Issue11

1st DEC 2014/ ISSUE 11 FREE

MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Are study drugs beneficial?

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Off-campus but on the record

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Pangaea: Space Odyssey has liftoff

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NUS voting deadline extended as candidates cry foul play

- The Education Officer of the University of Manchester Students’ Union was accused of using her position to influence the outcome of the vote

The deadline for the NUS delegate elections has been extended to Monday the 1st. Photo: National Union of Students

Aidan Gregory Editor-in-chief The deadline for the elections of the University of Manchester NUS delegates were extended over the weekend, after allegations were made that Harriet Pugh, Education Officer of the University of Manchester Students’ Union, had deliberately used her weekly email to promote her campaign platform to students.

The email, sent out to the entire student body, during Free Education Week, discussed the Students’ Union’s campaigns for free education in the UK, and provided a link to vote in the elections. The timetable for the emails is coordinated to reflect the key issues of the week and is planned in advance.

After it emerged that the allegations had been made, the decision was taken by the Students’ Union on Thursday night to extend the deadline to midday on Monday.

The Mancunion was approached late last week

by Josh Woolas and Andrea Campos-Vigouroux, who are running as part of a collective known

as ‘the power rangers’, and are also prominent members of Manchester Labour Students.

They outlined their grievances against the education officer’s campaign.

Woolas also supplied copies of the complaints sent to both the NUS and the Students’ Union.

In an email to the National Union of Students, Woolas said, “I’ve been running in the NUS Delegate elections at UMSU this year and was really disappointed to receive this all-student email—attached below—from one of the other candidates, who is currently a Sabb Officer at our SU. “Not only is this obviously a resource I don’t have access to as an ordinary student, but the email is a blatant plug for free education—the slate that she is running on. I was wondering what the appropriate avenues are for lodging a formal complaint?

“Being able to send an email to all students whilst the voting for an election she is actively running in is open gives her a huge platform for self-promotion, as well as giving the entire slate an unfair advantage in these elections. It’s really disheartening to see that this was allowed

to occur: If this kind of thing can be allowed to happen, then there isn’t really much point in anyone else running in these elections.”

Woolas also emailed the returning officer of the Students’ Union, who is responsible for ensuring that all elections are free and fair.

In it, he said he could not “understand why the General Secretary, who was also present at the Demo and isn’t standing in these elections, couldn’t have sent the email. The rules surrounding current student officers standing in elections don’t seem to do enough to protect the fairness of the vote.”

He added further, “I am really disappointed with Harriet’s behaviour, as I thought she held student politics in the same high regard as I do.”

The internal inquiry by the Students’ Union, however, ruled that Pugh was not in breach of the rules, despite also deciding to extend the deadline until Monday.

A spokesperson for the Union said, “the Returning Officer (RO) recognises that the Students’ Union may have inadvertently raised the profile of one candidate during an election period with the all student email. The

RO has therefore recommended that the Union compensate coverage of other candidates by sending out a bespoke communication and extending the ballot box until Monday 1st Dec 12 noon to ensure that no candidates are disadvantaged.”

The Mancunion contacted Pugh for a response to the allegations made against her.

In a statement, she explained that, “as the executive leader and primary organiser among our leadership of the free education campaign, I had been scheduled to write that week’s weekly student email.

“Although the timing was unfortunate, this was an internal oversight and the deadline has been extended for that reason.”

She added further, “I think it is a great injustice that their complaints assume that students do not think for themselves and hence would blindly vote for me in an election on the basis that they had seen my name and opinion [in the email] and agreed with it.”

At the time of printing, the election results will have been released.

02 : NEWS

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Highlights P12

Music: Whatever happened to innovation?

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Picture of the week - ‘It’s Christmas!’

The University of Manchester Students’ Union entered the festive season with a tall brightly-decorated tree. Photo: The Mancunion

Pangaea: Space Odyssey has liftoff Fashion:

Jessica Weiss News Reporter

The Charity Shop Challenge

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Film: TV – Hannibal

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January’s instalment of the popular student led festival has been revealed to be Space Odyssey themed. As stated on the website, the concept is that Pangaea is lost in space floating on an icy rock planet far in the future, about to fall into a wormhole which will take it across space and time.

Now the theme has been announced, it is time to start thinking about costumes.

Think aliens, spacemen and ice people. The theme is not just about the fancy dress, but also the room decor. With the Students’ Union transformed into a jungle in September, we can surely expect great things from a futuristic winter planet.

The Mancunion spoke to Exec team member Joel Smith, the Activities and Development Officer, to get the lowdown of what we can expect from the event.

“We’re working on a pretty special structure for Academy 1 and also we’ve got three inflatable venues outside. I’ll say no more so as not to ruin the surprise but this event is boldly going to places we’ve never been before. The top floor as well is going to be very different from normal, we’re trying to give people loads of new experiences so there’ll be some pretty odd stuff up there.”

The involvement of ice in the theme is fitting as the event will take place after January exams. Joel is confident that this year will be as big as every other Pangaea.

“Every year the January edition has grown and grown and after the second successful September edition I’m hoping for a lot of excitement around the event.”

With 16 different music spaces and rooms ranging in capacity from 50 to 2500, this event has the potential of going to infinity and beyond.

If you want to get involved in the Space Odyssey transformation, whether to join the promotional team, creative team or ticket selling, you can visit the Pangaea website and fill in an application form.

The highly anticipated line-up will be announced during the last week of term, and The Mancunion has been assured that this Pangaea will have something on offer for everyone with a pretty special line-up.

The Mancunion are also pleased to announce that in collaboration with the Student Union and after the success of the Pangaea: Rumble in the Jungle fancy dress competition, we will again be running a Pangaea fancy dress competition, with more details to be announced at a later date.

Photo: University of Manchester Students’ Union

Theatre:

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season!

Sub-Editors: Morgan Hollet, Gemma Sowerby, James Jackman & Charlotte Pangraz.

Beauty Editor: Nikki Patel beauty@mancunion.com

News Editors: Anna Phillips, Lauren Gorton, Helen Chapman & Jenny Sterne news@mancunion.com

Food & Drink Editors: Elena Gibbs & Adam Fearn

Science & Technology Editor: Andy van den Bent-Kelly

Film Editors: James Moules, Thomas Bruce, Martin Solibakke, & Andriana Hambi film@mancunion.com

Features Editors: Haider Saleem & Roberta Rofman

foodanddrink@mancunion.com

features@mancunion.com

Books Editors: Leonie Dunn & Ali Pearson books@mancunion.com

Editor-in-chief : Aidan Gregory editor@mancunion.com

Opinion Editors: Morris Seifert & Marcus Johns

Games Editors: James Thursfield & Matt Cole games@mancunion.com

Deputy Editor-in-chief : Charlie Spargo deputyeditor.mancunion@gmail.com

opinion@mancunion.com

Lifestyle Editors: Robert Firth lifestyle@mancunion.com

Postal address: Univerity of Manchester Students’ Union, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PR Phone (0161) 275 2933

Fashion Editors: Aimée Grant Cumberbatch & Gráinne Morrison fashion@mancunion.com

Music Editors: Patrick Hinton, Samuel Ward, Lowell Clarke, and Daniel Whiteley music@mancunion.com

Sport Editors: Andrew Georgeson & Will Kelly Sports Reporter: Liam Kelly sport@mancunion.com Theatre Editor: Nicole Tamer theatre@mancunion.com Arts Editor - Holly Smith arts@mancunion.com Societies editor - Evie Hull societies.mancunion@gmail.com Interested in photo journalism, with an eye for colour and detail? The Mancunion are looking for photographers ! If you would like to get involved, contact Aidan Gregory at editor@mancunion.com

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 03

National HIV Testing Week and #weareALLclean are launched in the build-up to World AIDs Day Edward Bains News Reporter World AIDs Day, first launched in 1988, occurs every year on the 1st December to commemorate those who have died from the fatal illness and to show support for those living with HIV today.

With the event being just around the corner National HIV Testing week has been launched across the UK and has been promoted within the University of Manchester’s Student’s Union.

The high-profile campaign, organised by the government funded HIV Prevention England (HPE), aims to raise the levels of HIV testing among the country’s most affected groups; specifically gay and bisexual men, and people of African origin.

It also seeks to increase awareness of the facilities available for HIV testing within these groups and challenge the social stigma surrounding getting tested.

As part of the campaign, numerous outdoor ads have been displayed on billboards, buses and bus stops across the country in areas related to these target groups. Some of these can be seen in and around the Manchester Gay Village, featuring the ‘I’m testing’ slogan that champions the main drive of the campaign.

Adverts have also appeared on social media, TV and same-sex dating apps, and the campaign has been endorsed by celebrities such as Graham Norton.

Additional testing services have been set up by HIV Prevention England, and free home test kits can be ordered from the Terrence Higgins Trusts at tht.org.uk/

itstartswithme. Last year’s National HIV Testing Week saw a significant increase in the number of HIV tests performed at GUM clinics, and it is hoped this year’s week will have built upon this success.

It is estimated that up to a quarter of all people living with HIV are completely unaware of their infection, and these people risk unknowingly passing the virus on to others if they have unprotected sex. The longer the virus is left untreated, the more havoc it can wreak with the body, cutting the survival chances of infected individuals.

Early treatment can dramatically improve life expectancies, allowing people who are diagnosed with HIV today to live normal-length lives without ever experiencing the onset of AIDS – the fatal terminal stage of the disease.

It is hoped that by encouraging early diagnosis through testing, the campaign will help reduce the spread of the disease and allow those already infected to begin treatment.

The campaign is especially relevant in Manchester, which last year had the highest number of HIV cases anywhere in the country outside of London.

Manchester further had the highest number of new cases and the highest levels of infection via dirty needles used for injecting drugs of any city in the north west of England.

14 per cent of these new cases – the equivalent of two every week – were in young people aged 15-24. The two groups targeted by the campaign together make up around three quarters of all new HIV cases. Gay and bisexual men are particularly at risk, accounting for half

Photos: University of Manchester Student Union @ Facebook (top); Jack Mackenroth @ Facebook (left); National HIV Testing Week @ Facebook. (right).

of all new cases, and as many as one in 17 gay and bisexual men nationwide are believed to be infected with HIV. National HIV Testing Week also comes not long after the launch of the new HIV awareness campaign #weareALLclean, launched in response to asking individuals if they are ‘clean’ in regards to their HIV status, implying that those who

do have HIV are somehow dirty.

The campaign, also launched in the run-up to World AIDS Day, was organised

by Jack Mackenroth a HIV and AIDs spokesperson. Those men taking part in the ‘HIV Shower Selfie Challenge’ are making vines or taking selfies in the shower to post to social media sites with the hashtag #weareALLclean in

the hope of raising money for Housing Works, a New York charity working to end AIDS homelessness. With the issues of AIDs and homelessness in America being seriously intertwined.

For those interested in HIV testing the Manchester Centre for Sexual Health at the Hathersage Centre offers a variety of HIV services.

Black Friday turns Mad Friday with University of East Anglia protests against tax on sanitary products early morning Tesco Crime Spree Lauren Gorton News Editor Black Friday had a grim start for Tesco chains across Greater Manchester as police were called to seven Tesco stores following disturbances at their ‘Black Friday’ sales events. The chain had been advertising the Black Friday sales and its ‘amazing deals in store and online’ with the tag line ‘limited stock - when it’s gone it’s gone’.

However at 12.40am on Thursday, officers were called to Tesco Extra on Barton Road, Middleton, following reports that around 200 disgruntled shoppers would not leave, despite being told stock had all gone. Doors had been locked but they refused to leave. No arrests were made.

Further at 11.37pm on Thursday 27th November 2014, officers were called to Tesco Central Park, Wigan after reports of several hundred people trying to enter the store. Two men were ejected before control was regained.

Officers were also called to Tesco

on Ashton Road West at 11.40pm yesterday, after more than 500 people attended the store.

The Tesco store at Ellesmere Shopping Centre in Walkden was closed down after a crowd of more than 500 people attended. Shoppers were asked to leave.

The Tesco Extra in Stretford was closed after fights broke out between shoppers trying to get their hands on sale stock. A woman suffered minor injuries after being hit by a falling television and an ambulance was called. The store was closed at 12.36am, just over half an hour after the sales event started.

Shortly after 1.05am on Friday 28th November 2014, police were called to Tesco on Woodrow Way, Salford.

One man was arrested on suspicion of assault after his conduct in store was challenged by staff. He threatened to “smash” a staff member’s face in.

Shortly after 12.05am on Friday, police were finally called to Tesco Extra on Stockport Road, Hattersley, following reports of fighting in

store. Approximately 300 people were present in store and staff were advised to close. One man was arrested for a public order offence.

Speaking on the early morning incidents Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy, said: “The events of last night were totally predictable and I am disappointed that stores did not have sufficient security staff on duty.

“This created situations where we had to deal with crushing, disorder and disputes between customers.

“It does not help that this was in the early hours when police resources are already stretched.

“Across Greater Manchester large supermarkets already make significant demands on policing through calls to shoplifting, anti-social behaviour and thefts of fuel from their petrol stations - much of which is preventable.

“We just ask these stores to work with us to reduce the demands on policing and reduce the risks of disorder and crime.”

Anna Phillips News Editor The University of East Anglia student union will be the first student’s union in the UK to sell sanitary products for no profit after a Union Council motion was passed almost unanimously.

The shop will sell tampons, sanitary towels and mooncups for the same price the university pays to buy them in, which will half the cost of some items.

The government classes these items as luxury, non-essential items and poses a five per cent VAT on sanitary items, and this boycott aims to minimise the cost of having a period.

The motion, proposed by Women’s Officer Dolly Ogunrinde, was met with applause and passed almost unanimously at UEA Union Council.

Dolly said: “It is a disgrace that sanitary products are being taxed at the rate of a ‘luxury item’ when they simply are essentials for so many women. I am proud to say that the University of East Anglia is now selling them at no profit and feel that other student unions should follow suit!”

The UEA Feminist Society hopes that the

move will be the first in a trend among university unions and encourages other unions to join the boycott on taxed essential items.

Committee member Briony Hannell said: “Not only is it financially beneficial to the students that purchase sanitary products on campus but it is also a highly significant symbolic gesture that recognises the harmful implication of the tax.”

She said: “It would be incredible to see other University Unions taking action against the taxation of sanitary products and joining us in recognising that sanitary items shouldn’t be treated as ‘non-essential’.”

Society vice president and secretary Bee Bishop also said: “Just like we get contraception for free we should be able to get basic health products at an affordable cost, though free would be preferable. People having to pay for having a vagina has gone on too long.”

This also follows a petition set up earlier this year by two students from Goldsmith’s College, University of London who set up a petition calling for George Osbourne to axe the five per cent tax, and the petition has gained almost 50,000 signatures.

04: NEWS

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Manchester students get cheeky for charity: The 2015 naked calendar is here!

Aidan Gregory Editor-in-chief The Raise and Give (RAG) naked calendar for 2015 is released next week, in time to fill stockings at Christmas.

Student societies and sports teams from across the university were called to bear all in the name of charity.

Many of this year’s photos are particularly brave, such as Fuse FM covering themselves with nothing but vinyl records and microphones, and the men and women’s rugby teams making tactical use of their [rugby] balls.

The RAG committee chose to protect their modesty with cheques and charity buckets.

In a statement to The Mancunion, Florence WallerCarr, chair of RAG and featured in the calendar, said, “I’m pleased so many students wanted to take part from such a wide array of societies. It was great to see so many people coming together to raise money for a great cause.

“We wanted it to be fun, cheeky and tasteful, everyone that has taken part is really pleased with their pictures! Taking the photos was hilariously awkward but worth it to raise money for charity!”

The Mancunion also spoke to James Nolan, the controller of

Fuse FM. Reflecting on whether the experience was awkward, Nolan said, “Personally, I thought it would be more awkward than it was, but some of the others took and bit of time to get their kit off when it came down to it. In the end though, everyone had a good laugh”.

Nolan was also asked how Fuse FM chose the lucky few to pose in their photo.

He replied, “I basically asked everyone who wanted to do it. A few of us weren’t huge fans of the idea so decided against doing it. Everyone who said they were up for it however (apart from one who was unfortunately too ill on the day), were the ones in the final photo”.

Students creating naked calendars in the past has attracted controversy.

Last year, Warwick University Womens Rowing Club had their naked calendar removed from Facebook, after it was branded as “pornography” by the social media network.

The naked rowers were told that their work broke

most commonly hear are that by being in a naked calendar ‘girls are selling their bodies’ and that we’re making it acceptable for women to be used as sex toys.

“These naked calendars do make money for some fantastic charities and so what really is the harm in them?”

They still managed to raise £3,400 for Macmillan Cancer Support, and this year, the Warwick rowing girls defied their critics and returned once again with another oarsome naked calendar.

Sophie Bell, one of the rowers featured in the calendar, told The Huffington Post, “We’re proud of what we have achieved, which includes raising over £5,000 for Macmillan, promoting gender equality and providing healthy, athletic role models for young women.”

The Manchester RAG Naked Calendar 2015 is available to buy in the union shop.

The 2013 Naked Calendar is still one of the most popular articles on The Mancunion website. It can be found at http://mancunion.

Facebook’s strict policy on nudity and pornography.

The accusations led to members of the rowing club to speak out. One rower, Hettie Reed, said “The negative comments that we

com/2012/12/26/university-ofmanchester-naked-calendar2013-arrives/

Fuse FM get some much needed exposure. Photo: RAG Naked Calendar

Fit & Lift Society pose for the month of August. Photo: RAG

Manchester Campaigns Bazaar: ‘Local Activism in the Age of Austerity’ Jenny Sterne News Editor

The Greater Manchester Campaigns Bazaar which took place last Thursday was an opportunity for campaign and community groups from across Manchester to get together in one space and to build their profile and gain support.

The night organised by Manchester Mule introduced guests to groups such as; Greater Manchester Stop the War Coalition, Manchester Living Wage Campaign and World Development Movement, to name just a few.

University of Manchester student societies were also involved with campaign groups such as; Save Our NHS Manchester, Manchester Young Greens and Living Wage campus campaign.

The main event of the night however was the panel debate, titled ‘What’s Left? Local Activism in the Age of Austerity’.

On the panel chaired by Kevin Gopal, editor of The Big Issue in the North was; Jess, Women’s Officer, Stephen

from World Development Movement, Steve from Salford Star and Penny Hicks from the Manchester People’s Assembly against Austerity.

The panel explored the state of local and national activism, questioning first whether they were optimistic about the state of the campaigns and movements against Austerity and Cuts.

This led to a discussion as to whether the plurality of the left wing campaign movement against austerity was a good or bad thing.

The general consensus was that the diversity of the discourses of left wing campaigns is an integral part of the movement.

However Penny Hicks suggested that for the issues raised by the campaigns bazaar to have a real political impact they would have to find some form of unity on one or two key issues.

Penny celebrated the fact that so many students are showing solidarity with strikes and campaign action across Manchester. She commented that it was anew thing and should be replicated, the unity of movements

should spread.

The panel also debated, in response to a question from the floor, the role that social media plays within this generation of campaigning.

The panel’s consensus was that social media is an essential tool to spread the messages and get people listening, however it cannot be the only tool.

As Steve from the Salford Star highlighted not everyone has access to social media and the mainstream media still holds more credit as a source of information; therefore getting into this media still holds more power.

Finally it was also posed how the panel felt was the best was to get responses from politicians.

Recommendations from the panel included; letter writing, going to local MP’s surgeries and writing for local newspapers ‘views’ sections.

Jess stressed that registering to vote even if to only spoil the ballot paper is essential in order to get even recognition from politicians. She argued that no one will listen unless they believe they are accountable to you.

“Blame the system, not the victim!”

Jessica Weiss News Reporter

Students from Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester have gathered together to protest against sexual violence towards women.

The march was held to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a day aimed at highlighting violence against women around the world.

Students marched through both campuses on Tuesday at around 2pm.

The march was also organised in solidarity with Emma Sulkowicz, a University of Colombia student who was raped in her university bedroom during

her second year.

In protest to the university’s decision not to expel her rapist after a hearing in which three other victims came forward against her rapist, Sulkowicz began a performance art piece in which she carries her dorm mattress with her wherever she goes.

Sulkowicz will continue her performance art piece until her rapist is expelled.

Her case has led to a media storm in the United States surrounding the sexual harassment and violence on university campuses and in wider society.

78 universities in the United States, including Harvard, are now under investigation for mishandling cases of rape and other cases of sexual violence on their campuses.

Last week The Mancunion reported that Greater Manchester Police have launched a new anti-rape campaign aimed at students. This came after a reported spike in the number of rape cases reported in Fallowfield in comparison to last year.

On average one in every three women will be raped or suffer some form of sexual or physical violence in her lifetime and every nine minutes a woman is raped in the UK. As one of the protesters, zoology student Georgina Lake, summarised in regards to the problem of sexual violence: “many don’t realise how many women it affects on a daily basis.”

ISSUE 11/ 1st December 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 05

Graphene Week 2015 will be hosted by the University of Manchester Elena Losavio News Reporter

Manchester is the home of graphene, as it was from here that the first isolated graphene flakes originated in 2004. This discovery has great importance because this new material has a lot of interesting properties and it can be used to develop several revolutionary technologies.

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. It is the first 2D material ever known and is also the finest one on Earth. Compared to a human hair, it is 1 million times thinner.

It is the strongest material, harder than diamond and about 200 hundred times stronger than steel. In addition, it is extremely conductive, as well as transparent and impermeable. It can easily take any form you want because it is stretchable and flexible.

These unique properties make it useful in a wide range of fields and industries, such as aerospace, automotive, electronics, energy storages, cooking , paints, communications , solar, oil and many more.

It is a common material and it can be made easily. As it is originated from graphite, everybody can produce it, just drawing with a pencil.

In recent years, Manchester has been at the centre of this scientific revolution.

In 2004 Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov, two researchers at The University of Manchester, discovered the first crystal of graphene, using a very simple but successful method, ordinary Scotch tape.

In the past, since 1859 many scientists

were trying to achieve this goal, but without any significant results.

Andre and Kostya were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for the importance of their research. This made them the 24th and 25th Nobel Laureates in the university’s history.

Now UoM has a key role in this field of Research. A lot of students and postdocs from all around the world come here to study the properties of graphene and its multiple applications.

Graphene Week 2015 is a great opportunity for the university and for the city of Manchester as well. Hundreds of academics are expected to participate and join the debate about new technologies originating from graphene.

The main annual event of Graphene Flagship, one of the biggest research projects of the European Commission, will be the most important international conference of the week. In the last years it took place eight times in European cities and once in the USA. During Graphene Week 2015, for the first time UoM’s National Graphene Institute will be opened for visitors.

Speaking at the Graphene Week handover ceremony in its previous host city of Gothenburg, Sweden, Dr Cinzia Casiraghi, Lecturer at The University of Manchester and Chair of Graphene Week 2015, observed: “We feel that with the opening of the National Graphene Institute in spring 2015, it is appropriate to invite the global research community to one of the top institutions for graphene research.

“They will be the first people to see the completed facility as well as seeing firsthand the leading edge research that is

being undertaken at our university.”

James Baker, Business Director of Graphene@Manchester, stated: “It is fitting that such a prestigious event as Graphene Week should be held in Manchester, the home of graphene.

“The conference will follow on from the official opening of the NGI which will be the national hub for graphene research and commercialisation in the UK.”

A considerable economic benefit is foreseen for Manchester, thanks to this international event. It is believed that it will be about £700,000.

Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, added: “We are thrilled that the prestigious Graphene Week 2015 will take place in the city where the material was isolated and we look forward to welcoming scientists from across the world as they share their

latest research and discuss emerging applications.”

If anyone wants more information about graphene as a material, about the research project and the University’s policy on this issue, they should visit www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk. Here more details can be found about next events such as Graphene Week 2015 and how to get involved in it.

Photo: Pacific Northwest Laboratory - PNNL.@Flickr

‘Class of 2014’ are expected to Rochdale man jailed for nine own home, get married, and hour torture of his girlfriend have children by the age of 30 Aileen Rose Duffy

Gemma Sowerby News Reporter University leavers in 2014 anticipate owning their own home and having a child by the age of 30, being married by 29, and being established in their career by age 27.

Whilst these figures may seem unrealistic and over-ambitious to the average university student, the research, conducted by NUS Services Research Department and published last week by Endsleigh, surveyed 1423 university leavers from across the UK just prior to their summer graduation.

Clearly, this is not the case for all students, many of whom have much less aspirational outlooks on their future lives and careers. The research found some evidence of uncertainty in the lives of students, as 35

News Reporter per cent of those surveyed–57 per cent of whom were aged between 21 and 22–envisage moving back home to live with their parents after graduating, and 51 per cent anticipate that their bills, rent and food costs will be only just affordable. 6 per cent said that they would struggle to cope at all with the cost of living.

Three second-years at the University of Manchester, who live together in Fallowfield, all expect to be at least 30 years of age before they own a home, agreeing that they are likely to continue living with friends for the foreseeable future.

It seems likely that the current relationship statuses of those surveyed will have had an effect on their expectations for marriage and starting a family, as one 20 year-old Manchester student, who has been in a re-

lationship for four years, said he would probably be married before the age of 27, whereas his flatmates, all currently single, all expected to be at least 30 years old.

Julia Alpan, Student and Graduate Marketing Propositions Manager at Endsleigh Insurance, who published the research, says that “The postuniversity world can be exciting and daunting in equal measure.

“2014’s university leavers are clearly bullish and ambitious in their hopes and expectations for the future, aiming to reach a number of significant life milestones… all by the age of 30.

“The overall feeling is that the Class of 2014 is positive about moving to a new stage of their lives as they leave their university years behind them.”

Barry Edwards, 44, of Whitehall Street was found guilty of the nine hour torture of his girlfriend at their home in Rochdale in May 2013.

The Minshull Street Crown Court heard how neighbours had alerted the police of the abuse after hearing loud banging noises and Edwards shouting he would “break her f***ing spine” before she responded “Don’t Baz, please don’t, I don’t want to die.”

Paul Hodgkinson, prosecuting, said that when officers arrived on 29th May 2013, they discovered blood-stained walls and found the victim unable to walk because her legs had been beaten so severely.

The victim was left with substantial injuries due to the horrific abuse she was subject to. The court heard that Edwards punched the woman in the face, hit her repeatedly with a baseball bat, burned her hair and slashed her face and body with a razor blade. He also poured boiling water on her and kicked her down stairs.

During her nine-hour ordeal, Edwards also made her face the bedroom wall with a piece of card be-

tween the wall and her nose, said police. He said that if the card dropped to the floor or her hands dropped below her head, he would hit her, which happened when she tired and lowered her hands.

Police described the 25 year-old victim’s ordeal as “truly horrific” and believe the person who reported hearing her shouts saved her life. She suffered a fractured rib, fractured finger, punctured lung as well as lacerations to her face and body and severely bruised legs.

Detective Constable Russ Clarke, from Greater Manchester Police, said: “This is one of the most horrendous incidents of domestic abuse I have ever dealt with, leaving the 25 year-old woman with terrible lifelong injuries.

“The attack was not only violent but degrading to the woman. He continuously made demands, instructing her to do things that made him feel powerful and simultaneously frightened her.

“He knew she would not be able to carry out what he asked and took pleasure from torturing her.”

06 : News

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

New computer games could lower risk of OAPs falling - A series of computer games could help prevent elderly people from falling at home and in the community, according to the Manchester researchers who developed them.

Andy van den Bent-Kelly Science and Technology Editor

An elderly person probably wouldn’t come to mind if you were asked to describe a typical computer games user.

However, a new series of interactive fitness games developed in Manchester are aimed specifically at OAPs, with the intention being to prevent them from falling.

The team from Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) and the University of Manchester designed the games in collaboration with MIRA Rehab Limited, which were tested by Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust’s Falls Prevention Team and its patients.

The games, which are known as ‘Exergames’, use the Microsoft Kinect sensor to monitor body movements.

They can be tailored to an individual’s needs and abilities by taking into account fatigue, pain and fear of falling.

The software includes activities such as squatting to control the movement of objects on a TV or computer

screen. By logging statistics such as the duration of gameplay and how frequently it is used, it can provide clinicians with reports on how their patients are progressing.

Falls are notoriously common among OAPs. One third of people over the age of 65 will suffer one. This figure increases with age, rising to roughly 50 per cent for people over 85.

In many cases, the repercussions can be severe. Falls often result in severe injuries that can lead to hospitalisation and, in some tragic cases, even death.

A serious fall is often used as justification for moving an elderly person into a care home.

Engaging in physical activity can reduce the risk of falling by 40 per cent, but unsurprisingly, many elderly people find it difficult to maintain sufficient activity levels.

This was the major motive behind the development of the games. Since so many OAPs lack the ability or desire to stay active, a more engaging method of encouraging exercise was

required.

Dr Emma Stanmore, a Lecturer in Nursing at the University of Manchester, said, “We spoke to a lot of older people and physiotherapists before creating the games because it was really important that what we produced was easy to use and made keeping fit as fun as possible for the target audience.

“Come on Nan, stop hogging the PS2...” It is hoped that these games will encourage OAPs to stay active. Photo: Robin Fensom @Flickr WNW9.MANC.QUART.pdf

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“Many individuals over the age of 65 haven’t played computer games before, but those who have been helping us test the technology have given us very positive feedback.”

Currently, only patients under the care of Trafford Community Services are able to use Exergames, although it is hoped that they will eventually be introduced across the country.

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10:25

Dr Jay Chillala, Consultant in Elderly Health at the Trafford Division of CMFT, said, “It’s a very cost-effective device for the NHS so we hope that if the Exergames are rolled out across the UK patients will be able to take it home and play it with their grandchildren.”

The Exergames currently include three games and four exercises such as leg lifts and squats. They were developed with the help of healthcare professionals.

Debra Maloney, Trafford Intermediate Care Team Leader at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, said, “Physiotherapists from our outpatient rehabilitation team have been helping to develop Exergames by advising on the exercises included in the programme and some patients from one of our exercise groups have played a valuable role by giving feedback on demo versions of the games.

“It’s been fantastic to be part of a project that really is at the cutting edge of falls prevention and will make a huge difference to older people.”

HOW WILL WE USE THEM?

YOU DECIDE...

On May 07 2015, the country will turn out to decide who governs for the next five years.

With around 100,000 students in Manchester, we could finally make our concerns heard over poor housing, high crime, extortionate tuition fees and more.

Even if you were registered last time, you must register to vote for these elections.

Register at: www.votebooster.org/register/umsu

2014 4

08 : Features

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Photo: epSos .de @Flickr

How beneficial can study drugs be to your education?

Increased attention has been given to discussion about study drugs and the debate on whether or not to do study drugs is yet to be put to rest. Roberta Rofman explores whether theycan they be beneficial to your university degree

U

niversity pressure and workload can get a bit too much sometimes so the existence of certain aides that make those pressures and workloads less overwhelming and more enjoyable are a godsend for some people. What these aides are referred are ‘study drugs’ or ‘smart drugs’.

Study drugs are basically prescription drugs such as modafinil and Adderall that help you concentrate and get work done while feeling awake and focused.

Modafinil is the study drug that is probably most popular amongst students. Feeling naturally awake is a common reported side effect, not the same awake-feeling that is caused by caffeine. The Ministry of Defence used to even ship thousands of them to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2004 to keep them awake and focused.

Ritalin is also another drug that is used for studying purposes. It’s made to help with ADD, ADHD and narcolepsy. Ritalin is class B drug in the UK and the US government class it on par with cocaine and morphine because it is highly addictive;

however addiction is only likely to form after persistent and long term use.

Study drugs are legal to take but not to distribute and sell. Because they are only available by means of prescription, many go to the world of the internet to obtain them. Because of the less-than-truthful nature of the web, this can be dangerous as people don’t know what they’re really taking.

Moreover, there haven’t been any long-term safety studies of the use of these types of drugs for people who don’t need them which can be a problem. But, the majority of people who have used modafinil etc. have not report any bad side effects after it has worn off.

BBC News, in 2011, asked the professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, Barbara Sahakian, her thoughts on study drugs. She said: “These drugs could play a far wider role in society” And her most recent research has shown that surgeons who are sleepdeprived perform better when on modafinil.

In the article, a study was done to

92 percent of people who had tried study drugs would try them again

see if these drugs do actually work or whether they just have a placebo effect. The journalist took modafinil on one day but a placebo pill on another day.

Not knowing which pill was taken on what day, she was asked what day she felt more concentrated and focused. She said the day that she took the placebo pill. After receiving the results, she was given another modafinil pill and reported results of feeling more awake because she knew what results to expect.

With final year being the toughest in degree life, it’s unsurprising that a quarter of final year students took study drugs, according to the Huffington Post. Overall, one in five have taken prescription drugs at university, with 79 percent saying they would consider taking them again to help them focus.

Why have study drugs then become more normalised?

It could be down to the general more acceptance of drugs among people.

Having a snowball effect, a friend taking a study drug and influence another person to do so and so on. However, despite the attention that study drugs have gotten in the

media, they are not as prevalent as people think with only one in five students taking them.

A student blogger wrote in the Guardian about his experiences of using Modafinil. He reported that while he was on the drug, he felt more aggressive and isolated, only wanting to focus on the work he was doing rather than socialising or eating. Agitation is also a side effect that the majority of people who try modafinil report feeling. Another BBC article reported that 92 percent of people who had tried study drugs would take them again.

Looking at the results, it’s clear that study drugs such as modafinil can be helpful when used responsibly.

They are not psychically addictive and with minimal use, a mental addiction is unlikely to develop.

Having an essay that needs complete focus on is a good way to use it and can maximise a person’s potential while juggling many different aspects of university life to have an overall balanced life, which is the ideal.

ISSUE 11 / 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Feature : 09

Eco Machines: Designing the cars of the future Science & Technology Editor Andy van den Bent-Kelly attended an interesting debate at the Sackville Street Building in which four experts discussed the challenges facing the world of motoring and what solutions the industries are suggesting.

“If General Motors had kept up with technology like the computer industry, we would all be driving $25 cars that get 1,000 miles per gallon.”

It’s an iconic quote commonly attributed to Bill Gates, although it’s fairly unlikely that he actually said it.

Whoever did say it, though, was certainly raising a valid point. Cars have significantly improved since the Model T first rolled off the production line, but compared to many other industries and technologies, the advances haven’t been as impressive as you might expect.

True, the world is more mobile than it has ever been, but at what cost? The environmental and social impacts are colossal – emissions are through the roof and congestion is a recurring nightmare across many parts of the world.

Four experts from the automobile and racing industries presented their views on the future of the automobile industry in an event hosted by the intellectual debate forum Intelligence Squared.

Amanda Stretton, a racing driver and leading motorsports journalist, was the first to speak.

As she took to the podium, the host asked her to specifically address one particular question – what has motor racing got to do with future energy challenges?

Stretton began by stating that road cars need to become more specialised and that developments in the world of racing will lead the way. She emphasised that we can’t keep burning fossil fuels and that unless something changes, motoring costs could skyrocket.

Upon hearing all this, a sceptic might say “So why is motor racing acceptable? All you’re doing is burning valuable fuels for no reason.”

The truth is, there’s so much more to motor racing than that, and Stretton proceeded to tell the audience exactly why racing is acceptable and why it could be instrumental in shaping the future of the automobile industry.

“Racing is all about efficiency,” she emphasised. “To win a race, you’ve got to be efficient.”

She then spoke about two different branches of motor racing – the famous 24 hour race in Le Mans and Formula One. To succeed in Le Mans, endurance and efficiency are paramount. A fine balance must be struck between speed, aerodynamics and the longevity of the car’s components.

An example of a Shell Eco-marathon vehicle.

Photo: Intelligence Squared / Tim Bowditch In F1, the cars must be quick and light. Care must be taken not to wear out the components.

One thing that both events have in common, Stretton stated, is that there is no compromise regarding the design of the cars in either of them. The cars are highly specialised and designed to outperform their competitors.

(Left to Right) Amanda Stretton, Norman Koch, Jason Barlow, Richard Noble.

Photo: Intelligence Squared / Tim Bowditch “This competitive edge always results in innovative thinking,” she said.

Stretton went on to say that the world of motor racing is a hotbed for testing new technologies.

Le Mans has seen both hydrogen fuel cell cars and electric vehicles trialled there over the past few years, whereas F1 is a ground-breaking environment for engines.

The purpose of this is not just to win the race.

This testing is done with the aim of developing new technologies for normal road cars. After all, why else would the likes of Renault and Mercedes-Benz be investing in it?

Another key point that Stretton mentioned was the fact that we need to think more about what efficient motoring really is.

“An automobile needs to be a way of getting from A to B as quickly and efficiently as possible,” she said. It really is that simple. Road cars have to become specialised in the same way that race cars have.

While she believes the so-called “family” car will still thrive in rural areas, vehicles that operate solely in urban areas will change drastically. She hopes to see the use of driverless cars increase in cities.

Her final statement was that in the future, cars will be designed for a specific job. “Racing cars have always lived by that doctrine,” she concluded, “because inefficiency loses you the race.”

Norman Koch, the Global Technical Director of Shell Eco-marathon, was the next to present his ideas to the intrigued crowd. As he rose from his seat, he was asked by the host why Shell were so interested in fuel efficiency.

“Shell has been selling energy for over 100 years,” he answered. “And if we want to continue selling it for another 100 years, we have to do something about it.”

He went on to talk about the world’s rapidly growing population and the fact that every year, more people grow out of energy poverty.

The number of cars on the road is constantly increasing, as is the number of people wanting to drive them. It’s an enormous global challenge and, in the words of Koch, “the only answer is efficiency.”

He spoke about the Shell Eco Marathon, a global challenge in which student teams are tasked with building the most fuel-efficient vehicle possible. Whoever can travel the furthest on the least amount of energy wins.

Koch stated that whilst at first glance it might resemble Wacky Races, the reality is that the Eco-marathon is engineering in its purest form.

The event is all about creating ideas with a specific goal in mind. Teams apply engineering principles to absolute perfection, giving equal attention to all parts of the vehicle.

The winning team at last year’s Eco-marathon managed an astonishing 3300km on just a single litre of fuel. When I’m back home, I quietly celebrate if I manage to get over 60

miles per gallon in my beloved Volkswagen Up. The Eco-marathon winners could make over three trips across the United States on the same quantity of fuel.

When asked by a member of the audience how the winning designs were applied to everyday engine manufacture, Koch stated that a large proportion of the 5000 students who enter annually go on to join a related industry.

They bring the ideas and imagination that they displayed in the competition with them, which can only have a positive effect.

“Companies do not innovate,” he concluded.

“People innovate.”

The third member of the panel was Jason Barlow, a well-known journalist and broadcaster in the motoring world. Having presented Top Gear prior to its relaunch in 2002, he now acts as Editor-at-large for the BBC Top Gear magazine.

From the start it was apparent that he was an old school car enthusiast with a deep passion for anything that revs. He wasn’t afraid to boast about his love for engines and his fascination with their operation. Incoming EU regulations will result in the downsizing of all new engines, but although Barlow was visibly disappointed by this, he emphasised that the future is very bright for the industry.

“This is an amazing time for innovation,” he explained. “We are on the cusp of an amazing new era.”

Barlow stated that this calendar year will go down as the tipping point for hybrid and electric cars and he believes that the move towards sustainable personal mobility is accelerating.

The Toyota Prius was the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, although in Barlow’s eyes it was never really an option when it was first introduced worldwide in 2000.

Fast forward 14 years, however, and the story is completely different. “This year, there are loads of hybrids that I want,” he said.

There has been a crucial convergence of brand and technology, which has resulted in vastly improved vehicles that have the capability to enhance everyday life.

He mentioned the surprising fact that Porsche sell more hybrids than anyone else in the UK and described the electric BMW i series as “hero cars.”

The next major focus will be the emission of nitrous oxides. “It gets no easier for the industry,” Barlow joked. He concluded by stating that this is a very good time to be entering the motoring world. “Meeting these challenges means there’s never been a more exciting time for automobiles.”

The final person to speak was, in the words of the host, “the one who we would rush home and tell all our friends about.”

Richard Noble, the Scottish entrepreneur who held the land speed record for 14 years

following his 634mph drive in Thrust2 in 1983.

He spoke about his latest project, BloodhoundSSC, a supersonic vehicle which his team hopes will be able to surpass the 1000mph barrier. It’s a car with the same power as an aircraft carrier.

As interesting as the project is, it almost contradicted the theme that had been established by the previous speakers. Noble acknowledged the huge problems that the world faces regarding fuel efficiency and admitted, “we don’t have the solution.”

However, just as Amanda Stretton was quick to point out the huge importance of racing technologies, Noble was also able to justify his latest endeavour.

Inspiration was the key word. It’s no secret that many branches of science and engineering are in desperate need of more young people and Noble is keen to attract more children and teenagers into these industries.

Noble expressed his desire to make BloodhoundSSC the world’s first global STEM programme in a bid to reach out to the next generation. He believes the problem lies in primary schools and stated that children need to be inspired from an early age.

He spoke about the so-called ‘Apollo Effect’ that occurred between 1961 and 1972. The Apollo missions enthralled the general public to such an extent that the increase in applications for PhDs in physics was enormous. Noble hopes that BloodhoundSSC can have a similar effect.

He stated that school teachers shared his desire to inspire the younger generation, but were adamant that every single bit of data from the BloodhoundSSC project should be released.

If you want to persuade them to follow in your footsteps, why hide anything from them?

Richard Noble presents his views to the crowd.

Photo: Intelligence Squared / Tim Bowditch Noble agreed. Whilst many other similar industries can’t release all their data, the BloodhoundSSC project will.

An interesting Q&A session then followed.

The prospect of driverless cars was raised, which seemed to split the panel. Amanda Stretton was adamant that they have a place in the future of automobiles, whilst Richard Noble wasn’t convinced. “It’s a bloody nightmare!” he laughed, explaining that there was simply no way that both normal and driverless cars could share the roads together.

Public transport was also mentioned, as was the concept of choosing energies in the future, rather than choosing the design of a car.

This is a defining era for the automobile industry. Manufacturers have already started focusing on moving towards a world with greater fuel efficiency.

This is a huge global challenge, but after listening to these experts speak and seeing for myself what students are capable of, I’m confident that we will find a way.

10

Opinion

Editors’ Foreword

Surveillance: as scary as it sounds?

Charlie Spargo Deputy Editor-in-chief The World Wide Web turned 25 this year. It has grown from little more than a handful of white pages to a pulsating, unfathomably vast network of websites used by more than 2.8 billion individuals.

In Asia alone the number of people using the internet has grown by 1000% from the year 2000 to today. The internet has become the most powerful force in the world in not much longer than most of our lifetimes.

At the time of writing there are 1.13 billion websites, and this figure is rising rapidly. The danger is clear to see.

Merely competent internet users can stay truly anonymous on the internet. The Deep Web is far, far larger than the Surface Web, and here users can browse giant hidden areas of the internet, often carrying out illegal transactions, for example on the now-deactivated Silk Road black marketplace.

Since the advent of the internet an enormous number of new crimes have been brought to the attention of the public. The sharing of inappropriate images of children, online terrorism groups and without doubt many more as yet unpublicised are rife and almost untrackable.

Of course it’s discomforting to feel as if you’re being watched online.

However, the alternative seems scarier.

Agencies such as GCHQ and the NSA collect metadata about our search terms, location data and mobile phone activity. They do not target and profile any individual in particular unless they have sufficient reason to.

The real injustice of the NSA was that, in its greed for data, it actively worked to undermine the security systems of established banking and commerce systems, actually putting people more at risk.

A top-secret government agency collecting data to maintain some order in an exponentially rapidlygrowing entity such as the World Wide Web is one thing. The principle behind it has our safety from certain horrors at heart. So the concept of surveillance as a whole is not something to be afraid of, but the actual actions of the agency are what needs to be condemned.

@MancunionOp

Should we accept the Surveillance State?

Marcus Johns Morris Seifert

Since the Snowden revelations in June 2013, the topic on everyone’s minds has been on the NSA and privacy.

This edition of The Mancunion Opinion focuses on the Surveillance State—is it a safety measure meant to protect, or is it an infringement on our basic right to privacy?

Do you disagree with something that’s been said? Tweet us with your thoughts and comments: @MancunionOp. If you would like to contribute tweet us or like our page on Facebook at facebook.com/MancunionOp Next week we will be featuring articles about media ethics.

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Yes Lauren Wills Contributor Combating terrorism is all about striking a balance between national security and civil liberties. Weighing up these two concepts proves problematic in issues such as mass surveillance; we don’t want to be controlled by the state, yet we don’t want leave ourselves vulnerable to attacks.

However, in terms of surveillance, I completely support it.

Whilst I openly admit that the threat of terrorism is exaggerated by security advocates—often to maintain their control to survey as they please, those taking the opposite perspective also dramatise how violated they feel by security measures without considering the detrimental effects of potential terrorist attacks.

The UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, is based on four areas of work: pursue, prevent, protect and prepare.

Mass surveillance solidifies and makes practical the strands of CONTEST, both deterring terrorist activity and protecting the state.

Because most individuals don’t really believe that terrorist

No Isaac Atwal Contributor We now live in a surveillance state; everyone has been swept up into the culture of fear and surveillance that envelopes our world and we have let it happen without much of fuss. Even after Edward Snowden’s revelations and ensuing chaos not much has changed.

Save for a few public questionings of selected officials, most of the world and the public has settled back into their blind slumber with the frustrated minority trying desperately, but pointlessly, to change things.

The discourse on terrorism and security has been skewed in favour of massive data collection by our intelligence agencies and has been legitimised by constant announcements of the ‘continued threat’ of terrorism.

Surveillance is needed for certain investigations into terrorism, that is undeniable, but we are reaching a point where this concern is being used to justify ever increasingly intrusive and universal methods of surveillance that encompass an ever rising number of people.

Our security services already have vast access to our Internet usage. UK telecommunications companies have already been shown through Snowden’s revelations, to be providing GCHQ with access to the huge undersea cables that carry all internet traffic in and out of the UK. A

activity is imminent and a real threat to them, it’s natural then, to go down the arguably selfish road of: “What does surveillance mean for me and my life?” and “I don’t want to be watched 24/7.”

It’s the type of hyperbolic thinking that George Orwell discuses in 1984. Instead of entertaining this ideology, I believe in thinking realistically about the security that’s needed to protect the United Kingdom.

Despite it being difficult sometimes to trust the government and their motives, real-life attacks are proof enough to enhance state security measures.

The total financial cost of the 7/7 bombings for the terrorists in 2005 was only eight thousand pounds—with this measly amount they tricked the British Security Services and took 52 lives.

This shows how relatively easy it is for those with an agenda to carry out an attack which could target innocent people. Surveillance of bank transfers could expose terrorist financing to prevent such acts happening again.

Knowing that there could have been just a small chance of stopping the 7/7 attacks from taking place by coupling intelligence with extensive surveillance, surely we should implement protection measures for the future so nothing similar can take place.

Of course, I do not doubt that there are implications of the

surveillance state on individual liberty; I just don’t think it’s as atrocious as people make out. It’s merely an inconvenience to be monitored, and in my opinion it’s quite egotistical to suggest that the government want to know about the intimate details of your private life.

They’re only interested in national security and preventing terrorism - not in your inappropriate messages or your spending habits. Neither do they have a desire to constantly watch you through your webcam.

It’s also important to consider the alternative measures to the surveillance state. There are counter-terrorism strategies to gain intelligence which do so in the most degrading, counterproductive and ineffective ways in the name of security.

An extreme example of the ways in which some states, potentially our own gain—the information they desire to prevent imminent terrorist attacks is through enhanced interrogation, which by the way is a nicer phrase for torture. When you compare innocent civilians being monitored to innocent civilians being falsely subject to water-boarding, hooding, beating, oxygen deprivation and sleep deprivation amongst many other method this small inconvenience to our lifestyles pales into insignificance.

Furthermore, strategies such as

Stop and Search are alternatives to surveillance, which in the past were undertaken with so much racial bias that the legislature had to narrow the scope in which the police could stop citizens.

Having a system in which everyone is monitored inhibits openly alienating people because of their race, colour or social class. Having the mentality of all being in this together is surely more effective than targeting and alienating specific racial groups.

It’s also important to note that as technology improves and advances the risk of hacking and cyber-terrorism increases. Cyber space is all about exchanging knowledge locally, nationally and globally.

We rarely think about the opportunity this creates for terrorist organisations, but fairly recent

instances in Iran and Syria highlight the detrimental effects of hacking. Being monitored on the internet is surely a small price to pay when one considers the worst case scenario of a terrorist organisation gaining access to individual, corporate, banking, defence, security or medical data systems.

The battlefield of terrorism is changing. The Internet has many benefits but the potential of causing more damage by a keystroke than a bomb is increasing daily, which shows the increasing need for enhanced security measures.

The surveillance state really is the lesser of two evils. This is not Big Brother; it’s not personal and it’s not for entertainment. It’s about living in safety and ensuring the UK has an effective counter-terrorism strategy.

Photo: tobanblack @Flickr

subsidiary of Vodafone, Cable & Wireless—was assigned a full time GCHQ employee, paid millions of pounds for their cooperation and even a codename for secret documents.

This at present includes metadata, non-content specific data such as internet searches and sites visited. According to Eric King, the deputy director of Privacy International: “Any internet search or website you’ve visited over the past two years could be stored in GCHQ’s database and analysed at will, all without a warrant”. This should concern anyone with a slight interest in his or her basic rights as a human being, that is, the right not is to be spied on by our own government.

What should be more concerning to us than the vast collection of our data without a warrant is the attitude of those that survey when they are challenged and forced to explain their methods.

In a court case brought against GCHQ last year by a consortium of privacy groups including Liberty, Amnesty International and others government lawyers maintained that the “only way” to intercept Internet communications they need is to first intercept a large amount and then sift through them.

They have told civil liberties groups that they “must accept” some form of interception that “permits substantially more communications to be intercepted, including internal communications, than are actually being sought.”

Not only is this a blatant admission that the government sees no problems with obtaining masses of data that is of no relevance to them, it also shows their flagrant disregard for the

privacy of millions of citizens of this country.

Using the shield of national security to legitimise their intrusion into our lives enables the security services to continue to use these methods and has the potential to instantly label anybody who disagrees of not caring about national security.

This has severe implications for the future, at present; we may be able to live with these intrusions, but hypothetically the situation could change in about in five or ten years with a conveniently larger and more dangerous terrorist threat. The key question is: Will more powers be sought, or will more intrusions into our privacy just be undertaken without a regard for the law?

Here is where the real prob-

lem for the future lies with our surveillance state. Our ever organised and level-headed Home Secretary Theresa May was singing the praises of the new Counter Terrorism and Security Bill this week that included a new raft of powers.

Some of these seem sensible, such as the power to seize and cancel passports of those going to commit terrorist acts abroad and those seeking to return to the UK afterwards. However, it is how May would like to build on this is even more worrying, saying these measures aren’t enough and reiterating the need for the scrapped Snooper’s Charter, which would have forced everyone’s online activity, including conversations, social media activity, calls and texts for 12 months.

This is the danger we face if we swallow the government’s narrative on the terrorist threat and measures needed to eliminate it. Anti-terror legislation of the past can be viewed as one huge snowball that accumulates more intrusive powers every time it is redrafted.

If we continue down this track of accepting these new powers then the security services will only want more, and continue until they can track and place every person in Britain at any time, regardless of their innocence or guilt. Britain is far from, and unlikely to become, a totalitarian state but every time surveillance is stepped up and is accepted, even grudgingly by the public, it paves the way for more of our rights to be eroded the next time.

Photo: zigazou76 @Flickr

Hacked off?

Opinion 11 Off-campus but on the record ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

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In their efforts to record and control its students, the University of Manchester and the local community are neglecting the real dangers

Joe Evans Contributor You might remember earlier this year that changes to the University of Manchester’s policy regarding off-campus behaviour caused outrage. Perhaps you, like most, were unengaged, allowing the massive infringement on the rights of the universities students to slip by unnoticed.

Essentially the university saw fit to amend its Student Code of Conduct, in what those aware of the reform labelled a ‘Big Brother’ reform.

The amendment to policy made the behaviour of students off-campus the interest of those responsible to infringing discipline on campus.

Put in layman’s terms, get in trouble off campus and you could be swiftly removed from the university, politely taken off-campus where you can’t cause the university embarrassment.

This could be seen as a good move on behalf of

the university, the logic being an extension of the surveillance state resulting in a decrease in antisocial behaviour. What it evidences to me, however, is a wholly different, more authoritarian form of imposing the university’s standards and morality on all those who pass through its gates, whether you are on their turf or not.

Societally it is my responsibility not to throw up through my neighbour’s letterbox while screaming swearwords through their open windows. I’m aware people don’t like that, so I don’t do it. The university suggesting that I need some sort of threat hovering over my head not to do so implies not to me that they have social responsibility but that they don’t have a huge amount of faith in me.

I personally feel that this form of surveillance of my off-campus behaviour serves to pander to a suppression of the minority who don’t act in compliance with social expectation, while undermining the majority who do.

‘If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear’ I hear naysayers of my stance cry. True. Having said that there is (I assure you) nothing untoward about my gmail inbox. I don’t however want Google, Facebook or the National Security Agency scrutinising my emails ‘just in case’ I’m an incredibly well-disguised Russian spy.

Similarly, there is nothing unusual about my offcampus behaviour but I don’t want the guillotine of university expulsion hanging heavy above me just in case.

The reform has immediately been called into action with revelations this year that the student residents of Fallowfield are the ‘worst ever’.

Loud and raucous student parties have caused disgruntled residents to call for meetings with university representatives in order to tame their behaviour.

This highlights a whole host of issues, such as students being priced out in established venues in the city and also that these reports serve to vilify the majority of student residents who cause no such problems. The main one that jumps out to me though is that students are treated like children.

It is not the university’s position to cave in to local residents and offer disciplinary procedures against students in order to appease the pressure. If students are loud, it is a social not educational issue. Call the police by all means, but when these minorities of students are treated as if they are children in a school it’s difficult to complain when they respond petulantly.

Alternatively, if the university plans to act as a city wide police presence, enforcing the wishes of nonuniversity residents, then I have an issue to raise on behalf of students.

In October the Manchester Evening News published an article entitled ‘We Don’t Feel Safe’. It

was a quote by a Manchester University student.

It voiced a concern held by many of Fallowfield’s student population who, following consistent failure to protect our safety, no longer feel safe in their area.

If the university plans to make highly publicised efforts to appease residents, then I can’t help but feel similar effort should be made to fulfil the duty it has to keep its students safe.

While I’m not by any means condoning student’s behaviour, or suggesting that it is the complete responsibility of the university to ensure safety, turn the surveillance light upon student’s protection and it makes for uncomfortable viewing.

There have been thirty reported rape cases between August and September of this year, one of which took place when a student was abducted from the steps of the Student Union following Pangaea.

Three students were involved in an unprovoked attack near Revolution in Fallowfield which left one in hospital, his condition described as serious.

The surveillance is there, it is present, watching our moves, threatening our actions with expulsion, prompting complaints from local residents.

The surveillance however serves to infringe upon our rights as citizens of Manchester. We live with a constant threat hanging above us, one which we have power to contain, but which shouldn’t exist.

All the while, however, we live in danger, ‘We don’t feel safe’, let down by the same institutions who serves to threaten us with their surveillance of our actions.

We may be off-campus, but what we do is on record.

The problem, however, is that the surveillance logging what we do is focused in one spot on the landscape while a far greater evil continues to operate in its blind spot.

Photo: Blithe Mik @ Flickr

A real-world Dystopia

Dystopian futures are our today, and technology is always watching

Marina Iskander Contributor As the most watched nation in the world—the one with the highest ratio of cameras to people, British streets are lined with CCTV cameras. In fact, our city centre in Manchester has around 51,600.

In comparison, London has about 4.9 million in total—at a total cost of half a billion pounds. One cannot deny the unsettling feeling that the UK is becoming more similar to a totalitarian dystopia.

This feeling, and reality, as a matter of fact, of being watched is often associated with the term Big Brother. Most students are aware that the term was first coined in George Orwell’s 1984, yet many still are not aware of the dystopian novel, which takes place during a time when people’s actions, feelings, words, and more were controlled by the government—or Big Brother.

1984 brings the reader into a terrifying alternative future Britain—set in London—where cameras are placed in the homes of citizens to watch their every move. For example, the protagonist, Winston Smith, hides from the cameras in a small corner of his house to be able to write down his thoughts and experiences. Along with these cameras and constant surveillance came restrictions on thoughts and feelings.

The language used in Orwell’s masterpiece was called Newspeak. It was a language composed in a way that rid it of words of any emotional attachment, leaving some thoughts unthinkable because they simply could not be put into words.

Moreover, the idea of doublethink was also introduced. As defined in the novel, doublethink is when one holds two contradictory ideas in their head and believing them both simultaneously– like telling a lie but believing it completely at the exact same time.

While at first these ideas seem completely radical to Orwell’s imagined society, the ideas

Photo: mikekingphoto @Flickr

were all rooted in the fact that the government watched the citizen’s each and every move. This abundance of surveillance, or more specifically, the fear of getting caught, is what fed the concepts of groupthink and Newspeak. Bit by bit, being watched evolved from a security measure to being a fertile ground on which the government created a terrified and strictly controlled society.

Of course, one’s natural train of thought would lead them to wonder if these concepts are starting to appear in our modern world. Undoubtedly, and by its nature, mass communication has been a great tool in spreading certain ways of thinking—to prefer a product in an advertisement, to hate the antagonist in a movie, and so on.

This is often done using certain words or phrases that slowly infuse into our unconsciousness.

Realistically, introducing new ideas must be very subtle. For instance, Sainsbury’s recent Christmas ad seems to embody a sentiment that describes the true meaning of the holidays. Yet, upon closer inspection, that the advertisement beautifies one

Come to our meetings: Mondays, 5pm, on the first floor of the Students’ Union

of the most terrible events that mankind has ever witnessed, The Great War. The thought is coated with an atmosphere of joy and happiness, and thus effectively delivers a message: the gruesome loss of millions of lives of young men was, sometimes, a rather joyful endeavour.

This is only one of many examples of how successful the media can be at delivering subtle message to unsuspecting watchers; watchers that may morally have one view on an event, but yet somehow subconsciously also hold a completely opposing one—our media’s depictions of race, lower classes or the poor are poignant examples.

More importantly, it all started with surveillance, and the issue is escalating to create our very own version of doublethink.

Another problem of surveillance that has been highlighted in dystopian fiction is that it leads to a large dependency on technology. As mentioned above, about half a billion pounds have been spent on cameras in the UK. That same amount

of money could have been used to employ an entire police force in a town. Instead, the money is put into technology rather than in human ability, furthering the idea of technology as superior to human talents and abilities.

In the movie GATTACA, we are introduced to a world where parents can control their children’s genes in order to create the perfect child. In this setting, the characters’ DNA are tested on a daily basis not only to confirm their identity, but also to see if they qualify for doing different things. Again, this sounds extreme but is actually quite realistic.

With growth in stem cell research, mankind is hurdling faster onto possibilities of enhancing the normal human of today. For example, there is an increasing reliance on genetic modification in agriculture to yield more meat.

Slowly, but surely, we are relying more and more on technology than on nature. While of course this comes with great advances in medicine or science and with a chance at fighting famine, there is an alternative side of the coin; the combination of surveillance and human control on genetics leaves a group of people marginally stronger and more powerful than the rest. As often said, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely—leaving this power in the hands of mere humans may just turn our modern world into a not-so-fictitious dystopia.

Many may argue that CCTV cameras help prevent crime in a way that no policeman ever could, or that they have saved many lives.

Undoubtedly, they must have benefits, but society must determine whether or not these benefits outweigh the possibility of the possibility of an Orwellian Big Brother state.

With the spread of dependency on mass communication, it is definitely easier to spread a message or an idea. Moreover, this gives great power to certain people, who may or may not use it in our best interest. Slowly, technology is shaping a new world—and who knows what it holds.

Music

12

Interview

Feature

the

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Editors: Patrick Hinton, Lowell Clarke

Samuel Ward, Dan Whiteley

OPINION

Why Don’t We Give A Funk About Being Innovative Any More?

Stephen Miller Why did jazz become such a popular genre in the 20s?

Why was rock and roll such a phenomenon in the 50s? You can explore any definable era in the history of popular music, and the answer will be the same: innovation. I view music as a kind of sonic tapestry, with genres seamlessly woven together over a period of time. When I say ‘innovation’, I don’t mean to say that jazz just ‘happened’ out of the blue, something is always cherrypicked from one genre and developed into something new, wonderful, and arguably better. Rap and dubstep, in my view, are exceptions to the rule.

Earlier this month, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars teamed up to release ‘Uptown Funk’, a brilliant throwback to the funk of the 70’s that is one of the best tracks of the year.

Inevitably, it will end up at the top of the charts, there or there abouts, but have we got to a stage where we no longer have any interest in finding the next big musical innovation? Our obsession for the past seems to be stifling our desire to take the risk with something new; instead we’re more than happy to remain in our nostalgic comfort zone.

Meghan Trainor’s ‘All About That Bass’ is an annoyingly-catchy hit that reached number one in the UK charts in early October, but it’s a song built on a 50s R&B and doo-wop framework. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but it is rather worrying that artists seem to be looking backwards instead of forwards for commercial success.

Our very own Madchester movement was new and

refreshing. The quality of music may not have been particularly good, but it was innovative and it paid off (at the time). Arguably, it was the last geographically-specific music scene in the UK to have a relatively lengthy period of mainstream success. We’re now living in the age of the boy band and production line X Factor singers. Musical innovations, that more often than not are born from smallscale underground scenes, have been kept out of the monopolised mainstream for so long that there’s a genuine fear that they won’t get back in again.

There seems to have been more visual innovations than sonic ones in recent years.

Lady Gaga springs to mind, she’s tried her best to be shocking, but somehow even by dressing herself in slabs of meat and sparkling lights (not necessarily at the same time), it feels more reminiscent of the shock rockers of the past, such as David Bowie and Alice Cooper.

Modern musicians have a Polaroid obsession in an Instagram world. It isn’t their fault, nor is it our fault. The mainstream music industry militates against change and forward thinking. The charts have become so onedimensional that innovative ideas and aspirations are either repelled, or reduced to spending the duration of their creative output in the underground scenes from which they were created.

Photo: YouTube

Top 5

TOP

Songs

5

Superior Cover Versions Dan Whiteley, Music Editor

Photo: Press Shot

the

MUSIC INTERVIEW

Little Dragon

Alyssa Vongapai talks to Little Dragon about collaborations, the meaning of life, and taking techno to a desert island Alyssa Vongapai Swedish group Little Dragon are definitely not one of those one hit wonder synth-pop bands. They’ve come back with Nabuma Rubberband, nearly three years since their breakthrough album Ritual Union. Not only do they posess the Swedish style, they have upped their ante with their new album by being more musically experimental and magical. It consists of rigid electronic beats, melted R&B and is anchored with addictive sweet vocals. Their band name came from their front woman’s nickname “Little Dragon” because she had a little temper in her sometimes when recording.

I spoke to their humble and cool bassist, Fred, about their collaborations with big names such as SBTRKT, DJ Shadow and Gorillaz. Their collaboration with SBTRKT “was a happy coincidence.” He thinks “the outcome” is what makes a good collaboration and he feels like that as a band they are continually collaborating with each other as individuals. I asked Fred if they could collaborate with anyone dead or alive, who would it be: “we might have said Jimi Hendrix previously, but I don’t know, it’s kind of tricky to collaborate, so maybe a producer, someone like Brian Eno would be interesting.” Sweden tends to sprout out great musicians, and Little Dragon are definitely counted amongst those. Fred explained that they are “still kind of underground in Sweden.”

There’s no doubt that Little Dragon are an integral part of the current dance culture, and they have been pushing its boundaries with an injection of slow burners. Fred has always has a passion for dance music, I asked him what kind of dance music he is into: “I am into dark techno. I like the current berlin sound a lot... Neil Landstrumm…so many names – so hard to remember”.

Nabuma Rubberband has been inspired by

1. Step On - Happy Mondays

2. Hurt - Johnny Cash

In 1990, Shaun Ryder and co. reworked John Congos’ seventies hit into a groovy, melon-twistin’ Madchester anthem with the help of legendary producer Paul Oakenfold.

Call the cops!

The Man in Black covered Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt shortly before his death, transforming the track into a beautifully sparse, somber ballad.

Afterwards Trent Reznor lamented, “that song isn’t mine anymore.”

Maybe our next album will be an 8 hour techno song and a 30 minute ballad “Janet Jackson slow jams” that frontwoman Yukimi Nagon used to listen to whilst wandering around Gothenburg in the winter.

I discussed with Fred what did they want their next album to sound like: “ I want it to sound really banging.” I asked him if he wanted it to sound more techno: “We’ve been thinking about making an EP or something with more dancey stuff, but we’ve never really conceptualized stuff before so it’s hard to see what kind of stuff comes out, maybe it can be a ballad album.” I jokingly suggested maybe doing a half techno and half ballad album. He laughed and said “Maybe an 8 hour techno song, and 30 minutes ballad.” I asked him if he had any inspiration already for the future album: “you tend to pick up small thing from different artists, when you travel, you just want to listen to music you can relax to like Brian Eno or something like jazz music, a bit of Miles Davis, great artists like Nils Frahm and Max Richter.”

I asked him one of the most annoying questions you can ask someone, but it’s

interesting and makes to think hard! The question was what song would you bring with you if you were stuck in a desert island. After a long and hard thought he said: “I’m going to be smart and bring something that can grow on me and be a record I can experience stuff with…”. Whilst pondering he asked me what I would bring, I responded with Jon Hopkins Immunity, which still feels like the album of the year for me. Fred has sick taste, he agreed that Jon Hopkins is sick and then decided “maybe dance music would be good cause it keeps up the spirit, I’m going to bring Shed.”

Little Dragon are in the midst of a string of sold out shows. “Sometimes if we have time we see some DJs - but we mainly do that when we have time off. You’re on a different spirit or mode when you are touring, and so you are in a working mode so it’s hard to let go and rave for hours, but sometimes we get to catch some good DJs. The last DJ they saw was Skrillex in a festival in Las Vegas, “he played after us, it’s not really my cup tea.” I could have guessed that someone that likes Shed wouldn’t really like Skrillex.

Finally I asked him what he thinks the meaning of life is if there is one: “I would say to enjoy it to the fullest - that could mean so many different things.”

Little Dragon are definitely a band to watch out for. They will always excite us with their dreamy vocals, slow-burners and heartpounding electronic beats.

3. Teenage Dream - The Horrible Crowes

4. Only Love Can Break Your Heart - St. Etienne

5. Wild Is The Wind - David Bowie

Thanks to Brian Fallon’s gruff baritone and their moody, chiming guitars, The Horrible Crowes add a little emotional depth to Katy Perry’s original, working better than it sounds on paper.

Whilst Neil Young’s first attempt is respectable enough it’s far better remembered as St. Etienne’s dancier, house-influenced version.

Closing his seminal Station to Station album, Bowie’s take on the Johnny Mathis classic is perhaps Bowie’s best vocal performance. It’s a shame he says he can’t even remember recording it…

Don’t do drugs, kids.

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

@ MancunionMusic / TheMancunionMusicSection

Music

13

Live

Live

Linkin Park

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Phones4U Arena - 22nd November 2014

8/10

Dinesh Mattu Generation Y headbangers unite. Californian natives Linkin Park deliver an immense live performance, showing this side of the Atlantic how to melt faces in true nu-metal style.

Their latest release The Hunting Party is a departure from the electronic and progressive sound they experimented with on their previous albums and a throwback to the heavy rock sound we became accustomed to on their debut Hybrid Theory.

The set is more extravagant, the lights a little brighter, the anticipation is a bit tentative; unsure what to expect from the gig, the band roll out to a short mashup of flickering noises spanning across their six albums, before getting into a few tracks from the new record.

Songs such as ‘Guilty All The Same’ and ‘Wastelands’ are played back-to-back with songs from their previous five albums, including ‘Blackout’ and ‘Runaway’, and whilst the tour is naturally a promotion of The Hunting Party album, the setlist is scattered with a heavy dosage of familiar material.

Material from Hybrid Theory including ‘Points of Authority,’ ‘Papercut’ and ‘One Step Closer’,

Manchester Academy - 20th November 2014 Benjamin Beauvallet

Photo: NRK P3 @Flickr

which are greeted with huge approval from the thousands in the Manchester Arena.

Each member of the band holds their own: Turntablist and sampler Joe Hahn gets some limelight in a solo five minutes, scratching and stomping his way through a spectacular visually and sonicallyimpressive performance. The two main vocalists, singer Chester Bennington and the ever-talented rapper/all-round instrumentalist and awesome guy Mike Shinoda are equally as superb. Bennington’s voice is exceptional; his ability to scream his anger through one track then delicately layer his voice on the next is astounding.

I’ve waited the best part of seven or eight years to hear his vocals live and his energy is just as

infectious as I anticipated.

The set gets a little monotonous if you’re not up to date with the new stuff, which takes up a large chunk of the latter half of the show. However Bennington and co. bring back the energy towards the end, dropping some of their biggest hits including ‘In The End,’ ‘What I’ve Done’ and the highlight for me, which temporarily rejuvenated my rebellious punk adolescence; the monumental ‘Faint.’

Even though I’m not a rebellious and anger-filled teen any more, witnessing the band live reignited a spark in me that, for a night, took me back to the spotty school kid I thought I’d left behind in Year 8, so thanks for that Linkin Park.

The Jesus and Mary Chain played the Manchester Academy 1 as part of their trio of highly anticipated UK gigs on the 20th of November. The elevated ticket prices ensured the crowd was old enough to know that ‘Some Candy Talking’ isn’t about personified fruit winders, and the speed at which they sold out ensured the tickets were reserved for the fans, the grey haired veterans favored by natural selection - the ones left after the punk’s game of musical chairs.

With a band so notorious for spreading misinformation in interviews, it’s difficult to untangle the fact and the fiction. The fact is that this tour is centered on Psychocandy the 1985 album at the dark heart of JAMC’s cultism. Around this time they rarely got through more than two or three tracks before the crowd turned too ugly to go on; at North London Polytechnic a riot allegedly ensued. It makes sense to honor the fans that missed out on seeing the whole album through by coming back and playing it back to back. But they did this with a hint of their old malice by announcing they’d play the encore first.

Live

Club

Sharon Van Etten

Boddika

Manchester Cathedral - 24th November 2014

5/10

Cordelia Milward The Manchester Cathedral would seem like the ideal venue for the haunting folk rocker Sharon Van Etten. Yet from the very first song it was clear she was relying heavily on the preexisting atmosphere inherent in this celestial building, with her performance lacking any of her own emotion. Whilst Van Etten’s vocals were spotless, they flowed so effortlessly from her mouth, it was as if she need not try. As the band dispersed for Sharon to perform the chilling ‘Keep’, which she announced as her father’s favourite song, the sentiment really did feel genuine. Supported only by the simple picking of her acoustic guitar, Sharon’s voice was laid bare, taking time to elaborately draw out each note. Yet these moments of sincerity were fleeting, and the band returned to play a poor attempt at a dance tune with ‘Our Love’. Disrupting the tenderness, that had been so elegantly produced prior to the band’s return, meant that this forced, upbeat synth seemed inappropriate and stifling.

The harmonies throughout flowed naturally, but often

8/10

After being treated to a warped best of, they launched into Psychocandy with ‘Just Like Honey’, and it was clear that the band still have that air of Phil Spektor orchestrating one of The Velvet Underground’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable parties. Plumes of guitar distortion lapped at the crowed and tangled with the thick smoke to turn the Academy

1 into a reverb drenched Hammam. A mid-lifer next to me spent his whole night with his eyes closed in trance, miming each and every word pronounced by Jim Reid. What he was thinking – if anything will remain a mystery.

Photo: pj_in_oz @flickr

Sankeys - 14th November 2014

9/10

George Scrafton

Photo: Rebeccahildreth @Flickr

the backing vocals were overpowering and any obvious lead was indistinguishable.

This competition of voices on ‘Nothing Will Change’, drew ironic attention to the lack of variation between songs. Van Etten’s voice is like a perfectly smooth chocolate mousse, but as everybody knows, there’s only so much mousse you can spoon inside you before you begin to feel a bit sick. In no way

does Van Etten evoke nauseous tendencies, but what was once sweet and angelic, became dry and at times plain boring. By the last song, ‘I Love You But I’m Lost’, Van Etten’s grand and swooping vocals were reduced to a whine, which when placed over a loop of distant moaning, made a fairly unsatisfactory closure to a somewhat lacklustre performance.

Tribal Sessions & Content’s 5th Anniversary, bolstered by the prestige of the chosen venue Sankeys attracts a diverse, all-ages crowd ready to hear Boddika’s unique production showcased by the respected master himself. On the night, the Sankeys interior is typically understated but is brought to life by the swampy, tech-heavy sets in the main room and the healthy contrast of disco-house flavored vibrancy upstairs.

The appearance of the main attraction is preceded first by a series of techno tools primed for elevation. As they are dropped one by one, anticipation builds to palpable levels, pupils dilate and limbs begin to move restlessly and rhythmically in time with the pounding percussive noise.

Boddika’s arrival onstage is heralded by his typically trademark sound of murky bass and ruthless driving beats, textured by electro- and indebted to the forerunners of the entire dance music spectrum, from garage to break beat. As Inner City’s, ‘Big Fun’,

Detroit synths cut through the pulsating fog of sound during Boddika’s introductory movement, the atmosphere spirals to ecstatic realms.

From behind the decks, the London-based face of cuttingedge orchestrates a barrage of dirge-driven bangers, interrupted occasionally to bring the crowd teases and excerpts of his phenomenal work with fellow experimental vanguard Joy Orbison. As the dark roars of Boddika’s, ‘ Mercy VIP’, blast through the sound

system the crowd screams in appreciation, and as the set draws to a close it’s handshakes all round for Boddika and nearby audience members.

Boddika’s current output, amongst that of contemporaries, is aiding experimental dance music’s outreach into new and exciting territory, and on the night, the sound of London’s underground is brought to Manchester with electrifying results.

Photo: LD PIX@flickr

14

Music

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

What’s Right... Or Shite....

Mancunion Recommends

This week in Music

AC/DC - Rock or Bust Albert/Columbia; 2nd December 2014

All Time Vinyl High

8/10

Well it’s not quite all time, but we’ve consumed more vinyl this year than in any of the many years since 1996!

Great Britain is yet again faithful to the fidelity.

Stephen Miller 2014 hasn’t been the best of years for AC/DC. When news broke of the deteriorating health of founding-guitarist Malcolm Young, and the arrest of long-serving drummer Phil Rudd for attempting to procure murder (surprisingly, not by threatening to 4/4 beat someone to death), a shadow of doubt was cast over the future of the band. So began the frightening realisation amongst AC/DC fans, myself included, that 2008’s Black Ice may have been the last album they ever made.

But, what doesn’t kill them only makes them stronger, or certainly more focused, as is the case here. Rock Or Bust, the band’s 15th internationally released studio album, is a very sophisticated, foot-stomping (but rather short) 35 minutes of no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll.

It’s all meat-and-potatoes stuff for AC/DC, really. You have Brian Johnson’s high-voltage shriek, his best vocal performance since For Those About To Rock, a full catalogue of air-guitar riffs and sing-along choruses jampacked with references to sex, violence and rock ‘n’ roll, Phil Rudd’s tight, clean grooves, and of course we can’t forget Cliff Williams’s typically unobtrusive bass lines.

‘Play Ball’, the lead single, is a risqué anthem with the unmistakeable groove and ferocity that wouldn’t sound out of place on any Johnson-era album. It’s the best track on there, however ‘Rock The Blues Away’ could stake a claim to be the band’s biggest commercial hit for years, it’s a bona fide, radio friendly charttopper. Add ‘Rock Or Bust’ to the mix and you have the best opening three tracks to an AC/DC album since Back In Black. There are a few duds on the album, such as the lumbering ‘Dogs Of

Photo: Gagilas @Flickr

Bono ‘Least Influential’ GQ did something absolutely right this week: they named Bono and U2 the least influential people of 2014.

War’ and the flat-sounding ‘Emission Control’, but you have some absolute gems in-between, like the pulsating ‘Baptism By Fire’ and ‘Sweet Candy’, a throwback to their early 1970s pub rock sound.

AC/DC have never deviated away from a formula that has made them one of the most popular and widely-respected rock ‘n’ roll bands of their generation. Rock Or Bust is no different, despite the unfortunate events that have really put their resilience to the test over the last few months. It’s worth listening to, as it’s the best album they’ve made in over 30 years, and although they may have more white hair between them than Gandalf’s beard, the thunder from down under continue to out-rock other bands a third of their age.

For those about to listen, I salute you.

Foo Fighters- Sonic Highways Roswell/RCA Records, 10th November 2014

6/10

Dinesh Mattu Album Number Eight. Eight songs. Eight cities.

Weird figure of eight shapes on the album cover.

Spot a recurring motif? You guessed it: Foo Fighters have delivered the next instalment in their 20year history of being awesome, reminding us that in this electro-dominant day and age, guitar music still has an imperative spot in mainstream music.

When Dave Grohl & Co set out to create this project, they intended to explore an innovative concept that hadn’t really been done before; recording each song on a road trip around different cities in the United States, drawing on the cities’ respective musical heritages and making a documentary series based the whole journey.

You’d be right to think it was a distant trip from the grunge-y, underground, garage-rock scene that birthed the beginning of the band.

However, following on from their 2011 release, Wasting Light, which went back to basics (being completely recorded on analogue), their eighth album may well be their most conceptually ambitious yet. What we get is nothing that hits you in the face as an instant classic or that reinvigorates your inner punk rebel; in fact, it’s quite a pleasurable album. With that being said, there’s plenty of screaming, and heavy guitars (an average of three guitars on each song), nevertheless, there’s plenty of agreeable melodies and emotional tug in Grohl’s lyricism in the music, just as we’re used to.

‘Congregation’ is a profound example of the idea behind the project, recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with a guest spot from Zac Brown there’s an inherently authentic country/gospel feel to the song. On the other hand, ‘In The Clear’ (New Orleans, Louisiana) featuring the Preservation Hall Brass Band, doesn’t do much to differentiate itself from any other song on the

Photo: Xrayspx @Flickr

Come Down With Me Happy Mondays’ own Shaun Ryder will be appearing on the Come Dine with Me Christmas Special. Expect a serving of melon with a truck load of funny smelling powders....

Photo: Manalive @Flickr

Giorgio Moroderp 74 year old Italian disco legend Giorgio Moroder made waves this week—by releasing a horrific EDM-style track.

Even if ‘74 is the new 24’ as the track title suggests, it’s still way past the retirement age.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Take Shat Take That have announced their new album for next year, set to be streamed exclusively on Google Play Music... So all you Spotify fiends can breath a huge sigh of relief. album, and comes across as another unnecessary stop along the way on the documentary’s journey.

Although the concept of the entire Sonic Highways project may have been to innovate and push the genre through somewhat uncharted territory, there is not much that is exceedingly noteworthy in terms of the music.

There’s lots of crunching guitar, lots of pummelling drums and a few sing-a-longy choruses but it’s exactly what works for the Foos.

Personally it’s just great to hear Grohl’s voice again and hearing the band doing what they do best: making kick-ass rock n roll. Drawing on a rich heritage of classic rock, blues and jazz, Sonic Highways acts as a reminder that the Foo Fighters are one of the few remaining popular rock bands in the world that still has some integrity about them.

Photo: vagueonthehow @Flickr

Fuck The Police It appears that Fallowfield house parties are a dying breed. With the weekends of anyone who isn’t a fresher hanging in the balance, police have been shutting down even the smallest gatherings.

Don’t even get me started on the MEN ’s apparent smear campaign on students...

Photo: liliesandbees @Flickr

Games

ISSUE 11/ 1st December 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

15

Editors: James Thursfield, Matthew Cole

Review For a very long time I’ve wondered whether there was a game developer out there capable of doing the Alien franchise justice. I specify Alien in the singular because, to me, Alien is not the same thing as Aliens. Any developer can adapt Aliens because the film is standard, macho Hollywood fair. As a result, numerous games like Colonial Marines are brimming with guns and devoid of the horror DNA that was so tightly bound up in the original movie.

With the disastrous launch that Colonial Marines had and the significant issues it birthed, I have had doubts about ever seeing the Alien game we’ve been demanding for all these years. Given the state of the modern games market, would such a game make sense today anyway? In 2014 we got a definite answer.

Alien Isolation is a spiritual successor to the original Alien movie released in 1979. You play as Amanda Ripley, the seldom mentioned daughter of Ellen Ripley, who has been missing for the past fifteen years. The game opens with Amanda being offered a space flight to a faraway space station, Sevastopol. At this location she finds a long lost flight recorder from the ship Nostromo, which contains the last recorded message from her mother, but upon her arrival at the station it becomes clear that something is deeply wrong. An Alien on the loose, a rogue AI committing mass murder, and a deeply rooted corporate secrecy combine to create

Preview I’m sitting in an aeroplane, my son Jimmy by my side. It’s oddly empty at the moment but I don’t make much of it. In a few blurred moments we hit some turbulence, and we start going down. My PC poorly renders our descent until I black out. I wake to the sight of a very nude mutant chap drooling over my mangled body. We’re in the wrecked plane and Jimmy is being dragged away. Inconveniently I pass out again.

The welcome to The Forest is short, brutal and a little bit harrowing. You are the sole human survivor of a plane crash on an island inhabited by tribes of mutant cannibals. You simply want to stay alive. All other ambitions have been obliterated – your thoughts must turn to the island’s resources and the decision to either confront or hide from the indigenous predators.

The Forest is Minecraft meets Amnesia: The Dark Decent. In its sandbox world, the player can build a home anywhere on the map

Alien: Isolation a harrowing story. The story has some great surprises and its subplots help to enrich the events behind the downfall of Sevastopol. Narrative is delivered in the form of tape recordings, and there are frequent references to the original Nostromo crew along with beautifully crafted flashbacks to the events of LV426.

The voice acting is generally very

story does eventually pay off. It is true to its nostalgic and horrifying intentions and delivers a riveting and thrilling experience that no other Alien game has managed.

The incredible atmosphere of Isolation can be attributed to the game’s technical brilliance. It was designed for next generation systems and because of this, it really shines on

Photo: Alien: Isolation @Flickr

convincing, but it falters in scenes that rely on solo performances from Amanda. There is something in her voice that feels weak and her character is strangely under-developed when compared to her marginalized companions. Despite these flaws, the

high-end PC’s. The environments are packed with detail and are lit by an advanced lighting system that makes light behave dynamically. The game’s technical excellence is complemented by an art style that honours the original Alien movie. Computers on board the

Marcus Winchester recounts his horrifying experience with the latest entry in the Alien Franchise station match their counterparts from Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, creating an authentic visual aesthetic that dedicated fans are sure to appreciate.

The real meat of the game can be found in the nuts and bolts gameplay, and it is excellent. In the early part of the experience, your main enemies include: survivors; Working Joe androids; and of course, the titular Alien. The Alien is unquestionably the main focus of the game as its AI is extremely dynamic. It has randomized, unpredictable paths that are hard to read, contributing to the suspense of exploration. The game hands you various tools to trick the Alien and introduces a crafting system that hinges on your ability to scavenge effectively. It is a useful system that feels right at home in the game. You are also given a small motion detector device that tells you if any moving organisms are nearby and also acts as a navigation tool. This makes the player’s movement and preempting of situations key to the enjoyment of Aliens Isolation’s difficult game play. If you run from the Alien, you die. If you attack the Working Joes or survivors when the Alien is nearby, you die. In one situation, I found myself tempted to set alight one of the Working Joes before I sprinted to hide in a locker.

Turns out this was a big mistake. When you hide in a locker and the Alien finds you - you die. Later in the game you are introduced to a flamethrower which despite initially feeling very overpowered, soon becomes just

another resource whose fuel needs to be rationed. Furthermore, the Alien will respond less and less to the flames after each encounter - nothing comes easily in Alien Isolation.

The first few hours of the game are horrifying to say the least, yet the rest of the game is long and draining. For this reason many reviewers have criticized the game for its length, which drags the game out unnecessarily. Furthermore, some reviewers feel that the rebellion of the Working Joes changes the tone of the game dramatically. From initially being a stealthy experience, the game empowers the player to the extent that it is arguably more action orientated. Backtracking is also a point of contention, which can sometimes feel lazy. However, I believe these extended sequences in the game help you learn more about the station and how it changes over the course of the story. In doing so, it makes the major events in the game feel more satisfying and makes the major twist at the end impactful.

In closing, I think that Alien Isolation is one of those rare games that emulates the movie experience almost perfectly.

It is a game that is a true heartfelt love letter to the fans of the Alien franchise that is so well crafted that any selfrespecting Alien fan should buy it without hesitation.

When You go Down to the Woods Today, You’re in for an Axe Wound to the Face using wood from felled trees, and a crafting feature is available, allowing players to produce life-saving tools by combining resources scattered throughout the forest. Being a horror game, all of your efforts invariably lead to a pant-shitting moment, thanks in part to the natives’ fantastic AI – motivations between tribes differ depending on their religious leanings, changing the way they interact with you upon every new encounter. Some will be cautious of you, and run off to gather support. Others will rush fearlessly and twat you in the face with their fists, axes, or burning torches.

Some natives will even climb and jump between trees, and attack you as a group using coordinated tactics.

In my time with the game, I genuinely felt like I was being hunted.

The island itself is a beautiful place teeming with dynamically animated fauna and flora, making the forests feel alive and densely populated.

Combat, meanwhile, is weighty and

Patch Scales dices with death in the cannibalistic confines of The Forest.

visceral, and manages to reflect the realism of the environment without compromising on speed or chaos.

The Forest is currently available for players to purchase through Steam’s Early Access service. For those not

Photo: unity3d.com

in the know, you can now buy access to incomplete games and reap the associated benefits: Early Access titles are cheaper, they can be played earlier, and you can enjoy taking part in the projects as they evolve. Developers receive funding from sales to complete

their games, allowing indie studios in particular to take ambitious gambles.

The gamers operate as a wide scale bug testing team by reporting any glitches or imbalances they find, but they can also submit original contentrelated ideas that might make it into the final release.

Having been on the market for just over half a year, the game has seen nine major updates since launch, the most recent of which introduces two-player coop, a feature much lacking in the original release. Whilst the isolation of single-player lends itself more readily to horror, having a friend there to orientate you in the wilderness is extremely gratifying. As a lone player I often lacked the drive to finalise any of my projects because the end-game is conspicuously absent at the moment, but this issue will be resolved with subsequent updates.

With a second player, however, the quest for survival feels like an adventure with a purpose.

Aside from the entertainingly buggy state of the coop, which provoked my fellow survivor into moon-walking across the island like a crack-addled Michael Jackson, there is plenty of fun to be had here. Spelunking the depths of the island’s native-infested caverns with eighties pop blaring through your tape players (yes, they are ingame items) is one of many stand-out highlights.

Anybody setting foot in The Forest should expect an adrenalinepumping, fast-paced and genuinely scary game. They should also prepare themselves for the occasionally frustrating, potentially sessionending bug, something that should be forgiven during its alpha phase. If you like the idea of participating in a game’s developmental process, and if you have the patience to see past the rough-edges, you might as well splash on your warpaint and enter The Forest now.

ISSUE 11/ 1ST DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/mancunionfashionandbeauty @MancunionFash

Editors: Gráinne Morrison, Aimée Grant Cumberbatch, Nikki Patel (Beauty) Guide

Spotted: the stylish intellectual Kirsty Marsh shares her secrets to library style success

D.I.Y.

D.I.Y: Halter neck crop top

Brighten up a dull ensemble with this eye-catching tartan scarf. Asos, £16 Block out your noisy study neighbours with these ice blue headphones. Urban Outfitters, £46

A large piece of fabric in your desired colour/pattern * A sewing machine, and failing that a needle and thread in a colour that complements your fabric * Pins * Fabric scissors * Ruler *

Jeans are a no-brainer, classic garm.

No time to wash your hair? Disguise This distressed pair will see you your greasy locks with this mint green through all your deadlines in style.

Moto, £42 beanie. Topshop, £14

Feature

Ready, steady, dress!

Chloe Collingwood gives you some time-management tips to guarantee a stylish start to your morning

Assessment

Photo: Nikki Patel

b) Root around in your local charity shop c) Go for a black peplum coat 2. You’re having a hair mare. Do you: a) Tie it in a topknot

Preparation Get everything ready the night before including your outfit and bag. Those few seconds saved could be the difference between winning or losing in the race for a computer in the Learning Commons. No one wants to be tearing their wardrobe apart first thing in the morning when time is ticking away. This may seem obvious but it will save you lots of time.

Hair Learn to appreciate the messy top knot. This cute hairstyle is the quickest and easiest solu-

If all else fails...

A good coat or jacket will cover any rushed outfit. Investing in just one statement coat this winter could save a lot of time wasted choosing an outfit. This way you can trick everyone into thinking you’re a dedicated follower of fashion without even having to think about what lies beneath.

Carefully cut out your shape making sure the scissors don’t snag your fabric. Unfold, and there you have your front piece!

Step 3:

Step 4:

Repeat the same process for the back piece and neck strap using the shapes on the top right, but this time with just one, unfolded layer of fabric.

Neaten up your raw edges with a zigzag stitch and then double fold them a couple of times, securing with pins. Now it’s time to sew!!

Secure your neat edges with a short, straight stitch.

Step 5:

Step 6:

Join your front and back pieces by laying them on top of each other, right sides together and pinning them together, leaving the seam allowance as excess. Again, bang out a short straight stitch to connect your pieces.

Fold over the top of your front piece by about half an inch and sew the space in between which will be where your neck strap lies. Finally attach a safety pin to the strap and snake it through the gap, pull it taut and your neckline should create a ruched effect.

b) Maxi c) Who cares? It’s just a skirt 8. What is your go-to colour scheme? a) Cool pastels on luxe materials b) Monochrome for life

Don’t forget to tweet us your personal D.I.Y. fashion shots at @mancunionfash or tag us on Instagram @mancunionfashionand beauty.

Happy stitching!

Photo: Boots

Photo: Nikki Patel

Photo: Nikki Patel

Shopping

Charity shop challenge The Altrincham edition

lowfield, Withington and Didsbury. But if your thirst for style steals is still

3. Your favourite jeans are ripped in a rather unsightly location and need replacing: a) You find a cool, more strategically ripped pair which might go nicely with your new crop top

b) Can’t go wrong with River Island

tor Aimée Grant Cumberbatch headed to Altrincham to see if its second

c) Primark, I’m on a budget and it’s right by the bus stop

hand stores measured up to its city centre rivals. Here are the best buys

b) Skinny jeans never fail me

How did you do?

c) Bell bottom flares

Mainly A’s: You are fashion savvy! You know your bralets from your crop tops. There is no need to worry about your style, you are 100% bang on trend.

b) Glitter nail polish c) Blue mascara—so striking!

5. Which of these items are you most drawn to? a) High-neck, cropped jumper b) Floral shorts c) Denim gilet with fur lining 6. It is time to go to uni! What shoes do you opt for? a) Probably my Nike Air Max trainers b) Nude ballet flats à la Victoria Beckham

Photo: Boots

Oily – Oily skin tends to face a different set of problems. Stress and lack of sleep can cause an onslaught of spots, resulting in the application of more makeup and the start of a vicious cycle. A good cream is essential for targeting breakouts - Vichy’s Hyaluspot cream reduces spots within a matter of hours and also helps to prevent the lingering marks they tend to leave behind. However, spot treatments can result in over-drying and a peeling effect. La Roche-Posay’s Effaclar H Multi-Compensating Soothing moisturiser was created to counter this exact problem, containing the essential ingredients for moisturising without producing an excess of sebum and a greasy-sheen.

9. You’re in desperate need of some new garms.Where do you head to restock your wardrobe? a) Your favourite vintage store in the Northern Quarter

4. You have half an hour to kill in Superdrug. What do you buy? a)Matte oxblood lipstick

Photo: Clinique

And there you have it, a stylish halter neck crop top to breathe new life into your Saturday night ensemble without spending a single penny (plus you get to tell all your friends that you make your own clothes!)

c) Ugg boots, it’s Winterduh!

7. Which skirt length is a must have this year?

A) Midi

Photo: Boots

Dry – You may already be noticing the effects of the harsh winter on your skin; combine this with stress and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a skin disaster. This calls for a heavy-duty moisturiser that can keep your face protected and prevent flaky, itchy skin. Avene’s Eau Thermale Avene Rich Compensating cream is great for boosting hydration without clogging pores, and its non-greasy texture provides the perfect make up base. For intense moisturisation, use a mask that can be left on overnight. Try Clinique’s Moisture Surge Overnight mask and let it do the work for you as you take that well-earned rest.

By now you’re hopefully all acquainted with the charity shops of Fal-

c) Brush it

The face Go back to basics with your makeup. No matter how tempting it may be to reach for the eye shadow, blusher or eyebrow pencil try to keep it simple with the bare necessities. This will be different for everyone; I personally prioritise mascara and a quick dab of face powder. If you can get into the habit of limiting yourself to just 2 or 3 different beauty products in the morning you will stop yourself from getting carried away and save heaps of time.

Fold your fabric in half lengthways and draw the above shape onto it, leaving a seam allowance of about half an inch. This will be the front part of your crop top. I used the shown proportions and I am a size 8/10 so adjust as desired.

c) Are jeans a colour scheme?

b) Dye it ombre, loving those blonde ends

tion on a rushed morning—you could even do it on the bus!

Step 2:

Forget all this degree nonsense, this is the only test you need to ace. By Kathryn Murray

1. It’s getting chilly and you need a new coat. Would you: a) Pick up a long, boyfriend-style pastel number

The end of the semester is upon us, deadlines are creeping closer and closer and January exams are looming. The study days are becoming longer and the morning alarm is going off earlier each day. How can you possibly manage to prolong those precious moments in bed and also get to the library on time? Well we have devised some easy peasy time management tips for looking great every day even when the workload is weighing down on you.

Make sure you’re always ready to be snapped by our street style photographers, whether it’s in the Ali G or outside Stopford we’re constantly looking for fashion savvy students to feature. Don’t let deadlines get in the way of sartorial success!

Step 1:

FASH30123: the exam

With coursework deadlines approaching and exams just around the corner the university campus is teeming with panic stricken students. Take this fashion and beauty quiz to find out if your studying, shopping and browsing has paid off this semester.

We’ve all been there – sat up until the early hours of the morning (or all night) faced with a blank Word document and a matter of hours until your submission deadline. Whilst we sit in the stuffy library knocking back energy drinks and surviving on a diet of Sainsbury’s meal deals our skin is the last thing on our minds; but the result of this writing rampage can take its toll, leaving its marks on our faces in the weeks to come. Whether your skin is dry and flaky or oily and spot-prone, we have the solution.

What you will need:

An oversized knit is your new best friend this season and this offering from Topshop is super comfy and ideal for layering. Plus the cool mesh back adds a touch of style to your look. Topshop, £38

Stressed skin saviours

Got deadlines? Ellie Howe shares her top products in the battle against stressed-out skin

Photo: Nikki Patel

Add a little glamour to your look with this snuggly leopard print blanket cardigan. Plus when the going gets tough, this is like a portable knitted hug. Boohoo. com, £20

17

Beauty

As end of term approaches student loans are dwindling and brand new garms are but a distant dream. Don’t worry, because Nikki Patel has a quick and easy D.I.Y for a fabulous and on-trend halterneck crop top.

There’s nothing like coursework deadlines to dampen the festive spirit. Spending nine hours a day in a dark library corner sweating and ageing prematurely, wondering why no one has written a single paper on your topic doesn’t exactly inspire yuletide joy. Still there are ways to make these last couple of weeks more bearable and slobbing around in crusty old joggers with soup stains on isn’t one of them.

This season’s chunky knits, blankets and layering trends are ideal for easy study chic. Team them with basic leggings plus cool biker boots or Converse, and it couldn’t be simpler! And look, I’ve even done the hard work for you!

Wearing slippers to the library (or out of the house for that matter) is just not an option but these cool biker boots are the next best thing as well as being way more attractive. New Look, £26

Fashion

Aimée Grant Cumberbatch scours the charity shops of Manchester to see what she can buy for less than a bottle of Sainsbury’s Basics vodka

unsatisfied, or if you simply fancy a change of shopping scenery, why not try some of Manchester’s urban outskirts for size? Our intrepid edi-

she found for £10 and under: Winter is making its frosty presence felt in Manchester at the moment, and there’s nothing sadder than having to hide an artfully arranged outfit under last year’s coat. However if you’re already well into your overdraft, forking out for a brand new model isn’t always an option. But chari-

Mainly B’s: You’re still kickin’ it 2012! You may need some extra study sessions browsing the Topshop website to bring your style up to scratch.

ty shops are the perfect place to stock up on all things outerwear without hurting your bank balance. I spotted this gorgeous green suede number

Mainly C’s: A little mentoring may be needed, time to step outside the library and into Style Central. Although when it comes to originality, you’re on your way to a first.

(right) for exactly £10 in Altrincham’s branch of Cancer Research, not

The semester may nearly be over but there is still a lot to learn, more for some than others perhaps... Luckily, the Fashion and Beauty team are on hand for style advice, fashion feedback and guidance. You’ll be top of the class in no time.

and again charity shops are a gold mine for these kinds of garms, particu-

only is it real leather but its faux fur collar and cuffs make it extra toasty.

Also high up on anyone’s wish list at this time of year are cosy knits, larly if you’re a jazzy jumper fan. This colourful cardie (left) came in at a saintly £3.50 from Headway. I also couldn’t resist the luxurious velvet drawstring bag (far left) , costing a bank-balance friendly £2. Perfect for party season.

Photo: Aimée Grant Cumberbatch

Photo: Rajan Sidhu

18

Film

ISSUE 11/ 1ST DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Editors: Tom Bruce, Andriana Hambi, James Moules, Martin Solibakke Feature

TV Binge

Hannibal

Trailers - Spoliers in Disguise Luke Sharma reckons that recent movie trailers have been giving away too much.

Photo: NBC

When I first heard that there was a TV adaptation of the Hannibal Lecter story in the works, my eyes instinctively shot skywards as I lamented the lack of imagination on the part of the showrunners—does this show really need to be made? Could they possibly make it any better The Silence of the Lambs? My initial—and perhaps slightly cynical—assumption was that this show was a cash-grabbing exercise to capitalise on the legacy of Anthony Hopkins’ three outings as Dr. Lecter. Nothing more.

This analysis couldn’t be further from the truth—not only is Hannibal an entertaining and thrilling ride of a show, it’s also one of the most original, acutely intelligent and stylistically daring TV dramas to emerge in recent years.

Most of the characters that feature in Hannibal will be familiar to viewers who have seen any other adaptation of—or even read—Thomas Harris’ novels. Hannibal Lecter is played with a chilling subtlety by Mads Mikkelsen in this version. Many people—myself included—thought that Anthony Hopkins would be utterly irreplaceable after The Silence of the Lambs, given how iconic his portrayal of the cannibalistic serial killer has come to be in popular culture. Imagine the pressure that the next actor to play The Joker after Heath Ledger faces, and then amplify it tenfold. Mikkelsen wisely makes his interpretation of Lecter remarkably different from Hopkins’ portrayal, giving us a far more subdued and—dare I say it—fascinating character. His Lecter doesn’t have the overt insanity that Hopkins’ did, making for a far eerier and less predictable villain.

Other familiar characters we are treated to well-considered reinterpretations of include Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) and Freddie Lounds (Lara Jean Chorostecki).

A “trailer” by definition, is a series of exciting/funny/intense shots or scenes from a film, which are selected and fused together to create a montage with the sole purpose to advertise the film. This practice has been around for a long time, but has evolved hugely since its initial inception, and some would argue that the change is for the worse.

Trailers have been a media promotion staple since 1913, when Nils Granlund produced a short film to promote the thennew musical; The Pleasure Seekers on Broadway in New York. This silent trailer consisted of shots of rehearsals, incidents and the cast.

Early trailers (up to around the 1960’s) were generally quite uniform in their formulae. They were often just made up of key scenes, which had an overlay of text describing the plot of the film and accompanied by a musical score (taken from the film’s soundtrack). More often than not, the text on screen would be read out loud by a deep, sonorant voice. An example of this typical formula can be seen in the Day The Earth Stood Still trailer (the 1951 original, NOT the awful Keanu Reeves version).

When the era of “new Hollywood” began in the 1960s, trailers became more cutting edge than their predecessors, using quick editing to fuse scenes together to form a montage.

At the forefront of this change was legendary director Stanley Kubrick. In traditional Kubrick style, he wanted to distance himself from the norm and begin to develop suspenseful, more thought provoking trailers.

Often his trailers featured himself talking about the film as though it was a true event (see Psycho) or were just a medley of scenes

from the film, though specifically edited so as not to feature any revealing moments of the films (2001: A Space Odyssey). This is the perfect way to execute a trailer. Surely you

the producers managed to squeeze every single action sequence in the whole film into a two and a half minute trailer.

More recently, there’s the Carrie remake.

We can compare this to the original 1976 trailer as well, for added emphasis. The original (trailer) was quite terrifying and thought provoking. It was so fast-paced you don’t really understand what’s going on but nevertheless you really want to find out, the mystery is ever present and rests on your mind.

In contrast, you could rewrite the whole of the Stephen King novel based on the 2013 trailer. The whole story is completely spelled out to you. Carrie’s rocky (to say the least) Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer relationship with her mother, her persona as a social outcast and the gruesome revenge she unleashes don’t want the audience to know the whole on her classmates all feature in the trailer. No film from just a two-minute preview… right? thought provocation. No mystery. No need to Apparently film execs didn’t see it that way. watch the movie.

Since that ‘golden era’ from the 1960’s to the This isn’t to say that some modern trailers 1980’s, trailers have somehow deviated off are actually quite good. Take The Babadook of the path. Fans agree and recently Rotten for example. Brilliant trailer. Mega intense, Tomatoes conducted a study which found terrifying, and best of all; the scariest around 40% of moviegoers are often put off moments aren’t even in the trailer. Thank films due to the large detail their trailers go God. You get a taste of the film, but nothing into. more than a nibble, so you’re hungry for As a case study for this “spoiler machine” much more. Very few others come to mind theory, let’s take 2010’s The Green Zone as an though. example. Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass, People are intrigued by mystery. Most both from the Bourne series pedigree, have modern trailers seem to forget this. Who created a film about a rogue army officer wants to know the entire plot of a film before searching for the W.M.D.’s in Iraq. They they’ve even seen it? The simple, short release an exhilarating, intense, exciting answer is; nobody, and given the recent trailer, so naturally everyone went into backlash against trailers, producers would do that film theatre expecting a little bit more well to remember that in the future. of Jason Bourne-esque action, and why shouldn’t they? When they left, they were left completely unsatisfied, as they realized that

Classic Review The show has no fear in toying around with the mythology of Hannibal Lecter—what we’re watching here is, by no one’s interpretation, another adaptation of Red Dragon or The Silence of the Lambs. This contemporary reimagining—for that is the closest word I can find to describe it—sees no evil in leading us to believe that we know the story, only to pull the magic flying rug from underneath and watch us fall in a state of utter awe. While I’m usually very quick to dismiss cheap plot twists, none of Hannibal’s narrative surprises feel like such tricks.

They simply remind us that we, like the show’s protagonists, can never hope to match the intellectual capacity of the ominous Iago-figure that is Hannibal Lecter.

Lecter’s elaborate murders are something to behold. The show has a hauntingly beautiful and wickedly grotesque visual style to which my words couldn’t possibly do justice, and these crime scenes represent this style at its most gorgeous and horrific. For the sake of my readers’ appetites as they browse though The Mancunion with their lunch, I shall not describe the states in which the victims of these crimes find themselves. I’ll just say that they, alongside the intricate plot, awesome visuals and powerful performances, make Hannibal an unmissable TV experience.

Season One of Hannibal is available for viewing on Sky Go. Season Two was released on DVD recently, so you can expect it to be ready to stream before long. A Third Season of the show has been commissioned, which is likely to be broadcast in early 2015.

James Moules

Paths of Glory “There is no such thing as shellshock!” This line, obstinately spat from the mouth of George Macready’s coldly belligerent General Mireau, rings unnervingly through the duration of Kubrick’s uncompromisingly bleak depiction of the French military in 1916. With the troops’ advancement and the generals’ tactics in states of miserable stasis, the men and boys of mainland Europe dig themselves into miles of trenches, zigzagging through the abject horror of a continent razed by war. As the sombre voiceover in the film’s opening sequence informs us, the remaining soldiers measure their progress not by the mile, but by the hundreds of feet.

Mireau’s dismissal of the psychosis suffered by the filthy private presented to him during a supposedly morale boosting inspection of a company relentlessly plagued by the whistle and boom of enemy ordinance fully encapsulates the ignorance and adopted impunity of the French top brass during the most stagnant period of the Great War. Burdened with the impossible task of seizing and holding a pivotal German stronghold dubbed ‘the Anthill’, Mireau eschews all doubt of victory and demands allegiance from the remains of his battered troops, threatening the ultimate consequence for those bold enough to choose mutiny over

Director: Stanley Kubrick Starring: Kirk Douglas, George Macready, Ralph Meeker Released: 1957

the glory of France.

In the face of this merciless injustice is the defiant Colonel Dax, played by the film’s lone star Kirk Douglas. His fee accounted for 30 per cent of the budget and the film owes much to his portrayal of an officer still clinging to valour.

glimpse the film’s central conflict. In war, what’s really more valuable; the life of one man or the fear of a hundred?

Adapting the story from Humphrey Cobb’s 1935 novel, Kubrick sought to produce the ultimate anti-war film, and was so successful in translating both the savagery of the trenches and the callousness of the generals that the film was banned in nations the world over for years after its release, the unbridled cruelty of the officers deemed an attempt to discredit the very notion of military. Regardless of your views on remembrance poppies or the role of modern military, the reality of the First World War was one of utter devastation. A hundred years since its outset, for us the trauma of civilisation’s first industrial conflict forever remain unfamiliar.

Photo: United Artists will However, this film and its desolate The levelling thousand-yard stare he conjures fields of monochrome mud, broken men as Dax performs his officer’s rounds makes wincing under shell-fire and rage-inducing for film’s most iconic scene; the weight of his officers dining beneath ornate baroque charge realised in a hollow-eyed march, his tapestries—all meticulously and intimately gaze passing the defeated faces of rows of men framed by the 20th century’s most demanding doomed for a suicidal charge into a hell of wire filmmaker—make for a tragic and enthralling and bullets, beautifully tracked by Kubrick’s journey into a realm of terror and sorrow. trademark innovative camerawork. The muted procession is unwaveringly balanced, Adam Waterfield despite the film preceding the Steadicam by more than a decade. Through Douglas we

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Film 19

ISSUE 11/ 1ST DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

@mancunionfilm

Review

Top 5

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

Directorial Debuts of the 2000s

Andriana Hambi thinks that the latest instalment of The Hunger Games franchise will please existing fans of the series, despite having a number of rather frustrating flaws.

Trepidation is not a strong enough word to describe my feelings towards the release of this film. Having read the books and enjoyed the other two films, I went into this with every facet of my being clenched in anticipation of a terrible movie, both in story and style. Alas, I came out with a spring in my step and a song in my heart (Lorde, to be specific) There’s been rumours of bad reviews that I’ve been happily ignoring. This film did the very best it could with the more dull and poorly written part of an overall great series.

Of course there are faults; this is unavoidable in franchise films like this. Now, I don’t want to say that Jennifer Lawrence is the worst part of this film, but there I said it. This is not an attack on Jennifer Lawrence in any way. She is a decent actor with a lot of charisma, but the confines of this character let her show little of her undisputable acting skills. Perhaps it’s petty to blame the character for not liking a movie, but Katniss Everdeen, whilst respectably strong and brave, is wholly selfish and immature.

This, amongst other things, takes you (or maybe just me) out of this quite often. I’m often busier internally screaming at the screen to actually focus on what’s going on. But her performance on the whole was respectable enough; better in the bigger scenes than the quieter moments.

Something has to be said for Phillip Seymour Hoff-

man’s performance here. A certain dull tone does linger over the film, but it will most likely pass by younger fans. He is his usual captivating self, bringing layers of subtext to a pretty limited script. The shining star in this, and in every film really, is, of course, Julianne Moore. In my eyes, she can do no wrong. She is all you

want her to be and more, and is probably the most book-accurate character around. There was a pretty big British contingent in this film, with the first appearance of The Tudors and Silks’ Natalie Dormer. I’ve only ever seen her playing a terrible person, but she did a good job of shaking off that coat. Her accent, on the other hand; shaky to say the least.

Cornerhouse Pick of the Week

Unlike the other two films, the threat of violence and destruction are a reality, and Jennifer Lawrence dealt with this challenge well. Some times rather ‘woe is me’ she still manages to conjure up a genuine feeling of revolution and hatred for your own government. The whole dystopian set up is definitely one I can get behind, and what makes film and book series a worthwhile endeavour, particularly for children. You hear a lot of blind comparisons between The Hunger Games and Twilight, but they really couldn’t be more different. Being a semi-adult and reading this, I re-think my own humanity.

I can’t imagine how a child would watch this and not have a lot of questions.

Atmospheric would be the one word I would use to describe The Hunger Games in general, and this first instalment of Mockingjay held this up pretty well. There was a sense of urgency, but also a constant drumbeat of impending doom.

Whether this was intentional, I do not know, but either way it worked.

Photo: Lionsgate I know there’ll be a lot of criticism of this film from those who hate the popular, but don’t be swayed because it’s cool. Go into this with an open heart, and I’m sure you won’t hate it as much as those critics and trolls that spit fire for the sake of it.

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

Winter Sleep

The Room is the Real Deal

Elliot Coen urges you not to miss this Palme d’Or-winning Turkish masterpiece.

Sarah Wolff says that the world should learn to worship the crown prince of terrible movies—Tommy Wiseau’s The Room.

for its three hour runtime.

Winter Sleep is not about where the narrative ends or begins, however; it is a fascinating and potent study of human nature, in Aydin and the surrounding players, tackling a cornucopia of themes while going against the grain of almost all cinema Photo: Zeynofilm convention.

In the film’s lengthy “As they say, life passes us by as discussions, it raises issues regarding we’re making plans” – I took note of religion, wealth inequality, good numerous quotes during my time and evil, existentialism, loneliness, with Winter Sleep but this one I marriage, journalism and more, of found most poignant. It is a film that which I don’t have time to detail here. feels no regret in evolving slowly and Others have drawn comparisons from methodically through conversation the film’s structure and conversational over the course of its three hour, and nature to that of a novel, a view then some, duration. This timescale I fully agree with, least because alone is enough to deter many from Ceylan references authors such as giving Winter Sleep a fair chance, but I Sartre, Dostoevsky and Chekhov believe director Nuri Bilge Ceylan has as his inspiration in the closing created a true masterpiece with this credit reel. I must touch on Winter picture.

Sleep’s cinematography briefly; it Winter Sleep chronicles the daily life is magnificent and picturesque, on of Aydin, a middle-aged retired actor, multiple occasions making me wish I whose day consists of managing his could pause the screening in order to inherited real estate in the Anatolian absorb it. Inventive techniques with countryside, most notably a tiny hotel windows and mirrors are utilised (in which the majority of the film takes throughout, reminding me of Farhadi’s place). Aydin finds himself playing a A Separation, in which he used panes balancing act, chasing his tenants for of glass to metaphorically emphasise rent whilst trying to maintain peace at the divide between his starring couple. the hotel with his divorcee sister, Necla, Winning this year’s Palme d’Or at and his much younger wife, Nihal. He Cannes film festival, Winter Sleep is sent on a downward spiral after one is a masterpiece deserving of the seemingly insignificant run in with prestigious award. I can’t recommend his tenant’s young son, after which he it enough. finds himself increasingly separated from his previous daily routine. At surface level, it may sound as though the plot lacks substance, particularly

To be assigned the title ‘worst film ever made’ is quite an achievement in itself, but simultaneously achieving cult classic status makes it hard to put Tommy Wiseau’s The Room into any odd bad movie corner and suggests the genius behind the comic masterpiece.

Taking into account the film’s complete lack of continuity, beyond bad wooden acting, odd editing, overly dramatic use of music and seemingly structureless script makes the label masterpiece seem slightly far-fetched, but its badness is exactly what makes The Room one of the most entertaining films ever made. Every time the ridiculous appears to have reached its climax, Wiseau, who acts as star, writer, director and producer of the film, somehow manages to take it one step further. The room’s range of oddities is inexhaustible and includes the recycling of a sex scene that would make Hugh Hefner cringe, grown men randomly donning tuxedos to play football and glorious set design of stairs and doors that lead nowhere just to name a few. One factor leading to its cult status is without doubt the film’s remarkable quotability, especially Wiseau’s character Johnny and his trademark laugh never fail to deliver a punchline (“Anyway, how is your sex life?”). While all of his lines are strikingly memorable to most audiences, Tommy Wiseau struggled to remember what he came up with

5) Neill Blomkamp – District 9 (2009) Blomkamp does wonders with a meagre budget to create an allegoric commentary on South African racial inequalities. His follow up picture Elysium was a disappointment but that’s probably because it’s impossible to top the line “fookin’ prawns.”

Photo:TriStar Pictures

4) Ben Affleck – Gone Baby Gone (2007) Affleck’s skill behind the camera has very much saved his career in front of it. After a string of critical and commercial flops, he returned this time directing an adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel Gone Baby Gone.

Casting his brother in the lead and with the Boston set story, Affleck is very much in his comfort zone in this twisty thriller, which paved the way for his Oscar win with Argo.

3) Duncan Jones – Moon (2009) Moon is an original sci-fi tale starring Sam Rockwell and Sam Rockwell and oh… Sam Rockwell. The film succeeds through its examination of one man’s internal struggle with loneliness. If being the son of David Bowie wasn’t enough pressure – Jones has now set his sights on conquering the World of Warcraft.

2) Marc Webb – (500) Days of Summer (2009)

Photo: Wiseau Films

and famously had to retake his rooftop scene (“Oh hi Mark”) 32(!) times. This might explain where the $6 million of his self-funded budget went, the origins of which are as mysterious as Wiseau himself who claims to be American born and raised but can’t seem to master the English language let alone his Eastern European accent.

In reaction to the film’s growing fame as ‘the greatest worst movie ever’, Wiseau recently tried to market it to be intended as a black comedy, which is completely counterproductive seeing that the film’s genius is based on how unintentionally awful it is - an awful masterpiece. In fact, it’s so great that Seth Rogen and James Franco are currently planning a film about its making based on real-life Mark’s (his name is Greg Sestero but does it really matter?) autobiography ‘the disaster artist’. Therefore I am eternally grateful to whoever broke Tommy Wiseau’s heart (“You are tearing me apart, Lisa!”) and made him channel his anger towards women into this project of vengeance which is (for no apparent reason) called The Room.

Indie romantic comedies don’t get much more quirky than this. The chemistry between the leads is on point and the soundtrack is killer.

Unfortunately Webb’s auteur has been wasted on the dire Amazing SpiderMan movies.

Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures

1) Steve McQueen – Hunger (2008) The director of the challenging Shame and the Oscar winning 12 Years a Slave, began his Michael Fassbender bromance with Hunger. The film follows the IRA hunger strikes and is an achingly beautiful piece of art, which provided audiences with the first glimpse of the talents of both McQueen and Fassbender.

Imran Bukhari

20

Books

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/TheMancunion: Books @MancunionBooks

Editors: Leonie Dunn, Ali Pearson

Interview

Interview

Interview: Austin Collings

Ben Beauvallet talks to Austin Collings about his new independent publishing company, growing up in Radcliffe, and drawing influence from discarded Lilt cans.

– the world we see in our heads and the world we see daily - but the short story can work as a powerful representation of this universal dilemma by being urgent, subtle and concise.

Top 5 Books to Buy this Christmas Books editor Leonie Dunn tells you which books to buy this Christmas

Q. Where do you get ideas?

I don’t get bored. I see stories everywhere, even in the life of a flat and discarded can of Lilt. Also, once the dread has fled, hangovers are good for sparking off ideas, public transport as well – the near-empty bus or desolate trains – but not necessarily with a hangover.

Wandering streets like an urban fox has it’s own productive magic and look for help in the smell of paint and soap.

Q. What are you reading now?

I’ve just finished Sudden ‘Times’ by Dermot Healy who died recently. It’s an exceptional book, filled with the sort of thwarted longing that seems, more and more, to define our times. You can tell Healy spent a lot of time in pubs picking up on disparate threads of conversation and skew-whiff wisdom. I heard he’d do readings then get leathered for two days. I can relate to that. Take a look at his author picture. Those eyes of his have seen trouble.

Image: pariahpress.com

Pariah Press is a new independent publishing company formed in Manchester and helmed by the founder of Only Joking Records (Jonny Walsh) and the lead singer of M O N E Y (Jamie Lee), the publishers seek to, in their own words: ‘Establish an alternative vision— a wild and memorable departure from conceit and mediocrity—based upon our considered selection of authors.’

Their first book, ‘The Myth of Brilliant Summers’, written by Austin Collings (the co-writer of ‘Renegade: The Lives & Tales of Mark E Smith’) contains an expertly curated selection of short stories akin to Burroughs’ style in ‘Junky’, or Denis Johnson’s in ‘Jesus’ Son’.

Manchester’s inhabitants and urban life are exposed in all their grit and glory by Austin’s dissection, but his scalpel also often hits the funny bone. A very Mancunian humour warps characters into caricatures and contests every symbol of oppression. The short stories read like soundscapes of Manchester tuned into the odd frequency of its collective emotion. The relentless and characteristic grey of Manchester permeates the writing. Austin has captured that golden ratio of sad and beautiful.

Every facet of Pariah seems linked to Mancunian music: Jonny Walsh’s Only Joking Records has been capturing the best of Manchester’s underground with its Manchester Standards compilations; Jamie Lee’s M O N E Y received unparalleled acclaim last year for their album ‘The Shadow Of Heaven’; and Austin Collings could be considered as the second best expert on Mark E Smith after the man himself. Despite these tight links, their first release, as suggested by the publisher’s name, stands as alone as the writer behind it.

I caught up with Austin Collings to ask him about ‘The Myth of Brilliant Summers’: Q. What’s special about Manchester to you? Is it something you like being associated to?

There’s a stoical humour – a warped bravery almost - amongst certain Mancunians that I can relate to. Taking the piss is important to them and I think this trait is an important part of creat-

ing work. It helps to have thick skin. I’m okay with the association as long as people don’t think I’m a proud Mancunian. I’m suspicious of people who are deeply proud of their roots.

Q. Tell me about growing up in Radcliffe.

A weird and violent mix of Coronation Street and Twin Peaks. I’m grateful to my parents for using their poverty to an advantage in an unusually workingclass bohemian way by allowing me to stay off school regularly to watch films and read and listen to records. Perfect upbringing for a writer: dread and despair and the consolation of laziness.

Even now, I like to hear people leave the house whilst I’m still in bed.

Q. What pushes you to write?

Being permanently skint is a great motivator: also, those frightening envelopes that keep falling through the mouth of the door asking for dough. Art is a demon. You throw yourself away to be an artist.

Q. Do you have a writing style?

I like every sentence to read like a novel itself, like peepholes into my skull or trailers for the bigger picture of my life, which is a cock-eyed miracle.

Q. Can some kind of narrative be found in a ‘Myth of Brilliant Summers’?

The stories are about lonely spaces and stunned lives. Mystery is the link, like something terrible could happen at any time: the reality of disorder – so to speak.

Q. Why did you choose short stories for this as opposed to poetry or something longer?

The publishing industry remains in thrall to the archaic idea of length; the great Victorian novel that weighs the same as an obese new born. Far too many books are padding around one or two – sometimes not even that – ideas. It is hard to notice what you see everyday

Q. What do people look for in a book?

I’m not certain. I guess I’m looking for a new friend, a new ‘Ham On Rye’ (Charles Bukowski) or ‘The Grass Arena’ (John Healy) or ‘Infinite Jest’ (David Foster Wallace), something to make the unlivable, livable.

Q. How are music and literature linked in your mind?

Wit and heart and the things we feel on our skin.

Q. ‘The Myth of Brilliant Summers’ references everything from Black Sabbath and The Beatles to The Smiths, The Specials, The Fall, The Clash and The Buzzcocks, why such a varied mix?

Like the stories, there’s something completely urban about those groups.

Q. Can you tell me about the video promotion for the book?

The video is alternative love story between a man and a poster. It happens. It happened. One summer.

Q. Are there any recent works you admire?

Dan Davies’ ‘In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile’. It reads like a brutal hallucination: the BBC, members of the royal family, the police, all corrupted by celebrity association.

The Myth of Brilliant Summers is available to order from http://pariahpress. com/product/themythofbrilliantsummers at an early-bird discount price of £7.99, and should be in all good bookshops from November 2014 onwards.

It was released as an eBook, available from Amazon and Smashwords, on All Hallow’s Eve 2014.

Photo: Bibliotheek Kortrijk @ Flickr

1. Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North: Flanagan’s Man- Booker Prize winning epic novel tells the story of one man’s reckoning with the truth. It is an odd focus for a love story, unfolding over half a century around the most infamous episode of Japanese history being the construction of the Thailand-Burma Death Railway in WWII. Yet, Flanagan’s novel as a tribute to his late father, who was a survivor honestly highlight the savagery and survival needed for the prisoners-of-war. It is an unflinching tale both haunts and captivates.

2. Paul Kingsnorth’s The Wake: Kingsnorth’s unusual novel has an extraordinary power to linger with you, its focus being on a date that most have had drilled into their brains. 1066 The Battle of Hastings, but do we really know the extent to our own history? The narrator fears the end of his world as he knows it and the novel explore the collapse of lives, gods and the haunted visions of the narrator and his world. However, what Kingsnorth so accurately explores is that a portrayal of this history cannot truly be told in the modern English we use today. Kingsnorth uses a compelling mix of Old English to our vernacular English today. This books unsettles the imagination with the creation of a world that is at once alien and familiar.

3. Ali Smith’s How to be Both: As a nominee for the Man Booker Prize Smith parallels narratives of a teenage girl and a 15th Century Renaissance artist. This novel is split into two parts focusing either on George as the teenage girl or Francesco del Cossa and depending on which version you get this will be varied. The distinction drawn between the two comes from George’s Mother regarding art and under-drawings that differ significantly from the final painting. She asks “Which came first?” and this is something Smith plays with throughout the whole novel- what we read cannot be un-read. While it may come across as daunting Smith’s playful and charming novel leaves you pondering over questions such as; do things “stop existing just because we can’t see them”? Have a read and see for yourself.

4. Hilary Mantel’s The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher: Mantel’s witty collection of short stories are entirely un-missable. While the collection focuses on ten differing stories there was one that stood out above all for me. ‘Sorry to Disturb’ opens the collection and is set in 80’s Saudi Arabia and charts the unwelcome visits of a Pakistani businessman to the narrator’s flat. The story is a cross comedy of cross-cultural sexual politics which is at once disturbing and equally humorous.

5. Siri Hustvedt’s The Blazing World: Hustvedt’s new novel takes a head on approach to the utter absence of women artists in the history of painting. The Protagonist Harriet Burden is an embittered painter living in New York, she is only able to show case her art through persuading her male contemporaries to show case it under their names. The true subject thus is one that is still at the heart of society today- the persistence of denial. The irrepressibly clever prose darts around the bigger questions of gender, politics and art and yet still maintains a light hearted fizziness.

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Food & Drink

ISSUE 11/ 1st December 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Editors: Ellie Gibbs, Adam Fearn

Keeping the cold at Turtle Bay Hester Lonergan wasn’t too impressed by the Caribbean restaurant Turtle Bay As the days grow darker and colder, my heart grows increasingly heavy. I don’t yet feel ready to accept all that winter brings foodwise. So when my friend suggested a visit to Turtle Bay, Manchester’s new Rum ‘n’ Jerk shack, it seemed like a bright horizon on a dimming landscape.

The restaurant, which opened this summer, seems an exciting addition to Oxford Road. The space is massive, with a mezzanine filled with tables piled on top of the main bar and dining area. The atmosphere was buzzing; for seven on a Tuesday night, it was impressively full of customers. Everything is wooden or metal and boasts a look of reclaimed cool. Fairy lights twinkle alongside a neon sign spelling ‘jerk’. We couldn’t help but notice booths utilising commandeered Magic Bus benches as seating; either a relaxed nod to the restaurant’s inevitable student client base or a complete lack of foresight. Manchester’s student population was outraged when the bus company’s fares soared to over a pound; I am unsure how many would happily park their bums on the same shabby frames whilst paying a hell of a lot more.

Issues of public transport having ruffled our feathers, we looked to the cocktail menu for comfort. I went for the ‘Beachcombers Zombie’, knowing from experience that its traditional counterpart packs a punch. Comprising four rums, absinthe, bitters and tropical juice, I expected a more complex flavour than what I got, which was just an overwhelming fruity sweetness. My companion did better, choosing the ‘Reggae Rum Punch’, which was served shorter and had more of a kick. It is worth noting that all cocktails are two for one excepting a three-hour window between 7 – 10pm. We shelled out just short of seven pounds each. Although the price doesn’t much differ from most bars in central Manchester, knowing that they are clearly worth a lot less stung a little.

Unable to shake off our feeling of having been shortchanged, we skipped straight to the mains. My ‘Rastafari Run Down’ was a mix of butterbeans, root vegetables and pieces of corn on the cob in a coconutty sauce: a new and refreshing combination of flavours for me.

Alongside came rice and peas, which were fairly standard, but the real attraction came in the form of fried dumplings, the doughy sponginess of which soaked up the sauce expertly. The array of condiments provided were a good shout; I’m always one for a sauce and enjoyed dolloping different and unfamiliar flavours on top of my meal. On

the other side of the table, the mounting redness of my companion’s face either indicated some heavy-handed spicing or a man who cannot take the heat. Aside from this, he found his ‘Trinidad Curry Chicken’ well enough cooked and ate it all up. The food was pleasant, but at just under a tenner per dish, I would expect something a little less nonchalant.

Too poor to continue, we decided to settle up. We went Dutch and I put it all on card while my companion gave me cash. The waiter automatically passed the card machine over to my companion. Commenting properly on this error in judgement would necessitate an entire article (or book, or tome); all I will say is that it was a disappointing note on which to leave a restaurant I really wanted to like. Turtle Bay has a lot of potential as an individual and reliable establishment, but issues of price, quality and service hinder its success. I may give it another go in the hope of being corrected, but next time, I’ll arrive before seven.

Seasonal Cask Ale of Choice: Christmas Plum Pudding

Turtle Bay 33–35 Oxford Street Manchester M1 4BH Twitter - @TurtleBayUk www.turtlebay.co.uk

Looking for a new ale to sample over Christmas?

Why not try JW Lee’s brand new festive beer, Christmas Plum Pudding (4.5%)! Available for a limited time in all of the brewery’s pubs (including The Rain Bar, The Church Inn, and Dutton’s), this new cask ale is bursting with fruity flavour. With its rich auburn colour, distinctively moreish taste and relatively cheap price at around £2.70, this beer is set to be a hit with students and the public alike!

Photo: The Mancunion

Recipe: Iced Vodka Latte

Feature: UoMFoodies

Claire Cottis offers another fantastic cocktail recipe

Want even more food news? Check out Abigail Saffer’s UoMFoodies!

AKA - the Posh Jägerbomb. A coffee based cocktail is the perfect pick me up when you are lagging at predrinks. We’ve all been there. The event ticket is already purchased, you’ve spent an arm and a leg on vodka at Tesco and somehow it’s already time to sit in your lounge and try to drink through the retreating hangover. Those few extra Somersbys at the Ram last night may have seemed like a good idea at the time but now all you want to do is lie in bed and watch Orange is the New Black. If there isn’t any Jäger or Redbull in sight you can mix up an Iced Vodka Latte with instant coffee for a creamier and cheaper version of an espresso martini. Not only is it more indulgent, but it is sure to wake you up in time for your Magic bus to Juicy.

Method In a mug, add a large shot of boiling water to two teaspoons of instant coffee and stir to make an espresso. Whilst it is still hot, stir in the sugar or sweeteners and allow to cool slightly.

After a few minutes transfer the coffee into a martini or latte glass and pour in the milk until the glass is 2/3s full. Next, mix in the vanilla, cinnamon and vodka and fill with ice. If you prefer your drinks stronger, compensate by making a larger coffee starter at the beginning and add less milk. You can even experiment with spirits and coffee flavours. Swapping the vodka for amaretto works just as well.

Ingredients

1 shot of Vodka Two teaspoons of instant coffee Large shot of boiling water One teaspoon of sugar or sweeteners 2/3s cup of cold full fat milk 2 drops of vanilla essence ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon Ice

Tried out Claire’s cocktail? Share your thoughts, opinions and pictures with us on our Twitter account: @MancunionFood

Photo: The Mancunion

Uomfoodies is an exciting new food network at the University of Manchester. Run by Abigail Saffer, the aim is to raise awareness of food sustainability, food wastage and healthy eating.

Campaigning to bring healthier food onto campus, Abigail is organising a number of educational talks, cookingclasses,foodtastingandnetworkingevents.

Socialising is also on the agenda, with regular meetups at different eateries and bars in Manchester. It’s a great way to meet other members of staff at the university as well as learning more about food.

Abigail states ‘people at the university have been incredibly supportive of this new network since I started. Whilst there are plenty of activities for students, staff often feel a bit neglected. I decided to create this network to provide staff (both academic and support) with fresh opportunities to learn, gain skills and meet new people’.

The network started off with a bake off event, which raised £100 for the charity Fareshare Greater Manchester (the gluten-free category winner was our ownHesterLonergan!).Over40membersofstaffand students entered and around 100 people attended the event.

Thenetworkhassincemadeconnectionswithother charities, organisations and individuals involved in food wastage, sustainability and healthy eating. ‘It’s been fascinating to just learn how many people care about these issues in Manchester. Every day I am hearingaboutandmeetingreallyinspiringindividuals who want to help change the way we think about and eat food. I have even teamed up with the sustainability group at MMU with the aim of connecting the universities in Manchester together, to create an even stronger, more powerful network of experts’.

Abigail also says ‘Being vegetarian, it is often more difficult to find exciting and innovative places to eat.

We are planning to build a vegetarian and vegan net

-work. There is clearly a demand, as we sold out our first vegetarian cooking/dinner with the Drunken Butcher ‘Iain Divine’ after one day of the event being live. We are planning to make these cooking/suppler clubs a regular feature at the university.

Although the network is primarily for staff and students, anyone is free to attend nonexclusive events.

Abigail is also strongly encouraging staff and students from MMU and Salford to attend as well.

Future events include: - Educational launch event on the 3rd December: for staff, students and organisations looking to get involvedinthenetwork.Thisisaveryinformalmeeting to discuss future plans.

- Cocktail social evening on the 4th December at the Lawn Club, Spinningfields - All about Quorn on the 29th January (venue to be confirmed)withKevinBrennan,directorofQuornUK. You can contact Uomfoodies at: http://www.uomfoodies.wordpress.com www.twitter.com/uomfoodies uomfoodies@gmail.com

Photo: Terry McNamara

If you fancy your hand at food and drink journalism, whether it be interviews, recipes, reviews, or some interesting culinary anecdotes, email us at food.mancunion@outlook.com, tweet us at @MancunionFood or get in touch via Facebook.

ISSUE 11/ 1st December 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/TheMancunion: Food & Drink @MancunionFood

Review Hard work? There’s just no knead!

Food & Drink Co-Editor Ellie Gibbs shares her easy recipe for focaccia.

Another article, another bread recipe.

Inspired by a blog favourite of mine Budget Bytes, I prepared this unbelievably easy focaccia in time for a dinner party turned booze-up at a fellow food enthusiast’s apartment. The guests were impressed.

I felt almost embarrassed to take compliments for something that was so simple to make, but not so embarrassed that I didn’t glowingly reply ‘it was nothing’. (It really was.)

Ingredients: 120g wholewheat bread flour 360g white bread flour 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 480ml water 3 tablespoons olive oil (the better the quality, the better the bread) Sprinkling of herbs - salt & rosemary is a classic combination, or basil and garlic

20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes, or until brown.

Wait until cooled to slice or enjoy hot.

Food & Drink 23 Cocktail: White Russian Supremacist Contributor Tom Bruce shares his reinvention of a classic.

‘Ey careful, comrade, there’s a beverage here!’

This neat twist on the KFR (Kentucky Fried Russian – another personal invention) shares familial ties with the White Russian of Big Lebowski fame, the key difference being the presence of Kentucky bourbon whiskey, which adds a hint of good ol' Deep South intolerance If you’re worried about cooking times or leav- to the mix. The bourbon provides a powerful mule's kick of alcoholic strength to the White ing the dough for too long, you could always Russian formula, striking through the dark, overbearing sweetness of the coffee liqueur to mix the dry ingredients before you go to bed imbue you a lingering sense of misplaced moral virtue. Yeeha. and add the water when you get up in the Ingredients: morning. Minimum time and effort involved, makes one cocktail and lovely risen dough for when you get - 1 measure Kahlua home.

- 1 measure Vodka - 1 measure bourbon whiskey Prep time: Around 16 hours (the majority of - 1 tsp caster sugar which you will be sleeping for) Eaten anywhere nicesoya re- Whole milk OR sweetened Hands-on time: 20 minutes - Coffee granules cently?

Created something - Icedelicious? We want to know!

Oven time: 40 minutes Method: Tell us about it at food.man-

cunion@outlook.com Crack up a few ice cubes by wrapping them in kitchen towel and pulverising with a blunt object. Put this ice in the serving glass to chill that down. In a taller glass half-filled with ice cubes, dump in equal measures Kahlua (currently £5 off in 'Burys), Vodka (basics will do) and Kentucky Bourbon (Aldi sells Jim Beam 70cl at £12 ). Shower a teaspoon of caster sugar on top before mixing thoroughly with a long spoon until the sugar dissolves. Strain the alcoholic mixture into your pre-iced cocktail glass, making sure none of the larger ice cubes fall in. Topping up: to layer the drink so that the milk/soya does not clash with the liquor base, you need to carefully pour it onto a spoon's bowl while the handle

Method: Add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and stir. Add the water and stir gently with a spoon until the mixture is combined and in a sticky ball. Cover loosely with a tea towel and let sit overnight/about 14 hours.

When you’re around 2 hours before needing the dough to be ready, prepare a tin with oiled greaseproof paper or foil and and pour the dough onto the sheet. Stretch to the edges of the tin and let sit for another hour. Poke dimples in the dough and drizzle with extra olive oil, don’t worry about adding too much.

Sprinkle with extra herbs and salt.

Photo: Ben Walker

With the oven preheated to 200°C, place a sheet of foil over the mixture and bake for

Photo: Tom Bruce

is submerged in the drink, causing the viscous liquid to trickle down and float atop the alcohol rather than commingle with it. To garnish, sprinkle some sugar and coffee granules on top.

Serve with fried possum and a Leninism pamphlet.

Got any delicious recipes of your own? Be it sweet, savoury, bitter or sour, we want to know! Email us at food.mancunion@outlook.com to get involved.

Feature: Deliciously Ella

Cat Hanson introduces readers to Ella Woodward (AKA Deliciously Ella) and her amazing recipes.

As the academic year progresses I tend to enter the waning months of culinary creativity. “…This vegetable stock will make a fine replacement for a smorgasbord of finely chopped fresh vegetables…” “…Who needs spaghetti bolognese when I can put tomato sauce on some noodles?...” “…Surely the cranberries in that muffin I bought at the petrol station count as one of my five-a-day…?” Naturally, my body begins to function like my five year-old laptop – grey in colour and wheezing loudly.

Fortunately for me, it was around this period in my nutritional health’s cycle that a beam of light shone upon me, mainly from my computer, as I discovered Deliciously Ella’s recipe blog. As her website explains, Ella Woodward’s culinary story began when she sought a change in diet from sugar-packed treats to natural, fresh food as a means to help her take control of a rare and debilitating illness. Over time, she gradually built up an enormous back-catalogue of recipes and ideas, which now branches out into lifestyle tips, blogs, an app, an Instagram page and a new book.

Seeking some nutrition myself, I retracted my hand from my crisp packet and set about finding a replacement for said snack.

I came across Deliciously Ella’s recipe for ‘Kale Chips,’ and was determined to try this leafy sensation for myself. Keep in mind, the only tools I had to hand were severely limited funds and a bus pass. I had feared

that the quest to find kale would be much like trying to find your phone on silent, but there it was, sitting on the supermarket shelf.

Back home, the kale was prepped and in the oven in under two minutes, and within another ten, it was ready. The result? Absolutely delicious curls of crunchy goodness. The first bite tastes exactly the same as crisps before giving way to a whole new flavour.

I was hooked. By the end of the evening I flopped onto my bed , breathing deeply like an over-fed lion, with telltale green smudges around my mouth. I had found my healthy, tasty replacement for fatty pieces of potato shrapnel.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I began to incorporate more of Deliciously Ella’s tips and ideas into my food, and I was shocked to see the difference; I woke early. I voluntarily did exercise. I was alert.

I finally understood what my mother had always talked about – steering away from (even supposedly healthy) pre-packaged food had un-tapped me from the Matrix and pushed me into kale-fuelled action! An obvious conclusion of course, but almost every student can be forgiven for letting standards slip a little.

So far for me personally, my only limitations have been that a few ingredients and equipment doesn’t quite fall within my student budget, however these are often easy to

swap for cheaper alternatives, and I have so far not encountered any troubles in using an average-priced blender. So for anyone feeling a little sluggish, using the desk as a pillow, or skipping breakfast: try a more natural, less plastic-coated option. Even two days was enough to feel the benefits. So thank you, Ella Woodward. The experience truly has been delicious.

You can find Deliciously Ella’s blog at www. deliciouslyella.com, or follow her Instagram @deliciouslyella.

Photo: Chinti and Parker

Photo: Deliciously Ella

Photo: Deliciously Ella

24

Arts & Culture

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM /TheMancunionArtsCulture @ArtsMancunion

Editor: Holly Smith Spotlight

10 Things You Didn’t Know

Turner Prize

What You Didn’t Know:Andy Warhol

In the run up to the Turner Prize being There is much more to Andy Warhol than his famous Campbell’s announced on December 1st, The Soup Cans and Marilyn Monroe, Holly Smith delves beneath the Mancunion Arts & Culture brings you canvases to find out more about this quirky man. introductions to the four 2014 nominees.

Andy Warhol is considered as the leading figure in the visual art movement, pop art. His work flourished by the 1960’s and he became one of the most renowned yet controversial artists on the twentieth century. His artwork has sold for a record of US$150 million, making his work some of the most expensive paintings ever sold.

But who was this man behind the colourful illustrative canvas? Here are the Mancunion’s top 10 things that you didn’t know about Andy Warhol.

1. He was born on 6th August 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and named Andrew Warhola Jr. His parents were Slovakian immigrants who moved to America just before Warhol’s birth.

2. Andy created at least 60 movies. His first was a 6 hour long masterpiece of his friend sleeping. He entitled it ‘Sheep’.

His other movie titles included Kiss,

Blowjob, Eat, Shoulder, Couch, Face, Kitchen, Horse, Suicide, Drink, Closet, Sunset, and Bitch.

3. He was the producer of the first record album by American rock group The Velvet Underground and painted the cover of their first album.

4. His High School excluded him from the art club because he was better than the other members.

5. Andy almost died when he was shot three times in the chest by Valerie Solanis at his studio. Solanis was an ardent feminist and one of many who deemed Warhol as abusive and controlling. She thought that he deserved to die. Warhol was at one point pronounced dead, but was revived and slowly recovered. Valerie was a founder of club called SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) and she was the only member of the group. She was arrested the day

after the assault.

6. The first ever Batman movie mad: Batman Dracula, was directed and produced by Andy Warhol.

7. Warhol’s fashion sense was rather peculiar; he wore silver wigs and eventually dyed his hair silver. After having been told he had lazy eyes, he wore opaque glasses that had a tiny pinhole for him to see through.

8. Andy Warhol’s ‘wife’ was a portable tape recorder. He carried it around so much, so that he could capture all his conversations, that he began to refer to it as his ‘wife’.

9. Aside from his art, Warhol also started a magazine, opened a nightclub and created two tv shows.

10. Hospital staff overloaded Warhol with fluids after a routine gallbladder surgery and he subsequently died of a heart attack aged 58.

Andy Warhol, 1987. Photo: Gisela Giardino @Flickr

Photo of the Week

Tris Vonna-Michell. thefuturistics@Flickr

Established in 1984, the Turner Prize is awarded each year to a contemporary artist under 50 living, working or born in Britain, who is judged to have put on the best exhibition of the last 12 months. Previous winners include Gilbert & George, Antony Gormley, Grayson Perry, Jeremy Deller and Damien Hirst. This year’s shortlist showcases artists whose work spans film (Duncan Campbell), prints (Ciara Phillips), video (James Richards) and live performance (Tris VonnaMichell).

Born in 1982,Tris Vonna Michell is a British artist who performs narratives, and layers them to construct installations. He uses an array of media to project these installations including photographs and mementos.

Accompanied by a ‘visual script’ of slide projections, his works are characterised by fragments of information, detours and dead ends.

Vonna Mchell splits his time between Southend, UK and Stockholm, Sweden after he graduated from the Glasgow

School of Art in 2005. His work has been exhibited all over Europe and he was nominated for this year’s Turner Prize for his solo exhibition Postscript (Berlin) at Jan Mot, Brussels. The aim of this exhibition was to reconstruct a family narrative while keeping a close distance from history.

In an interview with the magazine, Art in America, Vonna Mitchell describes Postscript as “more about reconciling and leaving the past hahn/huhn narratives, dissolving certain works and motifs, memory failing, works running their course, works enveloping each other and, fundamentally, images continuously impeding and reinventing speech and memory.”

This unique and surprising artist to be nominated for the Turner Prize puts a dark horse amongst the other nominees. With days left before the winner is announced, the competition is truly warming up.

By Holly Smith

Photo Of The Week This Photograph is from Diane Dai En Ngu, student at the University of Manchester. If you would like to enter a Photo Of The Week, email us your photographs at mancunion.arts@gmail.com

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/mancuniontheatre @themanctheatre

Nicole Tamer

Theatre 25 Matthew Gormley

PREVIEW Matthew Gormley looks ahead to pantomime season in the city

1 December – 7 December

Panto season and musicals will warm you more than mulled wine

Shrek the Musical Tue 2 Dec - Sun 11 Jan, Palace Theatre £19.50 - £70.00

Photo: Manchester Evening News

What’s On

It’s that time of the year again.. Oh yes it is!

Based on the award-winning DreamWorks animation film, join the unlikely hero and his loyal Donkey as they embark on a quest to rescue the beautiful (if slightly temperamental) Princess Fiona from a fire breathing, love-sick dragon. Add the diminutive Lord Farquaad, a gang of fairytale misfits, and a biscuit with attitude.

Dawn French Thursday 4 December, The Lowry £38.50 – £43.45 The award-winning actor announces her first ever solo tour, based on her life and career. Her extraordinary lack of willpower, combined with a knack for nosey parking and showing off, has driven her to grapple with the big stuff of life in public. 30 million minutes of life in fact. That’s how long she’s been alive.

Robin Hood, Panto Society UoM Monday 1 Dec & Tuesday 2 Dec, Club Academy Our story begins in a mystical land known as Nottingham... and that’s pretty much where all relevance to the traditional story of Robin Hood ends! It’s an adventure that includes a rather puny Robin Hood and his band of effeminate merry men, a tough-ass Maid Marian and a pretty lecherous Sheriff. This pantomime is far from child friendly but full of laughs!! And to the hecklers out there...

BRING IT!!

Little Shop of Horrors Fri 5 Dec – Sat 31 Jan, Royal Exchange Theatre £7.25 - £14.50 Fuelled by Faust and fertiliser, Little Shop of Horrors is a charming, kooky and hilarious 1950s musical sci-fi spoof. With music by the legendary Alan Menken best known for his numerous Walt Disney film scores, it is a cult film, and one of the longest running off-Broadway shows of all time. “Little Shop of Horrors will be a gory, scary, glitter and sequins treat for all the family.”

CLARIFICATION: In last week’s issue, the dates were wrong for MUGSS’ production of Patience - it’s Wed 18th - Sat 21st February.

EVENT

Nicole Tamer

Re:play Festival HOME invited press and actors to their media launch event on November 27 to promote their Re:play Festival starting on Monday, January 12. Producers, directors and actors presented their work and gave background information about their performances. The festival promises to speak to wide range of tastes. It will not shy away from transgender issues, female representation and erotic literature. Especially oung theatre companies are given the chance to showcase their talent. I got the chance to talk to some of the founders.

Another Manchester based Theatre Company is What a Little Bird Told me Theatre. What sets them apart from others is the fact that they place an emphasis on female representation in their performances. It is important that female characters are not just there to support the main male characters or as a love interest, but they should be well rounded and with equal amounts of stage presence and lines. ”Creating work that shares and celebrates female stories and characters that excite and interest us” is their agenda and their play Colder than Here succeeds in having a female lead over 50 years of age whose struggle with terminal cancer unites her family.

The newly formed Tangled web productions will provoke thoughts in the audiences at Re:play Festival with their one-person show Tuesdays at Tesco’s. Although her father does not accept Pauline’s new identity as a woman, she visits him every Tuesday to help him out with his laundry and his shopping. A play about identity and acceptance.

O’Grady, portrayed the Wicked Queen in his former guise of Lily Savage.

This time around, it’s the turn of Priscilla Presley to be our resident baddie, and she’s no doubt guaranteed to be the most rock ‘n’ roll villain in pantoland. Priscilla has previously stared in the hit American soap Dallas, and three Naked Gun films. She made her panto debut two years ago in Wimbledon.

Starring alongside Priscilla in this First Family Entertainment production as Prof the Dwarf is Warwick Davis, who is returning to the city for his second stint in pantomime.

Davis has so far had a successful career as an entertainer and actor, starring in Harry Potter, Star Wars and The Chronicles of Narnia.

More recently, he featured in An Idiot Abroad and presented the revived Celebrity Squares on ITV. Returning to the Opera House for an unprecedented fifth year is local favourite Tam Ryan. As well as being a veteran of British pantomime, Tam has previously had roles in Coronation Street and Emmerdale and has performed all over the world in his one-man show as an award-winning comedy vocalist. Tam traditionally takes on the role of the link-man, holding all the scenes together in his own inimitable way, and when it comes to audience participation he’s always on the money.

Natalie Andreou adds a touch of class to proceedings in the lead role. She has an impressive number of West End shows on her glittering CV, including parts in Mamma Mia, Footloose and Evita, as well as performing in Rigoletto with the English National Opera, and she’s bound to be belting out a fine tune or two as she spends this festive season in Manchester.

Completing the cast is Philip Olivier, who is best known for his role in Channel 4’s classic soap Brookside, starring as the handsome Prince Charming, and Daniel Stockton as Hench. Daniel most recently took on the role of Joey in the UK tour of Sister Act: The Musical and was part of the Les Miserables 25th anniversary concert at London’s O2 Arena in 2010.

It’s a star-studded affair that promises to brighten up a cold winter’s day. So, don your Santa hat and bring your whole family along to the North West’s biggest pantomime this Christmas. I’ve already got my tickets and I look forward reviewing the show when it opens next month.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is at the Manchester Opera House from Friday 5 December 2014 until Sunday 4 January 2015.

Performance times vary. For more details, visit manchestertheatres.com/operahouse.

Nicole Tamer

REVIEW

Edward Scissorhands

It is hard to believe that a story of such creativity like Edward Scissorhands was an original script, especially in our time, in which most films are book adaptation or sequels.

The film was based on a drawing of Tim Burton, who worked closely with Caroline Thompson to invent a modern fairy tale inspired by stories such as Frankenstein and Pinocchio. Matthew Bourne, the director of the stage adaptation felt himself instantly drawn to the film when he saw it for the first time and especially Danny Elfman’s score made him think of dance choreographies and inspired him to present Edward Scissorhands on stage.

The production is a visual masterpiece due to its intricate stage design and a plot that draws a line between the original screenplay by introducing a back story of Edward’s creation. His creator based him on his son that was struck by lightning while holding a scissor, making him a creation based on grief. It is essentially a story of acceptance. Edward, being left to his own devices, has to overcome the prejudices against his scissor hands and has to show that he is worth a place in society by proving his usefulness only to realise that a wrong accusation can destroy his reputation.

During the Q and A session after the performance, Matthew Bourne emphasised the importance of creating a unique approach and he wondered if it is possible to separate Johnny Depp’s character from the original Edward Scissorhands. They definitely succeeded in giving the production their own touch. The biggest contrast between the film and stage performance was that it was set in the 1950s, which worked very well because the mindset of America’s suburbia was even more conservative and an outcast surely harder to accept in society. The highlights of the evening were the ice dance and the final scene.

Photo: Johan Persson

Ransack Theatre was founded last year by the University of Manchester graduates Alastair Michael, Piers Black-Hawkins, Claire O’Neill, Verity Mullan Wilkinson and Emma Colledge. Alastair and Emma both performed at MIFTA plays and in the Autumn showcase and everyone in the compnay fulfills several roles as actors, producers and designers. In January, they will present The Dumb Waiter, a play that has marked the end of the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival 2014, playing to sold-out audiences and claiming ‘Best Revival’ at the Greater Manchester Fringe Awards.

The pantomime is a long-standing British tradition; a fantastic, fun piece of theatre that the whole family can enjoy and, just like tinsel, turkey and mince pies, it simply wouldn’t be Christmas without a trip to your local production. We all enjoy this time of year, and the traditional pantomime brings additional warmth and sparkle to the festive season.

Packed with singing, dancing, silliness and often a star name of two, it’s the perfect recipe for a feel-good festive show to get you in the Christmassy mood.

And when it comes to Manchester, no expense is spared. One of the country’s biggest productions resides at the city’s Opera House for a month between December and January.

In previous years, David Hasselhoff has been Captain Hook in Peter Pan (2012), Brian Conley has played Buttons in Cinderella (2003) and one the country’s greatest comedy double acts, the Chuckle Brothers, graced the stage as Captain & Mate in Dick Whittington (2004), demonstrating that the capital of the North never skimps when it comes to its stars.

This Christmas, it’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Whilst it’s not one of my favourite pantomime tales, it’s certainly popular among the youngsters. Ex-Coronation Street actress Tina O’Brien took on the title role here in 2010 and, eight years earlier, one of the country’s greatest entertainers, Paul

Anyone familiar with the film will remember the hauntingly beautiful music accompanying the realisation of mutual love between Edward and Kim while kissing in the snow in front of an ice figure. The stage production managed to portray Tim Burton’s mysterious atmosphere perfectly in those scenes, which was sometimes missing throughout the play.

The costumes were a definite strength of the production, especially the dancers who played bushes and were unrecognisably covered in green leaves, leaving the audience perplexed about their ability to see through their shrubby costumes.

Dominic North’s strong performance managed to communicate Edward’s naivety and motoric inability with subtle, but effective mimicry. As a lost boy in a world of gossip and barbecues, he gains the sympathy of the Bogg family, treating him like a son and he later experiences strong emotions towards their daughter Kim, charmingly portrayed by Katy Lowenhoff. Dominic North was inspired

by Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and other silent film stars in order to make Edward a tragic figure without uttering a word and he clearly succeeded. The appreciation for his performance grew more when he admitted the difficulty of dancing with the heavy scissors gloves on his hands, which seemed entirely effortless throughout the evening.

He furthermore worked very closely with Caroline Thompson and Tim Burton had to give him green light because Edward Scissorhands is a very personal story to him since he based the character on his childhood; he always felt out of place and like an outsider.

Tim Burton even came to one of the performances and apparently liked it. The film composer Danny Elfman initially wanted to write more music for the stage production, but he was too occupied with other projects. It was then decided that the successful composer Terry Davies would be responsible for additional scores, making up half of the music onstage.

The ending of the performance offered a surprising conclusion very different from the film and the actors were given a standing ovation while snow poured down from the ceilings upon the delighted audience. The dance production certainly lived up to the expectations and many questions were asked in the Q and A session, demonstrating the interest it evoked in the viewers. It was a wonderful spectacle of a modern fairy tale with its own touch that enchanted young and old at the Lowry.

Photo: Nicole Tamer

26

Lifestyle

Editor: Robert Firth

ISSUE 11/ 1st December 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Feature

TV

I was in the audience of the most evil show on TV

The Jeremy Kyle Show claims to help guests. How can a show whose website advertises the chance to “get your ex back” help anyone asks Robert Firth?

The Jeremy Kyle Show had always been great to watch at fleeting moments during breakfast when I had nothing better to do with my time. It existed to “titillate bored members of the public with nothing better to do” said District Judge Alan Berg whilst sentencing one of the show’s guests for head butting his love rival on the show.

Well I was bored and I didn’t care; besides they were offered counselling. One day I was even more bored than usual so I registered for tickets to be on the show and then two Fridays ago found myself there in the audience complicit in, with my cued applause and boos, potentially the most evil show on TV. We were reminded before taking our seats that “These are real people, so please don’t laugh at them.” Yet this seemed only to be a disclaimer, as opposed to an attempt to preserve the dignity of the guests.

In one classic ‘Who’s the Dad?’ scenario, Kyle unremittingly mocked one of the potential fathers, calling him “exhibit A” and ironically asking if it was his “charm” which attracted the Mother to him in the first place.

Kyle who believes the “only way to solve a problem is through honesty and openness” then proceeded to shout him down with bizarre recall to questions about “exhibit A’s” unemployment; if anyone could hear him underneath Kyle’s baiting of the audience, he was saying how

he was at college.

The Jeremy Kyle show is a last chance saloon: “Do I look like I want to be on The Jeremy Kyle Show?” said one guest. With the show’s offer of DNA tests and lie detector tests it is easy to see why it can become such an attractive option to people: get a DNA test with the Child Support Agency and you’ll pay around £250.

In the most grotesque example that day of the show purporting to be an exemplar of moral virtuosity, a girl came to make an appeal to find her Father who had disappeared after her Mother died when she was thirteen.

When she ran off stage in tears, Jeremy Kyle put his arm round her, telling her “I like you” (note he has a bank of such morally affirmative phrases) and led her back on stage, explaining scrupulously that the only way the show could help her was for her to make the appeal direct into the camera.

The moment after she had spluttered her way through the appeal, he asked her to turn around and on the TV screen behind her appeared her Dad who they had already tracked down and was in the studio all along. “That’s what we can do” Jeremy Kyle reminded us all as we ogled this first meeting between the father and daughter.

I failed to see how the previous fifteen minutes or so of watching someone in distress had been necessary.

Kyle purports to be a respectable,

fatherly man of the people: he’ll give guests a dressing down then sit next to them, look into their eyes talk to them like their best friend. It’s a joke: Kyle comes from a ridiculously privileged background: he attended an independent boys school, his Father was accountant and personal secretary to the Queen Mother. Bear this in mind and there’s something nauseating about this man presenting a show which humiliates an overwhelmingly working class cast of guests.

The filming began at 10am and was over by 2pm. Despite the four hours of distraction, occasional entertainment and a free Freddo, it was doubtful upon leaving into the rainy Manchester afternoon whether it had been worth the effort of getting up at 6am for. Were the small graces of a daughter been reunited with her Father and someone knowing he was a Father enough to make up for all the distress and manipulation I had seen: a mother at her wit’s end goaded by Kyle playing Jezza the bezza into screaming vitriolic abuse at her daughter after she failed a drugs test?

Kyle, whether person or character is nasty, arrogant and intelligent.

He’s the dictator of the show “Stand up! It’s my show: The Jeremy Kyle Show” he barked at one audience member who he mocked before filming began. Whilst he decides on whim who’s hero and villain, the real puppet master Jeremy Kyle is left entirely unaccountable.

Not Everyone felt so much love towards Jezza

Beware the Jezza Hug Photo: talkingimo @Flickr

It’s...

Myths

French Men – dispelling the myth Think every French Man is a baguette toting, connoisseur of amour? Think again says Molly Allen.

I really want to meet the idiot who gave French men the reputation of being these gorgeous, tall, Vespa-driving, romantic sex-machines. I’m not sure if it just stemmed from the French language’s reputation as fabulously romantic but wherever it came from, it’s entirely false.

I lived in the Alps last year and spent what felt like 99% of my time being harassed. By the plumber, endless guys in bars, other students. I was told by my French male friends (who turned out to be pretty unpleasant anyway) that I needed to just put up with this barrage of abuse. My mum responded with “you’re young and attractive, what do you expect? I’m sure this happens in the UK too, you’ve only just started to notice”.

Thirty year olds date sixteen year olds and no one bats an eyelid. There are times when the harassment was laughable: the married man pushing a pram, the weird fourteen year old in the bakery, the plumber who came to repair the toilet.

However there were times when it got just plain frightening.

Me and my flatmate were chased out of a club by a group of guys who refused to leave us alone.

I had to walk to the delivery office and on my way there a man asked for directions then asked me to get into his car. I was beeped at, whistled at, shouted at and treated like a piece of meat the rest of the journey. On the way back someone stopped their van and opened the door – thank god for rock, I missed what he’d said due to a guitar solo courtesy of Pink Floyd and responded with an angry “fuck off”.

The fact of the matter is, when it comes to romance, the French and the British are just too different. I never uncovered the reason as to why these men were so horrible to me and I’d be fascinated to find out why.

You can’t win with any response: if you’re polite they don’t back down, if you’re rude you’re hit with a torrent of abuse. It may be “one of those things”, I doubt I’ll ever know.

The Myth Photo: ThomasHawk @Flickr

Lifestyle is: Sex Health Travel Relationships TV and MORE!

The Reality...

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Photo: wonker @Flickr

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DO YOU GET IT?

You can now report bullying, harassment and discrimination on line

JESS LISHAK Women’s Officer, Students’ Union

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SPORT : 29

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Opinion: Should Dave Whelan Resign

Following the recent controversy at Wigan, Sam Cooper discusses the future of the club’s owner Sam Cooper Sport Reporter Wigan Athletic owner Dave Whelan’s recent remarks in a newspaper have led to a nationwide backlash against the former player but should he resign over his comments?

The controversy started when Wigan hired Malky Mackay as their new manager, replacing Uwe Rösler after a run of poor results. Mackay is still under investigation by the FA for alleged offensive text messages of a “racist, sexist and homophobic nature”, and when Wigan announced the appointment they were roundly criticized for hiring a manager linked with such a murky background.

The first real signs of discontent came when club sponsor Premier Range canceled their sponsorship with the club, believing the appointment to have left them in an “untenable position”.

Then followed a nationwide media inquest into Mackay’s hiring with many claiming Wigan shouldn’t have signed a man still be investigated by the FA. This toxic situation was only made worse when Whelan attempted to justify the hiring. The 77 year old gave a interview to The Guardian in which he was asked to comment on the texts that Mackay sent regarding Jewish football agent Phil Smith in which he said, ‘Go on, fat Phil. Nothing like a Jew that sees money slipping through his fingers!!! [sic.]‘. Whelan astonish defended his new manage as in his opinion Jewish people do chase money more, saying “Jewish people chase money more than everybody else”.

This comment, among others, generated international news as Whelan was criticized by journalists, players and fans alike. The antiracism organization Kick It Out led the backlash

One of Whelan’s many controversial statements from his Guardian interview.

Photo: Screenshot—Sky Sports News

to Wheelman’s interview asking if he was a “fit and proper person” to run a football club.

Whelan then gave a follow-up interview to the BBC in which he apologized if he offended anyone and explained he believed that he was misquoted by the Guardian. This explanation was largely not accepted and the calls for Whelan to leave his job continued. BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson said he should step aside, Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan accused him of being a racist and West Ham United chairman David Gold said his comments were offensive. While the FA said they are “very concerned” by the comments and an investigation into Whelan’s comments is a “priority”. The governing body then went on to charge Whelan with an alleged “aggravated breach” of FA Rule E3 [2] with Whelan’s comments including “a reference to ethnic origin and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief”.

So should he resign? Racism in football

has unfortunately become a staple of football’s recent history. The John Terry and Luis Suárez incidents are just two examples of high profile racism cases in the game that have corrupted the reputation of the “beautiful” game and it’s clear football needs to adopt a no tolerance policy if it hopes to eradicate prejudice.

Let’s look at it first of all from a Wigan’s fan point of view. While no fan would’ve been wishing for this fortnight of hell which has involved a manager’s sacking, a controversial new hiring and their owner being embroiled in a race row, they will all agree that Whelan has overseen the best years of Wigan.

When he first bought the club they were in the third division and have since gone on to reach the Premier League and win the FA Cup. But this race row has the potential to spoil Whelan’s legacy and that has led many fans to believe his time at the club should come to an end.

However there has rarely been an

example of an owner leaving over racist comments. Birmingham City owner, Carson Yeung, resigned earlier this year but that was connected to moneylaundering charges in his home country of China.

Perhaps we can look at a recent example originating from the US. Donald Sterling, ex-owner of the NBA team The LA Clippers, was given a lifetime ban from the sport after a recording of him making a racist remark against was leaked. The remark was much more severe than Whelan’s and with the NBA being a predominantlyblack sport; Sterling was met with widespread criticism. Most notably, President Barack Obama commented that the recording included “incredibly offensive racist statements”. Sterling was later banned from the sport by the NBA commissioner and fined $2.5 million.

While this is very much an exaggerated scenario, it will be interesting to see if the FA does hand Whelan a ban from

Continued from back page...

Dyke frequently talked of “institutional problems” within football and that this was the primary reason for the inequality and discrimination.

Dyke used the example often featured in media, of black managers. Approximately 25% of players in the Premier League and Football League are black; Dyke was therefore dubious as to how only 3 of the 92 (3.26%) league clubs had black managers (the longest serving of these is Chris Powell, who has had his job for 86 days). It wasn’t just in managerial roles that Dyke was concerned about the lack of black people, he knew of no football league teams who had black CEO’s and he stated that this was something that needed changing, and urgently. The FA chief stated that research into the causes of this needed to be carried out, so that the governing body could implement strategies to overcome the lack of black people in positions of responsibility. Dyke said that people needed to be drawn together to bring about change and that it was time for an action plan, supportive words are no longer sufficient.

Dyke likened the issue of a lack of ethnic minority coaches in the professional game, to that of young English players trying to break into Premier League first teams. It is the priority of the FA, but radical re-

Chris Powell is one of three black managers in the football league Photo: Wikimedia Commons

form is necessary. Dyke called for the training of coaches to be changed, and he said it was time to prioritise Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities to increase the numbers of coaches getting involved. He argued there are more coaches from BAME communities who are highly qualified, than is shown in the professional game, of the 552 coaches involved in the professional game in England, only 19 are BAME’s. The Rooney Rule has been one solution, oft mentioned in the media,

to try and increase the number of ethnic minority coaches in the UK, and Dyke didn’t dismiss the idea and said that it “might be good”. One thing that was particularly noticeable throughout the talk, and the question and answers that ensued, was Dyke’s ability to avoid answering any question that he didn’t want to, or would provide him discomfort, most likely a testament to his media training, as opposed to him as a person, as he seemed a very honest, straight talking man.

the game. The FA does have history of giving long bans for racist offenses; Suárez received an eight game ban for his abuse of Evra, although some argued it should have been longer. But the FA have never issued a ban to a owner for a racist remark and the longest FA ban given to a non-playing member of staff was to Alan Pardew for his head-butt on Hull City’s David Meyler.

In my opinion while a ban does seem like a fair punishment, it is unlikely the FA will give Whelan one and most likely issue a warning accompanied with a fine instead. In terms of him resigning, Whelan himself remains determined to stay but the relentless media interest could make his position untenable and we may well see him take a step away from the media spotlight and the appointment of a new CEO in his place.

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Mr Dyke talked of the need to “urge not force” things, and he frequently talked of the FA’s lack of power over clubs. Whilst the FA can urge clubs to employ ethnic minority managers and coaches, they cannot force it upon them. Dyke repeatedly said that each club was an individual business and that the FA had little control over those 92 individual businesses and this made it difficult for any definitive changes. Dyke however was very optimistic that “we [the FA] will succeed [in getting more BAME coaches]” and that this process will be sped up, as the issue is now in the public arena. Dyke was complimentary of the development football has made in the past 20 years, and was optimistic that in the next 20 years similar changes will be made.

He said that football is over the phase of overcoming racism regarding players, and now is in the institutional phase.

It was evident that Mr Dyke believed that solutions to the problems of discrimination in football could be found, and that it isn’t too far into the distant future that they will be found. His sharp wit and sense of humour, combined with his vast experience in senior roles of many large organisations certainly convinced me that we are not too far away from turning the corner, and having a very ethnically diverse range of managers and coaches in the Football League. We can all hope so anyway.

SPORT : 30

ISSUE 11/ 1ST DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Interview: The Red Issue Andrew Georgeson talks to the controversial Manchester Fanzine Andrew Georgeson Sport Editor

Everyone’s a critic, eh?

After talking to several sports journalists, they all have the same complaint about social mediaabuse.

It’s difficult to know where this animosity stems from.

Is it simply the frustration of a fan base targeting real people rather than the increasingly faceless brands that are now football clubs?

Or do we simply all prefer to live in a utopian falasy where we can believe that there is nothing wrong with our nations game, and we will punish those who transgress against this view. Certainly one could argue that fans become so invested in their club that an assult on their team basically translates as a personal insult.

I recently talked to the Red Issue, The Manchester United fan magazine branded the ‘nastiest people I’ve came across in football’

by Paul Hayward.

Fanzines have risen as a stand against the state of modern football.

Yet, the nature of fan opinions is that often things are an emotional response to a situation, rather than a measured view by a neutral ‘professional writer.’

I start the by talking about what the fanzines offer to the United fan base.

‘The official programmes- certainly at top flight clubs- are just corporate advertising brochures promoting a PR-tinted vision of the club that the moneymen want to project.’ Said Editor Andy, ‘the Red Issue is often accused of taking a deeply cynical viewpoint of United and football in general, but we’d argue there’s much to be cynical about.’

It is a view that is paralleled up and down the country. Certainly, most Premier League clubs’ programmes have pages dedicated to who the corporate sponsors are, as well as relentlessly plugging business who have a vested interest in the club, particularly a business that has something in common with the owner of the club.

Although animosity is shown towards the official match day media, The Red Issue take no part of the abuse shown towards journalists.

Despite branding members of the press the ‘Twatterati’ he says writers such an Henry Writer of the Telegraph, an often source of ridicule for the writers of the Red

The Red Issue is notorious for controversial front pages.

Photo: @redissue

Issue, should ‘perhaps get credit for trying, even if it is incredibly cringeworthy and patronising, for trying to seem ‘au fait’ with the man on the street. ‘‘There’s no press agenda against fanzines though, why should there be? Red Issue is often mentioned in reports by mainstream journalists and our stories and news often end up in national papers. I’m sure many hacks don’t like our style, just like many United fans don’t, but that’s likely to be because they’ve come in for stick from us in the mag over nonsense they’ve written. ‘‘We’ve no interest in pandering to any of them just to be liked – if they write bollocks then we’ll pull them up on it. That’s how it should be.’’

An odd picture of The Red Issue is starting to come together. I can only presume that they see their jibes at journalists as harmless fun, banter between two fans, but to totally discredit they do heavily criticise journalists seems naïve. They also seem to see themselves a vigilante press group, fighting against club propaganda and newspaper hyperbole. It has to be said though, so far into the interview, nothing particularly offensive had been said.

However, as the paper is produced by fans for fans, it is clear that something will always be bought uprivalries. Their attack upon Liverpool is relentless, including several highly

contentious statements and pictures regarding Hillsborough.

One such picture includes Kenny Daglish holding a framed shirt with ‘Daglish- 96’ printed on the back which was being sold in support of the Hillsborough fund. The Red Issue tweeted the picture with the caption, ‘Roll up, Roll up, get your personalised Hillsborough Memrobelia [sic.]’

When I questioned him over whether or not this was offensive, he seemed in disbelief as to how more people didn’t see the picture as troubling as he clearly did.

‘No, I wouldn’t agree [that the comment on tweet is offensive],’ said the Red Issue Editor, ‘the Dalglish picture you refer to was unbelievable. If anyone thinks that presenting someone with a framed shirt with their name above the number of a tragedy’s victims is in any way appropriate then please explain in what circumstances those would be.’

Indeed he seems to think that the humour of it all should be commented on saying, ‘if we can’t take the piss out of the absurdity of it all then we shouldn’t be running a fanzine, let alone a United one.

Organised grieving is one of the scourges of modern Britain, and usually minus any actual grief.’

There is obviously a nerve touched over the Hillsborough disaster and

the idea of institutional mourning, a topic coming more into the public fore. He tells me that their comments over Hillsborough is the reason why the magazine has received little credit for donating to the Hillsborough Disaster Fund since 1989 and continuously supporting the families in their right for justice.

It is an argument that I am personally torn over.

It was only this year after reading Wigan player James McClean’s letter for why he didn’t want to wear a poppy that I questioned why footballer’s wear poppies on their shirts at all. For McClean, the poppy stood for the ‘Bloody Sunday massacre’ in Ireland, rather than a remembrance of the war. I’m sure the feeling is reciprocated amongst many footballer’s in England, especially since the Premier League is such a melting pot of nationalities and cultures.

And whereas Hillsborough was a watershed mark in British footballing, and indeed political, history, I feel that the constant presence of Hillsborough victim’s family on Sky News every April isn’t helping the wounds to heal. Now that justice is finally coming I feel that the Hillsborough memorial that is remembered around all ground of the lands should perhaps be turned into an internal mourning within Liverpool.

Yet it is perhaps the way that the magazine justifies the Hillsborough comment that causes the most trouble among the press and impartial readers.

Whereas the idea of institutional mourning is wrong is an idea that many can support, the paper’s claim that Liverpool fans are ‘hypocritical’ over Hillsborough is perhaps too far. ‘’We reserve the right to point out Scouser’s double standards over the disaster,’’ said Andy ‘’In 1989 Liverpool played again within three weeks of 96 fans dying, yet recently they’ve wanted April 15th to be free of any fixtures so they can hold a memorial. You’d think a game of football would be the perfect opportunity, surely? ‘‘Similarly, many Scousers are up in arms now about the prospect of safe standing areas- yet in 1994 they wanted the KOP to remained terraced as a ‘tribute’ to those who died.’’

He acknowledges that comments like these are controversial and will undoubtedly cause offense, yet, as with much of the remarks in the magazine, he believes that his democratic rights suggest that he

should be able to make them.

My initial problem with a lot of the statements regarding Hillsboroughparticularly in regards to the reintroduction of safe standing- is that it is only recently that the truth is being bought to public attention.

You can hardly blame Liverpool for wanting to play again in 1989 after the disaster. After all it took over 20 years for any real progress to be made, so realistically how do the writers of the Red Issue want Liverpool to react?

In terms of safe-standing, something I am vehemently against, it will be hard to find two fans with the same opinion, and one could fully understand if Liverpool fans wouldn’t want any standing in any English ground.

It is clear that there is a passionate sense that football needs to be categorically reformed. The way Andy speaks about the paper would make you think he was discussing the Communist Manifesto, and the proletariat of footballer fans on the street need to realise ‘the Premier League emperor has no clothes and, although at times we attract criticism from the Red-is-right brigade for doing so, we’d much rather that than sit back and allow bullshit to pass unchallenged.’

The ‘Red-is-right brigade’ is the opposing group of fans. If the Red Issue is the Communist Manifesto, then they are the aristocracy happy under Tsarist oppression.

This attitude is understandable.

After all, the magazine was founded during the Thatcher government, where football fans were often used to scapegoats and brandished as thugs by the Prime Minister, as part of a pseudo-crusade against football.

Andy spoke of the foundation of the paper saying, ‘The fanzine movement was a reaction to the fact fans were becoming more politicised after the Heysel ban and Thatcher’s government plans to implement ID cards for all match-going supporters.

Red Issue was a small part of a national movement.’

Despite this seeming Rage against the Machine-esque ‘fuck you, I won’t do you tell me’ attitude of the Red Issue, I get the overarching sense that they do really care about the club.

All the hyperbole, all the offensive statements and edited pictures are just their way of standing up for what they believe in.

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Come to our contributor meeting on Thursday at 5pm in the Student Activities Office!

No experience required.

If you want more information email sport.mancunion@gmail.com / tweet @mancunion_sport

SPORT : 31

ISSUE 11/ 1st DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

MUBC hand out a stern lesson MUBC end the BUCS Indoor Championships with an amazing silverwear haul

Jessie Benson Sport Reporter

Congratulationstotherowingteam ontheirmassivevictorylastweekend at British University Championships IndoorRowing!Theevent,organised

by British Rowing, was open to all universities in the North West and apart from MUBC (Manchester Uni BoatClub),Liverpool,Salford,Bangor, Keele and Lancaster all showed up to give our team a run for their money.

Manchester walked out of these championships proud, winning the Men’s open weight, Men’s light weight, Men’s open relay and Women’s light weight and Women’s light weight relay – that’s a whole lot of silverware.

JessieBensoncaughtupwithMUBC PR Sec to discuss the recent success.

Mancunion: Were you expecting to come out on top this weekend?

Did you achieve what you wanted to?

Emily Cornish (PR & Funds Sec): This is the first year that MUBC has held the event and so this really pushed our rowers to try their best to win on home turf. The competition brought by other universities is always strong however, and so a lot of training was put in to achieve the results that we did. Similarly this is the first event that sees our novices take part – complete beginners who have only been rowing for a few months! We saw a lot of potential in our novices and many of our seniors got Personal Bests in their 2k so overall we were very happy and we foresee a strong season ahead of us.

Mancunion: You guys are known for being an incredibly fit team – who’s to thank for that training?

How do you get ready for a big

Photo: MUBC

event like that?

Emily: Matthew Hackett is our head coach who puts in a lot of time coaching us on the water as well as on the ERG (indoor rowing machine) to make sure both the technique and power is there for every single member.

Our performance Captain, Jake Brown, oversees that everyone is completing their weekly training schedule and figures out where they should be in terms of their training. Committee members run circuits twice a week and weight sessions twice a week. However, a lot of it is down to the determination and hard work of the individual.

We have been fortunate to have our very own erg room this year where members can go and train whenever suits them. For events like BUCS Indoors it means that they can train alongside other members which will force them to push themselves harder while also picking up technique tips off each

other. In terms of specific training for Bucs Indoors people were encouraged to complete a practice 1k/2k, which is the distance they had to complete in the race (seniors 2k, novices 1k) and daily exercises on the erg to keep up their fitness.

Mancunion: Wow, yep, that sounds intense! What was the atmosphere at the competition this weekend?

Emily: It can be a very intense competition with rowers pushing themselves to their limit and there being high expectations for all those competing. Also many are aiming for a PB which can be daunting and very nerve-wracking.

However, every single person there was supporting the competitors; there was lots of encouragement being shouted during the race.

The atmosphere between the universities is always friendly and supportive.

Mancunion: It sounds great.

Can you pick out any star team

members in the victory?

Emily: Jack Brown and Sam Thornton have been top performers in the club for the past year or so. They both took part in the Team GB trials a few weeks ago where Jake achieved a PB on his 2k and they are both awaiting their results. Both of them performed extremely well this weekend with Jake winning 1st in the Men’s Open Weight 2k and Sam 2nd place.

Similarly, their relay team, including John Campbell and Benedict AdeyJohnson, won 1st in the Men’s Open Weight Relay category. For women, Becky Hartwell took home 1st place in the Women’s Lightweight category; having taken a year out for placement, Becky has returned better than ever.

Mancunion: What about the newer members – did any freshers really surprise you with their talent?

Emiy: International rower Peter Zelinka, from Slovakia joined

MUBC in September and has not disappointed at all. Peter took home 1st in the Men’s Lightweight category. This year we took on a large number of novice rowers who also did extremely well at Bucs Indoors. We saw a lot of potential and are excited for their first on the water race at White Rose Head in York in December.

Mancunion: And the all important competition - how were the other University teams looking? Anyone to really look out for this season?

Emily: The competition brought by the other universities is always strong. This year Liverpool took 2nd place overall and Bangor 3rd place. The Women’s Open Weight category in particular was very close between the universities. It is so obvious that everyone has been training hard for the upcoming season.

Mancunion: What’s the next big competition for you all? And what are your hopes for that?

Emily: White Rose head in York on the 6th of December is the first race which will see our novices compete on the water. We are sending a large number of boats to compete and we want our newest members to take this as an opportunity to see how they are doing up against other universities while really experiencing the thrill of competing. They will also get to train in their crews in the lead up to the race which helps them bond as a crew. For our seniors White Rose head is a familiar race and we are expecting good results as they have all been training hard.

If anyone is interested in joining MUBC as a novice or experienced rower please visit our website www.mubc.org.uk to find us on Facebook!

AU in pictures

UMTC after their recent success at the Loughborough open Photo: @UMTC_bounce

UoM Sailing Club’s solid fancy dress effort.

Photo: @manunisailclub

UMRLFC take on Netball to raise money for CLDF Photo: UMWNC

UoM at BUCS Photo: Laura Shepherd

Gearing up for war: UMRFC’s pre-match huddle Photo: @UMRFC1

UoM at the BUCS Photo: Laura Shepher

SPORT

1st DECEMBER 2014/ ISSUE 11 FREE

MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Dave Whelan

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RedIssue IssueInterview Interview Red

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WWW.MANCUNION.COM

BUCS Indoor Rowing

Dyke: Football matches used to be a ‘distressing experience’ The FA’s chief believes football has to improve ethnic representation Tom Cheetham Sport Reporter

In 2001, Mr Greg Dyke said the BBC was “hideously white”. At this time he was the Director-General of the Beeb, and this was the start of his public attempts to promote equality. 13 years down the line Mr Dyke, now Chairman of the Football Association, was talking at the Martin Harris Centre about how the FA has and must continue to go about tackling discrimination.

It was the sixth in the Jim Rose lecture series organised by race equality charity, Runnymede. Mr Dyke appeared alongside broadcasters Bridgid Nzekwu and Gillian Joseph, as well as Chair of the Muslim Women’s Sports Foundation, Rimla Akhtar in what was an engaging, stimulating and aptly timed debate entitled ‘Tackling discrimination: football, media and the pursuit of equality’.

Mr Dyke gave a talk about his first hand experiences with inequality, initially starting by talking about his experiences when he was the chief of BBC between 2000 and 2004, before moving onto his involvements today in his role as commander of the governing body of English football. Mr Dyke started by saying that attending a football game 20 to 30 years ago was a “distressing

: @Mancunion_Sport

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AROUND THE GROUNDS WOMEN’S BSAASKETBALL (1ST) UOM 35-79 YORK MEN’S BASKETBALL 1ST: UOM 51-72 L‘BOROUGH WOMEN’S HOCKEY 4TH: SHEFFIELD 1-0 UOM WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL 2ND: NOTTINGAM 3-0 UOM WOMENS VOLLEYBALL 1ST: UOM0-S’CLYDE 3 WOMEN’S RUGBY 1ST: GLASGOW 5-38 UOM

Greg Dyke gives an optimistic message for the future of British Football Photo: WikiCommons

experience” with racist chants being common place, he remembered days when he used to go and watch Chelsea in the 1980s and 1990s and fans were throwing bananas at black players. He commended the role the FA had played in changing the match day experience to a more family event.

However it was not just his current employers that he gave tribute to, he also

listed factors including; the increase in the number of black players playing the game professionally, as well as better policing and stadiums. However, he had praise of the highest order for the “Kick It Out” campaign and how gradually, with the assistance of the Players Football Association (PFA), the campaign had influenced the Premier League, the Football

League and the FA to make a difference. Despite the improvements in crowd behaviour toward players, Mr Dyke condemned the lack of diversity amongst those who attend football games, he stated that the majority of attendees are still white, and he indicated that this was not a true representation of society, and this caused him great distress.

He admitted that this was a problem

with most clubs, and referred back to his days as Chairmen of Brentford FC, when he acknowledged that the club’s directors, he included, had not done enough to appeal to the diverse audience.

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WOMENS LACROSSE 1ST: DURHAM 15-2 UOM MENS FOOTBALL 1ST: EDINBURGH N 2-1 UOM WOMEN’S BADMINGTON 1ST: UOM 3-5 STRATHCLYDE