exhilaration where you get close to other human beings and get vulnerable and make art that touches people’s lives and that’s worth living for I think.

And that’s what the NYT is. The NYT is a place for young adults to learn how to be themselves. It’s a place where you fall in love. It’s a place where you fall out of love.

It’s a place where you laugh and you will definitely cry.

You’ll probably drink too much. Well you’ll definitely drink too much. You will party. YIt’s life concentrated.

It’s the most exciting and challenging thing you’ll ever do.

What are your plans for the future?

There are a few things that I have in the pipe line that I’m not allowed to talk about. I have just written my debut novel. Again that’s something else that NYT inspired, it’s not just about actors, it’s for writers too.

Lots of actors are encouraged to write as the majority of shows are devised. That’s where I was encouraged to think about writing.

National Youth Theatre Acting Auditions for anyone aged between 14-25 are taking place in February in Manchester. Go onto the NYT website to book your audition. You can read the full interview online on the Mancunion webstite.

Photo: HOMEMCR

Gemma Sowerby & Bethan Jones Reviewers Ghosts, Henrik Ibsen’s controversial play, reviled upon its first production in 1882, is not on the surface the most pertinent play for a 21st century audience; its major themes are religion, incest, euthanasia, and syphilis. Despite this, director Polly Findlay’s artistic brilliance brings Ghosts into an entirely new realm, that of the modern day.

When taking your seats in the cavernous yet intimate theatre space at HOME, star Niamh Cusack, who plays the play’s protagonist Helen Alving, is sitting on a sofa in the centre of the stage, eating a banana and peeling potatoes. It was clear from the first moment that this was going to be absorbing and emotional, and above all, character-driven, which is hardly surprising in an Ibsen play.

For a show filled with dialogue — raging, agonising, emotive — a remarkable amount goes unsaid.

This new rendering of the play by David Watson, from a literal translation by Charlotte Barslund, combines the weighty speeches of Ibsen with local British dialects, a lot of swearing from the almost comedic Engstrand (played with aplomb

by William Travis, who garnered a lot of often raucous laughter), and dialogue littered with modern-day English, far from its origins in 19th century Danish. This dialogue carries every character — all the acting is superb, yet the script really does shine — rumbling along until the final scene of Act 1 and again until the play’s conclusion.

That the show is as provocative now as it was 130 years ago, and still somehow just as relevant, is testament to Findlay and Watson’s unrivalled creativity.

The intricate set resembled a TV studio, giving an eerie sense of being voyeurs of a usually secret and closed-in family life, and the use of sliding doors and artificial daylight and rain really emphasised the outside-looking-in feeling, largely coupled with heavy dramatic irony, as though commenting on a certain 21st century obsession with the lives of others.

However, the set immediately prepares the audience for a play full of unknowing and ambiguity — Findlay has created a space in which there are blindspots for every audience member, but this restricted view is art in action: shadows and lighting, sounds and echoes replace visible characters, giving the audience

the sense of truly being in the presence of ‘Ghosts’, and perhaps suggesting that in the modern era there should be some things left unseen.

Findlay’s production harnesses this modernity in the way it breaks up the play’s two acts; an interval would have been detrimental to the play’s pace, so the sudden complete blackout in the theatre, accompanied by deafening rock-esque music and flashes of red light, overlayed with broken, wailing, aggressive poetry, worked well both in heightening the drama of the plot and presenting a moment to think and breathe.

This atmosphere is no doubt a product of the play’s intense focus on character: each player is so multi-layered, unpredictable, and unstable, and their relationships with one another are so mangled between past and present, truth and lies, that it is at times a challenge to keep up, which is surely the intention.

This succeeds thanks to the stellar acting — though it is undoubtedly Niamh Cusack who shines the brightest. She is so convincing as Helen, embodying her character’s emotions and motives so physically that at times it becomes hard to focus on anyone else. The final scenes of each act displayed this prowess — she carries the weight of the world on her shoulders and takes the audience along for the ride.

Overall, the play masterfully implicates the audience in moral and ethical messages, which was the intention of Ibsen back in the 1800s, but is clearly an overwhelming intention too of Findlay’s 21st century version — it’s hard to ignore the sense that these people could live on your road, and that we will never truly know what happens behind closed doors.

It’s worth seeing for a multitude of reasons, chiefly for the supreme acting, set design, and thought-provoking modernised script, but don’t expect to come away without a disconcerting sense of foreboding.

Fancy writing for the Theatre Section of The Mancunion?

If so, join our facebook page Mancunion Theatre Section Contributors.

Meetings are held every Tuesday at 5:30pm in the Activities Space in the Students’ Union.

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Lifestyle

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An outsider’s view of Manchester Ever wondered what an Aussie thinks of Manchester? Look no further than this article: find out his opinions on the Curry Mile, the Northern Quarter, and more

Barney Weston Lifestyle Contributor

Photo: steveparkinson @Flickr

Having first met the Aussie Ryan whilst on a semester abroad in Zürich, and having learnt that he was quite the football fan, I concluded it would be criminal if I didn’t have him over to Manchester to see his team play. Either way, I was intrigued to observe my friend and get his outsider’s view of Manchester. Would he notice that strange Manchester walk? That accent? The music: Oasis and The Smiths? The football rivalry: City v. United?

Well, his first impression was of Wythenshawe, and that the weather

wasn’t much good (although in not so kind words). Living around the corner from the Curry Mile, I was proud to introduce my friend to the city by pointing down that barrage of neon lights. Yet that pride turned to embarrassment when I saw that relatively unimpressed look on his face. Clearly not living up to the atmosphere of Sydney.

The next morning, we walked up the Curry Mile. Apparently, it was ‘overhyped’. (Although he admitted the cheesy garlic naan he sampled was good). Beyond that I showed him the Ali G (“who’s ‘Ali G’?” he asked) and took an obligatory selfie in front of Whitworth Hall.

His impression of Manchester was improving by the second.

“Quite the student town,” he thought. Almost everyone he saw looked like a student. Manchester wasn’t what he had expected, and Ryan thought it seemed like a smaller suburb of Sydney. Could you compare Manchester to Sydney, his university city? Surprisingly enough, the comparison was entertained, but then rejected. “Sydney is completely different, as it’s not a student town like Manchester is.” It’s funny to hear Manchester, one of the country’s biggest cities, referred to as a ‘student town’.

With this in mind, we moved away from the universities, further up Oxford Road towards Archie’s for lunch. “The best food for sure”, but only because it reminded him of Sydney’s burgers. “What’s so good about them?” I ask. They copy America. They fit into this new craze and hype around burgers. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to show him Almost Famous — he would have loved it!

Being a History student, Ryan was treated to a lecture on Manchester’s history that lasted from the moment I saw him to the moment he left. Considering its Victorian history, Ryan thought the city itself felt very industrial, full of old decommissioned factories.

He thought the Town Hall in Albert Square was very well preserved,

and that it wasn’t until he saw the Memorial Hall that he knew about the amount of countries linked with Manchester thanks to its trading status.

I asked him something that provokes heated debates in my house every time it comes up — whether he had noticed a NorthSouth divide. Ryan said that there was a difference, in the people.

Manchester didn’t seem to have as much of a city culture as London or Sydney. Whereas in those cities it’s hectic, fast-paced, and moving, in Manchester, no-one seemed in a rush to go anywhere.

The Northern Quarter was Ryan’s favourite part of the city. It certainly had that Victorian vibe, yet also an alternative one. He hadn’t expected to find somewhere like that in Manchester. But when he was there, he found a little bit of expectation in regards to the music scene influence. “Everyone has the same sort of haircut because of a certain band from Manchester.” But when I mentioned the Happy Mondays and The Smiths, I was met with a “the what?”

Clearly not the bands I was thinking of.

The Northern Quarter crowd was very different to what Ryan observed whilst on a classy night out in Spinningfields. It was distinctly different from the student town of Manchester that he’d come to know, classier and less student-y.

The National Football Museum was, apparently, better than the newly opened FIFA Museum in Zürich, and Ryan said that having only seen the first floor. He liked that it was free too. But what he did notice was our fixation on our 1966 World Cup victory. “You guys need to get rid of that World Cup. It was all those years ago. You need to move on.”

Ryan’s most intriguing observation though? The buses. “Why is it called Magic Bus? Is it magic or something?”

Take a break from social media over Christmas Think about putting your phone down this Christmas and taking a break from social media — Ella Kashti promises it’ll make your festive season so much better!

Photo: smemon @Flickr

I have been one of the worst of our generation when it comes to social media. Since my first Bebo account in 2005, I’ve spent over ten years far more concerned with what was going on online than what was going on in real life. It’s true that today, social media is crucial in the functioning of our world. Whether it’s keeping you updated on if your next choir or lacrosse rehearsal is cancelled, or the President revealing his reaction to a recent global event — the world today would not cope without it.

So, this Christmas season I have decided to rid myself of the burden. I came to the realisation that it really doesn’t matter what other people are doing every single day. You probably haven’t seen them since Upper Sixth and you didn’t even like them that much then. It only leads to

stress and worry. An old theory of mine was: “Even if you don’t look it’s still happening, so at least by checking you’re in the know” — but that’s ludicrous, because as mentioned above: you know nothing.

You’ve seen your old boyfriend in a club photo and he’s definitely kissed all seven girls surrounding him. You see those friends you really don’t speak to much anymore in a photo at the pub and they’re bound to have spoken about their distaste for you. You see your best friends having a girls chill day, and you’re hurt as to why you weren’t considered. But it’s not real life.

Those seven girls could be his sisters (unlikely, but possible), and no one at the pub even gave you a thought that day, and the girls chill day was arranged last minute when they knew you

weren’t free anyway.

But it’s not only about not seeing what other people are doing with their lives — it’s just as much about others not seeing what you’re doing with your life. Such anonymity is something alien to us, having grown up with so many having access to our every move. It’s a bizarre thing when, immediately after Instagramming your presents, you sit there concerning yourself over whether others enjoyed and appreciated them, and not whether you enjoyed them yourself. If you think about it, a lot of the time — without the internet connection so gracefully swooping round your head and sending lightsaber-ish beams through your house (I’m clearly well educated on the topic) — it’s just you. You’re sat there, there’s a bunch of inanimate objects around you, and

were your internet to fail whole-heartedly, you’d suddenly feel very alone. And that’s no way to be on Christmas.

I know there are benefits to social media, and I genuinely love the idea of people being able to share lovely, or beautiful, or life-changing moments with the world, if it makes them happy. But this Christmas, try putting your phone away. Time with your family is too precious to waste worrying about someone else’s. Your grandparents aren’t getting any younger and, before you know it, you may be spending Christmases with another family. Your experiences aren’t lessened and your presents are still as ace if they’re not seen by others — if you’re not comparing them to your friends’, they might even be better!

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Five free things to do on a rainy day

With the weather getting worse and worse, read on for our tips on how to beat the rainy day blues and get out and about in Manchester Polly Brown Lifestyle Contributor The weeks are getting wetter and your loan is vanishing quicker, but don’t let this dampen your mood. We are here to tell you that there are things to do for free on a rainy day that aren’t sleeping or studying. In fact, they are, totally, rain friendly ideas that you needn’t be in credit to enjoy. So, here they are: 1. Visit an art gallery Manchester’s art galleries never fail to give penniless students a cure for rainy day blues. Although it is true that independent exhibitions often charge a small fee, many of these galleries are completely free; including the gallery right here on campus! Indeed, The Whitworth Gallery is not only multi-award winning but it is also exceptionally close by. This means the distance from your bed to the paint splashed canvas is but a bus or speedy walk away.

So, if you fancy escaping the Fallowfield squalor but avoiding the rain, the warmth of The Whitworth Gallery is beckoning. It’s telling you it’s ok to leave the house, because Andy Warhol is exhibiting and it doesn’t cost a thing.

your pictures for you and delivers them to your door. The first 45 prints are free and, every so often, you get another set of photos on the house. These photos can be used to collage your wall or to put in that photo frame you got last Christmas. The choice is yours.

3. Watch live music Manchester may be titled Britain’s eighth rainiest city but, certainly, it doesn’t rain on anyone’s parade in terms of music venues. Having had bands such as Oasis, The Stone Roses and Take That surface from its streets, Manchester is not in short supply of emerging or showcasing talent. Dotted around Manchester there

2. Decorate your room This one may seem menial, but for those yet to settle in, a rainy day could be just the time out needed to make any accommodation feel more homely. It can also be a pleasant way to get your creativity flowing and help you tackle that essay later on. Nowadays, there is an abundance of apps to help you get creative but the one suggested here is FreePrints. FreePrints is an app that prints out

Photo: dullhunk @Flickr

Personalised packages: the perfect Christmas gift December is almost here, and it’s time to start gathering ideas for those on your nice list…

Lauren Valentine Lifestyle Contributor Many of us are left panic stricken at the thought of gift giving, not because we’re disorganised, but because we simply don’t know what to buy for people. Pinterest’s wealth of suggestions can leave us feeling like we’ve been dropped into the middle of Santa’s workshop itself, so I’ve collected a few of the best to ensure that you have your friends and family covered. Each gift is made up of a suitable ‘container’, filled with a variety of smaller presents that can be adapted to suit your budget.

The film fanatic: A popcorn box is used for the container of this gift.

These can be found online and bought in a variety of sizes. You could fill this with some flavoured popcorn kernels; pick n mix; a new DVD (or cinema tickets if there’s a film you know they’ll love); a bottle of Coke (which could be personalised); or a film strip of some photos of your favourite memories.

The beauty addict: Can a beauty addict ever have too many make-up bags? They’re bound to love a brand new one filled with lipsticks, mini eyeshadows, nail varnishes, face masks, or mini bath bombs. Cotton wool balls are a good way to pad out the make-up bag and present the contents, as well as being useful for all things beauty.

The aspiring baker: Depending on how many items you want to include, you could use a pretty mixing bowl or a fancy-shaped cake tin. A nice starting point would be to include a mini book of recipes, and to centre the rest on the ingredients needed. You could buy some of the icings, decorations, cookie cutters or tools so they can get started straight away. (Bonus: you’ll probably get to try some of their

Photo: alicejt @Flickr

creations when they proudly present the product of your gift!)

The one who loves to travel: Know someone who just can’t stay in one place? A wash bag can be the base of this gift, filled with travel essentials like a matching passport case, luggage tags, travel diary or maybe a selfie stick so they can document their journeys.

If you’re a forward planner, you could even purchase train tickets for you both to visit a place you’ve never been to before.

The sentimental one: This gift could require a little more time, but for the sentimental types, that is the greatest gift. A scrapbook filled with photos, quotes and tickets acts as a souvenir of your favourite times together. This could also be presented in a photo frame, and a nice way to complete it is to include a small note confirming a future event to look forward to: a cinema trip, an exhibition, a restaurant booking, even just a date that you’ll get together.

Assembling these gifts will really get you into the Christmas spirit, so prepare yourself a hot chocolate, put on some festive tunes, grab your cellophane, ribbons and bows — and get wrapping!

are a number of edgy and popular music bars to escape to when the rain comes a’pouring. Bars such as Albert Schloss, Night and Day and Matt and Phreds are just to name a few bars that have live performances from local bands. More often than not, entry is free and who is to say that the water isn’t out of this world.

4. Read a book As already mentioned, the dawn of apps has meant quick access to a whole range of content, including the likes of books. Kindle, for example, is an app that allows you to download books straight from Amazon. Although many of the books are acquired at a price, there is an extensive range of books that cost not a penny. If you don’t mind spending a little money, however, when the skies are grey you can take cover in the incredibly cute cafe Chapter One Books in the Northern Quarter, and grab a bite to eat with your eBook in hand.

5. Watch a film/TV Rainy days are the prime time to snuggle in and watch that programme you missed or that film just released. Agreeably, there are a number of ways to do this but the recommended method is to either sign up for a free trial on Netflix or Amazon Student Prime or use a family member’s account to log in. An Amazon Student Prime trial currently lasts for six months which is the perfect amount of time to race through your favourite TV shows. These methods are not only legal but safe ways to get your binge on.

The taboo around tattoos and piercings at work Deputy Lifestyle Editor Araddhna Patel talks about the increasing popularity of tattoos and piercings at work Imagine this. You’re the owner of your own company looking to hire someone to work for you. There are two applicants in particular that you cannot choose between — let’s assume that both are very similar in terms of academic records and experience. However, one of the applicants has an eyebrow piercing and tattoos on their arm that you notice when they push up their sleeves during the interview. Would this affect your decision on who to hire?

Tattoos and ‘unconventional’ piercings — anywhere other than the earlobes — used to be associated with rock stars, gang members, and bikers for a long time. Nowadays, they are more widely accepted, but there is still a certain stigma around them in the workplace.

Skinfo.com found in their research that 37% of Human Resources managers cite tattoos as the third-most-likely physical attribute to limit career potential. In the UK, the law on workplace equality does not protect people with tattoos, meaning that employers are allowed to choose whether or not they want to hire someone based on body art.

Acas state on their website that some employers do not think tattoos and piercings fit with the ethos of their company. In 2014, Jo Perkins, a 38-yearold consultant at Salisbury FM, had her contract terminated because of a visible butterfly tattoo on her foot.

The chief executive Ed Swales claimed that the company did not ban tattoos, but required them to be covered in the

workplace to “ensure employees and contractors project the professional image we want customers to see in Salisbury.” Ms Perkins considered legal action for the discrimination she faced; however, it was doubtful that she would win because the company policy clearly stated that tattoos needed to be covered.

Despite not being protected by the law in this country, certain company policies do allow tattoos. The NHS Dress Code and Uniform Policy states: “It is recognised that in today’s society many individuals now have tattoos. Where a staff member has a tattoo in an area that remains exposed when wearing their uniform this must not be offensive. Where a tattoo is considered inappropriate or likely to cause upset to patients, carers, visitors or other staff the individual will be requested to cover the tattoo.”

It’s clear that tattoos and piercings are more popular than ever in today’s society.

Around one in five Brits are thought to have a tattoo, and one in ten have a piercing somewhere other than their earlobe. It certainly looks like employers will have to alter their dress code policies at some point in the future. Because, honestly, does a visible tattoo tell you anything significant about an individual that is relevant to the job? Does having a piercing mean you won’t put in as much effort into your job as everyone else? As an employer, are you less likely to trust someone who has permanently inked themselves? I th-ink not.

A BRAND NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO SHOWCASE OUR SOCIETIES IS COMING OUT ON THE 18TH NOVEMBER!

Under the Give it a Go Programme we want to make it as easy as possible for you to find out about different societies, therefore this channel will be a space for you to enjoy and browse all the societies out there.

Our team of editors, directors and camera operators have already created videos with multiple societies. If you or your society would like to get involved contact Tamara in the Student Voice office, message the Union Presents Facebook page or email us directly at unionpresents@gmail.com. You can also send us videos your society has already created to feature on this new platform!

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England players caught in the act A few weeks ago, the press exposed the apparent wayward acts of Rooney, Henderson and Lallana. Was this scrutiny unfair?

Toby Webb Sport Reporter During the international break, tabloid headlines were dominated by the exposure of the actions of several England players. The players were chastised for their behaviour.

While information differs, it is supposed that England players were given the weekend off following their win over Scotland on Friday November 11th.

In the following week, The Sun led with this headline: “Wayne Rooney shocks guests as he crashes wedding on boozy bender in hotel bar after Scotland win”.

Despite stating that John Stones, Phil Jagielka and Raheem Sterling were also indulging in a few drinks at the hotel, the allegations were explicitly aimed at Rooney. A few days later pictures emerged of Rooney, The Sun suggesting they illustrated his drunken state. In the wake of this damaging story, Rooney issued a statement affirming that he “unreservedly apologises” for the “inappropriate” images.

In some ways, I think Rooney was incredibly naïve. The fact Rooney is pictured in his England training gear is particularly damning and was a foolish decision on his part. On Rooney, the England training gear evokes his role as captain, and the subsequent responsibilities that entails, providing greater ammunition for the press. Moreover, the England team is still recovering from the turbulence created by the Sam Allardyce scandal. The England team desperately needs a period of stability; Rooney’s actions have caused the opposite.

However, these reasons are outweighed by the sympathy I have for Rooney. In my mind, this was a vitriolic attack on a player that has endured an

extremely difficult year on the football field. Rooney’s form, and subsequently his ability, has been the hot topic of debate within English football for some time. Rooney was hammered following England’s disastrous Euro 2016 campaign: the failure of the team was laid firmly on his shoulders by areas of the media. Moreover, since José Mourinho took over at Manchester United, Rooney is no longer an established first-team player and has played only two full league games this season. The media scrutiny and Mourinho’s treatment led to Gareth Southgate dropping Rooney for a qualifying game against Slovenia on October 11th. The insecurity that has plagued Rooney during the latter half of this year will have undoubtedly affected him.

Many have come out in defence of Rooney. One of the most articulate responses was from Jamie Carragher, alluding to the immense pressure Rooney endures as a footballer, stating the night of drinking was a much-needed “release”. I would second this argument.

While many would have become bitter or outspoken, Rooney has remained extremely dignified and calm during this difficult time in his career. Several tabloids have used this incident to unashamedly attack and undermine the credibility of a player at his most vulnerable. I wholeheartedly agree with Rooney in that the coverage has been “disgraceful”. Furthermore, this is the press getting in early jabs at the Southgate regime (he will likely be named England manager full-time). This will inevitably continue throughout his tenure. The media have got the England team truly under their control.

Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana deserve separate consideration. On the same night as Rooney’s incident, the two Liverpool players were spotted in

Bournemouth at a strip club, 110 miles away from the England base camp for the international break; the Daily Mail adds that “Lallana was spotted slowly sipping on a beer” while the teetotal Henderson “stuck to water”. I have no desire to debate the moral permissibility of strip clubs; the coverage of the Liverpool player’s foray suggests that there are hypothetical limits on a footballers’ freedom to act that don’t exist for the rest. As with the Rooney situation, I think it was naïve for Henderson and Lallana to visit a strip club while representing their country; there is definitely an extra level of responsibility entailed by this role. However, unless it is per-

ceived to be affecting their training and performance levels, footballers should have the same freedom to do this as everyone else.

A theme arising from this media scrutiny is the incongruous notion that footballers aren’t allowed to enjoy a drink.

For me, the traditional argument that footballers should be role-models, setting the highest standards of behaviour, can only stretch so far. Undoubtedly, they are idolised figures in our society, and thus, should set good examples.

However, this is completely ignoring the fact that they are human beings, human beings like us that enjoy drinking and going out. While I am not a sports

scientist, I would argue that players, the pressures of the modern game considered, need time off, taking their minds off football. A clearer mind would certainly lead to better performances on the pitch.

The fact of the matter is that these incidents happened in the wake of the triumph over Scotland, our local rival.

England players were well in their right, but instead, were wrongly chastised for celebrating the win. This is yet further evidence for the damaging effect the media has on the England team, and the dangers of a powerful and intrusive press.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Haseeb Hameed: Cricket’s rising star Guy Williams profiles the England Cricket team’s newest and most exciting addition, from Bolton

The England cricket team is currently two games into a five-Test tour of India.

Having secured a winning draw in the first Test two weeks ago, England collapsed in the second game last week.

That England managed to slip from 87 for 2 at the end of day four to 158 all out half-way through day five was alarmingly quick, even by England’s standards. But it is often said in sport that losses teach a team more than a victory.

Eddie Jones, the sharp-talking, disconcertingly endearing Australian overseeing England rugby’s 12-match winning streak, had this to say after his

side’s annihilation of Fiji last Saturday: “It’s always fun when you are winning.

Our big test is when you lose a game.

We’re not frightened of losing … we know if we do we will learn a lot from it”.

As it happens, England’s cricket team have learnt a lot from their defeat to India. More specifically, they have learnt a lot about one particular player: Haseeb Hameed, captain Alastair Cook’s latest batting partner.

Some context: followers of English Test cricket like myself have long been in a bind. On the one hand, England have captured the imagination with

their aggressive style (their ‘brand of cricket’). The likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow have, since 2015, spearheaded a renaissance. England are no longer stodgy. Their batters bat with style and panache; their bowlers have rediscovered that ‘something’. In spite of, or perhaps because of, this improvement England have been unable to fill the opening batting slot. Aggressive players like Alex Hales and Adam Lyth have all been tried and discarded. The number of players who have lined up alongside Cook to open the innings has reached double figures.

Photo: Sporting Life @YouTube

Madness. Mildly fanatical fans like myself were beginning to wonder: would there ever be an answer to Openergate?

This is where Haseeb Hameed comes in. Catapulted into the side for the first Test against India after the failure of yet another opening partner, Hameed was allowed, if not expected, to fail. India are the highest ranked team in the world. They possess in Ravi Ashwin the highest ranked bowler in the game.

Since the start of 2015 Ashwin has taken 117 wickets in 18 games. India have not lost at home for four years. Hameed, a 19 year-old from Bolton, with only a year of first-class cricket for Lancashire behind him, faced up to the Indians. An impossible task? No. Hameed made 31 and 82 in his first game for England. In so doing, he created history. Not since Alastair Cook’s own beginning in India exactly ten years ago had an England opener scored a 50 on debut. There is something poetic about this symmetry. Cook has enjoyed a prolific career, and he will go down as an England great. Hameed is very much in the Cook mould.

His defensive technique is, like Cook’s, the foundation of his game. This offers him a solid base from which to attack: if you can keep the good balls out, you will be there to score off the bad ones.

That Hameed has started on a similar path to Cook is promising.

The symmetry does not stop there, however. Hameed made his debut in

Rajkot, in India’s Gujarat state. As fate would have it, this was the state from which Hameed’s father Ismail emigrated to Lancashire in 1969. Just a few days before the game, Hameed’s elder brother was married in Gujarat, and the whole family was at the ground to watch their lad play for England.

When Hameed scored his 50, his father could be seen crying tears of joy, the culmination of a long journey, 47 years in the making, from Gujarat to Bolton and back again. It is a powerful tale which speaks to the resolve of the family (Ismail Hameed gave up his job to ferry Haseeb to cricket practice).

But it also reveals a significant dimension of modern Britain. Hameed joins three other British Muslims in the England side. Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and now Zafar Ansari and Haseeb Hameed represent the contemporary face of English cricket and the strength of our multicultural society. That has to be celebrated.

This article began with a quote from an Australian. It ends with one from another, the famously belligerent wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, one-time slayer of English bowling attacks. Following Hameed’s 82 at Rajkot, Gilchrist tweeted: “Looks like England have found an absolute beauty in Haseeb Hameed”. If there is any doubt regarding Hameed’s class, trust Gilchrist’s judgement. He is Australian. They know a thing or two about cricket.

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Students sneak into Old Trafford for sleepover With RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim doing so well, we take a look at the Bundesliga Harry Newton Sport Editor Uosof Ahmadi has hit the sporting world by storm this week as he filmed himself pulling an all-nighter… in Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium.

Alongside his friend, Kyle Morgan-Williams, Ahmadi had been on a stadium tour at Old Trafford the night before Manchester United played Arsenal, when he put his plan into work.

The two hid in the toilets in the stadium and lasted all night in there, but they were eventually caught out in the early hours of Saturday 19th of November, when they came clean. The two just missed out on the 12:30pm kick off between United and Arsenal, which ended 1-1, but did make it to see the warm-ups. After realising that they had no seat, and that they were attracting attention, they came clean The 24-hour stunt theme is not new to the pranksters however, as Ahmadi

Photo: Uosof Ahmadi @ YouTube

has successfully spent the night in M&M’s World and McDonalds, and has since become a YouTube sensation.

The Biochemistry student at the London Metropolitan University had also attempted the same prank at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium but were unsuccessful, as they chose to hide in the players’ Changing Rooms.

Uosof’s Twitter @uosofahmadi tweeted twice on the 23/11/16: “I’m getting messages from all over the world asking for interviews, this is crazy!” and “I need to revise lol and I’ve been taking calls since morning.” They spent a total of 17 hours overnight in the toilet, and Uosof is said to have passed out for twenty minutes under a seat due to the cold at one point.

The two were eventually handed over to police but were not arrested after being put through rigorous searching; it was decided that they were no risk to supporters so were let free.

“The biggest fail was not bringing food or wearing enough layers,” said Uosof Ahmadi – but I think the biggest fail here was from Manchester United’s security. Although this all looks like fun and games (and it is pretty funny to be

Photo: Paul @Flickr

Photo: Uosof Ahmadi @ YouTube

fair), Manchester United security staff will be on edge for a while now; this is the second stadium scare they have had in six months.

On the last game of the season last year, Bournemouth had come to play United at Old Trafford, but the game was called off due to a suspect package being found in the toilet. United announced soon after that this turned out to be a false alarm, as it was a fake explosive left behind from a training exercise.

The two lads, however, have no plans

to stop with their videos, especially the internet craze that is 24 hour sleepovers in public places. They’ve even posted a video online that lasts around half an hour of how the evening unfolded. A few highlights from the video include a sarcastic dab in-front of Paul Pogba’s shirt, somebody knocks on the secret toilet door before moving away, and a security guard shouting at them for not bringing food for the night: “absolute basics.” For many of us, the closest we will come to this is pulling an all-nighter in the Alan Gilbert.

Netball and Basketball the Universities’ Ben Ryan University Sport Editor As the end of the semester nears a close, the two court sports of Basketball and Netball have shone as two of the most successful so far. A cynic would perhaps suggest that the dreary weather in Manchester has given indoor sports somewhat of an advantage over their personal rivals within the Universities’ Athletic Union, yet what a gross disservice this would do to the outstanding hard work, commitment and attitude it takes to even compete in the highly competitive BUCS, let alone parade in their respective leagues as unbeaten.

A closer look at the remarkable feats these two clubs have achieved and notable player performances which have helped these clubs to perform so successfully so far shows a wealth of talent, as well as an ever valuable winning mentality at the University.

Netball could, first and foremost, be

praised for the sheer size of their club, amassing and consolidating six teams for competition in BUCS. With only five returning players this year, a special mention has to be given to the 25 raring freshers who have joined and become the core of the club in such a short space of time. With a look down the six teams, the firsts compete in the Northern Premier League, competing against the likes of Loughborough firsts and therefore clearly doing very well at third in the table. This has been no doubt down to the defensive efforts of Honor De Wintion and Claudia Payne. Last weekend the firsts competed in Red Bull’s Switch Up tournament. With an altered format allowing fast paced games, the team excelled. They raced through the group stage and semi final with ease to set up a varsity type showdown with Man Met, where they would later be crowned the first ever Switch Up champions in a 6-4 win.

The seconds are also performing well as they have reached the last sixteen

of the Conference Cup having already knocked out two teams, whilst boasting four wins already this year.

A scoring average of 95% for fresher Olivia Leach demonstrates the remarkable talent not just within the Netball club but even within the University. Perhaps the best forming team within the club is the thirds. Having only won two of their games last year, to come out this term and remain undefeated at the top of the league is outstanding.

A scoring average of 95% for fresher Olivia Leach demonstrates the remarkable talent not just within the Netball club but even within the University.

Perhaps the best forming team within the club is the thirds. Having only won two of their games last year, to come out this term and remain undefeated at the top of the league is outstanding.

Fresher Hannah Coward has been the standout performer for them, being awarded player’s player on two different occasions and three even from other teams. It should be mentioned

that thirds are also through to the last 16 of the Conference Cup having defeated two previous teams. The fifths are also

currently top of their league with four out of four wins and through to the Last sixteen of the Conference Plate

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EuroWatch: Bundesliga With RB Leipzig and Hoffenheim doing so well, we take a look at the Bundesliga Photo: Lackystrike@ Flickr

Joshua Jenkins Sport Reporter Team to Watch: Rasen Ballsport Leipzig Player to Watch: Sebastian Rudy Manager to Watch: Julian Nagelsmann Game of the season so far: Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 RB Leipzig The 54th Bundesliga season is on its way to becoming the most fascinating in many years. It has only taken eleven games to – not just get Germany talking – but the rest of the footballing world talking too. The astonishing rise of Rasen Ballsport Leipzig (you’re not fooling anyone Red Bull), Hamburg’s seeming descent into the footballing abyss, and a 29-year-old manager doing wonders at Hoffenheim have all contributed to the League’s intrigue.

Perhaps even more remarkable, the spotlight has been taken away from

powerhouses Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Usually when these two play each other, like they did last week, the game steals the attention away from the rest of the league. But not this year. Everyone was talking about Leipzig and how they produced a scintillating comeback to beat Bayer Leverkusen and rise to the top spot.

RB Leipzig The ascent of RB Leipzig is even more eye-catching when examining their short history. The Club were formed in 2009 after drinks company Red Bull controversially purchased the playing rights of the fifth division side SSV Markranstädt – in a move every bit as controversial as Wimbledon being bought and relocated to Milton Keynes. Since then, they have gained four promotions in just six seasons.

Devastating on the counter attack and with a defence that has only been breached nine times this season, they sit at the top of the table, three points above powerhouses Bayern and the rest of the chasing pack.

In their short time at the top table they have already created Bundesliga history. Never before has a team gone eleven games without defeat in their first season after winning promotion to the Bundesliga — the previous record was held

by MSV Duisburg who went ten unbeaten in 1993. Leipzig are also the first team from East Germany to play in the top tier since Energie Cottbus were relegated in 2009.

They buck the trend in every possible way.

With a unique management structure in place, their head coach Ralph Hasenhütt was only appointed in the summer after then manager Ralf Rangnick moved to the role of Director of Football. With a more hands on role than one would expect from a Director of Football, Rangnick’s thirty-three years of experience in the game have been vital in aiding Leipzig to the top of the table.

standout performers having defeated two previous teams.

The fifths are also currently top of their league with four out of four wins and through to the Last sixteen of the Conference Plate so we should be seeing more sterling results from them.

For the thirds, their first showing in the BUCS after playing campus league last year further demonstrates the remarkable winning mentality within the Netball Club. They are also currently top of their league Northern 9A, with four wins out of four.

But what should be highlighted is the sheer goal difference they have accumulated: 193 goals with the next best team’s being 86. First year shooters Fay Hully and Becca Titterington have definitely shown class in the shooting department. An outstanding showing across the board for Netball can only be further exemplified by the fact all teams achieved victories in the same week in late October.

Basketball have had similar re-

markable showings so far this term.

The men’s first team are currently undefeated in their league and have their biggest game of the season so far away against Chester coming up next Wednesday. Chester are also undefeated and so a win there would promote their credentials as the best in the league. Some notable standout performers have been Tadgh and Cain O’Hickey, a pair of twins who have arrived at UoM this year from Ireland.

Renfei ‘Jo’ from China has also been a fantastic addition to the squad and Coach Wayne is optimistic about their chance for promotion this year.

For the women, Sonia Lei and new American exchange arrival Sierra Schwellenbach have been standout.

The Women also remain undefeated after recently beating Keele and again, this demonstrates the sure winning mentality within the club. The men’s second team have shown great spirit in rallying to win in overtime against

Newcastle seconds in the first round of the cup before they were drawn against our firsts in the next round.

The clubs only loss so far has come in a closely fought match for the seconds played against Lancaster firsts, and so this has little negative impact on the winning nature of the club. Captain Meirin Evans has come up with big three point shots to seal the win in multiple games, whilst new Turkish point guard Yeler has shown fantastic potential. All three teams are still gunning for promotion at the end of this season and so with very little to be disheartened about so far this term, Basketball have become one of the standout clubs in the University.

For that matter, both clubs have little to be disheartened about. With numerous undefeated records, league leaders and talented individuals to boast about, Basketball and Netball stake a claim to be the standout performers at the University so far this term.

Hoffenheim As the only other unbeaten team in the league to date, Hoffenheim have also been grabbing the spotlight so far this season. Managed by a twenty-nine-yearold tipped to be the next Jose Mourinho, their ‘we’ll score more than you’ mentality has been a real hit. The decision to appoint Julian Nagelsmann for his first senior coaching role certainly raised eyebrows.

Many in the Germany media merely dismissed it as nothing more than a publicity stunt, but they’re being made to eat their words!

Nagelsmann has helped Hoffenheim to get over the losses of talisman Roberto Firmino and influential winger Kevin Volland. The goals of summer signing Sandro Wagner have certainly helped numb the loss. Sebastian Rudy also appears to have been transformed under the new boss. Excelling in both the defensive midfield and right-back

positions, his superb form earned him a call up to the Germany squad during the recent internationals.

Like Leipzig, Hoffenheim are also a remarkable club, but for different reasons.

Representing a village of just 3000 people in south-western Germany, they play their home games in the nearby RheinNeckar-Arena in Sinsheim — the stadiums capacity is ten times larger than the population of Hoffenheim.

With it still being early days in the season and with another twenty-three games to go, it will be tough for both Leipzig and Hoffenheim to maintain their positions in the top five. They both face tricky away games this weekend at Freiburg and Monchengladbach respectively. Also, Bayern will certainly not be happy with what is for them, the lowly position of second. Also, Dortmund finally seem to be playing the attacking football that has been craved since the days of Klopp again — evident from last week’s win over Bayern and the eight goals scored against Legia Warsaw on Tuesday. But if the two continue the way they are, then this season has the potential to be the most exciting and most historic Bundesliga season in a number of years.

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Video refereeing long overdue Football will join cricket and rugby in using video replays in decisions in 2018 Alex Whitcomb Sport Editor FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s announcement that the 2018 World Cup in Russia will be the first to use video referees should not be too much of a surprise. The technology has been available to broadcasters and other sports for years, and it has already been trialled in various competitions and international

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friendlies.

However, despite all of this, FIFA taking this final step is still a major event, and puts to an end years of speculation and controversy.

This was in part, due to Infantino’s predecessor as FIFA chief. Sepp Blatter — a man not known for having much of an appetite for innovation or transparency — expressed his disapproval of technology, and that the “human element” of the game should be maintained.

Former UEFA President Michel Platini was also vehemently opposed to introducing technology, and instead chose to use extra officials on the goal line.

UEFA eventually relented and introduced goal-line technology at the 2016 Champions League and Europa League finals.

Since Infantino became the sport’s top administrator, he has been keen to put some clear blue water between him and his predecessor, and technology is one area where this has been most evident. Non-live tests on the logistics involved in video replays have already been carr i e d out

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by the Premier League, and video replays have been available to referees in two international friendlies this year.

Part of the reason this should have happened eventually is the fact that football is one of the most televised sports in the world. The top events are covered with the most comprehensive camera coverage available to broadcasters, with ever-increasing camera angles with which to analyse the play.

The presence of large screens and multiple cameras at stadiums has already caused embarrassment for referees and football administrators, particularly at the biggest events. This was particularly evident at the 2010 World Cup, where Carlos Tevez was given a goal that was clearly offside, and video replays were shown on the television screens for the whole crowd — and the referee — to see.

This did not lead to as quick a response as the goal disallowed in England’s match against Germany — with Blatter apologising, and goal line technology being used for the first time at the following World Cup. Often managers call for the introduction of technology immediately

after their team has been at the wrong end of human error by the referee, which can lead to accusations of hypocrisy if they have not spoken out on the issue before. However, this should not hinder the march of progress in a sport which has been reluctant to change.

Professional football’s lack of uptake in technology is in stark contrast to much of the sporting world.

Instant replays have been used in various sports for years. Rupert Murdoch’s Super League introduced them to rugby as far back as 1996 and it has become an indispensable part of the professional game. This was an occasion where rebellion against the sporting establishment — similar to Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket — was responsible for rapid change. With FIFA’s level of control over all forms of the game, this was unlikely to ever happen in football.

Of course, videos have not eliminated controversy entirely. Mark Cueto’s 42nd minute try being disallowed in the 2007 World Cup final was greeted with uproar in England. Cueto’s foot had strayed marginally across the touchline — which was only visible from

one camera angle — and England were denied seven points. The consensus now is that it was the right decision, but due to language difficulties between the Australian referee and the French television producers controlling the footage, he could not view it frame by frame, which potentially could have led to an inaccurate decision in the biggest match in the world.

Another accusation put against its use in Rugby Union and League is that it slows the game down and is used for far too many decisions. However, implementing a time limit on the use of videos or limiting the kinds of decisions that could be used for — such as offside or penalty offences.

Perhaps this and other teething problems is why FIFA have chosen to wait it out before introducing it to football.

Also, inevitably people will be hostile to new technology at first. Now, it seems odd that people ever objected to hawkeye reviews in tennis, but Roger Federer actually asked (with no success) for it to be turned off during the Wimbledon final in 2007.

So FIFA should press ahead with their new embrace of technology, and videos will surely improve decision making at the next world cup.

It will be an even greater surprise if football becomes the first major sport to adopt, and then abandon video referees. Although given that this is FIFA, we may just have to wait and see.