Issue12

8th DEC 2014/ ISSUE 12 FREE

MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

My time in a psychiatric hospital

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An ode to Christmas

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Vigil for Mike Brown held at Students’ Union

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Manchester students stand in solidarity with Warwick protestors - Police violently broke up a free education sit-in by Warwick students using CS spray. Warwick Students’ Union has responded by organising further protests against excessive police force, now supported by the University of Manchester Students’ Union.

Defend our Education Manchester protest against the incidents at Warwick. At the front of the image can be seen (left to right) Education Officer Harriet Pugh, Activities and Development Officer Joel Smith, and Community Officer Ellen McLaughlin.

Photo: Defend our Education Manchester @ Facebook.

Lauren Gorton News Editor On Wednesday the 3rd of December thousands of students across the UK took part in the National Day of Action for Free Education. Around 20 campuses including the University of Manchester participated, organising protests and occupying university buildings as part of a peaceful sit-in campaign.

Warwick University also participated in the day of action with the protest group Warwick for Free Education staging a peaceful sit-in at the Senate House building on Warwick campus. However the protest took a violent turn as police were called to the scene after a member of Warwick campus security reported being assaulted by a protester whilst entering the building.

In a statement to Channel 4 Nigel Thrift, the ViceChancellor of Warwick University, stated that it had been the university itself that had called the police after the protest group refused to reveal which individual had assaulted the campus security guard. Although the form and extent of

the assault is yet to be revealed.

Those protesters on the scene reported that at around 17:10 police, including riot police and police dogs, burst into the building in a coordinated assault with campus security. At the time the Warwick students claimed that they were linking arms discussing free education and what a free university would look like.

Rather than interrogate the students as to who was responsible, video footage instead reveals police officers drawing their tasers, in what West Midlands police described as an audible warning, and then advancing on the students. CS spray was used against at least ten of the participating students, whilst footage also reveals police engaging in activity which appears to show them grabbing at protesters phones to prevent them filming the event.

One video, available on the Channel 4 website, reveals a girl filming the scene when a police officer approaches her and attempts to grab her mobile phone. When she moved away the officer responded by grabbing her scarf and dragging the girl to the floor. One onlooking protester intervened telling the police officer to leave his

friend alone, only to be sprayed in the face with CS spray.

The student sprayed with the CS, revealed to be Lawrence Green, a History MA student at Warwick, stated that the police officer had shouted at him, “get back or I’ll use CS spray!” before then immediately using the spray in his eyes. Green further stated, “there wasn’t much time or space for me to move really. Within seconds of the CS spray being pointed at me it was being sprayed in my face.”

One student was later arrested for the assault of the security guard and two others for obstructing the police, although Warwick Students’ Union has revealed that all three have now been bailed.

In an official statement Warwick Student Union also commented on the police action at the Free Education protest: “Warwick Students’ Union absolutely condemns the disproportionate use of force by police on protesters at yesterday’s Free Education demonstration. While the full facts surrounding the incidents are still being established, the use of CS spray, excessive physical force and the threat of tasering is unprecedented on our campus, and

the footage captured by students in attendance last night is deeply disturbing.

“Once again, we stand in solidarity with students who were unnecessarily harmed in this action, and our primary concern is obviously with the welfare of those who were directly affected by yesterday’s events.

“A further demonstration is planned outside Senate House at 3:30pm today, at which Sabbatical Officers will be in attendance. This is intended as a peaceful rally to protest against last night’s actions, and we therefore urge all those attending to exercise good judgement, caution and restraint when participating in what are understandably emotional circumstances for many.”

The Warwick Students’ Union also confirmed that footage caught by protesters is currently being reviewed by West Midlands police to determine if police action was excessive.

Over one thousand students at Warwick attended the further protest on the 4th, which went ahead without incident. Another protest has also been planned to take place on Friday the 5th with students demanding a formal statement from Warwick University supporting those students involved with the initial protest.

As well as a formal apology from West Midlands police, the lifting of all bail conditions against the students and an independent investigation by the university over the police action.

In light of the Warwick story students from across the UK also took to protest to demonstrate student solidarity for Warwick. At the University of Manchester students, led by the Union’s Exec team, protested outside of the Students’ Union building as part of the Defend Our Education protest group.

The Manchester Students’ Union Exec Team released this statement regarding the issue: “The kind of violence seen at the Warwick Occupation is not a first, nor will it be the last.

“We believe that places of education should be places for debate and that students and staff should feel comfortable to participate in protests, demonstrations and other direct actions without fear of retribution by tasers, CS gas or any other forms of assault.

“The West Midlands police fell short of their obligation to protect students and instead attacked them.

“This is something we condemn.”

02 : NEWS

ISSUE 13/ 2nd FEBRUARY 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Highlights P13

Music: Music: Interview: Slipknot

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Picture of the week - ‘Wonders of the University” The Brian Cox Tribute Mob. Photo: The Mancunion

- Students’ Union Education Officer and others made the journey to Greece during elections which saw socialist coalition Syriza take power in Athens - Syriza proposes to roll back the strict austerity measures imposed on Greece by the EU and focuses on the inclusion of young people in politics

Fashion: The Coat Edit

Continued from front page...

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Film: A Brief History of Hawking

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“The party is not without its faults. The lack of women in the youth committee, for example, remains an issue. But one criticism I cannot agree with is the idea that young people are not fit to provide the ideas for ruling a country.

“I wrote to a Syriza youth representative… and he explained that the youth committee was even busier than they had been pre-elections, as they were involved in organising the party in the first days of government.”

The German government continues to insist that Greece must stand by the commitments it has made to honour the EU’s savings programme under its new left-wing party.

A leak from the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schӓuble suggested a Syriza victory might lead to Greece exiting the Union.

“In the UK, it is almost inconceivable to imagine a government made up of ordinary young people who have not made it into Parliament by a long, dirty, and nepotistic career through a party machine,” said Pugh.

“Greece has all the hope of democratic leadership precisely because its primary organisers are able to relate to and understand the issues of the society they represent.

“With the likely attacks and stigmatisation [Syriza] will endure from capitalist European powers, no-one should be under the illusion that it will be easy, or possible, to carry out their promises.

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“But the ideological revolution that has taken place should be exciting. If Syriza has achieved

anything, it is a glimmer of hope and the possibility for a new kind of politics in Europe.”

Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza and Prime Minister of Greece. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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

Beauty Editor: Nikki Patel beauty@mancunion.com

News Editors: Anna Phillips, Lauren Gorton, Jenny Sterne & Helen Chapman 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 Editor: Roberta Rofman features@mancunion.com Opinion Editors: Morris Seifert & Marcus Johns opinion@mancunion.com

foodanddrink@mancunion.com

Books Editors: Leonie Dunn & Ali Pearson books@mancunion.com Games Editors: James Thursfield & Matt Cole games@mancunion.com

Fashion Editors: Aimée Grant Cumberbatch & Gráinne Morrison

Lifestyle Editors: Robert Firth lifestyle@mancunion.com

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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: 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 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 03

Students’ Union votes to become Living Wage accredited employer Elena Losavio News Reporter The Student Union of the University of Manchester has voted in favour of becoming a Living Wage Accredited employer. It was decided at the Trustee Board last week and it will be effective on August 2015 at latest.

This means that all the staff at UoM Students’ Union will be paid the living wage that is currently £7.85 an hour. It will increase the wages that the students’ union is currently paying of around £80,000 per year.

This significant resolution was achieved, after several debates and campaigns that took place on campus. The UoM Living Wage Campaign is promoting and trying to develop awareness among students for this crucial issue.

During the Living Wage Week, the Fair Pay Festival was hosted on the 6th November 2014 at Students Union’s Club Academy. At the event Professor Martin Hall, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Salford, and Frances O’Grady, General Secretary of the TUC, gave a

speech about the importance of becoming a Living Wage Accredited employer.

Speaking during the Fair Pay Festival, Professor Martin Hall expressed his happiness to see that students were active and paid attention on this matter. He said: “it’s really good to see a great attendance and to know that Student unions are still focusing on national public issue events because very often we become obsessed with events that only concerned with the university.”

The UoM Living Wage Campaign asked to students to sign a petition to show their support to the cause. On the whole, over than 1300 signatures were collected.

The campaign went on organising weekly meetings for who was interested in getting involved on this issue. A lot of students care about living wage and they made an effort to focus SU attention on that matter.

Speaking about the relevant result achieved, Matt Harriot, Chair of the Living Wage Campaign said: “The University of Manchester Students’ Union’s commitment to become a Living Wage accredited employer is welcome news.

We’re proud of our Students’ Union for taking a stand for fairer pay in Greater Manchester and urge the University management to follow the Students’ Union’s fantastic example by becoming Living Wage Accredited as soon as possible.”

Conor McGurran, Campaigns and Citizenship Officer stated: “I’m absolutely delighted that we have been able to make a real commitment to ethical employment today. At a time when over half of those in poverty are in work, the Living Wage goes a long way to removing the pay inequalities we see in our workplaces.

It may not be an easy decision, going Living Wage is the right decision, which is why over 1300 people have signed a petition urging the University to set an example and pay their staff fairly. It’s time they took some action.”

If anyone wants to help in the campaign of the UoM Living Wage Campaign they can email uomlivingwage@gmail.com.A Facebook page is available at https://www.facebook.com/UoMlivingwage and they have also a twitter account at https://twitter.com/UoMLivingWage.

The Students’ Union become a Living Wage accredited employer and urge the Univeristy to follow their example Photo: kyle rw @Flickr

Two thirds of students go hungry Pangaea Space Odyssey: headliners revealed Gemma Sowerby News reporter

Two out of three students go hungry in order to pay their bills and fund their degree, says research recently conducted by Bacofoil and The National Student. The study looked at the shopping and cooking habits of almost 5000 UK students, highlighting the worrying issue of food deprivation among the student population.

Half of students admitted that they do not cook every day, and a third confessed to having an unhealthy diet, largely due to the fact that two thirds prioritise bills over food, often sacrificing their health and wellbeing in the process.

There is, however, a wider issue at hand; not only are students, a small class of the population with relatively low overheads, going hungry, so too are hundreds of thousands of people across the UK. Here in Manchester, the problem is only worsening with time, particularly as we enter the winter

months. Largely, the hungry in Manchester are not homeless or penniless, or living rough on the streets, but are often working adults, with families, mortgages, and towering bills that threaten to cripple their financial means.

Bethany Lester, a second year student at the University of Manchester, dedicates much of her time to tackling this problem, and in particular, she says, “The

need to break down those ideas and subsequent barriers that are in the way of those in need of getting the help [they need].”

Those students, therefore, who can afford to help and who wish to get involved with this crisis in poverty and hunger can tackle these old ideas about those living in poverty, and get involved with organisations such as Coffee for Craig, who operate street kitchens in Manchester,

negative connotations that we have with rough-sleepers, or a visitor to a food bank, or someone who might seemingly have a comfortable life but in reality cannot afford to heat their homes or provide themselves with dinner.”

It seems then that the plight of the homeless and hungry, and those who care and provide for them, is not being emphasised enough in the media and among the well off.

Bethany admits that “others who have the means to help are reluctant to do so… due to lack of awareness and knowledge about it” but says that this “does let us know that we

and Free Milk, working with the homeless in student area Fallowfield to provide food and shelter.

Katie Woolsey, a nursing student who volunteers at a local food bank, said that the experience has been “eye-opening. There are families, children and students there who are starving, but if I walked past them on the street I would never know.

It puts everything into perspective— life is hard for so many more people than just those students around us every day. I loved volunteering and seeing the smiles on people’s faces as they got together in a safe place to eat and share their stories.”

Aileen Rose Duffy News Reporter The renowned student-run festival night, Pangaea, is back, with the headliners finally being announced for January’s big night.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs are set to headline the main stage on the evening with a DJ Set, as well as local Manchester musician Mr. Scruff and the hugely successful Tiger & Woods also performing on the night.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs are set to perform new material from their upcoming ‘Zipp EP’, released 15th December 2014.

The long awaited headliners are to perform at the ‘Space Odyssey’ themed night in January next year, kicking off semester two.

Previous themes include Rumble in the Jungle and the Summer of Love.

Other acts confirmed include Submotion Orchestra, Congo Natty, Dark Sky, Dub Phizix & Strategy, Zed Bias Soundsystem ft.

Chunky, The Reflex, Doc Daneeka and Riot Jazz.

The student night, organised by Student Activiteies officer Joel, is usually a sell-out

event with over 5000 students in attendance at the Students Union.

Previous acts have included Hot Chip, Clean Bandit, Paul Woolford, Shy FX & Stamina MC, Booka Shade, Grandmaster Flash, Kano, MK, London Grammar, David Rodigan, DJ Yoda and Greg Wilson.

Pangaea is the largest student festival in Europe, with 15 rooms of music, including all Manchester Academy venues, Students’ Union and outdoor spaces.

The festival will bring together a diverse range of artists to the night on 21st January 2015. The Fire Beneath The Sea, MUJO, Ardstepz, MSC Big Band, Salutation Dub Collective, Scratters & The Funky Disco Pig, Dub Conductor Soundsystem are all acts confirmed to be performing on the evening.

There are still further confirmations to be made to the line up, with a special guest announced nearer the event.

The Mancunion will also be running its ‘best dressed’ competition for the top fancy dress outfits present on the night.

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 04

Candlelit vigil held in memory of Mike Brown - A candlelit vigil was held last Monday in memory of American teenager Mike Brown, who was killed by police earlier this year. Speakers included Mark Duggan’s aunt and Christopher Alder’s sister, who were both also fatal victims of the police.

Jenny Sterne News Editor

Last Monday a candlelit vigil organised

by Fempowerment was held in memory of Mike Brown and in solidarity with the protesters of Ferguson.

At the vigil a four and a half minute silence was conducted, at the request of Mike Brown’s family. It symbolised the four and half hours Mike Browns body lay on the ground after being shot six times.

Mike Brown was fatally shot in August by the police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri.

The circumstances of the shooting have been highly disputed and the result has been months of protests and civil unrest.

The court ruled two weeks ago that Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed Mike Brown, would not be charged.

This sparked renewed unrest in Ferguson and vigils, such as the one in Manchester, have been held across the world.

The Manchester vigil began with a speech from the activist Collette Williams who highlighted the need to “come together as communities to demand justice. Without justice, there will never be peace.”

“No justice, no peace” was then chanted in unison on multiple occasions by those at the vigil, a chant which has been prominent at the protests in Ferguson.

Carol Duggan, Mark Duggan’s aunt, spoke of the death of her nephew at the hands of the police back in 2011 which was deemed lawful by the coroner’s court. Mark Duggan’s death also sparked

civil unrest, often being seen as one cause of the London riots.

Duggan said of the protests in Ferguson “we have to see this to the end for change, because this is the only way change will come about. But what I am saying is our solidarity goes to the people in Ferguson.

We are with Ferguson”.

Speaking of violent nature of the Ferguson unrest and civil unrest in general Duggan said “you cannot be nice about murder. You young people need to get up now and fight. Fight for your children and your children’s children”.

Janet Alder, told those at the vigil of her brother Christopher Alder, an exparatrooper who died sixteen years ago in police custody, which was also deemed a lawful death.

Alder also spoke of experience of finding out in 2011 that the body her family has buried in 2000 was not the body of her brother but that of a 77 year old woman.

She added at the end of her speech that: “We’ve got to lose the fear and we’ve got to stand up. We need your support; we’re not going to be able to do this by ourselves”.

Two days before the verdict on Wilson’s criminal charges a black 12 year old Tamir Rice was shot by police in Cleveland while playing with a toy gun.

Protests were also held last week in response to the court’s decision that the death of Eric Garner, who died after being held in a chokehold, was lawful.

The Staten Island grand jury ended the case last Wednesday. They decided that despite video footage of the incident available there was not enough evidence

to go forward with charges against Daniel Pantaleo, the officer in question.

However, the justice department, after calls from a wave of elected officials, announced it would open a civil rights inquiry.

President Obama, speaking in Washington said that the decisions in New York and Missouri highlighted the frustrations that many AfricanAmericans have harbored about a legal system that has a long history of discrimination against black people.

Obama said: “When anybody in this country is not being treated equally under the law, this is a problem and it’s my job as president to help solve it”.

Obama was insistent that the whole country suffered from unfairness in the justice system; it is “not just a black problem, or a brown problem, or a Native American problem. It is an American problem”.

Despite this Obama chose to continue the federal programs which are transferring billions of dollars of military equipment to local police forces.

The Manchester vigil was just one of many protests and vigils to be occurring in solidarity with Ferguson. Vigils were also held by Birmingham and Warwick University and in London vigils were held outside the US embassy.

Speaking to RT about the US embassy vigil, the chair of Defend the Right to Protest – Hannah Dee said “that the whole world is not only watching Ferguson but joining them to demand justice for Mike Brown and for all victims of police violence and to say that black lives matter.”

A candlelit vigil was held in solidarity with protesters in Ferguson and in memory of Mike Brown. Photo: Jenny Sterne

Rare hand drawn 17th century map Pangaea teams up with Party For The People to help found in John Rylands Library fund Meningitis Research Antonio Rolo Duarte News Reporter

A unique 17th century map of Lancashire has been placed on display for the first time in 400 years, after being found by historians in the John Rylands Library.

The map had been in the Library’s records for 35 years; however experts were not aware of its existence until last month. They were alerted to the fact by Alan Monks, a friend of the map’s previous owner, Leonard Penna. A collector from Cornwall, Mr Penna had bequeathed the document to the library. It had been transferred to the archives area upon his death, in 1979.

The Elizabethan hand-drawn map shows towns and villages of what now constitutes Greater Manchester, including Didsbury, Gorton and Stockport—although it also proves that the settlements were known by different names at the time (Diddsbury, Garton and Stopford). The design shows the rivers Tame and Irk in detail and includes districts

such as Ordsall (Wordsall), Agecroft (Edgcroft) and Prestwich (Prestroich).

It is thought that the map was produced by cartographer Herald William Smith, between 1602 and 1604— long before Manchester became a prosperous industrial metropolis.

The Lancashire design is believed to have been part of a planned England atlas, for which at least twelve counties were mapped.

Dr Ian Saunders, an expert from Lancaster who has researched and collected maps for thirty years, said: “It is a full-size design for a copper plate to be engraved in Amsterdam

by Jodocus Hondius, who was the finest map engraver of the period.

“It is thought that the county series was never completed due to Hondius taking on the commission for engraving a new atlas by John Speed, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, which has been celebrated for 400 years as one of the world’s most popular cartographic treasures.

“Speed openly acknowledged his friend Smith’s influence on his own

maps and it is probable that his publisher George Humble bought the twelve plates and stored them away to prevent their use for a competing publication.”

Housing 250000 printed volumes and more than a million manuscripts and items, some say it is possible that other unknown treasures lie in the John Rylands Library’s shelves, but that only time will tell.

Dr. Saunders worked with John Hodgson, a manuscripts and archives manager and Donna Sherman, who is a map librarian at the Library, to bring the Lancashire map to light. University staff members have now digitized both sides of this map for the purpose of it being more closely examined. Experts will be studying its content as well as 17th century printing techniques.

After laying effectively untouched in the library for nearly four decades, this fascinating glimpse of Mancunian past is now on public display at the John Rylands library and will remain so until December the 22nd.

Anna Phillips News Editor This year, non-profit organisation Party For The people will be teaming up with Pangaea to raise money for charity through ticket sales.

Party For The People is a non-profit organisation forged from the vibrant underground UK music scene with sole aim of raising money for charity.

A representative of Party For The People said: “We’ll be doing all the tickets for Pangaea in January, which should raise £2000 to support the Meningitis Research Foundation and Manchester Nightline, which were chosen by RAG due to the death of a student from meningitis this year, and as Nightline is struggling for funding.”

The support for the meningitis research foundation follows the tragic death of firstyear University of Manchester student Teygan Sugrue who died suddenly of Meningitis early last month.

Teygan was found seriously ill in his room on Sunday the 2nd of November, he was taken to hospital at around 8pm, but medics were unable to save him.

PFTP operates a fully-fledged ticketing agency, and will be donating a percentage of the booking fees from every Pangaea ticket to support the Meningitis Research Foundation and Nightline.

They are the only non-profit ticketing organisation in the UK, adding an ethical dimension to music events at no extra costs.

They have no shareholders, so 100% of their net profits are invested into the charities they support .

Party For The People will also be supporting Manchester Nightline through ticket sales, a voluntary confidential listening information service run by students for students.

The organisation has already secured partnerships with the O2 Academy, Warp, Sankeys, Tramlines, and Far and Gottwood festivals. They also hosted a room in January’s ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ Pangaea earlier this year, raising £150 for UoM’s RAG society.

Pangaea 2015 has also just been announced, the highly anticipated theme of ‘Space Odyssey’ will take place after exams in January and ticket sales will be announced soon.

ISSUE 12/ 8th December 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 05

Cardiff University reject the Students’ Union becoming officially pro-choice Anna Phillips News Editor

A motion to make Cardiff University’s Student’s Union officially pro-choice over abortion has been defeated in an Annual General Meeting last week.

The motion was put forward by the Chair of the Cardiff Women’s Association Rachael Melhuish, stating that Cardiff Student’s Union should: “Campaign against protest outside abortion clinics…

and prevent affiliated societies and groups from taking part in anti-choice protests or rallies outside of abortion clinics and under the banner of the student’s union.”

A further clause states: “Any information about abortion or contraception disseminated, distributed or presented in union or university buildings must be unbiased and not shame those who choose to have abortions, and must be academically referenced.” The motion also points

out that 1 in 3 women will have had an abortion by the age of 45.

The motion was opposed by the Keep Cardiff Uni Free campaign, which had backing from multiple religious oncampus groups such as the Catholic Society, Islamic Society, and the Atheist Society among others.

This prompted concerns that freedom of speech and expression in the university was under threat by the proposal of the motion.

Alithea Williams, vice-chair of the

Alliance of Pro-Life Students said: “This motion is highly problematic. It seeks to impose a uniform ideological viewpoint on the entire student body, and tramples upon the right to freedom of speech and expression of those who disagree.”

Laura Carter, Women’s Officer for Cardiff University said: “I have never admitted to trying to represent everyone’s views (I represent roughly 55 per cent of Cardiff University Students’ Union population) as that would be virtually impossible and I would achieve

Rachael Melhuish, Chair of Cardiff Women’s Association speaking at the AGM. Photo@Facebook @Flickr

Free education Protesters march down Oxford Road Helen Chapman News Editor Following the national demonstration for Free Education, the Manchester branch for free education assembled at 12pm last Wednesday between the Library and the Learning Commons.

Protesters were armed with banners and determination, demonstrating their support for free education, including one sporting the slogan: “£9K FEES, 4 YEARS ON, STILL SHIT.” The movement then marched down Oxford road, disrupting traffic with the supportive blasts of car horns and cheers from passers-by, chanting: “Education should be free, not just for the bourgeoisie!”

The protest then assembled at All-Saints park on the Manchester Metropolitan University campus where Harriet Pugh, the Students’ Union Education Officer, spoke about the marketisation of higher education and the

demands of the movement for free education.

The demands of the demonstration for free education include: “That senior management publicly express support for a system of free education, funded by taxing the rich, and do everything in their power to put pressure an end to the tuition fees regime.

That the University of Manchester management increase bursaries in real terms, not cut them.

That the University of Manchester stops using international students as cash cows—they should be treated no differently to any other students.”

Caspar Hughes, third year Politics and International Relations student, said: “We’re constantly told by politicians that there is no choice: we can’t afford free education and students’ £9000 fees are essential in this period of austerity and cuts. This is rub-

bish.

“From demonstrating we hope to get free education back on the agenda and dispelling myths propagated by both the coalition government and Labour opposition.

“Education is a right, not a privilege, and is economically feasible. Whether it can be achieved will be decided by how long and hard we are willing to struggle.”

Jasper Llewellyn, third year Drama student, said: “The problem of 2010 hasn’t gone away.

Students are still dissatisfied at being treated as customers by Higher Education institutions.

“The government is unwilling to put the interests of students over those of private corporations eager to exploit the education sector.

“The Manchester branch of the student movement meets every Monday at 5pm in the Students’ Union and there are going to be regular demos for free education as part of this movement.”

very little in my role.

“My role is to put the interests and welfare of women students first in the way that I see fit. Imagine the criticism I would have (deservedly) received had I voted against the motion or abstained.

As Women’s Officer, it is not just my own decision to be pro-choice and support pro-choice, it is my duty.

“We need to actually clarify to students what being pro-choice means and why it is so important for women students. It was an unbearably close vote and I am immensely proud of Rachael Melhuish and all of the other students who spoke on behalf of the motion.”

Catholic Society at the University of Cardiff also commented, saying: “CathSoc are happy that they can remain part of the Students’ Union, but are more delighted that the broad coalition formed between several student societies and individuals has protected free speech within the SU. We hope to work with the women’s association in the future with certain parts of the motion, such as improving access to information for student parents, and this motion has given us a baseline to start communicating and working together.”

According to the Huffington Post, the motion to make Cardiff University officially pro-choice was defeated by such a landslide that votes weren’t counted for the opposition.

However, Olivier van den Bent-Kelly, member of the Student Senate at Cardiff University told The Mancunion: “In the end, the room voted that the opposing arguments were stronger with 60-40 (according to the voter counter) voting to reject it.

“It did highlight the need to have a debate on pro-choice/pro-life and that it is necessary that groups such as theWomen’s Association, Cathsoc and Students For Life need to enter into dialogue to now see what the best course of action is on this issue.”

Poor admission figures lead to axing of Middle Eastern languages courses Charlie Spargo Deputy Editor-in-chief The University of Manchester is to close three language courses under the umbrella of Middle Eastern Studies, after consistently poor admission figures.

Over the past three years only a total of 17 students have been admitted to the Hebrew, Persian and Turkish courses at the University of Manchester.

In the 2013/14 academic year, no students joined the Persian course at all. This data does not include those who dropped out or transferred to other courses.

The University of Manchester has made numerous attempts to improve admission figures, including making changes to the teaching portfolio, but has been thus far unsuccessful and has had to withdraw these

courses.

Current students of Hebrew, Persian and Turkish will continue to be taught and their graduation will not be affected by the cancelling of the courses.

The university has been a major centre for the study of Middle Eastern affairs for more than 100 years.

The University of Manchester Library has one of the largest Middle Eastern Collections in Europe and one of Britain’s finest manuscript collections.

Manchester has been regarded as the UK’s language capital and the university has its own dedicated Multilingual Manchester project.

A spokesperson for the university said, “[Our] commitment to research and scholarly activity in Middle Eastern Studies remains strong and it is not closing

the undergraduate degree programme.

“However, over a number of years, we have seen extremely low recruitment to a small number of undergraduate language programmes.

“As a result, the university has decided to withdraw a very small number of programmes associated with the Turkish, Persian and Hebrew languages.

“The university will continue to offer a range of undergraduate programmes and course units which consider the cultural, societal and historical elements of the Middle East, as well as enabling the study of the Arabic language.

“Additionally, we will continue to offer students the opportunity to study Arabic, Persian, Hebrew and Turkish languages through our University Language Centre.”

06 : News

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

New science research institute to be based at University of Manchester - The Chancellor has announced that the University of Manchester will become home to the new national research and innovation centre, the Sir Henry Royce Institute, focused on advanced materials.

Andy van den Bent-Kelly Science and Technology Editor

A £235m materials science research centre is set to be built in Manchester, the Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement.

The Sir Henry Royce Institute for Materials Research and Innovation will be based at the University of Manchester and will also have satellite branches at Imperial College London and the universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Cambridge, Oxford and Sheffield.

The centre aims to build on recent advances made in materials science, focusing on developing materials such as graphene. It will be made up of 14 sections, covering a wide range of disciplines such as nanotechnology, chemistry and engineering.

One of these sections will be dedicated to nuclear materials and will be supported by existing research centres in Cumbria and Oxfordshire.

The announcement is a huge boost for the scientific community across the entire north of the country. George Osborne stated, “A few months ago there were no proposals for major scientific institutions in the North of England.

“Today we commit a massive quarter of a billion pound investment in a new Sir Henry Royce

Institute for advanced materials science in Manchester.”

Manchester wasn’t the only place to benefit from this science package. A £113m Cognitive Computing Research Centre will be constructed just outside nearby Warrington, whereas Newcastle will gain a £20m Innovation Hub for Ageing Science.

Osborne added, “Britain is raising its ambition.

And nowhere is that clearer than in our commitment to science. It is a personal priority of mine.

“Scientific advance is a human endeavour worthy of support in its own right. It is also crucial to our economic future.”

The University of Manchester’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, welcomed the news, stating, “This considerable investment in UK science – the largest single funding agreement in our University’s history – is testament to the outstanding research in advanced materials carried out in Manchester and at the new Institute’s partner organisations.”

Professor Colin Bailey, Vice-President and Dean of the University’s Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, echoed her sentiments, saying, “The UK has a world-leading research base in advanced materials, which is essential to the long-term wellbeing and growth of all industrial sectors.

“The new Institute, supported by our industrial and academic partners, will provide the opportunity for the UK to stay ahead in this vital area of research and innovation to ensure growth in the national economy, as well as addressing the many global challenges facing society.”

Materials science is a rapidly expanding field and this investment highlights the Chancellor’s desire to instigate stronger collaborations between academia and industry and to commercialise the research currently taking place.

The UK is a world-leader in materials science research and in no place is this more apparent than Manchester, where the National Graphene Institute is due to open next year.

Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester City Council, said, “This is a momentous announcement for Manchester and the UK, which underlines the University of Manchester’s worldclass credentials and adds significant momentum to the city’s major role at the leading edge of global advanced material research.

“It’s something for which we have long campaigned. The potential for the applications of such materials is vast and they will play a major part in realising the economic potential of Manchester, Greater Manchester and the North as a whole.”

George Osborne emphasised his commitment to advancing science by announcing a huge financial package for the sector Photo: Ewan McIntosh @Flickr

Lend your voice to combat breast cancer this Christmas - Love singing? Hate breast cancer? Get festive and join the first annual Breast Cancer Care Choir in collaboration with students across Greater Manchester, including the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and Salford University Patrick Anyadi News Reporter

For the first time this Christmas, University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Royal Northern College of Music are joining forces to create the Breast Cancer Care Choir.

The aim of the choir is to unite the students of Manchester in raising money for Breast Cancer Care.

Founded in 1973, Breast Cancer Care has campaigned for decades to improve the lives of sufferers and their families. The vision of the charity is to ensure that every person affected by the illness gets the best ‘treatment, information and support’.

Their award-winning work encompasses a wide range of patient support initiatives, political campaigns and research projects.

Each year, more than 50,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK. According to a study by researchers at Oxford University, the illness costs the nation an estimated £1.5bn annually. A figure which is set to rise due to the increasing cost of treatment and diagnosis.

In the midst of slashes to NHS funding and the increasing prevalence of breast cancer, the role played by charities, such as Breast Cancer Care is

becoming ever more vital. The charity is almost entirely reliant on ‘voluntary donations, corporate support and grants’.

Any contributions made or volunteering undertaken by the students of Manchester has the potential to make a world of difference.

All volunteers are welcome to join the Breast Cancer Care Choir, regardless of singing ability.

Two rehearsals will take place, leading up to a final performance at the Manchester Christmas Markets, St. Ann’s Square on Thursday 11th December.

Speaking to The Mancunion Anna Foley, the area fundraiser for Breast Cancer Care North and Midlands, said, “to take part in the Breast Cancer Choir all you need to do is turn up to the rehearsals, which will be held on Monday 8th December at 4-5pm and on Wednesday 10th December 2-3pm.”

The location of the rehearsals is yet to be announced but will be on campus.

The Breast Cancer Care Choir provides a unique opportunity to collaborate with fellow Manchester students and revel in Yuletide celebrations at one of the UK’s busiest Christmas markets.

Breast Cancer Care invites those unable to participate in the choir to view the final performance.

1st Rehearsal Monday 8th December, 4-5pm Location: Room 3.212, University Place, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL 2nd Rehearsal Wednesday 10th December, 2-3pm Location: Location: Room 5.212, University Place, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL Final Performance Thursday 11th December, 4-5:30pm Location: Manchester Christmas Markets, St Ann’s Square, M2 7LF

The Manchester Christmas Markets, at which the Breast Cancer Choir are set to perform.

Photo: Rachel Docherty @Flickr

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Photo: Ohio R. Angel @Flickr

My time in a psychiatric hospital Eilís Hall discusses her time in hospital and how it impacted her life

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ou tell yourself that routines are healthy. They keep you on the straight and narrow. They tell you how to get through each day. A daily routine can be incredibly useful for the average student, particularly if you struggle to motivate yourself into sitting down and doing your coursework. You might have your daily routine figured out in a way that is completely functional and if you do, I salute you. I have had many different routines since I started university but here was my second year routine: 7am: Wake up. Lie in bed and avoid getting up for as long as possible.

Between 10pm and 2pm: Do all of the washing up in the kitchen. No matter how much there is.

Next: Work out. 200 jumping jacks. 100 leg-ups. 100 – 200 situps.

Next: Shower.

Next: Roll a cigarette, make a cup of herbal tea, eat a banana. Smoke cigarette. Drink tea. Wash mug.

Next: Find anything possible to do to get you through the day without having anything to eat.

Aim to find a reason to walk for at least half an hour. Throw yourself into all of your university work and tell yourself you aren’t allowed anything you enjoy until you have read x amount of pages or written x amount of words of the essay that is due in three weeks time.

Between 6pm and 8pm: Do any washing up that has accumulated throughout the day. Find the

smallest bowl and a comfortably small teaspoon. Roll a cigarette.

Prepare half a tin of soup and a mug of herbal tea. Prepare a slice of toast, provided the bread is below 100 calories. Eat soup, wash up immediately. Smoke cigarette.

Drink tea.

Next: Throw myself into university work or reading until it is an appropriate time to drink alcohol.

Around 2am or 3am: Crawl into bed. Probably don’t get to sleep for another two hours or so.

Now maybe this routine would be okay for the average student for one or two days. Here’s the thing: I wasn’t the average student, I did this every day. In bed, I calculated every calorie for the whole week.

If I was drinking on a particular night, I would have to have a lower calorie soup. If I wasn’t, I could ‘treat myself’ so long as the soup was still below 200 calories.

My ‘workout’ routine was painful but I had to do it because in my head, if I missed one day then this would destroy everything. The only thing that seemed to change was how much activity I did in the day. Sometimes I had work and on those days it was often even worse. I was a tutor for kids in the area and I had to go to different houses for each session, often in the hours that I considered ‘dinner time’—and if I missed ‘dinner time’ I missed dinner. On a few occasions my clients would comment on me looking tired or pale—but none of them knew how ill I really was.

My housemates knew what I was doing, and my family would ask me about my eating habits every day.

One night, my friend was lying in bed beside me and she burst into tears. When I asked her why, all she said was, “I don’t want you to die.” I told her neither did I, but in reality, every time I ran or climbed the stairs, it felt like my legs were going to collapse beneath me. Yet somehow it still took me nearly the whole year and two different counsellors before I finally said it: “I think I need to get some real help.”

Admitting I had a problem wasn’t the issue. No, I knew I had a problem. I suppose it becomes a ‘laugh-or-cry’ situation when you realise that you’ve spent half an hour sitting at your kitchen table trying to work out whether or not to eat a satsuma before your blood test and a banana after or whether to just wait until later so that you don’t have to have the extra fruit. My ‘issue’ was that I felt like going into hospital meant that I was giving up a part of me or throwing it all away. That and, I felt like everyone would forget me and when I came back, I would have no one. I felt like my illness was my identity and that when I lost it no one would find me ‘interesting’ or care about me. Now it seems ridiculous that I somehow believed that my closest friends preferred the girl who would literally flap her arms about squealing if unable to find a clean teaspoon at teatime to the

functional human being they had met in first year.

Cut to me, an in-patient.

Deciding to go into hospital is probably the most important and mature step I have ever taken, but this does not mean I immediately became a welladjusted functioning adult. The next step was getting me to agree to anxiety medication, which was an interesting battle. When I was feeling more ‘sane’ my argument was “well clearly I’m managing my anxiety very well on my own.”

When I wasn’t, my argument was “I REFUSE TO BE A LAB RAT IN YOUR CAGE, I WILL FEEL MY FEELINGS.” The clincher for me was the day I had an argument with the nurse who was serving our food at the hospital on the grounds that I was certain that parsnips were not a vegetable. Often people will refuse medication on the simple basis of pride—myself included. A lot of people refuse to even acknowledge that they have a problem because they are so determined to simply be stronger.

The day after the parsnip melodrama, I had a cigarette with one of the nurses and explained to her my fears; I wanted to feel in control. It was through talking to this nurse—and a few others—that I realised that this need for control was controlling me. I’d spent the past two years obsessively trying to keep my life structured and it had been exhausting. Maybe trusting them was frightening, but in the environment I was in I

had no choice but to trust them.

So I started to try to alter the way I saw things. Thinking “I can’t control this” had been sending my anxiety sky high and re-affirming my determination to reject the anxiety medication which, at that point, I needed. They could take control of my physical health but I’d be damned if they were going to take away the crippling sense of dread that made me wake up at 5am and smoke three cigarettes in a row. However, changing the emphasis of that statement seemed to change the way the whole world looked: “I can’t control this” also meant “I don’t have to control this.” I didn’t have to obsessively calculate everything I consumed and time my walks and obsess over the order in which I would make my dinner and do the washing up and which spoon I would use. They were doing this for me, until it became less exhausting. They were giving the overheating system that drove my actions a break. And they knew what they were doing. Suddenly that didn’t seem so scary at all; it seemed liberating.

In the hospital I met a large variety of people and regardless of whether we were friends or enemies—and I won’t say there were no enemies—I am glad I met every single one of them. One girl is now one of my best friends and I expect will remain so. This is not just because we had our illness in common. Nor is it because we were able to understand the frustration

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caused by the dietician telling us that we were not allowed to put mayonnaise on fish fingers because this is apparently not ‘normal’ (though this is still a sore spot for us both). The reason we are friends is because we can both identify greatly with the characters in The IT Crowd, and because we have both fantasized about what house we would be placed in at Hogwarts. We both read about two to three books a week and can probably quote the film ‘Frozen’ word for word. She introduced me to Terry Pratchett and I introduced her to Margaret Atwood. We might have mental illness as a part of us, but we also have our own identities and I feel like a lot of people forget that about people in hospital. Maybe it’s because they think that nothing in their life can be separated from the disorder or maybe they want to glamourise it (because what they really want is a young hot mess for a friend to fantasise about saving), but ultimately they see the illness and not the person. But the people I met in hospital were more than that.

There was an Italian woman in the hospital with me, who was a doctor in anthropology; she seemed to have more artistic talent in her little finger than I have in my entire body. In the time I knew her, she had made a T-shirt, designed several tins for her boyfriend’s antique shop, made two eccentric but glorious hats and designed a poster for an event that was being held in aid of Alzheimer’s disease. On one or two occasions she returned to the hospital from her time out drunk, with a lengthy description of her sexual exploits to relate back to us—she wasn’t perfect. But it was this woman who brought me out of my postadmission slump. I was sat in the corridor upstairs because being alone in ‘my’ room still frightened me. Outside of that room, I still felt isolated but at least I was less afraid. The radio was permanently on and usually it was some kind of cheesy ‘smooth’ programme which played predominantly 80s songs, which I sometimes felt forced to love, but usually wanted to smash the radio repeatedly with a mallet.

But this time, when she came out into the corridor and asked if anyone would get up and dance with her, I think I surprised myself when I actually said ‘yes’. I love dancing, no matter how terrible I am at it. When you’re drunk on a night out it’s easy to drop your embarrassment and just make an idiot of yourself. Having the guts to do this sober and with a person I didn’t know was a different issue—but it was one of the first things that really made me feel like myself. And the thing is, in the early days it’s little things like that which will keep you from really going crazy.

I won’t describe hospital as a ‘fun’ place, but you find amusement where you can. Eventually, I think I almost loved the irritating things because they brought us together.

It could feel like being a group of naughty children in a boarding school. We mastered the art of dealing out chewing gum like it was a Class A drug and sneaking into each other’s rooms. We learnt the thrill of daring to get a caffeinated drink when we were on our access hours. Fine, breaking the rules isn’t the main point of a hospital

admission but I guess it’s the things that make you smile that count. Maybe you find yourself behaving like a child sometimes but in an environment where you have to ask permission to go for a walk and have someone coming into your room every half an hour to ask if you’re okay, it’s not really a wonder that you revert to some old habits. I found the nights the most irritating. I still remember, with gritted teeth, the time an agency nurse came into my room at 2am and stared at me for 10 seconds before stating, “you’re not asleep.” Oh, how impressed I was with his exceptional observation skills! The more experienced staff members would begin encouraging you to actually go to sleep. “We have to encourage good sleep-hygiene.” I understood that my sleeping pattern maybe wasn’t ‘normal’, but having been a student, the concept of going to bed before midnight (sober!) and being woken up at 8am was pretty alien. Now I find myself feeling pretty lame when I am absolutely shattered by 10pm and a ‘lie-in’ for me is if I wake up at 9:30 in the morning. Why thank you, NHS, I am officially my grandmother.

What I came to realise is that all these ‘irritants’ were actually preparing me to face normal life.

I may not like getting up early in the morning, but at least I can say I’m able to do this. The first time I was allowed out for the weekend, my mind was blown by my ability to actually go into town with my friends during the day. I found myself dragging my friends through the town with ridiculous enthusiasm; everything from the market stalls (which were the same every Saturday) to the Mormons that stop you on Oxford Road was novel. Every single person that passed me on the street was beautiful. And even better, I went out to get food and genuinely enjoyed food again.

Every argument I’d ever had with a nurse or the dietician suddenly seemed practically insane. All I wanted to do was throw my arms around all of them. Am I saying I never freaked out? Of course not.

The difference is, I was able to say to myself what I had never said before. If I avoided the situations that scared me, I might find it easier but I also knew exactly how it would go. If I faced the unknown, maybe I would panic, but what if I was missing something I would have otherwise enjoyed? Was that really living? Did I want to look back on my sister’s wedding and think: “I went home early and missed it all but at least I was safe at home with my book and a cup of herbal tea,” or “I freaked out for a bit but then I picked myself up, drank a few ciders and got to see my dad attempt his signature Footloose jump”? Guess what; I decided on the second option and had one of the best nights of my life.

The week of my discharge, one of the nurses—the nurse who took me for my first meal at a restaurant since the illness had taken hold—asked me how I felt.

My answer was, “I feel like I’m in a different world,” and she smiled and said to me: “You are. You’re in a better world.” For all the jokes and complaints I might make about the rules and the structure of hospital life, and in spite of the fact I literally wrote on my menu that

Photo: Dave Gingrich @Flickr

I was having ‘FREEDOM’ for tea on the day I left, it was emotional leaving. I will never thank the staff enough for the support they gave me and the things I learnt with their help. I’m not saying everyone was peachy-keen or anything, but the people that were, well, they were something special. It is one thing to do your job as a nurse, but it is another thing to see the patients as people as well. It’s something that even people who don’t work in a hospital struggle with and it’s something I needed.

There were nurses at the hospital who I hope I will see again one day—on different terms—because they weren’t just staff members to us, they were interesting and caring men and women who went above and beyond in their careers.

I even had my thank-yous to give the ‘dreaded dietician’ the day I left; though I did attach a note to her gift explaining my continued disgust at her discrimination against mayonnaise.

The fact is, mental illness will never be something that everyone can fully understand. You take the good with the bad. I have friends who talk to me as the girl I used to be and once again am. I have friends who tell me I’ve got my ‘spark’ back and we dance to our old favourite songs and fall back into that old easy conversation. I also have relatives who say things like, “how are you doing? No, I mean, how are you really doing?”

Before I left the hospital I made

jokes about the comments I was scared of. Okay, £50 on the first relative to say “you look well,” any takers? But you know what? When someone did say “You look well,” it didn’t hurt the way I thought it would. They told me I look well, because I do. It doesn’t mean I’ve gained so much weight I’m a whale. It means the colour is back in my cheeks and my hair isn’t dry and straggly. It means my eyes are no longer sunken in with big black bags beneath them. It means that I’m not vanilla, I’m not the girl to whom my housemate once said: you never laugh, you just sort of shrug—it is no longer true. Because that was my illness—not me.

So here’s the most important thing that I learnt from my admission to the ED unit: mental illness is not a weakness. I realise now that more people than I could have ever imagined in my life struggle with some form of mental illness. The difference between ‘strong’ and ‘weak’ is nothing to do with what your brain is doing or how often you have those days when you just don’t want to get out of bed. Moreover, recovery does not mean that you wake up one day without any problems.

I realised that recovery is about being able to cope with your issues in a practical way, as opposed to crying because there are too many dishes on the drying rack and you’ve just washed the Pyrex jug and have nowhere to put it.

I wanted to write this article but

until I began writing, I wasn’t sure why I wanted to write it. Now I think I know what I’m trying to say, and it’s dedicated not just to people with eating disorders or even people with ‘severe’ mental illness. This message is to everyone who has ever felt afraid of what’s inside them whether it is big or small. This is for anyone who has ever found themselves clinging to the negative feelings because they feel like they don’t know where they would be without them. Here’s something I wrote for a friend while I was an in-patient:

You are not your illness. You are not the sadness that keeps you up at night. You are not your eating habits. You are not the panic that hits you before an exam or a job interview. Your headaches and stomach cramps: they are not your identity. You are every quirk that the people around you adore you for. You are the songs you sing in the shower. You are your favourite books and the quotes you remember. You are the things that make you passionate or excited, the face you make when they give you good news. You are the look your lover gives you, the jewellery you refuse to take off, the mismatched clothes you somehow pull off. Your demons try to take away from that but they are not you. Don’t let them take away from that. They are smoke and mirrors and you are magic.

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Editors’ Foreword Marcus Johns Morris Seifert

We have approached the end of the First Semester and this is our last issue before Christmas.

We thought we would give you a special treat with our 2014 Christmas Special on page 11. Our main debate this week however is about press regulation; two strong cases have been submitted by our contributors and we would love to know who you think wins the debate. Let us know by tweeting us at: @MancunionOp. If you would like to contribute tweet us or like our page on Facebook at facebook.com/MancunionOp Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Good Luck in any exams you may have after Christmas too.

Santa is real Morris Seifert Editor I have seen Father Christmas, I have sat on his knee and received a present from the bushy bearded bringer of jollity. I have seen thousands of photos of the man. I have left out cookies overnight and found a bite taken from them. I have woken up to presents under the tree. I imagine you have experienced the same.

I am perturbed, no, disgusted, by the recent doubt cast upon the existence of the man who, with his team of merry elves, has been crafting, shaping and ensuring that we all enjoy Christmas for over a thousand years. The naysayers contend that he’s made-up; a folklore tale to tell little kids as an excuse to not explain to them the intricacies of the Christmas festival.

This is intellectual bankruptcy at its finest—we should respect children enough to tell them to truth—that every Christmas Eve a jovial man dressed in a red suit flies his sleigh pulled by reindeer all over the world descending down chimneys to bestow presents upon good children.

I ask you to look only objectively at the facts: Look objectively at Christmas. The festival simply could not happen without him. I ask you to consider what you have seen with your own eyes—the man, the presents, reindeer, snow, beards.

Even with so much proof, people still wish for him not to exist.

Maybe they are fearful, maybe they are jealous. Maybe they did not feel that their presents were adequate. I do not know.

All I know is that the government have designated Christmas a national holiday, the government celebrate Christmas, and the government tell me Christmas is great. Do you really believe they would do this if Santa wasn’t real?

Do you really believe the government would lie?

I know that my parents are not callous liars. I know my parents would not dare tell me untruths.

I also know my parents normally go to bed around 9pm.

Santa is real; you and I have both experienced the man with our own senses. Do not be sceptic; do not pick holes in the altruistic bearded bestower of gifts. Do not think, but feel with your gut. Thank Santa for all he has done for you and with open arms, embrace your friend, Father Christmas.

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@MancunionOp

Should we increase regulation of the Press?

Yes Lauren Wills Contributor

Today’s media get away with murder. We were all disgusted at the phone-hacking scandal which came to light in 2011, particularly in regards to Milly Dowler and the fact that News of the World employees had the audacity to hack a murder victim’s phone without considering the consequences for her family.

Other victims of phone-hacking included members of the Royal Family, families of deceased soldiers, and victims of the 7/7 London bombings. While these occurrences were a blatant, immoral violation of privacy, they highlighted a wider issue concerning the ethics of the media in today’s society and whether they should be held to account.

The press are said to have a constitutional role in democracies— that is, they hold people in power (especially in government) to account through discovering truth and publishing stories nationally.

They encourage transparency and integrity which is undoubtedly well-needed in our government.

Furthermore, there are arguments to suggest media publications encourage individuals to make wellinformed decisions about politics and thus are a crucial agent in securing individual freedom of expression.

No

Thomas McEvilly Contributor The vital role the press plays to our democracy is undisputed, as the Lord Chief Justice has said; “in a country governed by the rule of law, the independence of the press is a constitutional necessity.” Not only does the press hold those in power to account, but, information it dispenses contributes to public discourse and debate, enabling the public to act on informed decisions. Therefore any contemplation for regulating the press raises a number of threating implications to our democratic society.

It goes without question that any regulation underpinned by statute is a gross infringement of this constitutional role; it couldn’t hold the government to account, if those it was scrutinizing had authority over it.

This however, is of less interest at this moment, but rather the idea of an independent regulatory body which had emerged in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, it’s this which I have issue with. At present the Press Complaints Commission is now being abolished and replaced with IPSO which in itself is totally flawed, but, if successful has an equal bearing on democracy, as state intervention.

Freedom of speech is one of

Because of this special status given to the media to promote freedom of speech in a democratic society, there is, in my opinion, too much space for them to abuse that power. Because our generation is so liberal, it’s easy to bypass the logic that if the media are holding people in power to account, they too need to be subject to scrutiny by an independent body separate from the government.

It’s a difficult debate, and I understand why free speech advocates may argue that any legislation governing the freedom of the press could be dangerous. David Cameron said this himself after the Leveson Inquiry when the recommendations were ultimately rejected.

Lord Justice Leveson in his independent inquiry into the practices of the media argued after considering the phone-hacking scandal, police bribery and the press exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories—that there needed to be some kind of system to ensure the press didn’t abuse their power.

Because this was a few years ago and it’s not making the front page of newspapers anymore, most see the phone-hacking scandal as a distant memory or a few isolated incidents which won’t happen again. What many people don’t realise is that the system of regulation that has recently been introduced in the UK is in no way, shape or form independent and doesn’t actually hold the press to account or encourage journalistic integrity.

The same thing happened with the banking scandal in 2008. Because we’re recovering from the

recession and moving forward, many pay little attention to the fact that hardly anything has been done to regulate banks and their practices with people’s money.

The new ‘regulation’ body in the UK was launched, as Michelle Gribbon comments, ‘with a whisper’ in September of this year.

With the hype and media attention of the phone-hacking scandal just a few years ago, you’d think the launch of this independent, rigorous, fair and transparent regulator, Independent press standards organization (IPSO) would have gained more publicity than it did.

Most newspapers have signed up to the new regulator; the Mirror Group, The Sun, The Times, The Telegraph and the Mail Group, however, it had no official launch and most newspapers refused to write about it, because it’s just not ‘newsworthy’ enough.

IPSO is a replacement for the previous Press Complaints Commission which served as an extremely

our fundamental rights, which has enabled us to develop as a free country. First acknowledged by the Magna Carta and currently pronounced under Article 10 of the Humans Rights act 1998, it confers a right to enable us as individuals to hold opinions, receive and impart information without interference by public authority, this right extends to the press. It’s the enjoyment of freedom of expression by the press which allows it to fulfill its constitutional role, and regulation in any form is a fundamental breach of this right.

A free press should be encouraged because of the public benefit which comes from the free flow of information and by regulating the press then there is the danger that a chilling effect could emerge. Journalists would avoid newsworthy stories in fear that they would receive a negative reaction, or find themselves having to justify their actions in front of IPSO. A chilling effect of this kind is of great concern for the British democracy, because it causes journalists to write cautiously or remain silent, and how can this be any benefit to the public when they rely on the news in order to base intelligent choices in holding those in power accountable.

Yes, without any regulation the press is liable to publish false stories, or exaggerate the truth, but this in itself shouldn’t be undermined, as it’s necessary for the development of society. False information forces us to challenge our own opinions, frequently, fully and fearlessly, resulting in a strength-

ened opinion, or as otherwise we would be lead to our own assumption of infallibility.

We have already seen the closure of one ‘red top’ newspaper, strict regulations enforced by fines and the inclination of cautious journalism could see the closure of further newspapers, which only goes to narrow the sources from which public debate can be pooled.

I can see the argument that regulation is needed in order for the press to recognize their responsibility for ethical practices so as to discourage journalism which has a total disregard for privacy, but people need to gain perspective. The phone hacking undertaken by the News of the

embarrassing body to regulate the ethics of the media. The whole point of IPSO is that it’s meant to be separate from the government so that the press are subject to proper regulation.

However, the watchdog we’ve all been waiting for is unlikely to stand up to the press, especially considering it’s funded by the newspaper industry itself. Gribbon furthermore comments that, quite shamefully, one of their board members happens to be an individual who was a chief defender of The Sun’s coverage of the Hillsborough disaster.

With no adequate means of regulation in the UK, we are in danger of further horrific abuse of the press.

Freedom of speech advocates forget that newspapers’ primary goal is to make profit. With their goal being commercial rather than to publish the truth, they do not live up to their ‘special’ role within the constitution.

Newspapers really do just pub-

lish whatever is going to sell the most papers. I really don’t believe certain media corporations are concerned with journalistic integrity, truth, justice or any other virtues that such highly regarded institutions should possess. They make so much profit that they have money to set aside for libel claims, allowing them to take more risks.

I would argue for a truly independent regulator backed up by a loose statutory framework to govern the integrity of the press.

Because now, it’s like the Leveson Inquiry never happened. I think IPSO is an insult to victims of the media’s ruthless and relentless actions which they have not truly paid the price for, and I hope for the day when all responsible individuals and corporations are held to account for the phone-hacking scandal and its implications on victims’ families and loved ones.

World was to sell stories relating to celebrity culture; there’s a difference between publication of a celebrity’s affairs and newsworthy material in the public interest. In order to stifle unethical journalism found in the small minority of newspapers, the majority of effective journalism will be inhibited by regulation as a whole.

As the press serves us, we shouldn’t underestimate the power in our freedom to choose to read the stories offered. If journalism is unethical or blatantly unfounded then it is unlikely that people will chose to read it or even believe it, demand in itself would be a proportionate regulator. I do

recognize that this may not be adequate redress for certain injustices suffered by individuals as a result of a false story, however there are existing legal frameworks in place which directly deal with these circumstances, namely the law of libel and breach of confidence and it is unnecessary that a further hurdle should be placed in the way of a free press.

As soon as the press becomes regulated, we passively allow a detrition of the right to freedom of expression, and this would only go on to allow violation of further fundamental rights needed for the existence of our democracy.

Photo: pkg @Flickr

Photo: raver_mikey @Flickr

That’s it for this semester.

Christmas Special

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Op n on

11

An Ode to Christmas 2014

The unstoppable force of Christmas is here to stay, so grab a bottle of your finest festive booze and enjoy every second of it. There’s no reason not to!

Joe Evans Contributor Halfway through July, I’d love all the family I haven’t contacted for a year to come to my house.

That would be great.

And then I’d like to exchange gifts with them.

Things that nobody wants though; body wash and socks, that kind of thing. A few people will buy each other nice things though, you know, the people who actually know each other’s interests. Then we’ll all drink and eat, probably have an argument, and end the day, on average, £400 poorer.

Hang on a second—that sounds horrific. I don’t want that to happen in July, or any other month as a matter of fact, but I’ll put myself through it every December.

Christmas has become a huge marketplace.

Shoppers break the bank in pursuit of the perfect Christmas, as sold to them via a cushy John Lewis advert or possibly an insensitive Sainsbury’s cash-in.

It too props up our economy. Something that for eleven months of the year would be considered coma-inducing levels of spending prevails in the name of tradition.

Products invented by demented executives (I’m thinking socks with the face of Harry Styles plastered all over them) are lapped up.

In what is described as the most magical time of year, a pulsating vein of cynicism permeates.

Don’t mention it though, oh god don’t mention it.

Mention it and you’ll be hit with a volley of verbal abuse: “Come on its Christmas!”

“Bloody Scrooge!”

We flock in our millions to authentic German markets run by those parading their Christmas

spirit, while secretly attempting to drain our wallets.

In a recent interview on BBC Radio 4, a German market stall owner claiming to be from Bremen recited Alles Gute zu Weihnachten, or All the best on your Christmas. In terms of transparent attempt at lifting money from our pockets, this is a poor facade! Perhaps the cynicism is warranted at rehashed nationalism in the name of cash-in Christmas.

Naysayers of the modern Christmas claim it to be too far removed from the original meaning. Christ’s birth had nothing to do with consumerist needs and gluttony. The popularity of Winter Wonderlands serves to illustrate this, as the wording Christmas promotes calls for a nondenominational Christmas. While it’s a lovely idea that we can revert to a moral and spiritually fulfilling Christmas experience, it’s a boring and overstated complaint.

Religion has nothing like the level of power over our lives to dictate our Christmas day! And nowhere in a religious Christmas do I get a new iPhone couple with copious amounts of food and drink. We really wouldn’t want to revert to that now.

Therein lies my hypocrisy. In trying to say something contentious, something to appease my student readership, I have levelled on Christmas in an utterly, perfectly, original manner that in no way relates to anyone else’s opinions on the matter—ever.

The truth is that it’s an immovable institute and is irreversibly here to stay, so there’s no point in fighting it. Practically, it plays a massive role in our economy, and personally, it’s just a lot of fun.

When we take every day so seriously, pushing for results or waiting for the weekend, let’s not critique a national holiday set to such a euphoric backdrop. So what if your presents are rubbish,

everybody’s are! So what if you spend time with people you otherwise avoid, have another drink!

It’s insane, 21st century revelry at its best and we only get one go at it a year, so let’s just give it a halfdecent whack.

It’s far easier to sit stony faced, and I’ll be honest the first half of this article came easier than the second, but nobody loves a pessimist. On average you’ll have to go through 81 Christmas days in your entire life. That is 1944 hours that you aren’t at work, and social responsibly is suspended.

What is so often depicted as the most stressful

time of year is comparatively a solitary corner of bliss.

So there you have it. My Ode to Christmas 2014.

You can’t beat it, try as you might, so go ahead and indulge yourself; even if it is 11am, crack out the second bottle of wine, pour your family a drink, stick on a stupid jumper and enjoy yourself. I wholeheartedly hope your Christmas this year is as good as mine always are. Merry (non-denominational) Christmas!

Photo: andyhay @Flickr

Photos: Christmas Stock Images

Embrace Christmas changing as you get older

If you are currently going through the stage of Christmas losing its sparkle, then have no fear we’ll remind you of the Christmas wonders only adults can enjoy!

Harry Newton Contributor Christmas as a child is the most beautiful time.

I remember it vividly: “Holidays are coming, holidays are coming, holidays are coming.” It had begun, the Coco-Cola advert signalled the start of anticipation for Christmas day!

Each day I grew forever more animated at the prospect of a morbidly obese bearded man stumbling down my non-existent chimney and leaving presents that only he and I would know are suitable, due to my list that my parents obviously posted. He would then deliver to the rest of the entire globe in a completely plausible fashion.

In the days leading up I would cut out snowflakes, make papier-mâché snowmen, and play Christmas songs each and every moment of each and every day. The day that we would buy the tree was always my favourite as I’d weigh up each tree in my mind and choose the largest tree available. Christmas was the best time of the year.

Then Christmas took a few blows. I realised that my hand-made snowflakes were actually just making a mess; my papier-mâché snow-

Photo: pagedooley @Flickr

Photo: dullhunk @Flickr

man was never as good as Lucy Jackson’s; that Christmas songs have been the same seven songs in circulation since 1986—except for the yearly resurrection of Mariah Carey’s festive career; and that the biggest Christmas tree I chose was always swapped when I wasn’t looking for the cheaper one that would fit through the front door.

But at least I still had Santa Claus—my trusty companion.

Then came that day I’ll never forget. It was a Tuesday and it was raining. This was the day I was told by my parents about Father Christmas’ sudden death of natural causes. I understood: he was over 2000 years old and death at such an age was a reasonable notion.

I negotiated with my parents and we came to a mutual agreement that they would continue in the place of Father Christmas with a smaller budget, as they don’t have the enterprise, infrastructure, magical prowess, cheap labour of the Elven kind or the economies of scale that he did.

It just wasn’t the same.

Christmas had lost its sparkle, Santa was gone; the amount of Lynx Africa sets trebled; and The Muppet’s Christmas Carol just wasn’t funny anymore. Surely it was only going to get worse from here.

Christmas was dead. Or was she? No, never! A quick reboot on the defibrillator and Christmas is back bigger and better than ever. If you are currently going through the stage of Christmas losing its sparkle, then have no fear because I am here to remind you of the Christmas wonders only an adult can enjoy!

Christmas dinner is something I only came

Have an excellent Christmas and make sure to attend our Ideas Meetings in the new year!

round to in Christmas’ second spell in my life as I and my taste-buds matured. On the 25th of December 2003, at the tender age of seven, I had simply had enough of sprouts and turkey, so went to the freezer in a tantrum and took a frozen pizza to my plate.

After being told that this was not acceptable behaviour, I followed suite with a bigger tantrum, which led to me having a ham and pineapple pizza for Christmas dinner. Looking back I’m ashamed of myself for not realising Christmas dinner’s potential wonders! Now I’m old enough to appreciate the wonders of pigs in blankets, carrots, asparagus, mash, Yorkshire puddings, turkey, and gravy smothering it all!

If there’s one thing better than opening presents, it’s watching other people open the loving presents that you bought them or the extra small condoms you wittily bought your mate for Secret Santa. As a child buying other people presents was a sin but now you can buy everyone presents with your student loan. It definitely should not be going towards furthering your education. And here we are in Manchester—the Christmas market capital of the world. Embrace it, embrace all the Christmas shopping!

Lest we forget about the joyous Christmas parties that pop-up in the run up to the holidays! It’s no longer a case of a hot dog and a fizzy Vimto on the school disco dance floor, before I kneeslide my way over to the girl in the pink tutu, now it’s a real party.

Whether it’s putting on a Christmas jumper to go out with your friends from your class, halls or societies; or putting on your best clothes to go out with your colleague, family or mates back home; Christmas parties are simply completely and utterly different to other parties! The best nights out are had over Christmas as everyone winds down and relaxes. Late night kebabs and cheap vodka have replaced the semi-cooked hot-dog and fizzy Vimto from the bowling alley.

The world of Bob the Builder Christmas Specials is now over. We get to stay up late and watch the dirty Christmas specials that you did not even know existed.

Now we get to stay up drinking with Nanna and Granddad while they tell you what a horrible cretin your parents were.

Now, New Year’s Eve is not just the night you let loose on the babysitter, it’s the night you let loose on the town!

Now a tenner in a card is much more appreciated than a toy!

Now Christmas is bigger and better than ever.

So, go out, ice skate, shop, drink, fall in love( like Hugh Grant apparently does every Christmas), go to Nandos, watch Frozen (because we haven’t grown up completely and nor should we), resurrect your Christmas-oriented skills (or if you’re Mariah Carey, your career) because this is Christmas’ prime age and you should embrace it.

Photo: Jana Reifegerste @Flickr

12

Music

Interview

Superfood

Editors: Patrick “Ice Cold” Hinton, Lowell “Snowell” Clarke, Samuel Ward, Dan “snow” Whiteley

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Interview

Santa’s little helper Samuel Ward discovers that Superfood’s life on tour is just as glamourous as you’d imagine Samuel Ward Christmas Elf/Music Editor Crisp packets, there are literally crisp packets everywhere. Over the shrill crackling of foil ponders four Birmingham voices.

“Yep, eating cheese and smoking weed – he actually has cheese boards in the bath. He [a friend of the band] thinks he’s some type of deity or something.

The last song on the album is written about him. Yeah ‘get your shit together cos we’re leaving soon’ ” explains guitarist Ryan Malcom, whom I then unintentionally picture eating cheese in the bath.

Rather like Superfood’s debut album, Don’t Say That, the atmosphere in the Deaf Institute’s dressing room is amusing and easy-going.

After finishing my crisps, I ask frontman Dom Ganderton what’s keeping the band sane on tour: “Nothing - it’s crazy!

Well, I mean, what have we even been doing on this tour?

It’s crazy that we’ve just been going home each night, straight back to the hotel and drinking tea in bed.”

“Yeah the other night everyone went to bed and then me and Emily [bass] stayed up watching the music channel, just copying all the dance routines.” admits lead guitarist Ryan Malcolm. “And then we were talking about murderers.” explains Emily. “Oh yeah! And the night before that there was a wrestle in our pants in the room” adds Ryan.

The funny thing is is that I’m not surprised by any of this; if there was a personification of teenage sleepovers, then these would be it. “God do you guys remember the first day of recording the new album?

And how we got annoyed because Emily came down

in her pyjamas?” Speaking of recording I, somewhat more seriously, ask if there are any techniques that the band are particularly fond of using: “I [Dom] think using room mics to fill space and using the sound of the room you’re recording in and its natural reverb before squashing it so that there’s almost a sort-of drone going on.

Between the first recordings and the album recordings we noticed things like this and had loads more ideas with the guy who was mixing the album. I think we just got a bit carried away and everyone liked the versions that we did. They come across as a bit more immediate I think.” I still can’t say I agree, personally the new versions feel a bit over-edited. However, that still doesn’t stop the newer songs from sounding fresh.”Well, you’ve got to remember bands are always changing. When we first started playing together in a bedroom we were well into just turning it up really loud and it took us a while to kind of bring it down. I still think we’re actually doing that – we’d love to make the next album a lot more hip-hop” Ryan explains.

“It’s because it was the first time we could just turn our guitars up to full in the studio - you can really hear it, the volume, on those first recordings.”

Not that a more refined Superfood would be a bad thing; I tell them that I, for one, would love to see Superfood make a hip-hop album – just as long as it’s as sweaty, energetic and fun as their debut. “Ah well,” replies Dom, “I wouldn’t worry about us losing that energy, we’re full of beans; I had a three bean salad this morning.”

Photo: Superfood facebook

Top 5

TOP

Songs

5

1. What’s This? - Danny Elfman What’s this? What’s this? A modern Christmas song that isn’t absolutely dreadful? Danny Elfman was born to pen christmas tunes - it’s in his name!

ITS CHRIIIISTMASSSSS! Samuel Ward, Christmas Elf/Music Editor

Photo: Press Shot

the

MUSIC INTERVIEW

Alabama 3

Alabama 3’s Larry Love discusses running a label, freedom and the Sopranos with Chris Church Chris Church There is perhaps no band around in the modern music industry that eludes definition and categorization quite like Alabama 3, the ‘acid country house’ pioneers, who are neither .a 3-piece nor from Alabama. Instead what one is presented with is a gang of 9 operating out of Brixton who are committed to embracing as many different elements, old and new, within their music as they are to giving the middle finger to the establishment, whether it be the government or Simon Cowell.

Curious as to what is to be expected from such a left-field musical style, I asked lead singer Larry Love what any first-timer at an Alabama 3 gig can expect: “Wear your kevlar jacket. A kevlar jacket and your ebola mask Chris - expect chaos” he remarks with a grin on his face and a beer in his hand.

Having formed after meeting his band-mate The Reverend Dr. D. Wayne Love at an acid house party in Peckham in 1996 (and initially going under the performing name ‘The First Presleyterian Church of Elvis the Divine’), their sound is quite obviously influenced by the likes of 808 State and A Guy Called Gerald, acts which were once regulars of Manchester’s own Haçienda club. Larry explains to me that their sound came about by combining elements such as the Dobro guitar and harmonica, from artists such as Leadbelly and Ry Cooder, with those they were used to hearing at raves every Saturday during the early ‘90s. I’m curious as to what he thinks of the current state of dance music, particularly within Manchester with the likes of The Warehouse Project: “I think it’s brilliant!

There shouldn’t be anything stopping a bunch of kids getting a sound system together, getting their drugs, a bit of weed and having a good time wherever. A warehouse, the middle of a forest - it doesn’t really matter.

That’s how a lot of great of music used to be made, by just seeing what happens.”

Having recently established their own record label, Hostage Music, in Brixton, I’m curious to know how such a versatilesounding band finds the modern music industry and whether or not Hostage Music has allowed them a greater degree of freedom in their musical output: “Fucking paperwork!

I never expected there to be so much paperwork when we first decided to set up Hostage Music. It definitely does give us a lot of musical freedom, plenty of freedom to rip off whoever we want!” he says emphatically with a laugh. Never being ones to shy away from an attack on mainstream music, Larry goes on to say “it gives us a great platform to

There shouldn’t be anything stopping a bunch of kids getting a sound system together, getting their drugs, a bit of weed and having a good time wherever stick it to the likes of Simon Cowell. You see these kids on the X Factor acting as if being a singer is some sort of big deal. They almost whine about it as if their lives are so tough.

Never let anyone tell you Rock n Roll singing is a tough gig Chris, it’s a piece of fucking piss!”

Alabama 3’s latest release The Wimmin From W.O.M.B.L.E is a collaboration between the band and several of their female accomplices. I ask them about criticism their recent musical direction has been coming under from fans as they move towards a

2. Rocking Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

3. Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine

Remember your 13th Christmas?

Maybe you were busy dancing around the Christmas tree? Well Brenda Lee wasn’t - instead she was providing vocals on one of the most incredible christmas songs out there.

Not Simon Cowell nor Bob the Builder could fix the charts in 2009; although it didn’t stop the latter in 2000 - to think that we greeted a new millenium with Bob the fucking Builder. What is wrong with us?

heavier dance-based sound. “It’s the old folks in the crowd who don’t know how to dance to any of the new stuff. They’ve never listened to Dubstep or anything similar so they don’t know what to do, but we felt that it was the right direction to take our sound in anyway. It allows us to keep moving forward creatively.”

When talking about Alabama 3 the issue of the Sopranos is always going to arise, having received wide acclaim for the usage of their song ‘Woke Up This Morning’ in the opening titles. “We only made about 500 bob out of the thing in reality, but it did give us a lot of good publicity,” Larry tells me. I ask him if he believes that the Sopranos helped them to cultivate their outlaw image, something which reflects itself as clearly in their music as in their personal politics: “It certainly did.

I tell you what - we never had any trouble at any gigs in America. We’ve certainly been known to hang around with a few naughty characters both in the states and around London…we formed Alabama 3 with a certain set of beliefs in mind and they’ve always been a part of us right from the start.” Although Larry also points out that they view a lot of the revolutionary spirit within their music as being reflective of a lot of the unheard opinions within UK society as a whole: “A lot of the time we’re not explicitly saying ‘go out and grab a gun,’ but what we are saying is, as our song goes, ‘Mao Tse Tung said change must come through the barrel of a gun.’ The messages are already out there.”

I finish by asking Larry what the future holds for Alabama 3: “After the tour we’ll be working more with the new label and trying to release a few new things on it, seeing what direction we can take things from there.”

There’s no denying this man’s commitment to a post-modern revolution through music.

The not-so-subtle message which Alabama 3 seem to have for Manchester? Fuck the Government.

4. Do You Know it’s Christmas? - Everyone who isn’t in Band Aid In this topsey-turvey world the public would rejoice and sing whilst the celebrities would donate their “hard-earned” cash. Hells jingle bells!

5. Not Over Yet - Grace It’s 11:59 and we’re not feelin’ fine.

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: @MancunionMusic : / TheMancunionMusicSection

Music

13

THE top 10 albums of 2014 the MANCUNION MUSIC SECTION PRESENTS

Foreword 2014 is the year of interstitial music – where the spaces between ideas laid down by previous generations have been connected and coloured in. The boundaries of genres haven’t been pushed outward, but mashed sideways together into a concotion of foward thinking music with retro responsibilty.

In other words, this has been a really fun year for music lovers both old and new.

With this in mind, we at the Mancunion voted for our favourite albums.

These are the chosen 10 that define this past year.

6

Ali Pearson

7

Samuel Ward Music Editor

Lowell Clarke Music Editor

Patrick Hinton Music Editor

Harnessing expression through the use of sound palettes, melodic composition and dramatisation, St Vincent has created an album which soars as much as it dances through intriguing digital and analogue soundscapes.

It’s an album which shows emotional progression for the innovative musician, and further stretches her skills at song writing and producing.

With every passing year, electronic music gets more and more serious. Luckily, Todd Terje hath emerged from distant Viking lands to quell this trend. His debut album It’s Album Time, made dance music fun again by injecting some much needed humanity into the robotic electronic scene. Be it ‘Svensk Sås’s vocoded scat singing, the Bryan Ferry collaboration or the incessantly catchy ‘Inspector Norse’, this is the new and updated definition of ecstasy on the dance floor.

The cult of Aphex Twin was fortified with the monster hype campaign prior to the release of Syro, building the release up to mythical proportions. Pressing play for the first time however all this was forgotten, as the true brilliance of the music spoke for itself. The amount of layers present throughout the album is staggering, the sheer number of influences at play astounding. James has not created an entirely new sound or genre, but he has managed to weave

Dan Whiteley Music Editor

Morrissey’s tenth solo album saw the former Smiths man back on form in typically disgruntled fashion, taking aim at... well, basically everyone. World Peace is his most eclectic album to date, giving his signature indie rock a make-over on many of the tracks, with flamenco guitar and accordion on ‘The Bullfighter Dies’ and the showtune-esque title track.

It’s a worthy addition to his canon - and after five years, it feels good to have him back.

like extended guitar solos on songs like ‘Ocean Between the Waves’ and ‘Under the Pressure’ wonderfully captures this mood, and easily makes this one of the best albums of the year.

St Vincent St Vincent

5 Matthew Staite

Burn Your Fire For No Witness may not seem like an obvious contender for one of our albums of the year, but Angel Olsen’s second album will certainly grow on you.

Beautifully introspective songs such as ‘Lights Out’ and ‘White Fire’ demonstrate Olsen’s ability to produce irresistibly haunting tracks who’s vocals almost sound like they have come out of a time warp from the 1950’s.

However Olsen expands from her traditionally folky sound with the garage fuzz

Patrick Hinton

and nuanced.

‘Zombie Machine’ is a straight up club wrecker; ‘Arrested Development’ features a guitar solo reminiscent of classic arena rock; ‘Stakan’ is a dizzy, shoegazey number.

Submit X compounds and confounds with these styles and influences, resulting in a deliriously exciting album.

Bombay Bicycle Club So Long, See You Tomorrow

Lowell Clarke

Rewind back to the heyday of noughties indie, when Bombay Bicycle Club hype train first entered the station.

The excitement wasn’t just over their brilliant yet meek first album, but the potential the band had to become a major force in British music.

So Long, See You Tomorrow is the album that stands up

taller than the shadow they once casted, blending guitar sensibilities with the best of avant-garde pop. Just one play through reveals that BBC are still one of our most promising bands and that this album is their manifesto of the great things we still expect to come.

It’s Album Time

sounds together in a way no other could. He’s human, but he’s like no other human.

Natalie Proctor

of ‘Forgiven/Forgotten’ and the electric schmaltz of ‘Hi-Five’. Give Burn Your Fire… a listen, and you’re sure to be blown away.

1

Aphex Twin Syro

DeMarco 4 Mac Salad Days

Angel Olsen Burn Your Fire For No Witness

Gesloten Cirkel Submit X Due to his reclusion from the public eye and anonymity you could classify Gesloten Cirkel as a reserved producer. However, the productions he creates are anything but. Submit X is 12 tracks of no-holds-barred e le c t ro - i n f u s e d- te ch no.

It’s dark and relentless, yet also multidimensional

2

8 Todd Terje

9

Peace Is None Of Your Business

The War On Drugs Lost In The Dream

2014 has been quite a year for The War on Drugs. Their third studio album, Lost in a Dream was the catalyst that saw them reach new heights, and finally saw them step out of the shadow of former band member, Kurt Vile. The album explores an emotional time for lead singer Adam Granduciel: after breaking up with his long-term girlfriend, he became somewhat stagnated and isolated in life. The desperation in the lyrics paired with the dream-

3

Morrissey

10 World

Mac Demarco’s unique sound – to which he dubs ‘Jizz Jazz’ – is immediately recognisable in his latest album Salad Days. The offbeat style runs through every track, and Demarco sticks to guitar riffs that have become iconic in his music. The title track ‘Salad Days’ is typical of the style of the album; old style, laidback Rock.

Each song on Demarco’s new album embodies this retro-rock vibe; one that has arguably become less and less prevalent in today’s

music scene. The album is easy-listening, but infused with innovation and bursting with musical substance.

Flying Lotus You’re Dead!

Rachel Connolly

With Alice Coltrane for an aunt, it was inevitable that Flying Lotus, aka Steve Ellison, would attempt a jazz venture at some point, but the outcome, You’re Dead! is anything but inevitable. The exploration of death mutated from a jazz project into a collaboration of jazz, electronic, hip hop and even prog rock that is ambitious and unlikely but, crucially, extraordinary.

Ellison is the master of carefully produced controlled chaos. You’re Dead! is 38 minutes, 19 tracks long and stuffed full of genres; yet while the style veers manically across the musical spectrum from track to track, the album is somehow measured and fluid.

The journey through death begins with the experimental confusion of jazz intro ‘Theme’ which continues through to ‘Tesla’, featuring piano courtesy of the legendary Herbie Hancock. Lamar, Ellison’s rap alter ego ‘Captain Murphy’ and Snoop Dogg rap as dead men in denial throught to acceptance on ‘Never Catch Me’ and ‘Dead Man’s Tetris’. You’re

Dead! then descends into a mishmash of otherworldliness suggestive of the afterlife.

You’re Dead! is never melancholic, rather Ellison has managed to make death relevant for an audience of 20 somethings cocksure of their own immortality. And if that doesn’t make a great album I don’t know what does.

14 the

Music

Feature

George Tomlinson In the summer of 1967, in a Woodstock basement, Bob Dylan and his band, known then as the Hawks, recorded a few songs onto an old, borrowed tape recorder.

Originally intended as a casual session, the fruits of which were only ever meant to be heard by a handful of people, they ended up creating an icon, a phenomenon, a wonderfully honest tribute to Americana and folk traditions; set against the backdrop of all the hippie nonsense of the day, this was, in essence, a glorious “fuck you, it’s over” to the proponents of psychedelia.

The message only ever got out thanks to the relentless efforts of the bootleggers, who were determined that these songs would see the light of day; Dylan himself wasn’t particularly interested in that: it wasn’t until 1975 that his record label officially released anything from the sessions but, by then, the seeds had already been sown. In the intervening eight years, tapes were passed around, innumerable cover versions recorded and the songs had left an indelible mark on the culture of popular

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@ MancunionMusic / TheMancunionMusicSection

Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes Complete: The most important recording sessions in rock history

George Tomlinson discusses the significance of Bob Dylan’s The Basement Tapes Complete music.

Somehow, without even being properly released, The Basement Tapes had unwittingly altered the entire course of rock music history.

Dylan had already done exactly that three times in the previous 24 months, with his trilogy of electric albums, beginning with 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, followed by Blonde on Blonde in 1966. To the dismay of many, he had deserted his folk roots in favour of a vicious combination of dizzying electric guitar riffs and bizarre, introspective surrealist poetry. Although doing so lifted pop music out of its dead-eyed slumber (without Highway 61, The Beatles would still have been singing two minute songs about meeting a girl at a disco and holding hands with her in 1969), it was an exhausting personal journey for Dylan, the culmination of which was the now famous interchange with the Manchester folk fan who shouted “Judas”. His response then, angrily ordering his band to “play it fucking loud”, typified his attitude at the time: one of uncompromising defiance in the face of his detractors.

But, by 1967, events had caught up with him: a motorcycle accident in ’66 prompted a period of introspection, a contemplation of how to

Here is Dylan at his most bare and revealing, a warts-and-all exploration of a musician at the very peak of his powers stave off the burnout that was creeping up on him. Instead of heeding his own advice and playing it fucking loud, Dylan retreated to his Woodstock home and his folk roots and the result was The Basement Tapes, this curious collection of covers of traditional folk songs and roots rock inspired original compositions, ranging from the humorous to the melancholic to the downright absurd. This was Dylan putting a stop to everything he had started; this was Dylan, exhausted by both the praise and the criticism, by

the “spokesman of a generation” tags, searching for some kind of salvation in the places he knew best, in the music of his childhood and early years, and in that rich vein of Americana he had always tapped into so assuredly.

Now, nearly fifty years later, we’ve got the unabridged version. Released last month as part of the ongoing ‘Bootleg Series’ project, The Basement Tapes Complete sheds some much-needed light on what really went on in that Woodstock basement, whilst simultaneously retaining the mystique, that strange enigmatic quality that made the sessions so iconic in the first place. The full version was released across 6 CDs (a 2 CD version has also been released for the more faint-hearted amongst us) and, at times, it can be truly baffling, but what is immediately striking is its unique sense of intimacy; here is Dylan at his most bare and revealing, a warts-and-all exploration of a musician at the very peak of his powers, and the inclusion of the aborted takes, the in-jokes and the lighthearted covers merely add

weight to such a portrayal.

Trying to understand Dylan’s state of mind at this point, I am often reminded of a few lines from a song on 1970’s New Morning: “Build me a cabin in Utah/Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout/Have a bunch of kids who call me, “Pa”/That must be what it’s all about.”

Not only is he conjuring up the kinds of traditionalist imagery that inspire so much of The Basement Tapes, he seems to genuinely mean it too: he’s nobody’s ‘spokesman’, he’s just a guy who’s yearning for that simple, wholesome American life.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Live

Live

Jackson Browne

Hollie Cook

Bridgewater Hall – 18th November 2014

8/10

Randeep Samra Perhaps not anywhere near as well-known among the population of a city like Manchester (particularly the student population) as throughout the USA, Jackson Browne nevertheless drew great support from the audience at Bridgewater Hall in the form of cordial cheers and requests, as well as a lack of empty seats.

Browne and his band seemed to draw upon the enthusiasm of the seated audience in delivering such an energetic performance throughout the 3-hour set, and Browne met the incessant requests with witty ripostes; upon the band’s return to the stage for the half-hour-long encore (but well before ending the show on his biggest hits), Browne suggestively exclaims that “now we can do what we want...”.

Having recently released his fourteenth studio album, Standing in the Breach, the band played most of the album in its support, introducing most of the songs from it with charming little monologues

And yet, history refuses to let him be seen in that way. Like it or not, he was a spokesman, he was an icon, he was (and still is) the most important figure in the history of popular music.

And, in a little twist of irony, what helped to cement his place as all of those things were perhaps the events that got him closest to his dream, the most meaningful incarnation of that simple American life he so desired: recording folk songs in a basement with his friends, while a dog sleeps on the floor next to him. It wasn’t a cabin in Utah, but it was close enough.

Night & Day – 26th November 2014

6/10

Marina Garvey Birch

Photo: foteropanico @Flickr

explaining to the audience their personal significance, history, or composition. Being well-noted for his involvement in current affairs, relevant remarks are made throughout Browne’s on-stage banter, these do not wear their welcome though his words are short, sweet and witty - and after what needs to be said is said, the band plays as though it’s second nature to them.

The backing band, made up mostly of recently-hired professionals, were also remarkable; each player executed

their pieces with not only technical perfection, but with genuine enthusiasm and vivaciousness - the back-up singers were particularly impressive. Guitarist Mark Goldenberg handles rhythm guitar excellently, switching freely through pedal, lap steel guitars among others - and like the rest of those playing, never missing a beat.

The overall setting and approach of this gig is one that students might not be so familiar with, but made for an experience that almost anyone could truly enjoy.

Hollie Cook took to the stage with ease, despite it being her first solo tour. Perhaps known for her family (father is Paul Drummer of the Sex Pistols and mother sang for The Culture Club) Cook’s eclectic music influence is clear in her self named ‘tropical pop’ tinged with dub and ska. Considered a sound accompaniment for tracks such as ‘And The Beat Goes On’ (with Prince Fatty), Cook has finally found space in the musical market for her own gig, promoting her new album Twice.

The bar was overheated, and Cook was clad in a beautiful banana print skirt that reminded us all there was hope for a summer after these cold Manchester nights. Everyone was bopping along, a mixed crowd of all ages, and Cook was happy and merry, and clearly a bit overwhelmed. At points, we were transported to the seaside with Cook’s sultry tracks of ‘Tiger Balm’ and ‘Cry’

Photo: frf_kmeron @Flickr

and the most popular track ‘Milk and Honey’. Giving us treats of new tracks such as ‘Superfast’, laced with electro tones and synthesisers, Cook displayed her music variety and talent, straying from the more standard rhythm of ska and reggae tracks that can start to feel repetitive.

Yet Cook herself was a bit distant. One could excuse the lack of engagement for the type of music that was played,

relaxed and at moments almost like a lullaby, yet when other singer-songwriters can create a dynamic with the crowd instantly, I question if Cook was really there with the audience.

Cook’s voice stands out and is full of soothing tones and we got glimmers of a fun and mischievous performer. Yet I can’t help but think that with a little more engagement with the audience, Cook’s performance would have shone brighter.

Games

ISSUE 12/ 8th December 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

15

Editors: James Thursfield, Matthew Cole

Review Mountain Dew, Red Bull, Doritos and Oreos; typical ‘gamer fuel’ staples. Admittedly, these goods are more Stateside prevalent than here in the UK, because who has time to make a halloumi salad when you are busy 360 no-scoping in CoD or searching out hundreds of collectible flags in Assassin’s Creed 12: My Dad Was A Ninja? Now, imagine if the consumption of such lovely refreshments turned you into a bulbous zombie, with the sole motive of seeking out more of that sweet, sweet, nectar. Enter Sunset Overdrive, Microsoft’s brand new Xbox One exclusive developed by Insomniac Games, the team that created my most stupendously favourite purple thing ever, Spyro the Dragon.

Set in the fictional Sunset City, you play as a nameless dude-hero who takes it upon himself to save the city from the OD, who are the aforementioned zombie drinkers of the evil corporation Fizzco’s Overcharge energy drink. A product clearly inspired by the infamous Mountain Dew. Along the way, you also face resistance from bandits who have taken advantage of the fizzpocalypse and the automatous legion of Fizzco robots.

“Nameless dude-hero?!”, I hear you worry. Another typical, nameless, generic, action hero? “Ain’t nobody

Feature Towards the end of his novel If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller, Italo Calvino conjures an image of an abstract library, a spiritual place in which ghostly readers discuss the act of reading. For this feature I have adapted Calvino’s passage into a meditation on gaming. It is an obscure, pointless, thankless, and some might say wanky idea, but ultimately I write for myself, not for you. You’ll read what you’re given. Judy Dench on a banana boat. Fertile crisp dispensers.

Chucklebrother turnip polish.

See? You’re still here. Push over. *** It is time for your tempest-tossed vessel to come to port. What harbour can receive you more securely than a great gaming arcade? The shops let you down – dependable second-hand games retailers closed their doors early, the GAME monopoly tried to rip you off, and those voucher codes you’ve been saving up inexplicably expired some days ago. It is with relief, then, that you step through the arcade’s gaudy entrance lighting to find the welcoming arms of a dozen bleeping machines ready to supply you with your gaming fix. The clientele look as if they have been here for years, but you quickly dismiss this possibility – they are likely just seeking temporary refuge from the dingy seaside by replacing its outdooriness with the cosy, unsupervised dinginess of the arcade lounge, which at least has a roof to protect its daydreamers.

Mountain Dew Rising: Sunset Overdrive got time for dat!”. Fear not my fellow gamers, the lead protagonist is in fact one of the wittiest characters in the history of video games. And, yeah, I have played all the games in existence so I can say this with authori-tay. Your guy/girl constantly breaks the figurative fourth wall and satirises traditional rote game design

Photo: Major Nelson @Flickr

such as the ‘rule of three’ or invisible game world boundaries. Your character makes many swears when being funny, so if that’s not your bag, you can even turn on a censor bleep in the options menu .

The setting is nice and all, but what makes Sunset Overdrive my current game of the year, is the tight-knit game mechanics. Sunset City is one big open-world sandbox. Typically, these type of games have to rely on some sort of fast travel system to help players get around due to the vast size of the playable area.

Sunset Overdrive does have a fast travel option, but I never used it once in my 30 or so hours with the game, which is a testament to just how good its traversal mechanics are. Almost every surface, save the ground itself, acts as a trampoline for you to bounce off. This includes every rail you can grind along and every wall you can wall-run across.

Chaining these manoeuvres together builds up your combo multiplier , which caps out at x500, so go nuts!

Whilst rewarding you with more of the game’s two currencies as you slay OD, bandits or robots. I can’t convey just how satisfying it feels bouncing off the hood of a car, grabbing onto a phone line overhead, switching from an undergrind to an overgrind and, at the touch of a button, finishing off the move off by firing an explosive teddy bear at a group of sugar rushed zombies. Yeah, you read that right; an explosive teddy bear launcher and that’s just one of the tamer weapons in the game.

Elliot Coen fires off explosive teddy bears in his bombastic review of Sunset Overdrive.

Utilising the game’s hilarious weapon set is just as much fun as all of the traversal mechanics. You begin the game with just one weapon and unlock more as you progress.

You do this by using the Overcharge currency you get from completing missions and killing enemies. The starting gun in the game sets the tone for the rest of the armoury.

One such weapon is called the ‘Flaming Compensator’. It’s a fiery and extremely potent shotgun in the shape of a cock and balls. Crude? Yes. Unnecessary? Probably. Awesome?

Shit yeah! Another weapon you can unlock is a bowling ball launcher called ‘The Dude’. Although anything that references The Big Lebowski is a winner in my books, the gun is also heaps of fun to use . Swinging from a street lamp whilst firing at robots, with bowling balls that ricochet off every surface, is what video games were made for.

So, you buy and upgrade your weapons with Overcharge. What do you do with all of that dollar, the game’s other currency? Well, this is where the surprisingly extensive character customisation comes into play. To start, you can customise your character’s gender, face, build and all of that usual stuff. The fun part is when it comes to all of the clothing you can unlock. For a portion of the game, my

guy went around completing quests in nothing but a thong and a wolf mask. I then decided to switch it up and wore a full suit of armour and an astronaut helmet. Later, I changed into a sweet cheerleading skirt / biker vest / top hat combo. Yeah, you get the idea.

If you cannot tell that I loved this game, then I’m clearly not very good at this. Sunset Overdrive was a big surprise for me. I had very low expectations going into the game, but they were smashed when I was only partially through the tutorial.

For those game aficionados out there and let’s face it, who else would be reading this? I would best describe Sunset Overdrive as a fiery concoction, inspired by the very best bits of Dead Rising, Jet Set Radio and Saints Row. It doesn’t aim to be a narrative masterpiece like The Last of Us. Insomniac Games clearly ground the game design down to its core mechanics and then built the game from there.

Forget about Halo or Forza. Sunset Overdrive is the reason you should be thinking about getting an Xbox One this holiday.

If on a Winter’s Night a Gamer Matthew Cole pretentiously channels Italo Calvino in a bid to elucidate why it is we play video games .

Aware now that you have been hovering near the entrance, you move forward and crane your neck from left to right, to peek at the games the other players have chosen. You notice one woman is sat playing a racing simulator.

Her body remains completely still in her seat whilst her arms, as if possessed, spasm at the wheel. Taking a horizontal stride around her chair in order to gauge her expression, you are surprised to discover there is an intense fixity in her gaze.

“Don’t be amazed if you see my eyes always squaring. In fact, this is my way of playing, and it is only in this way that gaming proves fruitful to me. It does not particularly matter to me which game I play at any given moment, as long as the experience enables me to sunder all connection from my physical reality for a few hours. During these hours I can give myself over to the simplified structures and mechanisms of the game, structures fine-tuned to gratify me at a constant rate, where my actions are authenticated definitively and where obstacles are made predictable and manageable. By retraining my focus, I begin to lose sight of the quotidian duties of life that at times seem insurmountable.”

“I understand you perfectly,” another gamer interjects, slumping against the door as his index finger swipes at the screen of his smartphone. “But I can only play games for a few minutes before I must turn my attention to other

distractions. Gaming for me represents an in-between phase, a prelude to more engaging tussles. Unlike you, ma’am, I like my games to consist of just a single system, a single idea so acutely distilled that it is optimally enjoyed only in short bursts, and can be gently sidelined when those pressing ‘duties’ you mention arise.”

Across the arcade a siren goes off, and the aural disturbance is shortly followed

Photo: Vivienne Gucwa @Flickr

by a visual encore of red and yellow flashes that dance over the ceiling.

“Utter nonsense,” a third gamer cries out as he pumps his fist in the air. “Games give players the chance to establish dominion over virtual worlds. I have just now thwarted the efforts of a hundred anonymous players before me, players who believed they were destined to be masters of alternative realities. In honing a niche craft, I can proclaim myself to

be the best, plumber, sports player, or killer in the world, merely by inputting a series of buttons in a precise order. My talent gives me a license to wind up my friends, however few in number they might be.”

“I, too, like to test myself against friends and faceless rivals,” a fourth bursts in, “but for me it does not matter whether I am playing against them competitively or with them cooperatively. If I headshot my friend in a virtual world, for example, and proceed to teabag them gratuitously with a smirk on my face, that is not altogether different from helping said friend to stay alive in a separate game, or from relying on joint skill to tackle an objective together. In either case, the act of playing reinforces the bond I have with that person, a form of mutual understanding that goes unspoken.

Gaming fills in the untapped spaces in my relationships with others by way of an arcane, non-verbal language that outsiders fail to grasp.”

“There is some truth in your outlook,” says a girl sat at a computer in the corner of the room, “although like everyone else here you seem to gravitate towards the predetermined objectives laid out by any given game. I prefer games that conceal their agendas, games that celebrate the very nature of play as an end in itself. Submerging myself in my own fictions is the way I concretize and give form to the playfulness of my psyche.”

A long shadow throws itself over the

change machine as a suited gentleman rises from a bench. “My enjoyment of games is purely aesthetic. I have grown up alongside the medium, and in my old age I find it fascinating to simply behold the new techniques employed by modern programmers, the ways they try to preserve the veracity of their artifices. At the same time, I worry about the inadequacy of their solutions when the worlds they depict fall apart at the seams. When I play, I think of gaming technology as something still in its infancy, and hope that the missing piece of the jigsaw will be found in my lifetime.”

The moment has come for you to speak.

“Ladies and gentleman, I am delighted to report that I can see elements of myself in all of you. Alas, your wisdom has put me in a pensive mood, and I no longer have the appetite to join you in your session. I will instead retreat to the games that play out in my mind, the vain visions of myself playing the everyday superhero, the dreams I have of going rogue in supermarkets, and rioting in the streets with cans of baked beans. It would be impossible to develop these into real games, but I find this fact reassuring. My experience of living can never be authentically condensed onto screen. I will always be unknowable.” [see the original Calvino extract at http://postimg.org/image/wsocssvrb/ ]

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/mancunionfashionandbeauty @MancunionFash

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

Feature 1. DO go for a bright red lip. A red lip is like an LBD; classic and sexy. Anyone can rock it and it’s a perfect way to show off your christmas spirit.

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12) DON’T over sparkle! You don’t want to be look like a clown! If you want to sparkle up, go for a sequined top and then tone it down with plain trousers, nude shoes and minimalaccessories. You don’t want to be looking like a christmas tree! (Even if they are beautiful.)

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MAC, £15.50

11) DO go for minimal make up.

Let your outfit shine and do the talking.

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10) DO invest in a statement coat and chunky knits. You’re going to be spending a lot of time under wraps so make sure you still feel stylish no matter how many layers you’re wearing. With a festive faux fur, cuddly teddy bear coat or cowl neck knit, you could be wearing your pyjamas and you’d still pull it off.

Christmas is a time for rosy cheeks not frostbitten extremities.

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Asos, £40

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Our twelve festive fashion dos and don’ts courtesy of Fleur Stevens and Laura Springer

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9) DON’T overspend on party looks. Sure, the festive season is a time when you want to look your best, but it’s easy to splash our on several different evening outfits, only to find they’re relegated to the back of your wardrobe the minute you’re reunited with Manchester’s grunge-tastic club scene.

Use our handy guide to adapt your star party dress/jumpsuit and be a fashion chameleon this Christmas.

4) DON’T neglect your hair this Christmas. Between straightening, curling and hairspray overload, party season can take its toll on your tresses. Remember your locks are for life not just for Christmas. Use heat protector spray and show your split ends a little love with a deep conditioning treatment. Can’t afford it? Olive oil will work a treat!

3) DON’T wear too little—come Christmas day you don’t want to sit wrapped up by the fire due to an onset of hypothermia, instead wrap up warm whilst still looking chic and bear in mind that the majority of clubs have cloak rooms.

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New look £27

Shopping

2) DON’T pair the red lip with a red dress. RED OVERLOAD. If you’re going for a red lip wear a simple black dress (you can go for sparkles), and if you’re wearing a red dress, go for a nude lip.

You’ll thank me when your friends aren’t calling you ‘traffic light’ for the next 12 months.

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8) DO wear sensible footwear - girls, when you’re going out on nights out during the icy festive season wearing six inch platform heels is destined to end in disaster. Instead, a pair of sophisticated metallic court shoes are a classic staple of any woman’s winter wardrobe.

Trust me, you are likely to return home safely without your feet feeling as if you’ve just hiked Snowdon.

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7) DO go for sparkles. You want to stand out and have fun with your look – it is christmas after all!

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5) DON’T just wear a santa’s hat along with your normal day-to-day wear… it doesn’t make you appear more festive. In fact, it does the opposite. So do go all out and make an effort! It’d be better you turn up dressed like a snowman than wearing nothing festive at all!

Tutorial: festive feline flicks 1 2 Ellie Howe brings a festive twist to this classic eyeliner look The feline flick is an essential part of many make-up routines. To add a festive feel we have combined it with a glittering gold smoky eye and a pop of Santa’s favourite colour on the lip.

- Concealer - Powder

- Blusher - Highlighter

6) DO wear a christmas jumper. We all hate to admit it, but they are one heck of a festive favourite! If in doubt, chuck one of these on and watch the people flock!

I mean, if it can work for Bridget Jones, it can certainly work for you.

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One piece, three ways

Worried your festive wardrobe won’t go the distance? Kassi Allcock shares her budget-saving secrets The countdown to Christmas has begun and party season is almost upon us! Although we’d all love to splash our cash on every sparkly thing that catches our eye, there is a cheaper alternative. Allow yourself to fall in love with one piece, simple and not over the top, so that it’s easy to style in a few different ways. Here is an example of how to have some fun with your festive outfits!

For my base, I have chosen a straightforward yet sophisticated black jumpsuit from Missguided which can easily be styled for every occasion this Christmas.

Jumpsuit: Missguided, £21

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- Bronzer

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- Gold

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- Brown shimmering eyeshadows - Gold glitter eyeliner - Black liquid eyeliner - Mascara - Red lipliner - Lipstick

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Top 5

Top 5: Christmas jumpers

Christmas jumpers don’t have to be cringe. Kirsty Marsh offers her top five stylish seasonal knits Tis the season to be jolly and what better way to express your festive spirit than with a jazzy Christmas jumper? But if ironic cartoon reindeers and blinding Fair Isle patterns aren’t your bag, the high street has plenty of stylish alternatives.

What you will need: - Foundation

Fashion

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Photo: Ellie Howe

Photo: Ellie Howe

Start by applying your usual foundation base, blending seamlessly around the jawline for a natural finish. Apply concealer over any blemishes and on those dreaded bags, and powder on top to set the products. Fill in your brows if this is usually part of your routine – a darker brow makes the golden and brown shadows stand out. Start the eyes with a base, this can be a primer or cream eyeshadow.

Using the lightest shade of gold first, blend outwards from the inner corner of the eye and into the crease. Gradually darken the shade and apply to the outer two-thirds of the eye, to give the illusion of depth. Apply a glitter eyeliner to the centre of the eye to emphasise the feline flick, and add a very dark brown into the outermost edge of the crease, blending to avoid harsh lines.

For the flick, mark the point that you want the flick to reach with a dot, and draw a line from the outer corner of the eye to this spot. Place your brush at this spot and bring the line to the centre of your eyelid, and fill to create the perfect flick. Finish the eyes with mascara.

Top tip: be sure to apply and buff on your foundation with a soft kabuki brush to ensure a flawless finish!

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The Fashion One This monochrome sweater is perfect if you’re just too cool and nonchalant for those regular Christmas jumpers.

Those snow men and elves are just sooo cliché.

River Island, £35

The Cute One What could be cuter than two little Robin Red Breasts? Embrace the festivities and share the Christmas love in what has to be the sweetest knit this season!

Asda, £14

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As always, send us your festive make up ideas on Twitter @mancunionfash and on Instagram @man- Photo: Ellie Howe cunionfashionandbeauty!

Use a matte brown bronzer to shape the

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cheekbones: apply directly underneath the bone and blend in an upward direction using a buffing motion. Lightly brush the bronzer over your temples and around the hairline at the top of the forehead to complete. Use a golden highlighter over the top of the cheekbones, shaping it in a ‘C’ shape from the top of the cheekbone to underneath the brow. Apply a pale pink blusher on the apples of the cheeks to finish.

The Traditional One You can’t beat a classic, can you? A traditional Fair Isle knit never goes out of style but give it a modern twist with leather trousers and cool silver jewellery.

Photo: Ellie Howe

Carefully line your lips with a red liner (avoid creating a Kylie Jenner-style duck pout). Use a lip brush and lipstick to fill in the spaces between the liner, taking extra caution around the treacherous Cupid’s bow area. If any lipstick strays, apply concealer to cover and provide a clean edge.

Top everything off with some winter woollies and an advent calendar and hey presto! The look is complete.

Asos, £35

Opinion

Are you fur real?

With faux fur being a star trend this winter, Kathryn Murray asks why people still insist on buying the real thing?

Nice and easy, just throw on your favourite Christmas jumper like this one from New Look. This look could be used for a slightly more casual occasion; with the bottom half of the jumpsuit still making the statement that you’ve made an effort. Combined with some tinsel in your hair, or a cheeky Christmas hat, you’ll be the festive spirit of the party!

Jumper: New Look, £28

If you want to add a pop of colour to your outfit, red is the definitely the direction to take and I love this gilet from Topshop.

Faux fur is a popular choice this Christmas, meaning that you can also pick up a less pricey dupe in good ol’ Primark. By pairing this outfit with some blood red heels (and sparkly red jewellery, if you’re feeling brave), this option would be perfect for a formal event.

Gilet: Topshop, £65

The last option that I am going to present you with is a jewellery heavy outfit. Forget the jumper or the jacket—just go hard on those accessories. Whether you want sparkles and glitz or classic and stylish, a piece from your jewellery box such as this statement collar from River Island should add a festive feel to your outfit. Don’t currently own anything appropriate? Just another opportunity to pop down to Primark, leaving you extra spending money for getting royally egg-nogged.

Necklace: River Island, £12

Fur has always been a talking point in the fashion industry. Not only is it expensive, but many view the slaughter of animals for coats and accessories as cruel and unnecessary. As such a major ethical issue, many people are extremely vocal in denouncing its use, with some even resorting to violence. Despite this, in a recent UK poll, only 58% of 18-24-year-olds said that they believed it was wrong to use fur compared to 77% of over-55s. This is in stark contrast to three years ago, when 95% of people claimed that they would refuse to wear it. With this increase in acceptance, is the fur industry clawing its way back?

It’s nearly two decades since a crop of supermodels including Kate Moss and Cindy Crawford posed naked in the iconic PETA anti-fur adverts under the slogan “We’d rather go naked than wear fur”.

Clearly, celebrities and the media have the power to influence the public. As a result, it is through recent celebrity endorsements that the public are slowly going fur crazy.

Public figures such as Kanye West, Rihanna, Beyonce and the Olsen twins have been seen wrapped up in fur making the item desirable. So is it ok to wear fur now?

Has the taboo been lifted? Are people no longer outraged by the murder of animals for the sake of fashion?

Over 400 catwalk labels including Tom Ford and Christopher Kane currently use fur in their collections and the global fur market has almost doubled from £5.7 billion to £9.4 billion since the millennium.

With demand for real fur on the increase and vintage fur being a coveted collectaPhoto: Floriana Mantovani @Flickr

ble, there is no doubt that it is well and truly coming back into fashion.

I should make it clear that I am against the use of fur for clothing. The main issues I have with the fur industry are the inhumane treatment of animals and the use of endangered species. I do not think it is moral or even necessary. However after a little research, I regrettably see where fur advocates are coming from. Humans already kill animals such as rabbits for food…should we waste the fur if people are willing to pay for it? The fur industry also offers thousands of jobs and it has recently been revealed that fur is cheaper to source than the synthetic alternative.

There is an argument for fur’s environmentally friendly qualities. Fake fur is made from non-renewable petroleum-based products, like nylon, acrylic and polyester, which are then treated with heat and chemicals to improve its look and feel.

According to the International Fur Trade Federation, these industrial processes use three times as much non-renewable energy as real fur.

Taking all of this into consideration, I am still firmly against the use of real fur. To be honest, the thought of wearing an animal’s protective layer makes my skin crawl. I find it unnecessary when a more ethical alternative is available to us. There is an abundance of fake fur in every high street shop; earmuffs, mittens, coats, clutch bags, everything you could possibly dream of.

Not only is it cheaper, more practical, and more ethical but it looks pretty good too!

And no animals were harmed for a trend that will be replaced next year.

The Sparkly One Trust me on this, I know M&S might be your mum’s retailer of choice but they are unrivalled this season for their selection of glamorous festive knits!

Marks and Spencer, £25

The D.I.Y. One Sadly student flats and budgets don’t accommodate Christmas trees, however there is a solution. Thanks to Missguided all you need is this super-cute jumper for your very own portable tree.

And as it comes with a bag of Velcro decorations you can have fun decorating it too!

Missguided, £22.99

Film

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ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

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

The Best Films of the Decade (So Far...)

Five years down, five to go. Our Editors each give us their picks for the best film of the 2010s so far

Undisputed III Director: Isaac Florentine Starring: Scott Adkins, Mark Ivanir, Mykel Shannon Jenkins

by Tom Bruce

Released: 2010 The chanting of a thousand malnourished, krokodiladdicted Russian convicts thunders around the makeshift ring like the intro song to SpongeBob SquarePants does in the sound-torture cells of a CIA blacksite. Yuri Boyka, played by Scott Adkins, is by his own humble admission ‘the most complete fighter in the world’, and he is back to reclaim his title.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Undisputed film franchise, here’s the story: In 2002 a film called Undisputed was released, starring Wesley Snipes as a jailhouse boxing champion and Ving Rhames as a thinly veiled rapist caricature of Mike Tyson. The pair disagree, have a fight, and the film ends. It’s your typical grits and gruel prison flick, with nothing to its name but the amusingly prophetic depiction of an incarcerated Snipes. Undisputed’s sequel changed everything. Taking charge of proceedings from original director Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hrs.), action

Her Director: Spike Jonze Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams Released: 2013

Photo: Nu Image

auteur Isaac Florentine sent the series in a brand new direction, quickly finding fandom in the UFC generation. Replacing Ving Rhames with Michael Jai White and relocating the setting to a corrupt Soviet jail, the film was a powerhouse drama about interpersonal violence, gaining international acclaim for its innovative choreography. The third instalment in the series takes things a notch further, pitching the best prison fighters from the eight toughest lockups and offering them freedom in exchange for victory.

Undisputed III was the 70th top rated film of 2010, coming in at 7.5/10 stars on IMDb. Poundfor-pound (or dollar-for-dollar) it was the most successful action movie of the year, punching well above its independent studio’s weight and benching

more than the combined mass of the voting members of the Academy Awards, a group who inexplicably gave Best Cinematography to Avatar and Best Film Editing to The Hurt Locker despite Undisputed being indisputably superior in both categories. Doubleact Ross W. Clarkson and Irit Raz provide the kind of breathtaking imagery usually reserved for Chinese martial arts epics and John Woo gangster yarns; the use of whip pan in particular would have Quentin Tarantino swooning in his seat, while the agonisingly detailed zoom-ins, which often effortlessly revolve anything from 90 to 360 degrees around the duelling actors, are simply sublime.

Going back to director Isaac Florentine briefly, his gift for capturing balls to the wall action is the best thing this side of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team.

This is a man whose first film was called Desert Kickboxer, and his career hasn’t let up for a minute since.

The Social Network

by James Moules

Who? Her. Exactly. A peculiar choice some might say, considering it had a pretty mild reception by the critics and the people. And yes, it was in some ways underwhelming and subdued, but therein lies the magic. I’ve got a lot of time for films with charm, and Her has it in abundance. The fact that this futuristic society is so similar to ours is what is so endearing about this film. It’s not the Star Wars style men in grey wraparound suits and bears dining with cockroaches, it hits almost too close to home; particularly with the OS set up. The weird LA he lives in, the weird job he has, the borderline creepy moustache.

Everything is off about this world, but not in any way unimaginable.

If anyone says they didn’t see a sliver of themselves in Joaquin Pheonix’s clunky, desperate Theodore Twombly, they’re lying. Here we’ve got a character for whom everything is difficult and no one really likes. Who can’t relate to that? The whole falling in love with a computer thing is neither here nor there. It’s not

Photo: Warner Bros.

that he falls in love with what is essentially a robot, it’s that he falls in love with the fantasy of it.

Just go on Tumblr for 30 seconds, you’ll find many people living this delusion. The only difference is in our world, reality can hit home, but for ol’ Theodore, his reality has a 6-8 hour battery life.

But let’s get real for a second, any film with both Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson’s voice (one of her best features in my opinion) is at least worth one re-watch.

Although the film is wholly The Joaquin Show, the women hold their own. Rooney Mara is the frustration we feel towards this pathetic man; Amy Adams is the woman no one ever wants to turn into. Side note on Amy Adams: find me a film where she isn’t playing someone’s girlfriend. And

The Tree of Life

Director: David Fincher Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Classic Review Garfield, Justin Timberlake

Director: Terence Malick Starring: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn

Released: 2010

Released: 2011

Even with such creative titans as David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin working as the faces behind the camera, I couldn’t help but be one of the many film fans who were sceptical about The Social Network when the project was announced. A movie about Facebook? How was that going to work? Two hours of hoodie-clad computer nerds typing code for two hours? Sounds riveting.

Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, isn’t it?

Not only did The Social Network turn out to be a great movie, but it also succeeds in being a picture that defines an entire generation. I now feel more than a little silly for ever having doubted it.

While, by definition, The Social Network is a biopic, to apply such a label to the film is an insult to the phenomenal levels of nuance that Fincher and Sorkin inject to the narrative. On one level, the movie simply the story of the meteoric rise to fame of Mark Zuckerberg and his little website. Watch it again, and you’ll find a fascinating study

by Andriana Hambi

in power, greed, sex, money and the way we human beings interact with one another in the digital age. At times it’s exciting, at others it’s funny and at some

Photo: Columbia Pictures

it’s almost chilling. I’m inclined to call it ‘something truly special,’ but I feel I woudn’t be doing it justice.

The performances of the lead cast are works of utter perfection. Jesse Eisenberg delivers the ultimate cold, reserved genius character as the fictionalised interpretation of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg. In my opinion, he should have won the Best Actor Oscar over Colin Firth. Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake and Armie Hammer also give tremendous performances as Zuckerberg’s colleagues, many of whom end up being backstabbed by him, leading to

them taking legal action against him. These courtroom scenes— through which the story is narrated—are nothing short of legendary.

David Fincher is one of the greatest directors and most talented visual stylists working today—he has a mighty body of work to boast, that includes Se7en, Fight Club, Zodiac and, most recently, Gone Girl. But even with all these fine pieces of work to his name, I believe that The Social Network will come to be seen as the man’s finest cinematic achievement.

No other film this century, let along this half of the decade, has managed to capture the spirit of the age with such vibrant perception. It’s a wildly entertaining, darkly comic and weirdly tragic tale that is charged with life and laced with irony.

Even when Zuckerberg is at his most loathsome, we still relate to him. He’s a character that’s living deep down somewhere inside all of us. We realise by the end of the picture that it’s not we who are inside his head—he is inside ours.

Writing about The Tree of Life as if it is a normal film is pointless; there isn’t a film like it out there and there never will be. When it premiered at the Cannes Festival in 2011, the ecstatic applause was only surpassed by angry boos from the audience. In the general public, many disappointed people walked out of the cinema very early into the film.

Let me try to explain why. The film’s narrative structure is, to be nice, unconventional.

Sean Penn portrays Jack O’Brien, a modern day architect disconnected from the world around him, and he reflects on his childhood in Texas. A big portion of the film is about the O’Brien family in the 1960s, consisting of a young Jack, his two brothers and his very dissimilar parents (Jessica Chastain and Brad Pitt).

Only fifteen minutes into the film though, everything changes.

All of a sudden, The Tree of Life turns into one of the most ambitious films for decades. With cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki by his side, director Terrence Malick presents us some incredible scenes, as we

are shown the formation of our planet, volcanoes erupting and a badly wounded marine dinosaur looking into the distant horizon.

This part of the film is a quarter of an hour long, and no words

you can’t say Doubt because she was married to God. This is a real shame, because she’s a great actress and a little undervalued in my opinion.

Now, I’m not one to criticise the mainstream movie industry, but dude, where’s my origional screenplay? In todays climate, where books about masochism and feel-good true stories about sports underdogs are the only films being made, the thirst for new material is high and Her is a cold glass of water. Sure, it’s not the best film of the halfdecade, perhaps even 2013, but I’ll be darned if it’s not a little bit different. The importance of new scripts, intentionally written for the screen cannot be underestimated. Without them, all that is left is the money-making dregs and lowest common denominator fluff. There’s no art there, no feeling there. That’s why Her, despite being so digital, is a heart wrenchingly human film.

It’s about flaws and loneliness, and it does a pretty good job of holding a mirror up to our world.

by Martin Solibakke

But the sad thing of it all is not that some people hate it and demand simple entertainment; films like these are bound to split the audience.

For every person who loves this film, there will be at least three who take great pleasure in hating it, and that’s okay.

What’s truly sad is that few have seen this masterpiece, I’m even afraid most people on the street haven’t heard about it. It won the Palme Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures d’Or, arguably the most prestigious film award there in the dictionary can help me is, and only months before Roger efficiently describe how beautiful Ebert passed away he added The it is, but as a film critic I have to try: Tree of Life on his list of Top 10 It’s breathtaking, stunning and films of all time, arguing it would unlike anything you will ever see increase in stature over the next in art. decades. I couldn’t agree more.

After this passage, the film goes I like to think everyone has this back to the O’Brien family and one film they feel is theirs and stays there for the majority of the only they can truly understand. remaining two hours.

The Tree of Life is mine, and I The Tree of Life is not for took it quickly under my wings. everyone. Contrary to popular It is simply everything cinema opinion these days, this does not should be but rarely is; Innovative, mean it is not an incredible film. adventurous and endlessly It’s clearly as experimental as it is ambitious. It’s too early to say if it ambitious, as it tries to grasp the really is one of the greatest films very meaning of existence, love ever made, but in my opinion it’s and faith. easily the most beautiful.

/MancunionFilm

Film 19

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

@mancunionfilm

Review

TV Binge

Horrible Bosses 2

Girls

Eleanor Stead was unimpressed with this lazy attempt at a comedy sequel.

Horrible Bosses 2, unsurprisingly, follows a similar premise to its precursor. Having quit their jobs, the first film’s protagonists, Nick, Kurt and Dale (Bateman, Sudeikis, Day) launch their own business, manufacturing a product called the ‘Shower Buddy’. After plugging themselves on daytime TV, businessman Burt Hanson (Christoph Waltz) expresses an interest in their product, but complications with his order lead them to kidnap his son Rex (Chris Pine) as a ransom. It’s a depressingly awful premise for a film, and it isn’t improved by its execution.

Waltz is completely wasted; bizarrely, the screenwriters don’t seem to even have attempted to give him anything funny to say, but in a wildly over-ambitious move seem to have endeavoured to make him into some sort of vague comment on capitalism and the American Dream: ‘the only thing that creates wealth is wealth’ (thought-provoking stuff, right?). Chris Pine is clearly aware of how dreadful the film is (perhaps it’s unfair to blame this film completely for the dead look behind his eyes, his recent career choices haven’t been great) , although his lack of enthusiasm can’t do much to damage the dreadful material he’s given to work with. Jamie Foxx gives it more energy – it reveals a lot about the film’s standards that one of its least unenjoyable moments was Foxx finding a mildly amusing way of eating a strawberry lace.

Despite desperately wanting to outrage us with a constant tirade of homophobia, racism and misogyny,

the screenwriters seem to have no idea which parts of the film are actually offensive. At one point, Rex bullies his Chinese maid by doing an impression of her accent, pretending to fire her and throwing his trainers at her head. Even the over-excitable teenage audience (who squealed with laughter at the slightest

Bosses 2 to say that it’s offensive. Yes, the film shamelessly stereotypes ethnic minorities and women (Kurt only employs women who are crying and/or have large, exposed breasts, but he pays their health insurance so he’s still pretty much an all-round great guy), but what’s truly offensive about the film is its demoralizing unfunniness, which leaves it with nothing to defend itself. The writers are over-reliant on shock-value, and while the first film was lazy, the sequel is pretty much a copy and paste job, exhaustingly resurrecting some of the first film’s lamest gags, and declaring itself to be a parody as an excuse for this laziness. Even its soundtrack is recycled. If scenes from the first film were interspersed with those of the second film, you wonder if anyone would notice.

This is a depression-inducing film, a feeling which can only be made worse by the knowledge that Jennifer Anniston has threatened to sign up for Horrible Bosses 3, 4, 5 and 6 if the writers continue to ‘up the ante’. Her nymphomaniac dentist having Photo: Warner Bros. branched out from rape to inferred paedophilia for the second in the franchise, I provocation) couldn’t muster a laugh at this. It may be dread to think what they’ll have to come up with for a singular criticism, but I felt slightly disappointed by the (please God, no) sixth instalment. Whatever it is, the film’s lack of phallic symbolism, the stock comedic it’ll have to be better than this flaccid excuse for a commaterial of the first film, the innocence of which I felt edy. oddly nostalgic for – all we get on this front is a rather abstract fondle of a telescope, the sequel opting instead for some weird and wildly inappropriate gags about rape and paedophilia.

It seems too easy and too kind a criticism of Horrible

Cornerhouse Pick of the Week

Classic Review

Set Fire to the Stars Jurassic Park Alice Williams says that this literary biopic is really nothing to write home about. favorite hell raiser.

Kelly Reilly plays Thomas’ wife, in a performance that is infinitely better than Sienna Miller’s questionable portrayal in John Maybury’s The Edge of Love. A brief scene with Shirley Henderson, which they Photo: Munro Film Services in swap ghost stories, It cannot be denied that Andy is excellent. But Goddard’s directorial debut is a good foremost this film places Brinnin looking affair, with the world of Dylan and Thomas in a tense, pressurized shot entirely in black and white to environment together that allows crisp, artistic effect. However, this for some of the troubling demons of lurching biography, although novel in Thomas to become clear. It’s a strategy its approach, leaves more bafflement that ultimately fails to work, as the two than enjoyment in its wake. men lack the final emotional clout Our protagonist, minor American of such a terse relationship. Thomas’ critic and poet John Malcolm Brinnin, prose is almost an afterthought and encounters Dylan Thomas at his the film fails to find any redeeming worse, as he attempts to steer him reasoning behind his full-throttle selfthrough a US reading tour in what destruction. Thomas is becoming a inevitably merges into an alcoholfrequently re-visited figure in biopics, laced pantomime. Celyn Jones takes and this film reveals no further on a dual role here, both co-writing the dimension to what is increasingly script with Goddard and playing the becoming a caricature of a literary pivotal role of Thomas, in a portrayal figure. The slick monochromatic that appears to be stunningly cinematography and tinkling jazz accurate. Everyone’s favorite hobbit score (excellent, and by Super Furry (Elijah Wood, as if you didn’t know) Animals frontman Gruff Rhys) merely tackles Brinnin, in a performance that re-package the myth of a wholly matches Jones’, and their partnership unlikeable and villainous character in allows at least some grounding to a a pretentious, arty formula. somewhat bonkers film. Despite this, however, both Brinnin and Thomas are difficult characters to engage with, and it’s difficult to care about the predictable exploits of poetry’s

Elliot Coen takes a look back at the original dinosaur extravaganza in preparation for the upcoming sequel Jurassic World.

Jurassic Park - a film about some dudes in a lab who combine fossilised DNA with frogspawn to give life to a new specimen (not Jeff Goldblum, the dinosaurs!). A theme park is then opened on a remote island for families from around the world to get in on all of the dinosaur fun. Before the park opens, a group of palaeontologists, Sam Neill and Laura Dern, are invited for a closed tour along with a crazy mathematician, Jeff Goldblum. They point out that you shouldn’t mess with nature, the dinosaurs get a bit rowdy and before you know it, Samuel L. Jackson is telling you to hold on to your butts.

I’d like to think that everyone knows the plot of Jurassic Park already; It is a wonderful film for many reasons and it’s been out for ages now, so you really have no excuse. I can’t talk about Jurassic Park without noting just how good the special effects are. Originally, director Steven Spielberg wanted to make all of the dinosaur scenes using stop-motion animatronics. You can watch some of that early test footage on YouTube and it looks absolutely rubbish. It was only when he teamed up with George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic that he was told about the then-new technological advances in computer-generated imagery; The rest is pre-history.

Photo: Universal Pictures

The narrative itself is extremely well paced. In all the times I have watched Jurassic Park, I never felt boredom creeping in during any scene, even when the dinosaurs were absent on screen.

I wish I could say the same for the big blockbuster films of today; Too often when such films focus on the human interaction of the lead characters, it falls completely flat (Hi Godzilla). For a film that has such a vast island setting as a backdrop, the majority of the action take place in confined spaces, yet not once does it begin to feel claustrophobic.

I think that says a great deal about the impact that the big wide-angle set pieces have on the viewer; They really do stay with you for the rest of the film. Completing the package is the triumphant score by John Williams; Never has a piece of music fitted a scene better than in the ‘Welcome to Jurassic Park’ sequence.

No doubt about it, Jurassic Park is real movie magic.

Photo:HBO

Girls centres around a quirky bunch of twenty-something New Yorkers struggling with life after college. The show is very much the spawn of Lena Dunham’s imagination. Not only does she star as the protagonist Hannah Horvath she also writes and directs the majority of episodes. It seems her aim was to take an honest look at the difficulties of young adulthood, however I certainly hope my life after graduation looks nothing like Dunham’s projection. The comedydrama includes copious amounts of sex and nudity as well as a whole host of bad decisions.

Hannah is a struggling writer who depends on her parents financially, at the start of the show she lives with her so-called best friend Marnie (Allison Williams) who is uptight and prissy, the polar opposite of Hannah.

Hannah wants a job but doesn’t but want to work, she wants to write but her journal seems to be the only piece she is committed to. Hannah’s parents cut off her funds in the first episode at which point she is forced her to do some actual work and stop whining.

She is often self-destructive and at times aggravating to watch, however as the show progresses she begins to get it together, in the process becoming a more charming and likable character.

The other main characters include the lively Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) who is still working her way through university and the unpredictable and free-spirited Jessa (Jemima Kirke).

If the show is Dunham’s honest view of friendship, she must have terrible friends. If Sex and the City is the marker for idealist TV friendships, Girls occupies a middle ground.

When it matters the not so awesome foursome are there for one another, however on multiple occasions commit sins that more than break the unwritten code of friendship. The show is certainly commendable for the more realistic and diverse women presented to us, throughout the three seasons we get to know them in depth, and they are far from the onedimensional female characters that so often grace our screens.

Despite my mixed review I powered through Girls in under a week. You will become invested in the tumultuous and at times weird ventures of these girls and grow to accept them as they are.

The fourth season of Girls is due to premiere in January 2015.

Isabella Yianni

20

Books

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/TheMancunion: Books @MancunionBooks

Editors: Leonie Dunn, Ali Pearson

Profile

Nobel Prize for Literature Winner 2014: Patrick Modiano Books editor Alister Pearson looks at this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Patrick Modiano, and how a man who is barely known outside his native country managed to win the much-revered prize.

Image: npr.org

In October it was announced that this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature would be awarded to 69-year-old Patrick Modiano. He will become the thirteenth person from France to win the prestigious prize.

The Swedish Academy credited Modiano for ‘the art of memory with which he has evoked the most ungraspable human destinies and uncovered the life-world of the occupation.’

It took four hours from the announcement of Modiano winning the prize to track him down. He was notified of his win by a phone call from his daughter as he walked the streets of Paris, becoming rather emotional in the process. In his first telephone interview since claiming the award, he reflected upon his reaction upon hearing the news, commenting that he was ‘very moved’ and how he ‘never thought this would happen’ to him.

Now it is quite unlikely that many outside of France would have known Modiano, especially in Britain, before he won the Holy Grail of literature. Few of his thirty-odd novels were ever translated into

English and fewer still of these translations remain in print. To put it in perspective, there are more translations of Modiano’s work into Swedish than there are into English.

Although the Nobel Prize for Literature is probably his proudest achievement, it is not his first high-profile award. In 2012, Modiano won the Austrian State Prize for European literature; in 2010, he won the lifetime reward from the Institut de France. During the 70s he won two awards for two of his novels.

In 1972, he won the Grand Prix du roman de l’Académie francaise for the novel, published in the same year, ‘Les Boulevards de ceinture’ or ‘Ring Roads’. The story centres upon a young Parisian meeting his father for the first time in ten years. The one hundred-page novella is filled with nostalgic memories as the son recollects and compares the memories he has of his father.

It was not long before Modiano produced another book worthy of literary acclaim. 1978 saw him receive the Prix Goncourt for ‘Rue des Boutiques Obscures’, or ‘Missing Person’. Modiano again explores the

theme of memory, or lack of it, as is the case in this novel. The main character is detective Guy Roland, who is an amnesiac. After his boss retires, Roland decides to go looking for the person he once was.

Along the way he learns that he is a Greek Jew, and had a string of unique friends, including a French model, and a dancer of Russianorigin. Modiano explores existentialist themes, and the complex notion of memory in this tale. The permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, Peter Englund had this to say about Modiano and the novel: “It’s a fun book—playing with the genre, still saying something very fundamental about memory and time. As a person concerned with memory, which I think we all are, he has a very special art of memory, how it works. He is sort of possessed about his attempts to reach back in time, and you can identify yourself with these attempts, and his very original ways to do it.”

What seems remarkable about Modiano’s 45-year career is that every book seems to follow on from the last. That explains why he declined to answer when asked to choose a book by him that would give readers, who were not familiar with his work, the best impression. For Modiano’s work, each book just seems to follow on from this previous book. “It’s as if I stopped to take a break, and then continued with the next stage of the same book,” he said, in addition to his refusal to provide a recommendation.

Another central theme to many novels written by Modiano is the shame and wretchedness of the Second World War and what followed it. His first published novel, ‘La Place de l’Etoile’, which was published in 1968, is a semi-autobiographical piece about the negative effects of anti-Semitism in France during the war. His 1997 publication, ‘Dora Bruder’ (‘The Search Warrant’) is about a Jewish girl who went missing during the Nazi occupation of France.

The sheer amount of work Modiano has managed to produce over his life is staggering. It’s not just been novels but screenplays that he has delved into. In 2003, he wrote the screenplay for ‘Bon Voyage’, which was later nominated for a Caesar Award for “best writing.”

Modiano has ceased to slow down his rate of production. His latest book, ‘Pour que tu ne te perdes pas dans le quartier’ was published earlier this year and Modiano does not seem to be about to finish writing any time soon. He is a man whose efforts to continue what he is passionate about have never been deterred. He may not be as well known as he should be but he can take solace in the fact that he has won perhaps the most renowned prize in literature.

Opinion

Amazon: to boycott or not to boycott?

Books Editor Leonie Dunn looks over the Christmas Amazon boycott and focuses on why it is both a positive and negative action to make.

Photo: MuskingumUniversityLibrary@Flickr

Photo: Nic Taylor @ Flickr

With taxes funding our schools, hospitals and public services, it is vastly concerning to hear that Amazon is the UK’s number one tax avoider. With Amazon’s UK subsidiary, which includes the wellknown Lovefilm.com, Kindle and Audible.com, it is easy to see how influential they are on consumerism today. Yet the figures suggest they are paying a rate of taxes less than 0.1 per cent, having sales of £4.3 billion and only paying £3.2 million in corporate taxes in 2012.

Thus, Amazon anonymous as an organisation are calling us as a united front to use our consumer power to make Amazon pay a fair rate of tax. By taking just one look at Amazon anonymous’ organisation page it highlights just how deeply affiliated the consumer and Amazon have become. The organisation equally focusses on how Amazon does not pay their workers a reasonable living wage and Amazon’s negative effect on our local shops all as part of their rally cry. The page constantly interrogates whether you as the consumer can avoid shopping at Amazon this Christmas. Even going as far as to send you motivational emails on your progress of a full, cold turkeystyle, Amazon-free Christmas period.

While this rather melodramatic play on an Amazon-free Christmas may seem rather odd, it is actually very much a part of our society today. Students, as a large percentile of the consumerist society, for most the first place we will think of when we need to buy that textbook or film is Amazon and it often goes without saying. Amazon is the place to go, everything is a simple click away and you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home. I am not one to point the finger, as I too, often without thinking, find myself on Amazon. I am aware that I can visit my local bookstore for my books or head to the shopping centre for any other of my needs but yet I am finding myself sweeping the online aisles of Amazon.

However, it is important to think of Amazon in the wider scale of things, in Britain Amazon holds a near 35 per cent share of the book market and that is without going into its many other business ventures. Amazon no longer holds a niche market but has instead enveloped and essentially cut off other markets with its outstretching business. Amazon shows no sign of slowing down or waning either, with its future prospects even touching on drone delivery systems.

Yet, there are multiple positive aspects to Amazon and its power, it has the ultimate power to make or break nearly any upcoming author and most authors know that nearly half of their sales will be through Amazon. This is the double-edged sword effect that Amazon has. On the one side, Amazon and its new non-material format of books has vastly brought down the cost of publishing which has led to more self-published authors, which is part of the wonders of Amazon’s power.

However, the very fact that there is an organisation and boycott on Amazon itself highlights the problem at hand, breaking free from the Amazon Empire as it stands is vastly difficult as there are parts and subsidiaries of Amazon that you may never have heard of. Amazon is more than just the simple ‘Everything Store’. Amazon is the largest provider of cloud services in the world, Amazon Web Services touches nearly every corner of the web. Do you have a smartphone?

Do you use Netflix or apps on smartphones? If so then you are using Amazon, as all of these use, or have used AWS. So maybe the melodramatic ploy of Amazon anonymous’ organisation isn’t quite as fickle as it first seems. There is a need for consumers to be aware of the effect of Amazon and its costly effect on the modern industries that are falling as the small players are pushed out of the market.

All of the above aspects touch upon or affect the way we take in or read the literature of the world today. e-readers and kindles have rekindled a lust for literature in the hearts of many and it is not without its reasons. Readers now care only for the ease of access so said books and the price which Amazon and the Kindle magically provide. The ‘Buy Now’, ‘Next-Day Delivery’ reels us in and thus the bookstore has lost its mojo. The Bookstore wars are over as the independents are battered and Amazon remains triumphant. But, while many, often myself included, whine over the loss of the hardcover book and the independent bookstore, the new Digital Age may well have many pleasurable repercussions. The history of writing and literature gives us every bit of confidence on the emergence of a new form of literary excellence, whether it be short stories typed out on Twitter’s 140 characters or interactive works. So I’ll leave it to you to decide, head on over to http://www.amazonanonymous.org/ and choose whether you will boycott Amazon this Christmas.

Societies

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Editor: Evie Hull

21

How to become a leader of a Student Action volunteering project Jenny Sterne News Editor Student action, the volunteering arm of the Students’ Union, provides you the opportunity to volunteer for or lead a range of projects in the local

He spoke of his involvement in the project: “I de-

or more hours of volunteering in a Student Action

To be involved in the projects with vulnerable

cided to become a project leader because I wanted

role gains you the Higher Education Achievement

adults and children you will need a DBS check. Stu-

to regularly go and help and assist homeless peo-

Report.

dent action holds a drop in for this every Wednes-

ple on their road to recovery, and I have since met some amazing people along the way.

“For example when I was a volunteer last year I

They are looking specifically for project leaders

day from 1-5pm. This can take a few weeks to pro-

for some of their current projects and anyone who

cess so they suggest getting one this term if you

wishes to set up their own.

wish to volunteer after Christmas.

met a man from Dublin who was newly homeless

Current projects they need leaders for include;

They offer the chance to work with the elderly,

in Manchester and he was in dire straits. A couple of

Refugee Conservation Club, Homeless Outreach,

homeless, refugees and asylum seekers, disadvan-

weeks ago I saw him again and he now has a regular

Elderly Supermarket Sweep, Willowbank Children

taged children, and people with learning disabili-

place to stay and is far healthier.

Club and Breakout Children’s activity program.

community.

“It’s moments like that which make the project

They are also looking for minibus drivers for their

They have been running since the 1960s and are

such a success and so worthwhile. For me there is

projects, to take the assessment you need to be 21

entirely student-led. If you are interested in getting

no better way of spending a couple of hours than

or over and driving for two years with a full U.K.

involved, in the new term they will be having a Give

helping someone who truly appreciates the help,

driver’s license.

It a Go information session where you can meet the

and that is why I love doing the outreach project.”

ties.

team.

are looking for Outreach leaders to run sessions

Christmas period. Their Outreach homeless pro-

fortnightly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and

ject will continue to run on Mondays and Fridays.

Sundays.

and drink to people living on the streets.

Joshua Hall, a third year Geography student, recently wrote an article about the Student Action Outreach project.

Email: action.su@manchester.ac.uk Twitter: SA_MCR Facebook: Student-Action Manchester Website: www.manchesterstudentsunion.com/ studentaction

Outreach runs every weekday evening. They

There is even the possibility to help out over the

You can sign up now to an evening of giving food

To find out more about how to get involved:

To try out the projects all you have to do is sign up to volunteer on the portal, which you can find on their website.

The hours of volunteering that you commit to Student Action can be logged on their portal. Ten Student Action are looking for new project leaders. To start in the new term. Photo: Student Action

Spotlight: Graphene Zone Andrew Wood Graphene Zone

minds from across the university together.

Essentially we want to form a nexus between researchers, students and ideas to facilitate a culture of playful idea creation.

At some point during our time at the University,

Graphene Zone was setup to enable any graduate/

regardless of our departmental allegiances, we will

undergraduate students, researchers and staff inter-

have heard tributes to the discovery of graphene

ested in graphene to be part of the current scientific

and perhaps also a list of its much heralded ‘miracle

paradigm shift at Manchester.

facts’.

We plan to have researchers come to speak on their

Since the acclaimed Nobel Prize in Physics came to

work, to hold sessions reviewing current evolutions

Manchester in 2010 there has been a slow but steady

in the 2D materials world, and most importantly,

metamorphosis unfolding in physics and the mate-

have ideas sessions to enable the blossoming of prac-

rials sciences. Indeed the explosion of research and

tical uses for graphene and its sister materials.

interest in 2D materials is beginning to be matched with investment and state of the art labs.

In second semester we will partner with Manchester Enterprise Centre to help groups of students for-

Currently the completion of the £61m National Gra-

ward their ideas, should they have any, and enter

phene Institute is but months away and the univer-

competitions such as ‘Venture Further’ with £10k

sity has plans to build a £60m Graphene Engineering

prize money up for grabs!

Innovation Centre (GEIC) which will facilitate devel-

So, scientist or not, come join us on the edge of this

opment of commercial applications with a focus on

revolution in Manchester and play with new con-

clean technologies.

cepts and ideas for the uses of these super thin, super

With all this research, attention and resources being poured into 2D materials it is important to note

strong, super absorbent, super conductive and water resistant molecular materials!

that when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov

Come join us at our next event on December 3th,

first isolated Graphene in 2004, deep in the bowels

19:30-21:00 in Council Chambers @ Student Union

of the physics department, they did this during their

where we aim to brainstorm and start creating and

famous ‘Friday night sessions’.

developing ideas for a stab at the Venture Out gra-

This emphasised playing around with new ideas.

It is this concept of playing with ideas that we want to bring to those interested in graphene by having researcher/ lecturers talk on their research and putting

Photo: Graphene Zone

phene category!

Feel free to join Graphene Zone on Facebook & Twitter.

Photo: Graphene Zone

Write for us or promote your society by emailing societies@mancunion.com

22

Food & Drink

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Editors: Ellie Gibbs, Adam Fearn

Recipe: Ultimate Chicken Curry Co-editor Ellie Gibbs offers her recipe for the ultimate chicken curry I normally gravitate away from home-cooked curry and towards the take-away variety, for the well known reason that it’s just not the same. While creation in a saucepan from a spoonful of paste, chopped vegetables and diced chicken is time-efficient, flavours are generally disappointing. On noticing my purchase of a box of Taste the Difference chicken thighs & drumsticks (£1.19 from £4.75 in the reduced section), my housemate shared this recipe with me for which, due to our impressive spice rack, I only needed a few extra items.

Marinade: 2 chicken thighs cut into two (or 4 and omit drumsticks) 2 chicken drumsticks 120g yoghurt 2 tbsp ginger and garlic paste 1½ tsp salt 1 lemon, juice only 3 tsp red chilli powder 1 tbsp ground cumin ½ tsp garam masala drizzle of oil

Photo: The Mancunion

Oven 200ºC. Make cuts in the chicken pieces with a corrugated knife to help the marinade absorb. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl then pour over the chicken in a dish lined with foil, making sure each piece is coated. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes. Roast the chicken for around 15 minutes, turning halfway to ensure even browning. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked as it will be added to the sauce later. Set aside and keep the juices.

Add the chopped ginger, green chillies and cream and simmer for a minute or two longer, taking care that the sauce doesn’t split. Stir in the salt, fenugreek leaves and garam masala, then check the seasoning. Serve on a bed of basmati rice (100g per person) and garnish with fresh coriander. Excitedly run around the kitchen exclaiming ‘it looks like a real curry!’

Sauce: 2 tins plum tomatoes 5cm/2in piece fresh root ginger, peeled, half crushed and half finely chopped 4 garlic cloves, peeled 4 green cardamom pods 1 bay leaf 1 tbsp red chilli powder 80g butter, diced green chillies, slit lengthways (I used a smallish one and a large green birdseye) 3 tbsp coconut cream/single cream (optional) 1 tsp salt 2 tsp fenugreek ½ tsp garam masala salt and pepper 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, to garnish Place the tomatoes in a pan with 125ml/4fl oz water, the crushed ginger, garlic, cardamom and bay leaf. Simmer until just before the boil and blend with a hand blender in the pan. Add the chilli powder and simmer for 12-15 minutes. It should slowly begin to thicken. When the sauce turns glossy, add the chicken pieces and the cooking juices. Pour in a cup of water and simmer for about 3-5 minutes, or until the water is absorbed and the sauce returns to its original glossy consistency. Slowly whisk in the butter, a couple of pieces at a time, and simmer for 6-8 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is beginning to acquire a glaze.

Photo: The Mancunion

Fancy celebrating Christmas early? Adam Fearn offers two classy cocktails to get you in the festive spirit!

Recipe: Pomegranate and Ginger Prosecco Cocktail

Recipe: The Berry Bellini

Created by the owner Giuseppe Ciprani, the owner of the infamous Henry’s Bar in Venice, Bellinis are easy to make and even easier to drink! Usually made with peach puree, this pleasant alternative offers a more christmassy take on the classic tried and tested recipe.

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons berry puree 1 tablespoon raspberry schnapps or liqueur 1 flute of prosecco handful of berries Method: 1) For the berry puree, puree the berries in a food processor, blend them, or whisk until smooth. Strain to remove seeds, if necessary.

Fresh or frozen berries may be used. 1 pint of berries will make about 1 cup of strained puree, enough for about 8 cocktails.

2) For the cocktail, spoon the berry puree into the bottom of a champagne glass.

3) Add the liqueur.

4) Top off with the prosecco (or champagne if it’s a special occasion!).

For a non-alcoholic version, add sparkling juice instead of prosecco

Using different berries can completely alter the overall taste of the cocktail. Try using pureed raspberries, strawberries, and even cherries to mix up the beverage and find a flavour that’s best for you!

Have any festive cocktail recipes of your own? Share them with us at food.mancunion@outlook.com, Tweet us pictures at @MancunionFood, or comment on this post’s comment section on www. mancunion.com!

Photo: The Mancunion

Like the Bellini, the Pomegranate and Ginger Prosecco cocktail is a fantastic drink that can be mixed in seconds. The drink bursts with flavour and offers something a bit more unusual than the standard flute of prosecco.

Ingredients: 2 teaspoons of sugar 1 slice fresh gingerroot (finely chopped) 1/2 teaspoon of chopped gingerroot Ginger Simple Syrup (makes 1 1/3 cups) 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh gingerroot 25ml gin 2 oz pomegranate juice 2 oz prosecco 1 tablespoon pomegranate seeds Ice Method: 1) In small bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped gingerroot.

Place the mixture aside onto a flat plate. Rub fresh gingerroot slice around the rims of 2 martini glasses to moisten them, and then dip the rims of glasses in ginger sugar mixture.

2) In a saucepan, heat the ginger simple syrup over a low heat until the sugar dissolves.

3) Fill a martini shaker with ice. Add the measure of gin, pomegranate juice, and 1 oz of the ginger simple syrup. Place the lid on shaker and mix until cold and blended. Pour the mixture into the prepared martini glasses and fill up the glasses with prosecco.

4) Garnish with pomegranate seeds and enjoy!

If you’re looking for more of a kick, try adding more ginger!

Treat yourself: substitute the prosecco for champagne!

Photo: Newfinmysoup @Flickr

If you fancy trying 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 or get in touch via Facebook or Twitter .

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/TheMancunion: Food & Drink @MancunionFood

Food & Drink 23

Recipe: Tilly’s Cheesy Hotpot Review

Pub of the Week: Peveril of the Peak Sam Joyce and Charlie Filmer-Court visit their latest Pub of the Week

The grim weather at the moment necessitates a return to proper, hearty comfort food. Sometimes things like stews can be a real pain to cook though, especially when money is tight. Mince is such a good ingredient when you’re cooking on a budget; it is cheap and really adaptable.

Sometimes the old classics get a bit boring though so I thought I would come up with a warming winter mince recipe that is a bit different. This recipe is really simple although the homemade cheese sauce might prove tricky.

You can obviously substitute this for something from a jar but white sauce is such a useful thing to learn how to make. You only need three cheap ingredients. The quantities here are just guidelines; really you just need enough butter so all the flour is incorporated but no more. The key is not to get frustrated and give up if you go wrong, just give it another go.

Cheesy Hotpot (Serves 2): Ingredients: – 125g of beef mince – Half an onion – 2 carrots – One leek – One beef stockpot – 2 potatoes – 10g of plain flour – 10g of butter – A cup of milk WNW9.MANC.QUART.pdf 1 27/11/2014 – A couple of handfuls of cheese

Method: Dice the onion and leek and add to a hot pan with a knob of butter. Once they have sweated down add the mince and brown. Add the carrots to the pan along with a cup of hot water and the stockpot. Leave to simmer on a low heat with the lid on, checking on it everyEaten now and again. anyThinly slice the potatoes and parboil them for around where nice 5 minutes.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons CreMelt the butter. Add the flour and mixrecently? until it forms a paste. Now add a little of the milk and whisk it is all ateduntil someA bastion of proper pubbiness, this establishment stands proudly as an incorporated, add a little more and whisk again.

Contin- island of Victorian thing delicious?

We want to tiling in a sea of new apartment buildings and developue this process until all the milk is added. If it still looks a ments. Inside is what can only be described as a ‘heritage interior’ and is a know!

Tell us about it attime food. complete warp of stained glass and polished dark wood. Testament bit thick add some more. If it is lumpy don’t worry—just to this, the pub is apparently run by the oldest serving landlady in the city. keep vigorously whisking it. If it tastes of flour just leave it There is a public bar complete with an antique table football machine, if you on the hob until it boils, this will cook out the flour. fancy getting rowdy with the ‘Pev’ locals. Alternatively, for a more relaxed Whisk half of the cheese into the sauce. Put your mince pint there is either the lounge bar or smoke room (smoke no longer) complete in a dish and top with the potatoes and the cheese sauce. with antique bell pushes that once summoned table service. This boozer is a Finally top with the rest of the cheese and cook under a real Manchester institution medium grill for five to ten minutes.

Drink: There is a good selection of ales on cask, including Copper Dragon and Robinsons Dizzy blonde. Pints are cheaper than most bars in area.

Get there: The pub is on Great Bridgewater street, get off the bus at the palWashing up: A knife, a chopping board, 3 pans, a ace theatre, walk to the McDonalds on the corner and turn left. wooden spoon, a whisk, an oven dish, a plate and knife and fork.

Tilly predicts that this meal would only cost £1.67 for per head to make. Any leftovers could be reheated or frozen Been to any pubs recently that you think deserve spefor another day.

More of Tilly’s recipes can be found on our website.

cial merit? We want to know!

Email us at food.mancunion@outlook.com!

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24

Arts & Culture

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM /TheMancunionArtsCulture @ArtsMancunion

Editor: Holly Smith

10 Th

Spotlight

Photo of the Week

Turner Prize Controversy

Photograph Of The Week

With Duncan Campbell taking this year’s prize, debates have been sparked about how much the Turner Prize actually means today. The Mancunion brings you a closer look at some of the arguments Duncan Campbell takes this year’s Turner Prize with his 54-minute “essay film” exploring the Marxist theory and anthropomorphic ketchup dispensers.

But while it is all celebration for this British contemporary artist, there has been an outcry from the art world criticizing the meaning and prestige of this annual prize.

The Turner Prize judges, including directors and curators of art galleries all over the world, described Campbell’s winning piece as “an ambitious and complex film which rewards repeated viewing.” But questions have been raised about this year’s nominees. Three out of the four artists were nominated for film and, as the winner was announced, people outside the show held comment boards reading “RIP art”. Even journalists such as Waldemar Januszczak of the Sunday Times urged people not to go, stating that this year’s nominees were “yawn-forcingly, heart-crushingly, buttockclenchingly bad”.

The peak of the Turner Prize was reached twenty years ago, in the year that Damien Hirst won. It was the prize that nobody could stop talking about and was something that the whole country watched on television.

But now, viewers have dwindled and people don’t even know what the Turner Prize is.

However, The Tate told the BBC that 2014 had been “a strong year” and that the prize continued to “promote discussion” of art.

The money that the winner receives will benefit them greatly and help support them and further their carer but with the amount of criticism that the prize this year, both the public and major art communities are crying out for change.

This Photograph is from Ellie Winstanley, a second year 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

So what does this mean for the Turner Prize? Various organisations have their own view, some want it ridden of completely, while others are calling for it to be held every 3 years, rather than the annual status it currently has. The Tate responded to the criticism that it has received and told the BBC that “The purpose of the Turner Prize is to promote discussion about new developments in contemporary British art and, now in its 30th year, it continues to evoke a wide range of responses from the public and the media.”

By Holly Smith

Turner Prize show. Photo: Tony Roberts @Flickr

Spotlight

Kosmonaut Presents Local Aritst himHallows A quirky cafe/bar in the Northern Quarter opens its doors to a new galactic exhibition.

Deep in the Northern Quarter, nestled away amongst the endless bars and cafes, is a stellar hangout for that much needed lunch break during endless days shopping or for those chilled nights with cocktails and good friends. Kosmonaut is well off the beaten track and offers not only perfect food and drink, but some of the quirkiest and up-and-coming art that the city has to offer. Its ever-changing art exhibitions make it the perfect place for Manchester-based artist himHallows to showcase new artwork in this stunning and unique exhibition.

Entitled ‘Grand Tours’, himHallows draws upon his interest in space and, more specifically, with the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft and their mission that began back in 1977. His work depicts and celebrates their journey through the solar system.

2012 was the mission’s most profound year as this was the year that Voyager 1 became the first human-built object to enter interstellar space and while this largely went unreported, himHallows however, uses this to invoke the serenity and distinct aloneness of the craft.

The artwork will be a combination of spray paint and acrylic on board, similar to the aesthetic himHallows’ has established as one of his signature mural styles. himHallows is the working name of Paul Hallows, a selftaught artist from Manchester who has previously worked with creative bodies as diverse as Manchester Art Gallery, Video Jam and Textbook Studio. He has become known for working across a variety of mediums including pen and ink, spray-painted murals and 3D cardboard and calico

models.

Incorporating galactic landmarks such as the planets and moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, the work will drift throughout a series of several panels, reflecting how spacecraft are created to float eternally through the galaxy.

If you want to experience this one of a kind exhibition, ‘Grand Tours’ opened on Friday the 5th of December and will be free to visit until Friday the 2nd of January. Kosmonaut provides not only this amazing exhibition, but fabulous food and drink to make the experience that little bit better.

Find Kosmonaut on Tariff Street, or find out more here http:// kosmonaut.co and to find out more about himHallows visit his website http://www.himhallows.co.uk

By Holly Smith

BUS STOP. Photo: Steffi Reichert@Flickr

T C d

• Free Food -ups n g i s y t e i • Soc s y a w a e v • Great Gi s d n a r b t n e d u t s p o T •

F O Y T I S R UNIVE R E T S E H C MAN n o i n U ’ s T STUDEN ” 1 y m e d Aca

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26

Lifestyle

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Editor: Robert Firth Humans of University of Manchester

Want to be featured in Humans of UoM?

Ashamarina

Email: mancunion.life@gmail.com with your age and course

“Don’t make me sound like a bitch.”

Robert Firth speaks to student Ashamarina about English guys, interrail twats and peeing herself.

Ashamarina Uchida, 2nd Year Geography student, originally from Bermuda.

Who the hell are you?

My name is Ashamarina Uchida, can you spell that? And I was born in Bermuda and raised between there and Japan with my Japanese mum and Bermudian dad. For high school I went to Canada for four years then I came to Manchester for my degree. I’ve travelled extensively through North America, including Mexico and the Caribbean. I’m nineteen, what else do you want me to say?

On being International: I would describe myself as international: I don’t call one place home. I’ve always moved around and I like that; I know it’s not for everyone but I get bored of being in one place for too long. I sound like a slut— like moving around boys—no, like moving around countries. I just like the experience of meeting new people and I know that sounds really cheesy but I truly do like that and I think every single person has a story to tell.

Like, for example at work I’ve met a guy from Botswana, a guy from Australia, a guy from Poland and I think it’s just interesting to hear what they have to say and they’re different viewpoints on certain things that come up.

On England I definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely think I have a more open viewpoint [than other people in England]. I think it just has to do with how I’ve grown up and how I don’t have a loyalty to one country. I know that sounds weird to say but I just feel like a lot of English people are really proud of being able to speak English and not open to a lot. I think if I’d grown up in England or I’d grown

up in the same place as them I think I’d have the same viewpoint, but because I’ve grown up in so many different places—I’ve been through living in a country where you can’t speak the language, being embarrassed, being scared, like you’re all alone in school for the first time—I’ve been through all that so I’m definitely more kind and gentle when it comes to dealing with people who for example don’t speak English as their first language. You know, I have like sympathy towards them: I could never be rude.

On peeing herself One time in Japan when I was in primary school I couldn’t speak Japanese, I could only speak English at this point, and I really had to pee but I didn’t know how to ask. It was in the middle of class and I was sat at the back of the classroom and there were like twentyfive kids. I was so scared I didn’t know what to do, and I was holding it in for so long that I just peed on my seat and it dripped down. The kid next to me screamed and started laughing and everyone was laughing at me, like “ah, look at that, she’s peeing” and I just remember being really embarrassed and scared.

On love I have a French boyfriend and I’ve always had an interest in foreign people: the people I’ve been with in the past have usually not been from Bermuda and not from Japan; I just like difference I guess. I definitely know I’m attracted to anyone who’s foreign and if I meet you for the first time and you’re like “I’m from Italy” I’m like “oh yeah, woo!” It’s very difficult for me not to be like “he’s from Italy”; “he’s from Germany, I want to talk to him more,” it’s just interesting. Me and my boyfriend have definitely grown up very

differently but still, I don’t know, I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s just interesting. I like it: I like meeting new people. I would never date an English guy. I just think my viewpoint is too different: I don’t think we can just connect on that sort of level, don’t have the same sort of mindset, or, I don’t know, it’s just a completely different viewpoint I guess.

Asha in Canada

On travelling A lot of people here, when they say they’ve been travelling, they actually mean they’ve been interrailing in Europe and got drunk at bars. For me that’s not travelling through Europe: that’s just going to capital cities and getting fucked with your friends and that’s not what I feel about travelling. Travelling for me is doing your research before you go. Never ever ever just show up to a city because you’ll be so lost and not know what to do. Look at what the typical tourist spots to see are then when you get there ask local people if they speak any English and say, give them a very short time, say “I’m only here for 24 hours, what do you recommend that I see?

What’s the best your city has to offer?” That type of thing and they’ll tell you: sometimes it can be good, sometimes it’s not so good but you know sometimes you’ll see things you didn’t see on TripAdvisor and it’s like, that was nice.

Last Words I do have a very strong viewpoint and I have my own opinion on things but what I said about English guys doesn’t mean that they’re all shit, it’s just what I think. Don’t make me sound like a bitch; I’ll kill you.

Photo: instasham.me

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/TheMancunion: Lifestyle @MancunionLife

Debate Finance

Lifestyle

27

Love

Should you get a job Is it okay to date an ex’s friend? it the ultimate betrayal or can it make you deal with things more maturely? whilst at university? IsPerisha Kudhail talks to Ben and Bella, who have very different views on the issue.

It might seem like a great idea to pay for them Taylor Swift tickets, but is working up to 30 – 40 hours week manageable? Robert Firth finds that it can be (so long as your boss loves you).

Will it always end with one person seeking revenge? Photo: Louish Pixel @Flickr Every Student’s dream workplace...

Photo: loop_oh @Flickr

More and more students are working whilst studying. According to a study by Endsleigh in conjunction with the NUS, in 2013 57 per cent of students had a part-time job—a seven per cent increase from 2012. With the increase of costs in university study (has there been a recent year when halls prices have not increased?), it seems likely that this trend towards students working will just accelerate. But is it feasible to work and still achieve a good degree (and have a bit of a life)? I spoke to two students to find out.

YES Emma, a 20-year-old Geography student, has found that working part-time allows her to get more from studying at university.

The Bank of Mum and Dad “My mum agreed to give me £50 a week—to cover my laundry, food, everything—but that wasn’t enough. I originally thought that would be enough but I didn’t really know the price of anything. It was like a blind guess.”

On zero-hour contracts “I have a zero-hour contract but I work between 30 and 40 hours a week. It means that essentially my boss can give me as many hours as she wants. I like the zerohour contract because my boss loves me. I obviously understand why people would want to get rid of zero-hour contracts, but as a student a zero-hour contract is good for me because my job isn’t my top priority and also because nothing like my rent is really relying on it.”

Unemployed problems “If I didn’t have the job I would go back to being poor; not going out, selling my clothes for food.

Basically I was in my first year: a lot of stress because I was having to worry about money. Luckily I have a boyfriend for that though also.

All work and no play?

“I’m the type of student that hates uni so I do usually take work over uni, just because it’s less stressful for me: I’d rather do a ten-hour shift than write my essay and procrastinate.”

Study Geography, not Physics “If you think you’re the type of person who can say no to going out and going to work the next day then I would recommend getting a job. You’ve got to be committed to it, and you have to do a course that doesn’t demand a lot from you....”

[Like What?] “Well I do Geography, so I imagine like if you do physics— it’s just not going to fit.”

NO Fern, a nineteen-year-old Drama and English Literature student quit her job at a popular sandwich chain after she found it difficult to manage a work-life balance with the commitments of a part-time job.

Promising beginnings “I worked at Subway for just under a month, from late September to late October. I didn’t earn that much because it’s crappy pay and I didn’t work there for that long, but the money went on tickets to see Taylor Swift.”

All work and no play “I worked about 20-something hours a week, the longest shift being like ten to just after eight at night. I quit because I started to be put down to work in literally every spare second I had, like the manager didn’t understand that I had university work to do even if wasn’t actually in lectures. Also because I’m involved in societies as well I found I had no time to actually do university work outside of lectures. I’m here to learn, not to get a full time job, but they didn’t really get that.”

Talk to the boss!

“I’d still recommend getting a job at university it because it’s good to have the extra money but if you plan on having a life that’s not just lectures and work, make sure that the boss knows that before.”

With the huge platform of people that you meet at University, it seems inevitable that a dating interest will pop up along the line somewhere. Perhaps a night out turned into a night in, or your friend turned boyfriend? But what happens when you fall for your ex’s mate? What do you do? Is it acceptable?

YES Photo: Ravijour YouTube Bella

Ben

“I think you should be able to date who you please. If you feel like you could truly be with a person and that person so happens to be your ex’s friend, who cares! If you’re both mature enough to move on then this new relationship should not affect any friendship.

“Perhaps if the relationship ended on bad terms then maybe the best idea wouldn’t be to flaunt your new found relationship in front of your ex. But if the break up was mature and maybe even a friendship came from it, then I believe that it is at least ok to date your ex’s friend. I am actually dating my ex’s friend and my ex has moved on too. We’re both still friends and the friendship between my current boyfriend and my ex is sound. I understand that this transition may not be so smooth for everyone, but I guess I was lucky.

“You both should be strong and allow the other person move on. As long as there’s no cheating and leading on then live and let live I say.”

“Although you may not be able to help how you feel about someone, I think dating your ex’s friend is a bad idea. Not only will it be heart-breaking for the ex, but both of you won’t be able to gain closure: they’ll still have a pang of jealousy and you’ll be constantly reminded of them by their friendship with the person you’re now dating.

“I have actually been through a break up recently and my ex is now going out with a guy who used to be my mate. I say used to because the friendship has changed. I mean he couldn’t chat about what a great night he had with his new girl, because that new girl used to be mine! I kept thinking about all the things we used to do together and if she was having a better time with my mate.

“I would strongly advise against dating within the same friendship group. Things can get messy and no matter how much you tell yourself, you won’t ever truly move on.”

5 worst things about...

Photo: Alan Cleaver (Flickr)

Christmas I should start this by saying that I love Christmas.

However, Christmas, like most things in life, has its upsides and downsides. So in the true Scrooge spirit, here are some of the worst things about Christmas;

Lifestyle is...

Sex, Relationships, Travel, Health, TV AND MORE. Want to write for us?

Email: mancunion.life@gmail.com

NO

Put away the tinsel, stop singing carols and save some turkeys: Molly Allen on why not to get in the festive spirit.

1. The insistence on Christmas jumpers.

Can we just leave it at cute Fair Isle prints?

No, apparently not. We have to go all out: make ourselves look like complete twats in hideous garish colours and even worse prints Photo: trekkyandy (Flickr)

2. That it’s an excuse to gain loads of weight. The gym is still there and no-one’s forcing you to eat the equivalent weight of a small child in mince pies

3. The family stressing over food. This could just be mine, but last year my mum screamed at me and my brothers until we quietly pointed out at no point had she asked us to help and we wouldn’t know where to begin anyway. Luckily, she’s good humoured and was thus referred to as ‘Ebenezer’ until New Year. Sorry Mum. Photo: tommylees @Flickr

4. All the weird food you have to eat that you never eat at any other time. Aside from Christmas, when else does anyone eat Brussels sprouts? Not to mention Christmas pudding (what’s up with that?

It’s so weird) 5. The inevitable rows between family members. At Christmas everyone gets drunk, they haven’t seen each other in a while and unfortunately some people get quite mean so they say all the stuff they’ve been wanting to say. Luckily for me, this doesn’t really happen (we’re all happy drunks) but it can put a really dampener on what should be a lovely time for everyone.

Despite all this I still think the good aspects of Christmas outweigh the bad. Just promise me you’ll try to find a tasteful jumper this year? Or is that asking too much?

BF2014.Mancunion.Full copy.pdf

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SPORT : 30

SPORT

ISSUE 12/8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

/TheMancunion

Sports Editors: Andrew Georgeson, Will Kelly

@Mancunion_Sport

Contact: sport@mancunion.com

Does cricket need to be safer?

Following the unfortunate death of Phil Hughes, James Haughton discusses safety regulations need to be tightened James Haughton Sport Reporter

Michael Schumacher, Jules Bianchi and now Philip Hughes, it would be fair to say that the sporting world has suffered more than its fair share of horrific tragedies over the past year. Along with worry for those still fighting for their lives and mourning for those who have died, however, there are questions being asked about how these accidents occurred and what can be done to ensure they never happen again.

Concentrating on the Phil Hughes accident, there will undoubtedly be some people questioning why the bouncer -- and firing a cricket ball at speeds of over 140 km/h at a batsman’s head -- should remain a legitimate tactic for bowlers -especially in light of not just what has happened over the last week, but the fractured cheekbone Pakistani cricketer Ahmed Shehzad suffered as a result of short-pitched ball earlier this month.

But bouncers are an effective tactic for bowlers to use; shortpitched deliveries can either be used in concentrated spells -- as Mitchell Johnson achieved to such devastating effect against England in last winter’s Ashes series in Australia.

This resulted in England’s formerly formidable lower-middle order and tailenders becoming almost resigned, by the end of the test series, to the fact that they would be bowled out cheaply -- or be used sparingly as a change up from the bowler’s stock

#getyourbatsouttribute has been one of many touching tributes to Hughes Photo: Nofolkbats @Flickr

line-and-length delivery, which act as a reminder to batsmen that they must be wary of the bowler mixing things up occasionally.

Therefore, to outlaw the use of bouncers would deprive bowlers of a vital wicket-taking delivery and, consequently, make the job of a batsman easier, as they would have a clearer idea of the length a fast- or medium-paced bowler will hit, and could plan accordingly.

The belief that eradicating bouncers from the game would establish an imbalance in the batsman-bowler contest by making the game too easy for the former is one shared by some former international cricketers.

For example, Andrew Strauss, a former test-match batsman who captained

England in fifty test matches between 2006 and 2011, said: `I think it’s really important we investigate this fully and see what can be done but I would hate to see a situation where bowlers can’t bowl short balls.

That is the element of bat versus ball and if you lose that I think it shifts the balance too firmly in the favour of the batsman.’

But this argument would not hold if the tactic of bowling deliveries aimed at the batsman’s head carried an unreasonable and disproportionate risk of causing serious injury.

However, the evidence suggests that, while there will always be the chance of bouncers causing serious harm, the risks associated with the use of bouncers (or, indeed, the use of cricket balls that are made out of

cork, leather and string) are remote.

Overall, while The Independent recently detailed seven players or umpires since 1870 who have died from injuries incurred by being hit by a cricket ball, the newspaper also recorded five cricketers since 1942 dying from heart attacks or other natural causes.

While each and every one of these cases is a tragedy, these numbers show that, when compared to the number of people who have played the game to a professional or semiprofessional standard in the same time period, only a minuscule number of cricketers have died while playing cricket. Furthermore, the sad reality is that, at any moment, humans can -- and unfortunately will -- die as a result of either natural

causes or freak accidents, and neither cricket nor any other sport is an exception to this rule.

And as much support as necessary must be granted to Sean Abbott, the unlucky bowler who was only doing what so many other fast bowlers have done before, and who would never have meant to intentionally harm Phil Hughes.

This does not mean that lessons with regard to player safety cannot be learned. There will be an inquest into how this freak accident occurred and how it can be stopped in the future. There has already been some talk about extending the areas helmets protect to include the batsman’s neck. Some studies suggest that a skull cap made out of composite foam, for example, can absorb between 50% to 70% of a baseball’s impact, and these types helmets would protect a greater portion of the back of a batsman’s head than current helmets, while still providing them with enough mobility to hit their full array of shots.

Cricket is not a dangerous sport, but this inquest will attempt to improve safety without compromising on the qualities of the game that make it so appealing to millions across the world, which it should be commended for. But it would be wrong for sports such as cricket to fundamentally change because of freak accidents, however tragic, that only have a remote chance of happening again.

Danny Ings: The most caringIngs footballer going “It is not about the money. It is about seeing the smiles on kid’s faces.”

Tom Cheetham Sport Reporter The past 18 months have been those that dreams are made of for Burnley and England under-21 forward Danny Ings.

He, along with strike partner, Sam Vokes scored the goals to propel the unfancied Burnley to automatic promotion, under the charismatic leadership of Sean Dyche (whom from his days at my Watford FC, is still my favourite manager). He earned his first call up to the England under-21s on the back of his terrific form, scored his first goals in the Premier League, won Championship Player of the Year, and to top it off he has set up the “Danny Ings Disability Sports Project”. Quite a rise for someone who struggled in his first season at Burnley bagging just 3 goals in 32 games (although a number of these came from the bench), and has overcome two major injuries in his career thus far.

The creation of the ‘’Danny Ings Disability Sports Project’’ is not the first kind act of 2014 for the Hampshire born striker. Back in June he donated £660 to a fundraising cause in his local Tesco store. This was a few weeks after he’d

Ings with young clarets fan Joseph Skinner.

Photo: NoNayNever @Flickr

paid for an old ladies meal whilst out for dinner with friends. It is refreshing seeing a professional footballer so grounded and with such consideration for the community. Credit must also go to Ings’ employer, Burnley, who runs their Burnley FC in the community, which Ings’ latest good deed works in conjunction with.

The aim of the ‘’Danny Ings Disability

Sports Project’’ is to deliver football coaching to children in the Burnley region who suffer from learning difficulties and it also helps disabled children. He himself has tried his hand at coaching, but confesses he is a better player than coach, which doesn’t say much. Ings claims he got the inspiration to give back to the community, from the day he met young Clarets fan, Joseph

Skinner (pictured), back in 2013. It is not just with children that Ings’ work is limited to; he plans to create Burnley’s first ever adult disability football team, which will compete in the north-west league.

Ings is completely funding the project himself, and it is something that has been in the pipeline for a while, saying that he was planning to commence

the project last year, but the amount of fixtures in the Championship did not allow for this. However over the summer he had a chance to sit down with Burnley FC in the community and organise and plan the project. The initial funding has been provided by Ings, and it is hoped that long term funding will be secured to make the project a long-term fixture in the region, like Premier League football. Ings, 22, declares “it’s not about the money for me, it’s about seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces, that’s what means the most to me and that’s why I want to give as much back as I can.”

I personally think the work being carried out by Ings shows great maturity for a 22 year old. He clearly hasn’t succumb to the presume of glamour of his first year in the Premier League, which affects many young professionals.

I also think that Ings should be used as a role model for youngsters and footballers alike. Personally, I will be keeping my eye out on Ings’ and the ‘’Danny Ings Disability Sports Project’s’’ progress in the future.

Best of luck to you, Danny.

SPORT : 31

ISSUE 12/ 8th DECEMBER 2014 WWW.MANCUNION.COM/

The price of Football

Sam Cooper discusses the rising cost of the nations game Sam Cooper Sport Reporter

With ticket prices continuing to rise, an increasing number of fans are beginning to question whether they can really afford to go to their team’s ground week after week.

The subject of rising ticket prices is one that continues to be debated in the media. The BBC’s recently published “Price of Football” survey sparked debate throughout the football community and led to backlash against clubs such as Arsenal, who were deemed the most expensive club in the Premier League.

As with everything in the world, football was bound to be affected by inflation but ticket prices seemed to have risen more than most. In 2006, Manchester United were forced to defend their rise in ticket price, with a top-price ticket costing £38.This is just an example of the inflation with the average Premier League ticket now costing around the £30-40 mark and a top-price could charge you closer to £60.

Manchester United and Manchester City are interesting to compare as they have taken different approaches in regards to selling their seats. United, a club that traditionally fills their 75,731 capacity ground operates a member’s policy which means

members get first dibs on all tickets and by the time they go on general sale they are most likely sold out.

A membership costs £32 for a year and you can then have access to the tickets, with the cheapest Premier League price set at £31.

City, on the other hand, don’t operate such a policy but continue to not always fill out their stadium.

According to the BBC’s survey, the club has the cheapest season ticket of any Premier League side with the entry level price set at £299 and you can also get fairly cheap tickets for big games, for example I paid £30 for the clash against Bayern Munich and received a free ticket for the league tie against Swansea.

The club also ran a buy one get one free promotion on their home game against CSKA Moscow, much too United fan’s ridicule. This relatively low pricing suggests the club is trying to entice the next generation of Manchester fans to the blue half of the city.

However visiting either club week after week is still likely to leave your wallet looking a little thin, especially as we haven’t yet factored in travel and food at the stadium into the equation. However this high ticket price isn’t an attribute of the Premier League alone, the Championship also charges high prices for games as do some League One and League Two sides.

I’m Ipswich Town fan and a trip away to Nottingham Forest and

Ticket prices have become a contentious issue for fans Photo: Flikr @ .fergie

Blackpool cost me a combined total of £50 in ticket prices, with the Forest game costing just £6 less than the Man City- Bayern match. This is without train fees and food which factored in make the total nearer to £100 for just two games.

While the Championship prices on average are lower than the Premier League, the costs continue to mount up. This has led some fans into looking to support their smaller, local sides. Within Greater Manchester, you have eleven teams that fit into 5-8 level of English football and the nearest to Manchester City Centre is Salford City.

The semi-professional club, of

Best of 2014 Tom Cheetham Sport Reporter

Germany 7-1 Brazil The World Cup semi-final, Belo Horizonte, 8th July 2014.

Do you remember where you were watching it? Oh really, what were you doing there? The thing is EVERYONE remembers where they were when Germany did that to the hosts of the World Cup. I was at my sister’s house in London, thanks for asking. The nation with the most World Cup wins,

Andrew Georgeson Sport Editor

David Icke & FIFA I couldn’t choose one sporting highlight of the year, but I managed to whittle it down to two.

The first one involved former football, BBC presenter and Green Party candidate David Icke.

Now, it wasn’t until last week I learnt that the former Hereford Town and Coventry City goalkeeper was also involved in theories about the New

in their own backyard, surely they were going to win the World Cup? I still don’t know exactly what happened on that night in eastern Brazil; all I do know is that I witnessed an absolute masterclass in football. When Thomas Müller was left unmarked at a corner in the 11th minute, no one could anticipate what was to follow.

12 minutes later, Miroslav Klose became the all time record goal scorer in World Cup’s with a simple side footed finish.

The next 6 minutes brought about 3 more goals, beofre th e relentless Germans made it seven. Oscar scored a goal of

scant conciliation in the 90th minute for a Brazilian team who had underestimated the importance of the absent Thiago Silva and Neymar.

What makes this stand out as the moment of 2014 for me, was the quality of the performance the Germans put in, admittedly helped by a hapless, directionless Brazilian side. One of the biggest football games in the World; and the most thorough demolition of a side I have ever observed.

Credit to the Brizalian fans who stayed in their £150 seat for the full 90 minutes.

World Order, or Global Elite.

Strangely enough this is the kind of stuff that you learn on a Religion and Theology degree.

I’m not hear to pass judgement on anyone’s beliefs or views, but if you want to watch someone who be a complete dick to Icke watch Terry Wogan’s 1991 BBC interview, for which Wogan has subsquently apologised- albeit 15 years later.

The former keeper now dots up seemingly anomlyous events to predict how the future.

My second highlight of the year is FIFA. I think it’s wonderful that the

beautiful game is represneted by such an honourable coperation that cares for all people.

Unless your a woman, black, gay, slave or an honest bidding party, that is.

Obviously I’m joking, but I do finally think it’s great that people are finally starting to see FIFA for what they are, and one can only hope that journalists and laywers alike continue to probe the people who consitantly make our game look bad.

which Phillip Neville, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs own a combined 50% stake, charge just £7 for a match day ticket and a season ticket will set you back £119. While you’re unlikely to ever see Sergio Agüero or Falcao at Moor Lane, the goals-per-pound paid ratio is a lot higher for the smaller clubs and fans can leave happy without having spent a fortune.

With football thought of as the working man’s game, non-league football is often described as the roots of the game and one which fans find it easier to relate to.

Supporters are left feeling alienated by the bigger clubs when their

striker earns in a week what the fans earn in a year. There is a growing support for non-league clubs with a national non-league day now running when the top leagues are on international break.

But switching football teams is never easier despite how much financial sense it makes. So it appears that football fans that support the top tier clubs are left with a choice go with your head or go with your heart. Your heart will tell you that you can never swap allegiances while your head will tell you that you can’t afford not to.

The Mancunion Sport team bring you their sporting highlights James Houghton Sport Reporter

Germany 7-1 Brazil While Germany won their fourth World Cup, the 2014 World Cup will be remembered for – possibly even in Germany too – their semi-final annihilation of Brazil, the hosts and five-time winners of the competition.

Brazil’s route to the semi-final had not been serene, and there were worrying signs before the match which Thiago Silva and

Neymar both missing.

Nobody expected what was to unfold, however. In a devastating first half, Germany scored five unanswered goals, with Brazil failing to offer any sort of coherent defence.

Germany continued to carve the hosts apart in the second half to win 7-1.

Before half-time, tears streamed down the faces of Brazilian fans in the stadium, only to be matched by David Luiz in a post-match interview.

National inquests and scapegoating commenced, with Fred, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s first-choice striker, roundly

Brazil v. Germany was a resounding favourite amoung the Mancunion Sports team Photo: ShaneASchubert @Flickr

booed as he was substituted.

The country’s hopes of exorcising the demons of the Maracanazo were extinguished, and instead the Mineirazo joined the Maracanazo in Brazilian sporting infamy. Around the World there was disbelief that Brazil could be so utterly humiliated on home soil in a World Cup semifinal. Therefore, Germany’s annihilation of Brazil will be my abiding sporting memory of 2014.

SPORT

8th December 2014/ ISSUE 12 FREE

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Pucking fantastic

Andrew Georgeson reflects on a great year for sport at the University of ManchesAndrew Georgeson Sport Editor

As 2014 draws to a close, and the seasons take their Christmas breaks, it gives us the chance to reflect upon the sporting year that has been.

What better place to start a review than to look at the Universities biggest sporting event of the year- the rebranded North-West Varsity.

The relatively unknown opposition in the form of Liverpool University did not seem to phase the purples, with the women’s team recording a 55-0 victory- the largest in recent memory, and the men’s team comfortably finishing 20-3.

The Varsity was not only rebranded for rugby, but the first winter North West Varsity took place last week in Widnes when the Manchester Metros Ice Hockey team took on Liverpool John Mores University. After a tight game, the combined Manchester team fell 3-2 to the hosts.

Rugby League is been a sport that swayed away from the traditional format of the Varsity for several years, opting for Salford over Man Met. Despite beating Salford Twice in the League that season, they were thoroughly beaten at AJ Bell Stadium.

However, in terms of the most successful team of the season it’s a tight call. UMRFC managed to get through the season unbeaten, as well as the Netball who managed to have the league wrapped up by February.

This season men’s squash and Volleyball 2nd teams, as well as Women’s Waterpolo 1sts remain unbeaten for the current campaign.

We have also seen an array of success in individual sports. Whether it was the UoM trampolining club who ran out clear winners of the recent Manchester Open, or the Boating Club whose Nemesis boat qualified for the Henley Regatta for the first time, there have been some great achievements. MUBC also have to be praised due to their continuing commitment to charity with their 24 hour row in support of Children’s charity Sparks.

Manchester currently sit in 12th place in the BUCS ranking table with perennial powerhouses Loughborough comfortably occupying first place. But with many events yet to take place; Sport Manchester will be keen on a top10 finish.

Outside the traditional AU Sports, Manchester Dodgeball Society have put in a fine display at the University championship, with both the Men’s and women’s teams finishing within the top 20.

The team’s fine form has led to member Josh Casey getting a call up for the Wales international squad for the 2014-15 season.

This year also saw the launch of Sporticipate. The initiative launched by Sport Manchester was aimed towards those who want to try out a new sport for the first time, without the commitment of the traditional AU Sport.

There’s still a lot to look forward to in next year’s sporting calendar with the Rugby League Varsity at the AJ Bell Stadium, re-freshers week and the Christie Cup among other things.

Manchester fell just short after a thrilling North West Varsity Photo: Martin Klefas-Stennett @Flickr