Issue16 by The Mancunion

4TH MAR 2013/ ISSUE 16 FREE

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MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Hustings begin

Should we care who Manchester votes for?

Cortbus: I was right to seretly record vile homophobia on campus

P11

Exec officer stranded in Pakistan after passport blunder - Diversity Officer has been gone for 5 weeks - Saad Wahid expected to return to campaign for General Secretary Jonathan Breen News Editor A member of the Students’ Union Executive has been on leave for over five weeks, two weeks more than his allowed holiday time. University of Manchester Students’ Union Diversity Officer Saad Wahid applied for three weeks of leave at the end of January to visit his family in Pakistan, but at the time of going to print had gone over that time by two weeks. Each elected officer is allowed 30 days paid leave a year. Mr Wahid has currently recorded 46 days of holiday time. When contacted on Facebook Mr Wahid said, “I am on leave and in

Pakistan to visit my family as I have been away for a year now. I will be back in early March. “I have gone over by 2 weeks. I am not getting paid for this and I did not anticipate this delay which is due to visa processing.” Mr Wahid, an international student from Pakistan, has not been able to return to the country after handing over his passport to the British High Commission in Pakistan in an effort to obtain a visa for his entire family to live in Britain. General Secretary of the Students’ Union Nick Pringle told The Mancunion, “At the end of the three weeks leave, Saad was unable to return to the country because he wasn’t in possession of his passport because

A Saad-less Students’ Union. Photo: Cil Barnett-Neefs

he had sent it away to obtain a visa for his entire family to return to the UK.” Mr Wahid said he did not anticipate the visa application process taking so long. “It is something I could not avoid,” he said. “I didn’t realise that it would take such a long time for the visa to be processed and now I am stuck. “I never intended to apply for this category of visa from outside of UK ,and not take any additional leave to which I was not entitled to, however on 13th Dec 2012 visa rules were suddenly changed by [the UK Border Agency] restricting International students only to apply for visa from their respective countries rather than from inside the UK.” “It is stated by UKBA that the outcome of the visa should be announced within 15 working days. “My new visa application along with my family member’s application was filed in a few days immediately when I arrived in Karachi i.e. 29th January 2013 and to date I await my passport to return from the British High Commission and therefore am unable to travel in the meantime.” Mr Pringle added, “Given that Saad is not here, therefore he is on leave and he is over his allocation, that leave will be unpaid. “All officers are entitled to 30 days leave and anything over that is unpaid.” As an elected member of the Exec Team, Mr Wahid is also a trustee of the Students’ Union and sits on

Saad Wahid, Diversity Officer the Trustee Board, which oversees the finances, operations, services, and strategy of the Union. They are therefore partly responsible for 80 permanent staff and 250 student

staff.

Continued on Page 2

02 : NEWS

Highlights

ISSUE 16 / 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Members of the University of Manchester Pakistan Society dancing outside University Place to raise money for education in Pakistan. Photo: Jonathan Breen

Interview: Manchester graduate and director Alex Taylor

Film, page 14 Picture of the week

Interview: The Joy Formidable’s Ritzy Bryan

Music, page 18

Blind Date Lifestyle, page 26

Exec officer stuck in Pakistan after passport blunder Continued from front page

The position of Diversity Officer is new this year and its responsibilities include “promote and campaign for equal opportunities within the University, Union and wider community,” and “campaign to increase the diversity of the student body,” according to the Students’ Union website. Like all Exec Team roles, the Diversity Officer is contracted to work 35 hours a week and paid a yearly salary of £16,600. In response to Mr Wahid’s absence, the Students’ Union have not put any information on the website and did not make a statement to let students know he was away for an extended period of time. Mr Pringle defended this. “As an organisation I don’t think we should have a policy that every time an officer takes a holiday we have to inform everyone about it, because I think that is a bit over the top,” he said. “We all take leave from time to time. If students

would like us to start tweeting when we are on holiday, we can think about that.” He added that the fact Mr Wahid is a parent and an international student should be taken into account when assessing his situation. “There certainly are some mitigating factors in terms of Saad’s status as a parent – he has a family in Pakistan,” he said. “As an employer we have to take into account that people have family lives and have a right to see their kids. “Also, because he is not a UK student, going home to see family is a lot different to when you or I go home to see our family. “So something that we have to take into consideration is the fact that he is in Pakistan and he is dealing with visa restrictions that we wouldn’t have to.” Mr Wahid is also running for General Secretary of the Students’ Union in this year’s elections, voting for which takes place from the 8th to the 14th March. When asked how Saad’s

work, outside of his regular duties such as reporting to union assemblies, was suffering while he was away, Pringle said: “Although we try and keep up to date with what everyone is doing and I try my best to know what everyone is working on, it is quite hard when they are not in the office to know. Because he has been on leave he would not be expected to do any work from Pakistan.” When asked how to Exec Team were coping without Saad, Pringle said: “Anything that is exec business or trustee business that would be shared with no individual responsibility, we are still doing all that work between us.” Election Hustings began last week, with separate debates for each position where students have the opportunity to ask candidates questions. The event for General Secretary is scheduled for this Thursday 7th March, between 6-8pm, on the 1st floor of the Students’ Union.

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Games, page 28

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Dan Harold Reporter Students have been the repeated victims of a gang of bike-riding thieves specifically after smartphones. Since the start of February, 11 students have been victims of robberies on, and around, the Oxford Road. PCSO Lucy Nicholas has warned that it was “mainly students being targeted because they are the ones with their iPhones out. “With the snatch thefts, it is normally a man on a bike who comes up behind a student, catches them by surprise and takes the phone. “They cycle off very quickly so the person doesn’t see their face or clothing well, but the descriptions of offenders suggest it is more than one person doing this,” she said. Greater Manchester Police have increased their presence in the area since the attacks, and have warned that students should keep their phones out of sight. Police have also warned that students should download a tracking device onto their phones and

make sure they are locked with passwords. Andrew Williams, a student who had his phone stolen in this way last year, told The Mancunion: “I was walkimg along Egerton road in Fallowfield in broad daylight and a guy cycled up behind me and swiped my phone right out of my hand. “I couldnt believe it happened so I hailed down a car driving towards me and we drove after him and chased him. We followed him for a mile while on the phone to the police but he got away down a side street,” he said. “You would never expect it to happen in such a busy area,” he added. The attacks have coincided with a rise in phone thefts in other areas. Last week police seized a man at the Warehouse Project in possession of over 40 stolen phones. Police also warned of another scam on Oxford Road, involving people posing as charity volunteers approaching customers in coffee shops who have devices on show. The ‘volunteers’ then place a clipboard over the device and use it as a distraction to steal the device.

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ISSUE 16 / 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 03

Diversity candidate fears ‘HateGate’ speaker’s career might be damaged Diversity and Women’s Officer candidates debate in first hustings hosted by Student Media Richard Crook Editor-in-Chief Election season arrived last Thursday with the first of the hustings taking place. Hopeful Diversity and Women’s Officers took questions from student media and the audience, which centred on feminism, activities, and homophobia. But the most contentious answers were given at the very end of the night. The Diversity candidates Omar Aljuhani, Vipin Mony Suraja Thirumala, and Marjin Ceelen were asked what they thought of the recent homophobia scandal, dubbed ‘hategate’ by members of the Executive, in which a society shut down. Omar expressed concern for the society speaker’s future prospects, arguing that people say things at university they later regret, and that because university should be a place for furthering your career, students should be protected. Rival candidate and Post-Graduate LGBTQ rep Marjin Ceelen condemned the speaker’s views, but also said recording a public society meeting without prior warning “absolutely cannot happen.” Vipin declined to comment on

the controversy. For the Women’s Officer hustings, the debate focused on wider involvement in the women’s movement. Susi Law, Nanon Lingwood, and Tabz O’Brien Butcher were in attendance. Tabz, the current Women’s Officer, was given credit by her opposition for a widely praised Reclaim the Night, which Tabz herself described as “amazing”. But she was also criticised by an audience member for saying that men should not be allowed to vote for the Women’s Officer. Tabz said that without a majority vote from women, she had “no mandate” to represent them. Both Tabz and Nanon claimed they would not want to associate with companies that had a history of running sexist themed clubnights, while Susi said it would “depend on the way they had reacted to complaints.” Tabz went further, saying she would lobby the union not to work with Social Junkies after The Mancunion exposed them for secretly rating potential reps for attractiveness on campus. Other topics went discussed without too much contention. Tabz and Susi took issue with the suggestion that the Students’ Union was too political but no one felt you needed to “self-define as a feminist” to be in the job.

Cross-liberation was also mentioned. Susi called for anti-oppression meetings with diverse groups, while Nanon expressed a desire to “get stuck in” with liberation societies she had little experience with. Tabz then stressed the importance of recognising that women from different liberation groups have different needs. As for the Diversity hustings, the focus was on international and Post-Graduate students. Omar emphasised the importance of activities in making international

‘Reclaim the Night’ cost Union £7k Michael Williams News Editor The successful ‘Reclaim the Night’ event cost the Union £7000, figures obtained by The Mancunion show. This means that the event cost £1200 more than the £5800 ‘maximum amount’ originally proposed for the event. ‘Maximum’ figures seek to evaluate the risk posed by an event to the Union finances if no sales – in this case, t-shirts and tickets – are made. A new, higher ‘maximum amount’ of £8000 was requested in the Executive meeting on the 18th February, just three days before the march was set to take place. Women’s Officer Tabz O’Brien-Butcher, who organised the Reclaim the

Night march, cited “costs that had not been taken into consideration” as the reason for the budget rise. The largest contributing factor to the cost was the road closures and police presence at the event – just over £3700 was spent to close part of Oxford Road and have two officers present at the march. “Obviously, organizing an event of this scale has cost implications,” explained O’Brien-Butcher. “The largest cost incurred was traffic management and ensuring participant safety, which should be a key priority for any large scale event such as this.” The statistics also show that artist fees for the after-march party cost £1770. The headline act was former Manchester-born X Factor contestant Misha B.

“Bringing Misha B in brought a whole new demographic to the event,” said O’BrienButcher. “It opened the march up beyond feminist campaigners, and ensured that the awesome vibes of the march continued late into the evening.” Overall, says O’Brien-Butcher, the figures show “not even half of the picture”. “Reclaim the Night has never been envisaged as a for profit event”, she said. “From thousands of pounds worth of press coverage, national exposure for the union and the impact the march had on students and the local community […] I’m very proud of the event we delivered.”

students more engaged, citing his own history with PhotoSoc and the Arab Society. Disability and accessibility was also given time, particularly by Marjin, who described the choice between society spending and accessibility spending “an easy one.” All agreed that spending on access should take precedence though. Omar floated ambitious ideas to travel to other countries and visit their Students’ Unions for ideas, whilst Vipin suggested more “ice-

breaking” events for first years organised by reps. Marjin criticised the focus on alcohol-related events and suggested International positions in halls Residents’ Associations. The hustings started 6:45pm and finished at around 9:20pm. Around 30 people attended, though The Mancunion, FuseFM and FuseTV offered live coverage throughout. Not all candidates turn up. Arooha Hijazi and Sravanti Peri from Women’s were no-shows, as

was Ali Khalid from Diversity. The next hustings will be for the Education and Community Officer and will take place on 4th March, followed by Campaigns and Wellbeing on March 5th, Activities on March 6th, and General Secretary March 7th. The debates will be broadcast live on Fuse FM and Fuse TV, and live-blogged on mancunion.com The polls for the elections open on Thursday 8th March and close on Thursday 14th March.

More shattered glass at ‘Calamity Commons’ Anthony Organ News Editor The brand new £24 million Alan Gilbert Learning Commons continues to be plagued with difficulties as another glass panel shatters. One of the exterior glass “fins” of the building unexpectedly shattered on Thursday afternoon, forcing the area to be cordoned off. But this time the Commons was not forced to close its doors to students. A University of Manchester spokesperson said: “One of the glass fins on the outside of the building has been damaged, but as these panels are triplelaminated there is no risk to staff or students, and the building can remain open. “As a precaution, however, a small cordon has been put in place on the Lime Grove side

of the building underneath the affected area until the panel is replaced.” Students were voicing their concerns outside the building. Dara Meftah, a second-year Business and Spanish student, said: “It’s a little bit outrageous and it seems unsafe. “It’s a good student centre but if they can’t make it safe then they shouldn’t have spent £24 million on it.” Luke Newton, Education Officer at the Students’ Union also tweeted: “They should have built the learning commons out of graphene. Then there’d be no more problems!” Following a delayed opening last October, the Learning Commons had to shut after just 31 days when an interior glass panel was reported cracked. Nearly two months was spent

“strengthening every one of the glass balustrades in the building” before it could be reopened. The Learning Commons was forced to shut again at the end of January’s exam period due to drainage problems. This prompted students such as Lulia Unguereanu (@ lulia90) to comment at the time: “Alan Gilbert continues to disappoint…couldn’t find a better time than exam period of course!” The Learning Commons is lauded as a “world-class 21st century study space” with room for over 1,000 students and was used as a major selling point in this year’s prospectuses.

ISSUE 16/ 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

04 : News

‘I am not the only member of staff who has been under attack at MMU,’ says Parker you to explain what happened, and I am very sorry that I have not been able to continue teaching and supervising work for your degree courses.” Prof Parker was suspended by MMU in October

Ian Parker’s letter in full:

on charges of “gross professional misconduct”, but students were not informed and he was

Dear students on the psychology programmes,

prevented from accessing his emails. China Mills, a PhD student at the time, described how “he just disappeared overnight”.

last year, and that I eventually resigned from

reinstatement and an online petition received

MMU at the beginning of February this year.

almost 4,000 signatures from around the world,

My colleagues in the Department of Psychol-

including from American philosopher Noam

ogy tell me that you have not been told exactly

Chomsky.

why I was suspended or why I resigned. I have happened, and I am very sorry that I have not

at the end of January, stating: “My professional

been able to continue teaching and supervising

work as an academic has been undermined

work for your degree courses. A full account of

to the point where there is now nothing left to

what happened is available at www.parkerian.

return to in the psychology department.”

com/asylum I am not the only member of

University. In an open letter published in full by The

have noticed that there are no professors,

and plans to ask for his fees to be refunded.

apart from the head of department, now left the university and college union, and the local

suspended, which was zero until he resigned.

branch is now doing its best to defend our

“My own view is that the University has lost

education system here at MMU. I wish you well

a leading light and this reflects the University’s

in your studies, and hope that through your

obsession with being a corporate business - must

union and by supporting the lecturers union

make money at all costs - even if this means

you will find a way to address the desperate

losing a world leading academic. It is such a

situation in your department.

shame and such a loss for the students.” Prof Parker’s letter ends: “I wish you well in your studies, and hope that through your union

Yours sincerely, Ian Parker

and by supporting the lecturers union you will find a way to address the desperate situation in your department.” MMU have been refusing to comment on the

Professor

Psychology department, Prof Parker said: “My

issue but have maintained that Prof Parker’s PhD

Ian Parker has told students that he is “very

colleagues in the Department of Psychology tell

students were offered alternative supervision.

sorry” about the situation they face following

me that you have not been told exactly why I was

his resignation from Manchester Metropolitan

suspended or why I resigned.”

psychologist

in psychology. I was a representative of UCU

communication I had from MMU since Ian was

Mancunion addressed to students in MMU’s World-renowned

staff who has been under attack, and you may

students, has now officially suspended his studies He said: “I was not impressed by the lack of

Anthony Organ News Editor

been unable to contact you to explain what

to return to work in December, but he resigned

Owen Dempsey, one of Prof Parker’s PhD

Internationally renowned Professor says ‘sorry’ to sudents in open letter after quitting MMU following ‘bullying and harassment’

work and locked out of my email on 3 October

A campaign was started calling for his

Following a disciplinary hearing he was allowed

Prof Parker’s suspension by MMU was protested worldwide. Photo: Ian Parker

You may know that I was suspended from

He continued: “I have been unable to contact

Students set up online competition with chance to win a year’s fees Sean Doherty Reporter A University of Manchester student is launching a free to enter online contest which gives students the chance to have a year’s tuition fees paid for them. Jake Davis, a second year student at the Manchester Business School, and his friend Luke Shelley, a third year at Regent’s Business School London, have created the website WinMyFees which features a competition where the winner will get their fees, up to a value of £9000, paid in full. To enter the competition, which is open to any current UK student, contestants will need to speed type a specific sentence. The pair is hoping to fund the prize through advertising revenue from student-friendly companies. “We need students to help us to help them, the more users we get the more fees we can pay out,” said Davis. “We could be changing loads of student’s lives.” The website www.winmyfees.com will soon go live and the competition will begin when 100,000 have registered online, with 15,000 registered so far. The duo said they seek to capitalise on a student

population which is constantly looking for ways to save money. Mr Davis believes the contest will have a wide appeal, stating that “students like to get offered things for free”. He also feels that by targeting a group with a “restricted income” that the website offers the chance to “help the community while making money”. As well as word of mouth and viral marketing through the WinMyFees Facebook page, Davis said they plan to create publicity through links to student club nights. They hope that the attention generated by the first competition and its lucky winner will allow them to continue with subsequent contests, giving more students the chance to take the money saved on fees and spend it on something memorable (or something they won’t be able to remember). Whilst the main focus of the website will be the chance to have fees paid for, there will also be other free to enter competitions on the site, offering the chance to win merchandise from a range of companies. The competition will presumably be particularly popular with first year students who have to pay far higher fees. The rise in maximum tuition fees last year saw a 7.7% overall decline of applicants to British Uni-

Students can win their fees by entering a speedtype competion . Photo: Facebook versities. MMU had one of the largest course vacancies of any universities in the country this year and University of Manchester saw its applicants fall 10% from the previous year; as a result three halls in the Owens Park residence are vacant this year. Second year Geography student Declan Wagstaff

said, “My little sister’s 14 and she still wants to go to uni but the rise in fees has definitely put off some of her friends who’d worry about being in that much debt. The chance to have her fees paid for her would definitely help. I’ll be entering the competition at least.”

ISSUE 16 / 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 05

SU looks at helping ‘neglected’ North Campus Mariana Cerqueira Reporter

The University of Manchester Students’ Union is joining efforts with North Campus students to bring more life to the secluded area. Students met with members of the SU’s Exec Team to discuss the neglecting of North Campus, with unused rooms and lack of social activities being the main concerns. Haider Khokhar, the organiser of the meeting and an Electrical and Electronic Engineering student based at North Campus, said that the final straw for him was the closing of Harry’s Bar. He said: “One day I found out the SU closed down Harry’s Bar without even bothering to tell us and I rang them straight away. “After a while Nick Pringle got back to me, explaining that Harrys Bar was causing great money losses every year. We arranged to meet and he was as amazed as we are with the potential of North Campus. “There is so much empty space that could be used for study rooms and there’s even a completely empty sports halls in Sackville building that is only used twice a year for exams.” Philip Jensen, a second year Chemical Engineering student, acknowledged: “It’s quite a serious and challenging issue. The two campuses are very separate and North Campus feels unimportant compared to South Campus. But he argued against introducing a North Campus rep, saying: “Hav-

ing a rep just for North Campus would only emphasize that the two campuses are separate. It would be much better to create a relationship between both.” About 25 students attended the meeting, making suggestions that included introducing a 24-hour computer cluster and sports facilities. Nick Pringle, General Secretary at the SU, was satisfied with the result of the meeting. He said: “It was a really good opportunity to find out what students want. We got a lot of feedback from a good range of students. “Now the plan is to meet with the students again and with the University to find solutions. There are some quick fixes to be done but other things will take longer.” Mr Pringle justified only addressing this issue now by admitting: “This meeting was only a success because it was organised by students.” When asked if the issue will be left unattended when the new team of execs take over next year, Mr Pringle said: “Whoever carries on needs to know the importance of this issue, but it’s also essential that students get involved.” Attempts to bring North Campus back to life may struggle following October’s announcement of a new single sited main campus. This will be part of a £1bn investment, which aims to bring every discipline together in one campus in 2018. Luke Newton, Education Officer at

UK’s biggest Model Arab League to convene Michael Williams News Editor

The University of Manchester Arab society is hosting the UK’s biggest model Arab League this weekend. Arab societies from twelve different universities across the UK have organised for delegates to be sent to act as ambassadors and foreign ministers in the model league, based on the popular Model United Nations concept. Besides one that has previously taken place in Birmingham, this will be the only model Arab League in the country. The real Arab League is a regional organization of Arab

states in North Africa, Northeast Africa and Southwest Asia. It seeks to improve relations between member states. Ibrahim Olabi, Vice President of the University of Manchester Arab Society, will be chairing the event. He told The Mancunion of the importance of the model league in getting people interested. “Arabs themselves don’t get involved with politics a lot, enough Arabs don’t know about the politics in that area,” he said. “After the Arab spring, things became a little more loosened and people are more willing to know what’s going on in that region.” “More Arabs are going into poli-

North Campus students called a meeting with the SU because they felt neglected. Photo: Hannah Reiss the SU, believes it is still worthwhile to invest in North Campus. He said: “It’s important for the SU to help the students form a community. “Resources are already stretched so it’s key to engage with active students and help them make use of what they already have in place for them.” Mr Khokhar agrees: “I know they’re moving but there are still two cohorts of students that will only experience this campus and they cannot be neglected. It won’t be a sustainable investment but it has to be done because we pay the same as other students.” Current students in North Campus hold mixed opinions about the

tics, and non-Arabs are learning about the politics and widening their [knowledge] about an area that they’re not from. “The selection process for the Manchester delegates was tough.” says Ibrahim. “Doing interviews will make you the most hated person on campus,” he said, “because you have to reject some people – and then they know your face.” “It was an extremely difficult choice,” he continued. “Most people who applied were very passionate and very competent – but ultimately we had to give it to the best [candidate].” Of the four candidates from Manchester, Ibrahim explains, “there is not one Arab between them”. “It’s not based on experience, it’s based on passion and skills,” he said. “I don’t want a guy [having done] a thousand model United

move. Lydia Westwood, a first year student in the Materials school, supported the move. She said: “It will probably allow students to feel more part of a community. We’re here in our little bubble so we don’t have the same experience as students in South Campus.” But Rhona Dalgish, another first year student in the Materials school, contested: “I think it’s a shame to lose the great legacy of North Campus.” Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University, categorised North Campus as ‘challenging’ in a Question and Answer session last Mon-

Nations and for us to be a thousand and one. I want to give someone who doesn’t have that opportunity to put it on his CV and increase his skills.” Topics discussed during the model Arab League will deal with real-life current issues – like the ongoing Syrian conflict. “The Syrian government, given what has happened, has been banned from the Arab League,” Ibrahim explained. “So one of the topics [discussed] is that the Syrian National Coalition have a seat. “The Syrian National Coaltion is the opposition – they have a seat in the model arab league.” Ibrahim hopes that the event will become an annual tradition. “The agenda we have is based on what is going on now in the Arab world,” he explained, “and these things change every year.” The model league will take place in Samuel Alexander build-

day, but praised the SU’s work. She said: “The Students’ Union has been doing a great job and your attempts to engage students more widely across the campus are very important. This is particularly so in North Campus, because it is a challenge getting out there.” North Campus currently holds the head offices of four schools - Chemical Engineering and Analytical Sciences, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Aerospace Civil Engineering, and Materials – as well as being the headquarters for the Administration of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

Delegate election “not based on experience, based on passion and skills”. Photo: UMAS

ing, from 11am to 8pm on Saturday 9th March. The event will take place in two-hour blocks, and is open to anybody interested. “We’re planning to get as many students involved as possible.”

Voting is quick and easy on My Manchester

ISSUE 16 / 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 07

Dame Nancy: Government ‘confusion’ over higher education uates and often rely on funding to pay for their degrees. But in Janu-

Photo Credit: Name of photographer

Anthony Organ News Editor

ary it was revealed that research Professor Dame Nancy Roth-

councils have cut all support for

well has condemned the Govern-

taught Master’s courses, and are

ment’s approach to higher educa-

severely cutting financial support

tion policy.

for research Master’s and PhD

Speaking at a Question and An-

students.

swer session with students, the

Dr Wendy Piatt, Director Gener-

President and Vice-Chancellor

al of the Russell Group, warned:

of The University of Manchester

“Many professions require a

complained that there is “a lot of

postgraduate qualification and

confusion” over the policies.

we are concerned that the lack of

She said: “I’ve been attempting

financial support at this level may

to push the Government to give

be presenting another hurdle for

some clarity but they’re a bit con-

students.”

fused about the different funding regimes and so on.

But Dame Nancy suggested:

“I think there was a general feel-

able difficulties with a relatively narrow coalition government in

wouldn’t hit until 2015 and that

the middle of a world economic

we shouldn’t worry about them

crisis. I think if you were to ask

now. I’ve discussed this at length

the government, this wouldn’t be

with ministers and pushed them

at the top of their agenda.

to say that the real problems are

“Whether that’s right is another

hitting now, particularly in Post-

matter. Higher education is a

graduate Taught (PGT) courses.”

long-term investment, but unfor-

Dame Nancy also mentioned PGT students as one of her main

tunately governments focus on short-term crises.”

concerns in her opening speech,

At the Question and Answer

noting that student numbers

session Dame Nancy was also

were decreasing prior to the

forced to fend off the protests

rise in university fees that had

of Chris Atkinson, a third-year

promised to leave students with

Chemical Engineering student

greater debts.

who is “disappointed with the

This year there are 538 fewer

overall quality of teaching.”

PGT students registered at the

Mr Atkinson complained of lec-

University than in the previous

turers who can hardly speak Eng-

year – a fall of over ten per cent.

lish and one particular module

Postgraduates do not have ac-

which he described as “an abso-

cess to the same universal stu-

lute shit-tip.” He promised to ask

dent loans system as undergrad-

for his fees back for this module,

Trees planted in first campus orchard Kyriaki Levendi Reporter The University of Manchester has planted its first orchard on campus. Forty students have helped to plant over eighty fruit trees around halls of residence both in the Fallowfield and Victoria Park campuses. Manchester-based social enterprise The Kindling Trust helped with the planting, which has been done in association with the Big Dig, a nationwide project encouraging volunteers to get involved in their local community gardens. “The little trees might not look like much now, but in ten years

Michael Williams News Editor

“There are almost insurmount-

ing in government that problems

time the campuses we planted up are going to be beautiful, grand orchards,’ Kirstin Glendinnnig from The Kindling Trust told The Mancunion. “My hope is that the whole University gets behind this scheme, aiming to make Manchester University the most food-friendly and sustainable campus in the country,” she added. Many of the students involved in the planting were from the Manchester Leadership Programme. Zhang Ruoyu, a student on the programme said: “It was a good experience to participate in this Manchester Leadership Programme challenge. The trees we planted will hopefully bare edible apples in the near future so the

“I’ve been attempting to puch the Government to give some clarity’ “ said Dame Nancy at a student question and answer session. Photo: The University of Manchester

saying “I’ve effectively paid £300 and what have I got?” Dame Nancy noted that these issues had been raised before

with for future students.” Mr Atkinson then light-heartedly asked: “When are you writing the cheque out for me?”

mons could be replaced, claiming they make it “hard to get on with work.” Another

student

defended

and said: “I’m really sorry that

Dame Nancy was able to laugh

the tables but noted “it would

you’ve come to the end of a

off the question, saying: “I might

be good to have a choice,” while

degree and you think that you

have to write more after I write

a third jumped in to attack the

haven’t done as well out of it as

yours!”

library chairs as “incredibly un-

you should have.

But the most heated debate of

comfortable.”

“The solution won’t be imme-

the evening concerned the fur-

Dame Nancy said: “This was the

diate and it won’t be for you if

niture in the Library and the new

first time I’d heard a criticism of

you’re in your final year. But I

Alan Gilbert Learning Commons.

the Alan Gilbert Learning Com-

hope you take some minor com-

One student submitted a ques-

mons, apart from the fact that it

fort in thinking that the issues

tion online asking whether the

you’ve brought up are being dealt

“low tables” in the Learning Com-

students on campus may be able to grab one from the tree and enjoy it when passing.” Hulme Hall was the last plot to be planted on and Jasmine Dale, a previous resident of the hall told the Mancunion “I think it’s a great idea, it’s something really different that will encourage students to eat and grow their own fruit.” The trees planted will produce different varieties of apples from the North-West and will give students and staff a supply of apples in the upcoming years. The initiative looks set to continue with plans for further development underway. Alexander Clark, the University’s Sustainability Officer for the Directorate of Student Experience said: “We’re starting with apples, but next winter we plan to plant plums, pears and a whole range of soft fruit.”

Man Met student ‘lay dead and undiscovered’ in shared house

closed of course.”

Photo Caption: Blah blah blah Students plant apple trees around hals of residence . Photo: University of Manchester

A Manchester Metropolitan student lay dead and undiscovered for days after housemates didn’t realise he had committed suicide. Vivek Ajit Shah, a third year electronic engineering student at Manchester Metropolitan University, had not been seen for three days by his housemates, an inquest heard. After Shah did not turn up to a family gathering in London, family friend Alex Faulkner was asked to go and check on him. “I knocked on the door and it was opened by one of his housemates,” Mr Faulkner explained. “He said he didn’t know if Vivek was in […] I asked if it was okay to go and knock myself and there was no answer.” “When I opened the door Vivek was lying fully clothed on the bed and there was a gas canister on the floor. I was shocked.” Vivek had suffered from depression and anxiety as a teenager, and the inquest heard that he had “become withdrawn” and “failed to attend his final year exams” in the period leading up to his death last June. His GP in Middlesex, where Vivek was originally from, had referred him to mental health services a year earlier. When contacted to make an appointment several months later, Vivek said he was too busy with exams. He had previously taken antidepressants and undergone psychological therapy, but his family believed that things had started to improve after Vivek changed his university course. Coroner Nigel Meadows recorded a verdict of suicide, listing the causes of death asphyxiation and helium inhalation. “I believe he had continued to suffer with untreated depression and I am satisfied that he intended to kill himself,” said Mr Meadows. A post-mortem was unable to determine how long he had lain undiscovered, but when his body was found it had started to decompose. “Everyone here at Manchester Metropolitan University would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Vivek,” a spokesperson for the University said. “Vivek was an excellent student with a promising future and he is much missed at the University.”

08 : Feature

ISSUE 16 / 4th MARCH 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Should we care who Manchester votes for?

Nick Pringle celebrates winning a hotly contested race for General Secetary last year. Photo: Paul Campbell

Brace yourselves – the Students’ Union elections are here. Andrew Williams considers why the candidates might be standing, and what Manchester SU is for

Ellen Conlon News Sub-Editor

Casting a long shadow over Oxford Road, for fifty weeks of the year our Students’ Union stands imposingly but with all the character of a drab Soviet-style monolith. Over the coming fortnight, the Steve Biko Building will be afforded a rare splash of colour as election candidates plaster over the grey façade with hastily-painted bed sheets bearing ‘punbelievable’ slogans. Planning on sidestepping the election fever? Think again. If the multitude of banners and posters are not enough to permeate your consciousness (and trust me, they will – try going to the toilet on campus over the next two weeks without forcibly staring at some manifesto or other), leaflets will be thrust towards you from every direction, advertising candidates for positions you didn’t even know existed. Leaving the library will become akin to running the gauntlet. You could, of course, try walking briskly with your gaze firmly fixed on the concrete, but still you will not escape. Each morning, virtually every pavement within striking distance of the University will be covered in scrawled chalk markings, only for the infamous Manchester rain to descend each afternoon and wash away the graffiti. The futility of it all – a metaphor,

the cynics would doubtless suggest, for student politics itself. Yes, it’s that time of year again. 47 candidates are set to do battle over eight coveted positions on next year’s University of Manchester Students’ Union executive, with voting opening on Friday morning. To some extent, the election will be a referendum on the record of the current executive; those standing are likely to have a view on the successes of their predecessors, but will inevitably be keen to position themselves in terms of how they believe they can take things forward. The Class of 2013/14 should now have all of the tools to do so. Purely in terms of facilities, the Union building itself has been improved exponentially since I arrived in Manchester back in the dark ages of September 2009. The ground floor had long been a decrepit husk, and twelve months ago it lay empty as work began on transforming the space into the sparkling environment we have at our disposal today. Manchester SU, for so long an area which students shied away from, has been rejuvenated as a result of multimillion pound investment. The area now radiates warmth, encouraging people who never would have set foot in the building previously to pop in for a coffee between lectures. Superficial? Perhaps, but this will

undoubtedly lend itself to establishing the Students’ Union as the epicentre of university democracy that we rightly expect. Nonetheless, it is not always entirely clear what the Union is for – or, for that matter, what the executive are working towards on a day-to-day basis. Alex Peters-Day, outgoing General Secretary of the London School of Economics (LSE) Students’

Planning on sidestepping the election fever? Think again. gauntlet. You could, of course, try walking briskly with your gaze firmly fixed on the concrete, but still you will not escape.” Union, is unequivocal about how she sees the role of Unions across the country. “Some people say SU’s shouldn’t be political. Tell that to the students who

queued through the night to register with the police due to UK Border Agency’s draconian visa regulations; to the students who have their living grants cuts whilst paying extortionate fees; to liberation officers who transform students’ lives both on and off campus,” she argues. Ms Peters-Day continues, forcefully: “Student politics genuinely has the power to change the world. Unions are political entities; their sole reason for existence is campaigning for better rights for students.” In September, a second fresh-faced cohort of undergraduates paying £9,000 per year for the privilege of studying here will land; quite rightly, they will be demanding more for their money. It is a salient fact which will undoubtedly see students lobbying their Union for a higher quality of teaching spread over more contact hours, and that in turn will see expectations of our student officers soar. With this in mind, it is both hoped and anticipated that there will be a marked improvement on last year’s unspectacular turnout of 7,953 students when the polls close on March 14. If a surge in participation materialises, significant scrutiny will be trained on the manifestos of those who emerge victorious; the next executive will not necessarily inherit the cushy number some of them might be expecting. “Being in a leadership position comes with many, many negative points,” Ms Peters-Day tells me, confirming my suspicion that the role of student officer is a thankless task on some levels. “From students who take it upon themselves to declare some sort of personal vendetta against you, to not really having much of a ‘private life’, the whole experience can be a little draining and you end up involved in a lot of trivial rubbish from time to time.”

Nor is it a path to riches, with the bounty for members of the University of Manchester exec set at just £16,600 per year. Some will take a sabbatical from their degree to take up the role; others will postpone the end of their student days for one final year. Whilst the majority of those involved harbour laudable aims and care passionately about their ‘zones’, student politicians have long had their underlying motives questioned. If, as Henry Kissinger famously put it, “university politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small,” there are bound to be politiciansin-training lurking amongst their more benevolent colleagues. Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna, who studied Law and French at the University of Manchester just over a decade ago, felt this more keenly than most. He told The Mancunion last year: “I never got majorly involved in the internal Students’ Union politics, because – maybe slightly cynically so – I thought there were too many people involved with it who were career politicians, who were more interested in the arguing amongst each other as opposed to actually acting as a voice and representing the students they purported to speak for.” It is something which Alex Peters-Day, herself a Students’ Union President, has recognised. “I think there can be some people who see being an SU officer as ‘playing politics’, in that it’s a place where they can practice their lobbying skills or public speaking,” she regrets. “It’s a real shame because in actuality student politicians can be some of the most talented people I’ve ever had the privilege of working with.”

ISSUE 16 / 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Liam Burns, soon-to-be former NUS President, gave The Mancunion a slightly different take on the issue. “The idea that someone would be President of a Students’ Union purely on the back of career prospects is ridiculous, because the opportunity cost of doing it is massive. You do it because you’re passionate and you want to change things for students. I can assure you I’m paid a shit wage, I work ridiculous hours – as do everyone in this building – and as do sabbatical student officers.” That said, Burns is honest enough to accept that personal ambition played at least some part in his ascent to the top of NUS. “I think it would be disingenuous to say that you don’t look at these things,” he admits. As you might expect, Manchester SU has provided a springboard for the careers of several illustrious public figures. Veteran newsreader Anna Ford, who went on to hold the Chancellorship of the University of Manchester, has cited her time as a student officer as a huge fillip for her career. “I was offered jobs by the BBC when I graduated from university in 1966, simply because I’d been President of the Students’ Union,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs last year. “I was continually being asked down the road in Manchester to their studios to explain what was happening in the student world, so they knew who I was.” Paul Monaghan, now Head of Sustainable Development at the Co-Operative, graduated from campaigning for university campuses to boycott Lloyds and Midland banks in protest at third world debt levels, to find himself at the forefront of the ethical banking sector. Meanwhile, Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of the charity SCOPE, has drawn on his time as President of the SU from 1986-88 in leading the fight against

Feature : 09 government cuts to disability benefits. Of course, there are politicians aplenty amongst our SU alumni. Labour MPs Phil Woolas and John Mann both served on the executive, as did the party’s one-time political advisor Derek Draper. More recently, former Cabinet minister Liam Byrne fulfilled the now-defunct role of Communications Officer. It is a touch ironic, given his Students’ Union portfolio, that Byrne is now infamous for a misjudged piece of communication; a note left to his successor as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, which read, ‘Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left. Good luck!’ Tongue-incheek, certainly, but ill-timed in the midst of a deep and painful recession. For all of the career considerations and status calculations – never underestimate the future politician’s desire to be a ‘big name on campus’ – it is the intrinsic value of the role which drives most of those who stand in student elections. Despite misgivings over her years in student politics, Ms Peters-Day tells me: “I love the diversity of the things that I work on. In any given day I might be chairing a meeting, picking out artwork for a campaign, meeting with senior figures in the university and community, supporting our liberation officers and holding a society event briefing. You do such a lot and no day is the same, which is really exciting.” For full coverage of the elections, keep up to date on www.mancunion.com. You can get involved on Twitter by using the hashtag #ManchesterVotes

Insight into Broadcasting & Journalism, Monday 25th March 2013 Want a career in the Media? Need to get some practical experience? Don’t miss the Insight into Broadcasting & Journalism, Monday 25th March 2013 A one day interactive workshop held on campus, led by professional guest tutors from the BBC, the Independen and The Guardian. Contact mediaclub@ manchester.ac.uk for information.

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“I would encourage anyone with a business idea to enter Venture Further. It’s a safe environment to test your ideas and builds a great foundation for the next steps.”

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Original Thinking Applied

Politics & Comment

ISSUE 16/ 4th March 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Photo: Flicker user lewishamdreamer

Why I’ll be sleeping rough this week Sophie Guinard tells us her reasons for supporting this year’s STAR/Amnesty Sleepout campaign

On the 7th of March, the annual STAR/

country of origin on specific grounds; i.e.

little has been done to address the issues

Amnesty Sleepout campaign will be held on

usually if it is either deemed too dangerous

highlighted by the report.

the Students’ Union steps to raise awareness

or if the physical health of the individual is

of destitution amongst asylum seekers in the

too poor to allow their return. The allowance they do get from the

up the decision-making process on asylum

students, activist groups and performers

government takes the form of vouchers; an

statuses and to deport people who had

alike will be ‘sleeping rough’ in order to

Azure Card which can be used to pay for

been refused, Refugee Action found that a

highlight this pressing issue.

Although

food, clothes, toiletries and phone charges,

high proportion of those seeking help from

difficult to quantify the extent of the problem,

but not for transport or any other expenses.

asylum seeker charities had gone through this

some estimate the number of refused asylum

The card can only be used in certain stores

“improved” system, and that forty percent

seekers living in the UK to be 500,000, of

and contains funds equivalent to only 52% of

of these were still living destitute. The NAM

which the vast majority are not allowed

the standard Income Support. The money,

system also has failed to reduce the length of

access to state support.

for the most part, is not cumulative. That is;

time to make initial decisions. According to

For these people, day-to-day life is a struggle,

saving more in one week doesn’t entitle that

Amnesty, last year there were 3,000 asylum

and individuals whose past experiences

person to having more funds in the following

seekers in the UK who had been waiting

have already often been incredibly difficult

week. A maximum of £5 is able to be carried

over 6 months for a decision. This is despite

often do not have anywhere to live and are

across from one week to the next. As no

promises made by the government to make

in many cases forced to undertake illegal

asylum seeker (either refused or waiting on

key changes in this area.

work, including begging and prostitution. All

a claim) is permitted to work, this support

Destitution is an atrocity that shouldn’t

of this just to survive. Among those forced to

from the government represents their only

occur in the UK, and the Sleepout next

live on the streets are particularly vulnerable

income. But £5 a day really does not go very

Thursday aims to stress that. There were

groups, such as children. The Children’s

far. A survey conducted in 2007 by Refugee

around 120 people attending last year’s

Society recently reported a startling rise in

Action found that many destitute asylum

Sleepout, with a third of people sleeping out

young homeless asylum seekers that sought

seekers with whom they have contact would

overnight. Even MPs have taken part in past

help from them.

qualify for this support, yet do not have it. A

events. This year, the event promises to be

The causes of destitution are often multi-

number of reasons have been given for this;

another great demonstration, with free food,

factorial; but the process of seeking asylum in

predominantly the fears that people in these

activities, guest speakers a number of acts,

the UK has many flaws. Many argue that it is

situations have of being deported back to a

including Harmony Gospel choir, Tiny waves,

counter-effective and inhumane. In 2011, 77%

country in which considerable risks still exist.

She choir and Nubian twist. The event starts

of asylum seekers were refused protection in

The reality of the situation is that this

at 8pm, and for those brave enough to sleep

the UK as a first decision but in 26% of cases,

support is meant to hinder more than it is to

those who appealed against a refusal gained

help refused asylum seekers, and this leads

If you are planning on sleeping out on

refugee status.

to people needing to find alternative means

Thursday 7th and are able to get sponsored

Asylum seekers are given fewer rights to

of survival. In 2007, the parliamentary Joint

for your bravery, a sponsorship page has

housing, healthcare and food than people

Committee on Human Rights judged that ‘the

been set up which friends can donate to.

on the lowest band of benefits. Many asylum

government has indeed been practicing a

All proceeds will go to the Boaz Trust, a

seekers are forced to rely on just above £5 a

deliberate policy of destitution of this highly

Manchester-based organisation committed

day. Some of these are people who have been

vulnerable group [asylum seekers]. We

to helping destitute asylum seekers.

refused ‘leave to remain in the UK’ but who

believe that all deliberate use of inhumane

are, at present, not able to return to their

treatment

unacceptable.’

However,

Tammy Baldwin

Despite the introduction of a New Asylum Model (NAM) in 2007 that aimed to speed

UK. For the third year running, Manchester

My Political Hero...

out, don’t forget a sleeping bag!

Sponsorship page: http://www.charitygiving. co.uk/STAR

Correction:

In the furore of the Presidential elections of 2012, many marvellous thingsoccurred.NotonlydidtheAmericanpeoplevotetokeepObama and reject the socially conservative republicans, rape deniers and general turds extraordinaire were defeated and the utterly fantastic Elizabeth Warren was elected to Senate. But it is not her of whom I wishtospeak,butofanother,anevenmoregroundbreakingresultfor America,forwomenandparticularlyLGBTwomen.Theelectionofthe firstopenlyhomosexualsenatorintheformofTammyBaldwin,anda fairlyawesomepoliticianadditionallyrepresentedanamazingvictoryin an evening of amazing victories. Ms Baldwin has been an elected representative since 1993, where she served until 1999 in the Wisconsin Assembly. In the 1992 elections she was one of just six openly LGBT politicians to be elected. She was an early advocate for the LGBT community when in office, stating her disappointment at Bill Clinton’s compromise with the infamous ‘Don’t ask don’t tell’ policy, proposed legalizing same sex marriage in Wisconsinin1994,andproposingdomesticpartnershipsin1995.She also is against capital punishment in the state. As a member of congress, Baldwin had one of the most progressive votingrecords,andwasamemberoftheProgressiveMajority’sadvisory committee–agroupthataimstoelectprogressivecandidatestopublic office. On women’s rights, she was given a grade of 100 from the League of WomenVotersin2007forhersupportofsuchpoliciesandideasasthe EqualPayAct,theLedbetterFairPayAct,strongerenforcementoflaws against sexual violence and violence against women. She was a key supporter of the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, which helped low-income, underinsured,anduninsuredwomenpayforcervicalandbreastcancerrelated medical services. This is not the only good thing she has done for Healthcare provision in the US, she authored the Veteran Vision Equity Act which protects benefitsforveterans;shespokeatthe2004democraticconventionat prime time on the issue of health care. During the 110th Congress, she wrotetheReeveParalysisActwhichauthorizesadditionalfundingfor the treatment of ailments that result in immobility. She has also had theconcernsoftheLGBTQcommunityinmindinherpolitics,pushing for provisions to the healthcare reform bill to address the past neglect ofthequeerandtrans*community.ExamplesofthisincludetheEarly Treatment for HIV act, the effect of which would have been to allow states to provide Medicaid coverage to low-income individuals living withHIVandAIDSandtheTaxEquityforHealthBeneficiariesActwhich intendedtoendataxforhomosexualemployeeswhosepartnerswere coveredundertheiremploymenthealthinsurance.Unfortunately,not all of these eventually made it through to law. Onehopes,andfarfromavainhope,thatshewillcontinuewithpolicies andidealslikethisformanyyearstocomeinthesenate.Withpeopleat theforefrontofUSpoliticslikeTammyBaldwin,wecanallfeelalittleless distressed by the world’s most powerful nation.

Regarding last week’s debate about whether the University should introduce alcohol free halls. The University has no plans to introduce “alcohol free” Halls. The Accommodation Office, in liaison with UMSU, is currently reviewing its allocation processes and we are considering the introduction of a new preference for being accommodated in areas designated as “quieter lifestyle” which is in addition to the information already requested regarding environmental, sport and community volunteering interests.

Emma Bean Comment & Politics Editor

Comment

ISSUE 16/ 4th March 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

‘I was right to secretly record vile homophopia on campus,’ says Cortbus Colin Corbus says he was right to record a meeting of the ‘Global Aspirations of Women’s’ society where a speaker said ‘homosexuals would be killed in an ideal world’ This month I recorded the vilest homophobic discussion imaginable at a public meeting of the ‘Global Aspirations of Women’ Society. The meeting chair told me that in the Islamic State she was striving for thieves would have their hands cut off, adulterers would be stoned and homosexuals would be executed. She even told me that if I kissed another man outside of the Students’ Union, she would personally and morally feel comfortable to kill me. This was laconically followed by ‘no offence to you’ as if telling someone you’d be prepared to kill them could ever not be hurtful. Showing off precisely the sophisticated critical thinking facilities that will make her highly employable, another attendee lamented that if gays ‘can’t have kids, why didn’t they die out ages ago’. Ever since, I have been subject to a strange mixture of praise and criticism. Douglas Murray in The Spectator called me a ‘reasonable sort of chap’ and even criticised me for being ‘too kind’ to Islam on the issue of stoning, which I had argued is not part of Islam. Even a BBC report reflected positively on what I had done. There are however those who feel I have somehow breached journalistic ethics by exposing this homophobia. Quite predictably the society chairperson, Khadijah Afzal, accused

The Mancunion of deciding to ‘sneakily record’ the event and attempting to ‘malign Islam’ arguing that ‘the discussion on the punishment system in Islam shows that you are ignorant of Islam as a political system’, which is an ‘ideology just like any other ideology’. In this immensely telling statement she also appeared to advocate theocracy, urging a government on the basis of ‘obedience to the rules’ of ‘Quran and the Sunnah’, which she said would be quite ‘unlike’ Capitalism where ‘sovereignty belongs to man and he has the freedoms’. Quite ultimately she stated that it was all just a ‘hypothetical discussion’ where the views expressed ‘may or not have necessarily been that of the society’. Some have accused me of pandering to Islamophobia. Others have expressed their ‘deep concern’ over my covert filming. To them I say the following: you should get your priorities right. Carefully pre-considered, legitimate filming of what was disgusting homophobia at a public meeting is fully in line with British law and our long tradition of investigative journalism. At a public event, where there is no expectation of privacy. The public interest here was and is clear. Rather than appearing to come to the trivialisation of anti-gay extremists, we should stand with those who, like

University of Manchester Students’ Union, where the talk took place. Photo: Cil Barnett-Neefs the 5 out of 8 Muslim MPs who voted yes to equal marriage and Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed, founder of the LGBTQ-inclusive mixed-gender mosque in Paris, demand genuine freedom, progress and equality. Let us unite to oppose all anti-humanist, anti-individualistic, anti-secular and intolerant thought, whether from Global Aspirations, the FarRight, the Marxist-Leninists, or Fundamentalist

Christians. The least the Union ought to do after this is to work with organisations such as Imaan UK to set-up a support society for openly gay Muslim students. I stand for a tolerant, secular, free and democratic society. I hope you stand with me. I have no apology to make for being free.

We need to join Sussex’s fight back against university privatisation Charlotte Green gives her views on the ‘Sussex against Privatisation’ movement Large scale, successful student protests have been somewhat lacking over the last ten years, most notably with marches and demonstrations in 2010 and 2011 failing to prevent the rise in tuition fees despite hundreds of thousands of supporters. The student voice is being ignored and our concerns overlooked. Is it the methods that are failing, or is it that students have lost the power to effect change? Time to shine a spotlight on the University of Sussex and their growing movement ‘Sussex against Privatisation’, where they seem to be getting it right. In May of 2012 plans were revealed outlining proposed changes to the way services are handled at Sussex University. Senior Management revealed their intentions to outsource 10% of the workforce, privatising 235 jobs across the university by August 2013. The outsourcing will cover a large number of services including catering, grounds management, security services, building management and maintenance and areas of administration. This news was greeted with dismay and the plans faced opposition from many students and staff who claimed that outsourcing would negatively impact the university and undermine its sense of community. Despite internal opposition the university pushed on with its plans, advertising jobs in the European Journal and opening up sectors of the institution to private bids. Tensions over the intended outsourcing have come to a head in the beginning of this year with the occupation by students of Bramber house, a conference centre attached to the university. Around 100 activists currently occupy the building, with the numbers increasing daily as public support for the movement grows. A simple yellow square

Protesters at Sussex University. Photo: DanielJPHadley (Flickr) has become the symbol of the protest and other universities and students have been expressing solidarity with the movement by placing yellow post-it notes in windows and yellow banners stating ‘Support the 235’ across student unions. Along with the occupation activists have led large rallies and demonstrations featuring both students and staff around campus and a list of signatories pledging solidarity to the movement now numbers in the hundreds. It is through this list that media attention was first attracted to the movement as it contains support from high-profile personalities such as author Noam Chomsky, director Ken Loach, actor Peter Capaldi, comedian Mark Steel, columnist Owen Jones, as well as MPs such as

Green MP Caroline Lucas and Labour backbencher John McDonald. The majority of the list is made up by university academics and professors, including David Wilkinson, a Teaching Assistant at University of Manchester. So why was there a drive towards privatisation in the first place? Michael Farthing in a letter stated that “…As we [Sussex University] undergo a period of substantial growth and significant change … we want to ensure we have an environment and services that will be high quality, focused on students and staff and offer good value for money”. All of these are laudable aims. What is unclear however, is why private industry will provide this and the public sector cannot. If we contrast

Sussex with the University of Manchester we can see the exact opposite, a large institution run efficiently and successfully by the university with only limited links to the private sector in specialist areas. Claims by the Sussex activists that the sense of community of the university will be diminished by privatisation have been rubbished by Sussex management, who doubt the impact of the university services on this ‘sense of community’. In contrast on the University of Manchester website under the ‘jobs’ section it tells possible employees that ‘…with more than 10,000 staff and nearly 40,000 students, the University is more like a community than a workplace.’ Manchester clearly does not devalue its own in-house services and the communal atmosphere in the same way that Sussex does. With examples like Manchester proving the worth of public services, one wonders why the government seems so keen to discredit them, to continue with the dogma that private equals good, public equals bad. The real issue at the heart of this protest is that of marketization, and whether we are prepared to let higher education become another battle ground for the private sector. Protesters at Sussex University are making a stand; it’s only a matter of time before other universities will have to decide whether to stand in favour of students as learners, or students as consumers. And ultimately it’s up to us as the students to decide what we want our education to be. Do we want to be receiving an education or merely a product? The protest at Sussex University is just the tip of the iceberg.

Comment

ISSUE 16/ 4TH MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Galloway was wrong to refuse to debate an Israeli student Gawain Owen argues that George Galloway shouldn’t have walked out of a debate, and looks at what he sees as the wider problems with his policies on Israel Once again the MP for Bradford, George Galloway, finds himself back in the news with another scandal. On the 20th of February, whilst attending a debate at Oxford University, Galloway walked out of the room after discovering that he was debating with an Israeli. He said, ‘I was misinformed... I don’t debate with Israelis. I don’t recognise Israel’. The motion of the debate was, ‘This house believes that Israel should withdraw immediately from the West Bank’, with Galloway holding the proposition. The student, Eylon Aslan - Levy, who the comment had been directed at is a student at Oxford University studying PPE, and holds both British and Israeli passports. After the debate he commented, ‘I am appalled that an MP would storm out of a debate with me for no other reason than my heritage’. This was not the first time Mr Aslan - Levy had clashed with Galloway. In 2007 when he gave a speech at The Immanuel School in London Mr Aslan - Levy confronted Galloway over a claim he apparently made that, ‘no decent person should... talk with... any part of the apartheid state of

Israel’. Galloway replied to this in an outraged tone calling Mr Aslan - Levy a ‘liar’. Whilst remaining impartial about the Israeli - Palestinian debate, it is clear this weekend that Galloway’s stance is one of inconsistency and uncertainty. He’s shown a blatant contradiction in his line regarding discourse with Israeli citizens. Galloway’s method of antinormalisation in the Israeli Palestinian debate is one which is not often held in the realm of high politics. One way in which this act could be portrayed is an elected official refusing to partake in discourse with a citizen due to the heritage of that individual. And this is the view held by some of the observers of the debate on Wednesday. As shouts of ‘racist’ echoed from the room as he abruptly left the lecture theatre in Christ Church College. Galloway though, as an individual with Palestinian heritage, holds a different opinion. He is not alone in his belief that by refusing to ‘debate with Israelis’, their legitimacy will be compromised. Galloway does not shy away from controversy though, and the following day he said on Twitter, ‘Israel: Simple,

No recognition No normalisation. Just Boycott, divestment, sanctions.” Galloway’s Twitter comment is a direct reference to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS). The BDS is a global Palestinian movement against Israel, who use the described methods as a way of discrediting Israel. However, in response to Galloway’s actions the BDS issued a statement saying, ‘BDS does not call for the boycott of individuals because she or he happens to be Israeli’. This severely undermines Galloway’s position by discrediting his actions which this movement appears to be deeming as too far. I spoke with Mr Aslan - Levy on his opinions of the BDS, he replied, ‘The BDS movement is an odious organisation... its campaign for an academic boycott of Israeli universities is an outrageous assault on intellectual freedom’. Galloway’s endorsement of the BDS protocol in his Twitter comment is a dangerous stance to take for an elected official, due to the controversial nature of some of their activities. However what may be even more damming is the fact that the BDS publicly

opposed his actions. Galloway has always been a reliable source for challenging the main powers within politics. Unfortunately, the ways in which he does so has not always been credible. As his 2006 stint in the Big Brother house showed, which again brought his critics to comment on his uncontrollable urge to be within the public limelight, regardless of how he gets there. This recent act of unconformity could also be described in the same

way. It is no secret that Galloway enjoys the attention he gets from his un-PC episodes. By publicly undermining a represented citizen in a formal debate, questions surely have to be asked of Galloway’s conduct and how this reflects upon the British political system. Whilst Galloway is entitled to his own opinion, so are others, and his somewhat childish display of manners and politics were all too well apparent with his outburst on Wednesday.

George Galloway MP. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

We should all get behind the Save our NHS campaign Conor McGurran tells us the problems he sees with the government’s much debated NHS reforms In March 2012, the passage of the Health and Social Care Act marked the most extensive reorganisation of the structure of the National Health Service in England to date. The longest NHS bill in history, with over 1,000 new amendments, arguably became the most hotly disputed government decision since the elections of May 2010. The chaotic development of this set of reforms has been well-documented, but underpinning this Conservativedriven thirst for change within the NHS has been an assumption that the pre-2012 NHS was somehow failing. This is simply not the case. The Commonwealth Fund compared similar countries and placed the UK top for care, effectiveness and efficiency, patient confidence, equity and safety. Furthermore, the UK was significantly less expensive than France, Germany and the US. Mortality from cancer and heart disease was falling faster in the UK than anywhere else and waiting lists were rapidly shrinking. This paints a picture of an impressive and effective health service, surely not one that required gross disruption costing £2 billion? Guardian writer Polly Toynbee argued that the motivation behind these reforms was undeniably

ideological. She wrote that: “The very existence of an exceptionally successful nationalised health service is such an affront to everything Conservatives believe in that it’s worth the political risk of demolishing it once and for all.” The most frequently cited concern with the Act is that it is resulting in the privatisation of our National Health Service. As recently as last month, Clare Gerada, the head of the Royal College of GP’s condemned the decision to allow a huge expansion of the private sector’s role within the NHS. She said “It’s causing the NHS to be split up into thousands of different providers of health services. It’s also atomising the patient into individual parts – their eyes, ears, mental health and so on – which is wrong and unhelpful, and forcing them to interact with multiple different services rather than just their local NHS.” Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham fears that the NHS will ultimately be unable to provide its own services with the introduction of so many private providers “fragmenting the NHS and taking it further away from the integration ministers claim to support.” One may have expected to read trade union bosses such as Unison’s Dave Prentis claiming that “this

titanic reorganisation threatens to sink the NHS”. This argument has been legitimised though by the evaporation of support for the reforms both before and after the Bill’s passage through the Commons. The Royal College of Surgeons condemned the shake-up, stating that it would damage the NHS. Furthermore, the British Medical Association and royal colleges representing nurses, midwives and other health professionals have called for the government to abandon its plans and devise new policies for the NHS in England. As many of 92.5% of Royal College of Physicians members (hospital doctors) wanted the bill to be scrapped. The British Medical Journal labelled the previous Health Secretary Andrew Lansley as “mad” and “deluded”, disputing claims by the minister that the reforms would benefit patients. Perhaps most tellingly, influential Tory blog ‘Conservative Home’ attacked the reforms as “not only mangled and bureaucratic but also unnecessary.” Why then, did the Bill receive such vehement criticism from both political commentators and health experts and professionals? Put most simply, because it could spell the end for our National Health Service. Under the provisions of the bill, the

Protesters march against public sector cuts last year. Photo: tuc.org.uk Secretary of State no longer has a duty to provide a health service to all. That power has been devolved to the National Commissioning Board, which is completely unaccountable and has no mechanism for appeals. The devastating effect of the increasing influence of private companies over the NHS cannot be overstated. There is fear that private companies will ‘cherry pick’ profitable services. Both NHS and private providers are paid by results (e.g. the number of operations done) so diseases that can be treated quickly and easily are more profitable. Longterm diseases that require multidisciplinary care are more expensive.

This means that profit-driven companies will be inclined to focus on profitable diseases whilst cutting down on care for expensive diseases. NHS providers will be forced to pick up the unwanted, expensive patients but with all the cuts to NHS spending, this will force many more NHS hospitals into bankruptcy. The government is cutting the NHS’ budget by £20 billion whilst simultaneously allowing up to 49% of patients in NHS hospitals to be private patients. This will force hospitals to take on more private patients to make up for their slashed budgets, meaning waiting times for patients who can’t afford to pay will sky-rocket.

Societies

ISSUE 17/ 11th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Women for Women International

Women for Women International partners women of war with individuals across the globe to teach them skills, rights and health education as well as many other things. every day. Last week Women for Women International held a screening of The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo. This documentary was created by Lisa F. Jackson, who herself is a victim of rape, from Washington. This caused her to voice the trauma of women in the Congo where rape is used on a daily basis as a weapon of war. The documentary was a real eyeopener to the effects rape has not only on the women affected, but their families and the community. It really showed how successful this weapon of war is at tearing an already fragile country apart. I spoke to the Chair Rawnak Jassm, who explains why this charity is so important and why she wanted to get involved. ‘I simply fell in love with the way the charity gives women of war a second chance. It educates them, teaches them about their rights in society, provides them with skills that allow them to become financially independent and allows them to become socially active. This charity does not merely hand over money or a bag of rice to a woman to sustain her for a month or so, but the money raised is an investment into a woman’s life, as well as her family’s, and the economy as a whole.

possibility of them holding an educational event to portray global issues surrounding women after war. This society was only started in 2012, and as a new society has been very successful. However their main problem is that having ‘women’ in the name of the society twice means they do not have many male participants. In the future they want to advertise this society is for everyone and not just for women. With 25 members at the moment, they are hoping to expand in the future, especially as this society deals with such current global issues offering support in a unique way. ‘There is always space on the committee for those that feel like they have something to offer- everyone is welcome to either commit to a role or just volunteer occasionally- everything is pretty casual and the results are always rewarding. Events and fundraisers are open to everyone and you can keep up to date by subscribing to our emails, Facebook or twitter. It would be lovely to meet anyone that is interested in the cause or would like to learn more. For more details you can contact them on: wfwi.manchester@gmail.com

Women for Women International is an established charity which works with eight war-torn countries. It betters the lives of women in these countries by partnering them up with people globally to sponsor them on a year long program to teach them skills, rights and health education as well

as many other things. Many of these women have lost everything due to war, their families and their livelihoods. The partnering scheme is not only successful on a practical level, but also offers emotional support and hope for these women at a time when they are surrounded by death and violence

The Hiking Society

Organising regular day and weekend trips

The The Hiking Hiking Society Society taking taking a a break break in in Borrowdale. Borrowdale. Photo: Photo: Transport Transport Sec Sec,Min Min Most weekends the University of Manchester Hiking Club heads out to a scenic part of the country to wander up a hill or two, with the added bonus of ending up at the pub afterwards. I spoke to Publicity and Merchandise Secretary Sam Winkler to find out more about the trips they organise. The club caters for hikers of all abilities, from those who wish to climb as many peaks as possible, to those who prefer to take their time and have plenty of breaks. ‘We have a wide variety of people coming to our hikes and it’s always interesting to meet new people as well as old friends.’ Each trip offers several routes of varying length and intensity to choose from. ‘Typically, we run 4 different hikes, and we make sure no one falls behind if they do find themselves struggling. Hiking is mostly about having fun.’ Recent trips have seen the Hiking Club brave snow and impromptu snowball fights as nearby as the Peak District and as far away as Scotland, and they have also recently visited Grasmere and its

Societies

Events

famous gingerbread shop. Upcoming destinations include the Lake District, Scotland and Wales. Both single day trips and longer weekend trips are run during term time, so there are a variety of experiences available. In addition to their usual weekly trips, there is also a longer trip to Scotland coming up during the Easter break. At £10 for member and £14 for non-members (membership itself is another £10) the day trips are an inexpensive day out and no gear is required other than walking boots, although it is suggested you check the website to find out what kind of attire is recommended and why jeans are banned. The Hiking Club can be found in the Activities office in the Student Union from 12:30 to 13:30 every week day if you have any queries or would like to sign-up, or you can find out more on their website http:// www.umhc.org.uk/ .

This society aims to raise awareness for the charity, as well as raising money offering students an opportunity to support this worthwhile cause. They organise many different events in order to raise money. These include their weekly Zumba session, bake sales, and barbeques. Also, there’s the

www.facebook.com/wfwi.manchester Follow us on twitter: @WFWI_Manchester

The Irish Society

Hosting St Patrick’s Day at Jabez Clegg The Irish Society is open to anyone and everyone who has an interest in the Irish culture. The main aim of the society is for both Irish and non-Irish students to come together for events including socials, sports, music sessions, concerts and trips away. It originally started in 2009 due to the growing number of Irish students in Manchester. I spoke to the Chair Roisin Farrell, who told me more about the society and about their plans for St. Patrick’s Day. ‘Our main aim is to provide a warm welcome for new Irish students in Manchester to help them find their feet in their new city. It can always be daunting starting off in a new place let alone a new country.’ Roisin first got involved with the society after attending the St. Patrick’s Day event back in 2011, and just kept attending socials ever since. ‘Socials are at the centre of our society and this year we have organised a number of different events. We had a very successful Christmas ball in Waxy O’Connors in the Printworks this year. We work with various Irish bars in Manchester such as O’Sheas, Waxy O’Connors and St. Kentigens where we hold events ranging from watching sports, open mic nights and the occasional ceilidh.’

The main event in the society’s calendar is St. Patrick’s Day. In previous years the society has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in various clubs around Manchester including Factory which was a complete sell-out. ‘This year, we are holding a massive event in Jabez Clegg in association with RAG and the Manchester Ceilidh society, called ‘Manchester’s 50 shades of Green’. The night will start off with a live music ceilidh followed by a DJ playing all the classic Irish party tunes. It is a fancy dress event and there will be prizes on the night for the best dressed. We are focusing on making it even more traditional. We are aiming to give both Irish and non-Irish students a taste of traditional Paddy’s day celebrations, prom-

Monday 11th March

Tuesday 12th March

Wednesday 13th March

Thursday 14th March

JUDO TRAINING

MANCHESTER ART GROUP

MUGSS CREW MEETING

Raw Manchester Rocks Society

Armitage Conference Room

Sandbar, 120 Grosvenor Street, Manchester, M1 7HL

The Arch - outside Barnes Wallis building, North Campus

Hardy Wells - Rusholme

5pm - 6pm

8 30pm- 9 30pm

7pm-8 30pm

8pm-9pm

ising a great night for all. People all over Manchester and the whole country will be joinging together to celebrate. There will be the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on the 17th March, along with other events, so make sure you don’t miss out. Tickets are available for St. Paddy’s Day party ‘Manchester’s 50 Shades of green’ For tickets text 07808224714. tickets are £5 with some of the proceeds going to Manchester RAG. For more information on St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and other socials you can email Roisin at roisin.farrell@student.manchester.ac.uk

For more events, visit the societies page on The Mancunion website: www.mancunion.com

Film

TOP

Anti-rom-coms 5. Celeste & Jesse Forever (2012) Jesse and Celeste are getting divorced but still spend almost every minute of the day together. After realising that this arrangement may be stalling their love lives they decide to give each other more space, resulting in a tale of how hard it can be to let go and accept circumstances.

4. Annie Hall (1977) Woody Allen directs, writes and stars in what may be the archetypal anti-rom-com. If you’re looking for a movie that holds the ethos of whatever may be antiromance, then this is it.

3. War Of The Roses (1989) Divorce battles can be ugly, but it’s taken to a violently sinister level in this black comedy. After several years of marriage, things fall apart for Oliver and Barbara Rose and a cacophony of hurling plates, smashing statues and abuse ensues. No wonder it’s named after an historic bloodshed.

2. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004) Haven’t we all wished we could erase the memory of a certain someone to start anew? Eternal Sunshine makes this idea a reality. Jim Carrey’s Joel takes this step and we get to chase along with him as he changes his mind mid-process and fights to keep every moment spent with her.

1. 500 Days Of Summer (2009) “This is not a love story, this is a story about love”, we are told at the beginning of the movie. This indie flick is a delightful chronicle of how seldom our expectations match up with reality in the matters of the heart, making it the ultimate anti-rom-com. Parizad Mangi

ISSUE 16/ 4TH MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Interview

Alex Taylor, director of Treasure Trapped Sophie James interviews Manchester graduate and director about the making of his latest documentary Here at The Mancunion, the most exciting part of our job is finding out about the latest student film projects and events that have been happening in Manchester. So when Manchester-based production company ‘Cosmic Joke’ got in touch with us about their latest documentary Treasure Trapped, we were eager to find out more! Sophie James interviews Manchester Uni graduate and director Alex Taylor.

The University of Manchester. When I left university I felt like I hadn’t had many opportunities to develop my filmmaking skills or meet with industry professionals so I wanted to start a production company that offered Manchester students the chances I never had. As a result Cosmic Joke is made up of a mixed bag of people who’ve been working in the industry for 20 years and current university students looking for their way into filmmaking.

What is Treasure Trapped about? Treasure Trapped is a road movie documentary about the LARP hobby. For those that don’t know what LARP is, it stands for ‘Live Action Role-Play’ and the easiest way to describe it is it’s like Dungeons and Dragons but instead of sitting at a table rolling dice you’re out in the woods battering each other with fake swords. Have you seen the movie Role Models? If so, you’ve seen a bit of LARP. In Treasure Trapped we’re off on a journey to find out how the hobby works, who plays it and why. Where did the inspiration Treasure Trapped come from?

for

A good few years ago a friend of mine started LARPing, as they say. When he told me about it I could not believe such a thing existed, I was instantly fascinated and wanted to know everything about it, not to mention see it in action. I figured I couldn’t be the only person who felt this way so I rallied the troops and we decided to set off to some LARP events with a camera and see what happened. Next thing you know we have a documentary on our hands. Who was involved? The film is produced by Cosmic Joke who are a Manchester-based production company, founded by myself after leaving

What was the film-making process like? Did you encounter any difficulties? Making the film has been an immensely enjoyable and fascinating process but not without the challenges that face any documentary film project. Dealing with ‘reality’ you need to be adaptable, some things will go well and some things won’t. We’ve captured incredible footage in the most unlikely places and similarly had monumental failures filming what we thought would be guaranteed gold. It’s also a challenge working on such a big project, we’ve been working on this for three years now, maintaining relationships along the way, it becomes a huge part of your life that you can’t switch off. Everyone is out their juggling their studies or other commitments but we’ve always managed to make it work. How did promoting your movie on sites such as Kickstarter help? Kickstarter has been invaluable in helping promote the film and, of course, with earning us that last little bit of funding that we needed to finish. It’s helped us reach people all over the world and build a global audience for the film when it’s released. It’s also helped us make contact with interested parties who would like to help with further promotion of the film or be involved in

some way. Without giving too much away we received a special invite to something yesterday that we never dreamed we’d have the chance to attend with Treasure Trapped, and that was because of our Kickstarter campaign. It is a constant job to maintain this interest though. It really annoys me when people set up these Kickstarter campaigns or Twitter accounts and expect them to populate themselves, after running our campaign I have more respect than ever before for those film promoters out there, especially using crowd funding. How was Treasure Trapped received? Treasure Trapped is still a few months away from release. All signs point to a positive reception so far though, we’ve had great feedback from all our trailers and test cuts, so fingers crossed the finished product will continue in this vein. We hope we’ve made a film that will interest and entertain people who’ve never heard of LARP before whilst pleasing those devout LARPers out there who want to see their hobby handled fairly in a film.

‘Cloud Atlas’ Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy Wachowski, Lara Wachowski • Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant Released: 22 February play four or five different roles throughout the film. Tom Hanks gives an interesting range of performances, from an eccentric nineteenth century doctor to a psychopathic Irish gangster turned author. His most impressive role is as the tribesman Zachry, who is haunted by a demonic spectre on his quest towards redemption and love. But it’s Ben Whishaw, who recently assumed the title of Q in Skyfall, that stands out. As Robert Frobisher, he’s hired as an assistant to an aging, legendary composer. Forced to hide his love for another man in 1920s English society, his tragic tale is the most poignant and captivating – definitely an actor to keep your eye on in the coming years. The attempt to transform Jim Sturgess into a Korean man, and Halle Berry and Doona Bae into Caucasians was a questionable choice. Also the make-up department left Hugo Weaving, in his role as the sadistic Nurse Noakes, looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger on his way to a costume party as Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Needless to say, Cloud Atlas

is grand and overly ambitious. Initially the fast pace and constant switching between narratives leaves you inquisitive and eager to know more. But the film soon plateaus when you realise that each story is as predictable as the next, and with such loose connections between them, you end up feeling like you’re watching 172 minutes of similar-looking trailers. As all six tales progress, the notion that these characters are connected and that life transcends time, place and death is excessively stressed, through the philosophical rhetoric. This leaves you hoping for a revelatory climax, which sadly never comes. The stories are left scattered like the canvas of stars that open and close this epic, leaving the audience to contend with the highfalutin philosophy of the film, which is essentially one slack idea: if you screw up in one life, you can redeem yourself in the next as a futuristic Korean freedom-fighter or Tom Hanks looking like he’s just wandered off the set of Pirates of the Caribbean. Jim Johnstone

I keep telling myself I’m gonna have a holiday when Treasure Trapped is released but it’s already looking unlikely! We’ve got a pretty steady flow of music videos on at the moment (our bread and butter as a production company) and are developing a script into a feature film so lots planned but I’ll keep it vague and secretive for now! How can we find out more info/get involved?

Review

Cloud Atlas follows individuals connected throughout the past, present and future whose actions ‘echo through time’. Helmed by The Wachowski’s and Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer, and boasting an all-star cast including Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, I had nothing but high expectations when I sat down to watch Cloud Atlas. The scene is set under a starry cosmos with a scarred and grizzly Tom Hanks musing over ancestral stories, which are all ‘tied up into one.’ We’re then thrust into the six tales that make up Cloud Atlas. In 1849 a lawyer helps liberate a tortured slave. Next, in 1926, in England, a young composer seeks fame and fortune by aiding an older one. In 70s San Francisco, a tough journalist is on the trail of corruption in a Nuclear power plant. A publisher is confined against his will in a nursing home in modern day England. Then in 2144, a clone in Neo-Seoul endeavours to expose her society’s dark secrets. Lastly, in a post-apocalyptic world a tribesman battles his personal demons to help a beautiful and idealistic ‘off-worlder’. The leading cast members each

What projects have you got lined up next?

If anyone would like to know more head to www.cosmicjoke.co.uk for the lowdown. All the up-to-date happenings come flying out of our Twitter accounts @CosmicJokeUK and @TreasureTrapped or we can be reached on holla@cosmicjoke.co.uk. We’re currently sat inside 18 hours a day watching LARP footage so any greetings from the outside world are much appreciated! Sophie James Film Editor

ISSUE 16/ 4TH MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Film

: @mancunionfilm : /MancunionFilm

Preview

Iron Man 3

A Year In Film: 2012

Director: Shane Black • Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow

For the last 20 years, the film industry has been making leaps and bounds in technological innovation and revamping its consumer experience. From gimmicky attempts at 3D cinema, to the projection of on-demand media directly into the home theatre, it would appear that movies are once again in the hands of the viewer. On top of this, the cost of filmmaking (particularly docufilm features) has, for the most part, dropped. 2012 was a veritable manifestation of these trends, with politically charged documentaries coming to the fore, and consumer driven films very much in vogue. Here are some of the year’s highs and lows. The beginning of the year saw the release of a number of documentaries; The Invisible War, Marley, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry and Searching for Sugarman to name a few. Kevin Macdonald’s Marley, in particular, plucked the heartstrings of the politically conscious, and enwrapped the country in Rastafarian fever, at least briefly. Though, at times, giddily idealistic the film was touching and transcendently apt in a period of seemingly unparalleled austerity. What was most effective about Marley was the transparent and simple message it conveyed. Perhaps more complex, was Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry. Alison Klayman’s debut success, despite being overshadowed in the UK by its blockbuster competitors, is a philosophical and stimulating visual masterpiece. Ai Weiwei, arguably the heart and soul of the film, is represented faithfully and unabashedly in this challengingly simple commentary on the changes within and future of Chinese society and tradition. By contrast, the blockbuster hits of 2012 were unashamedly lavish. Marvel’s The Avengers, successfully navigated the tricky task of bringing together an ensemble cast, breaking box office records and satisfying die hard comic fan boys/girls. And they were lucky the film didn’t flop, with a production cost totalling over $220 million and the future success of four major

After saving New York from alien invaders last summer (with a little help from some friends) you would expect Tony Stark, and his alter ego Iron Man, to be looking for time off. But the movies don’t work that way, or rather the studio coffers don’t when The Avengers amassed over a billion dollars globally, and so Iron Man returns for his next solo outing. But after the massive superhero team-up of last summer, will audiences be satisfied with just one superhero to save the day when you could have half a dozen? The answer from the film’s producers seems to be not to try and go bigger but to go ‘deeper’, or as is obligatory in Hollywood these days, ‘darker’. Indeed if the trailers are

anything to go by we may see less of the wise-cracking Tony Stark from the past two films and instead see a more serious Stark grappling with the inner dilemma of “Does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?”. It certainly seems like an interesting direction to take the franchise in and after the disappointment of Iron Man 2, Marvel Studios clearly wants to take Iron Man back to basics: Tony’s world is destroyed by the evil Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) and as he finds himself with nothing but his genius to fight back with and no Thor or Captain America on speed dial, we’ll likely be seeing a darker, grittier Iron Man, more in the vein of the first film. How his love interest Pepper

(Gwyneth Paltrow) and best bud and fellow metal fan, Rhodey (Don Cheadle) fit in with this is yet to be seen. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Iron Man 3 is new director, Shane Black. Black, who directed Downey, Jr. in the fantastic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, replaces Jon Favreau in a move which will hopefully inject some of his trademark dark wit into proceedings. He’s also added an excellent supporting cast including Guy Pearce and Rebecca Hall to take on Stark in some verbal (and physical) sparring. But how will this all fit in with the wider Marvel Universe? We already know that both Thor and Captain America are returning for their next individual adventures and that The Avengers are re-assembling in 2015. By planning the next group reunion so far in advance, Marvel risks removing the suspense of whether these characters will survive their next mission as we already know we’ll be seeing them in a few years time again. Or maybe this is a ploy. Maybe Iron Man is soon to be scrap metal? Only time (and box office receipts) will tell. Robbie Davidson

It’s a small world Andrew Home looks at the state of comic book movies in the age of shared continuity It should never have happened. To suggest that, back when it was first announced in 2008, Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) would have been the runaway success that it was seems slightly delusional. On the face of it, it has all the makings of a blockbuster hit: big action and bigger characters. However The Avengers required something from audiences which action movies are not particularly famed for: investment. The movie wasn’t designed to introduce you to the characters (that had already been done) rather it simply tried to tell an engaging story. However, rather than balk at the idea of needing to know preliminary information, audiences embraced the thing which has been making comic books enjoyable since their inception: familiar characters that progress over years, even decades. Comic book movie audiences now want to see what would happen when all these heroes’ paths cross. The story doesn’t stop with the end of Avengers however. This has merely been the first phase of Marvel’s (and parent company Disney’s) master plan. Phase two is already around the corner with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World coming later this year and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Ant Man and Avengers 2 all in various stages of production. These movies promise a wealth of new stories for fans, and many zeroes added to Disney’s bank account. If Marvel’s Iron Man (2008) was the beginning of a new, more colourful type of superhero movie, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008) from main competitor DC Comics was completely the opposite. A dark, gritty, grounded world which didn’t make room for any of the other superheroes

series in the balance. Under the guidance of Joss Whedon, the films success was almost fated, and without faux pas or inane action packed nonsense. Full of accessible wit, and exploring the humanistic fallibilities of superheroes, the film well and truly raised the bar for Marvel at the movies. The awards season films were perhaps some of the best in years. With Argo, Life of Pi, Beasts of the Southern Wild and Silver Linings Playbook and many more, all vying for the dodgy collective approval of the Academy. These films were a brilliant move forward for Hollywood, with the distillation of a multitude of genres successfully proving that the yanks can still produce great cinema (even if they do need British Actors to take the lead). Oscar Watkins

CORNERHOUSE Lore Adapted from a self-contained story in Rachel Seiffert’s 2001 book Dark Room, this ‘black fairy-tale’ views the impact of post-World War II Germany through the eyes of 14 year old Lore (newcomer, Saskia Rosendahl) who, with her four younger siblings, is left to make a treacherous and eye-opening journey after their Nazi parents are arrested by allied forces. It is a refreshing take on the arguably homogeneous ‘front-line’ and ‘love story’ WWII films that have been surfacing ever since the horrific events of that period. The stunning cinematography of Adam Arkapaw (Snowtown), whose images of nature and decay are so haunting, infuses this unconventional take on the Holocaust legacy with unforgettable impact.

in DC’s pantheon. As successful and critically acclaimed as the Nolan Batman trilogy was, it is now over and leaves DC with the very difficult question of where do we go from here. Seeing the box office figures for The Avengers and their ilk it’s little wonder that DC are trying their hand at the shared universe concept with a new Superman reboot imminent (Zack Snyder’s The Man Of Steel) and the possibility of a Justice League movie (most likely featuring The Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and, of course, Batman) tentatively scheduled for 2015. Pessimistic as one is inclined to be about the success of a Justice League movie (two years is not a lot of time to complete such a giant endeavour), it’s hard not to admire DC and Marvel for their dedication to the shared universe concept. Comic book movies have, up until now, been plagued by reboot after reboot (case in point the atrocious Amazing Spider-Man from last year, made a mere five years after Spider-Man 3). One of the best things about shared universes (if they’re

successful) is that we can grant ourselves the luxury of getting used to a character, of not having to trawl through the origin story ad infinitum. This is what The Avengers and the Justice League movie represent: a chance for us to have a consistent set of characters, ones that we’re comfortable enough with to not want them to be deleted and started afresh every five years. It’s gotten to the point where we all know how Superman got his cape, how Batman got his cowl, how Spidey got his webslingers etc. It’s time that we got some new stories from our favourite heroes and if DC and Marvel continue on the path they’ve set out for themselves, that looks like exactly what we’re going to get. It’s an old cliché in comic books that no one ever stays dead. Let’s hope that comic book movies can continue to keep the characters we love, alive. Andrew Home

From its haunting opening to its somewhat bleak conclusion we are taken on a literal and metaphorical journey with the five children, who are attempting to make it to the safety of their unsuspecting grandmother in Hamburg. There are no obvious signs that Lore has learnt any moral lessons from the journey, and no redemption is offered by the film, but Shortland maintains the piece of cinema in a contemporary setting through its ‘coming-of-age’ aspect; through Lore’s reluctant sexual awakening juxtaposed with the sudden brutal awareness of the harsh reality she is living in. Encompassed in this beautiful piece of cinematic innovation is Lore’s internal conflict to dispel the beliefs she has been brought up with, particularly when Thomas, an enigmatic Jewish refugee of little words, appears on the scene and Lore has to learn to trust the one person she has always been taught to hate in order to survive. This intensely artistic portrait lays out the merits and flaws of how post-war Germany was dealt with by the allies; should the children be made to pay for the crimes of their parents through the suffering they endured travelling across war-torn Germany? The Sound of Music-esque scenes of them walking through the hills with all their belongings scream of irony – they are not escaping the Nazis, but struggling to come to terms with the impact that Nazism has had on their homeland and the part they played in this destruction. Side by side with this are eerie scenes such as when an old German matron stares at a portrait of the late Führer and says, “We broke his heart… he loved us so much,” epitomising a nation in denial of its crimes. Alexandra Matthews

Fashion

ISSUE 16/ 4TH MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

This week: Red Carpet Season High street on the red carpet: what’s the point? We all saw Helen Hunt and her H&M gown at the the Oscars, but is this really what we want to see on the red carpet ? It’s that time of year again. Rolled out in cities across the world, traipsed by many a red-soled shoe, snapped by the world’s press and, increasingly, a host to high street. Yes, red carpet season is upon us once more and you may or may not have noticed a cheeky flash of high-street leg when scrutinising each star’s effort (let’s not pretend like we don’t all see ourselves as the judge in some sort of fashion court case when awards season rolls around). It’s happening.

TOP

Fashion

Marie Clare Yates and Susie Coen discuss how there is no age limit on style Film Awards. This dress fuses together classy and sexy to leave Mirren looking hotter than any other 60 something year-old and showing us how elegance is timeless. Having frequented the big screen since 1954, Lady Jane Fonda is an oldhand at the red carpet. In 1970, Fonda looked the image of perfection with her long floaty white dress, minimal makeup and snakeskin clutch. Looking just as glamorous as she did over 40 years ago, Fonda wore head to toe Gucci to the 2012 LACMA Art and Film Gala. Matching black silk jacquard trousers with brocade jacket, Fonda transformed this outfit with splashes of silver through her clutch and shoes. She also brought an element of the androgynous to the red carpet but still looks poised, ensuring she is still in the running for best dressed. Now, please turn your attention to Quvenzhané Wallis, star of Beasts of the Southern Wild, the youngest star to ever be nominated for an Oscar. How does one dress a nine year-old for the Oscars? Ask David Meister – the man who designed all of Quvenzhané’s outfits for her award shows to date. Her stylist, April Steiner, says that Quvenzhané asked to be shiny, twirly and wear one of her over 20 animal handbags – you can’t get much cuter than that! Quvenzhané has worn an array of signature puppy-dog bags and she knows how to match and contrast them accordingly. At the 65th Annual DGA Awards, she teamed her sparkly blue puppy bag with a cute pink dress and when presented a Breakthrough Award, she wore a green Ralph Lauren green with a black poodle purse. Just when we thought she couldn’t get sweeter, she looked adorable in her purple embellished dress and her white puppy purse at the Academy Awards.

1. Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears (American Music Awards 2001) JT and Britney rocked not double, not triple, but quadruple denim at the 2001 American Music Awards. The stuff of fashion nightmares, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Beauty

Red Carpet Beauty

Halee Wells discusses who looked queen of the Grammys and who looked queen of the Grannies this award season.

I have never really been an Alexa Chung fan, however her makeup look at the Grammys this February really impressed me. With absolutely flawless soft peach skin, and a satin red lip, I cannot fault her look here: beautiful.

2. M.I.A. (Grammys 2009)

At its heart it’s something based on dreams and aspirations. Would we care half as much if it was a parade of clobber you could get down the Arndale Centre? Probably not. Sad but true, our long-held interest in that iconic scarlet rug is largely lust-based. We love to look at luxury because it’s a vicarious means of experiencing it: we are so enthralled by extravagance because it most likely will never be ours. Put simply, if it wasn’t exclusive, we wouldn’t be interested. And as long as that’s the case I’d rather keep the red carpet plush than pedestrian.

Can this woman do no wrong? Well not in my eyes, at least. M.I.A made her bump her best accessory in a sheer House of Holland minidress at the 2009 Grammy awards, where she performed before giving birth a mere 3 days later. What a woman.

Aimée Grant Cumberbatch

JT on Tom’s suit & tie

video for Suit and Tie, the album’s flagship song. The black and white recording depicts JT in an array of Tom Ford clothing, including Ford’s signature black peak lapel suit. Moreover, Suit and Tie affords the viewer unprecedented insight into the eclectic activities of JT’s fast-paced life. These include: casually tickling the ivories, picking up Tom Ford glasses, putting down Tom Ford glasses, and generally looking svelte in his bespoke Tom Ford three-piece suit. Suit and Tie also features David Fincher’s first directorial return to music videos in seven years. This marks JT’s first partnership with Fincher since The Social Network three years ago. Overall the video is great to look at; the fruits of JT and Ford’s collaboration are handsome and exude tasteful wealth. The attention to sartorial detail is not dissimilar to the opening scene from A Single Man, Ford’s recent deviation from fashion. The single’s cover, a detail shot of a Tom Ford satin tux and piqué shirt, gets my vote for the best artwork of the year featuring ‘deets’. Yes, the video could have forgone the air of barefaced product placement, but it is pretty, so I’ll let that slide.

3. Lady Gaga (VMAs 2010)

The red carpet has seen a lot of stilettos and suits over the years. Since 1821 it has hosted famous faces, style icons and fashion fails of all ages. This year, the Oscars brought us a range of generations to the red carpet, and here we celebrate the best of both the mature and fresh faced. Reminding us that there is no age limit for experimentation, Dame Helen Mirren put the likes of Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj to shame. She strutted onto the red carpet at this year’s BAFTAS with bubble-gum pink hair. Although told by disapprovers that ‘the only way was down’ after her drastic move, we argue that Mirren keeps it current by shooting an injection of youth and vitality into her look. Helen matched her new hair with a longsleeved Nicholas Oakwell gown that combined chiffon and floral embroidery to ensure her look was graceful. Another fashion success was her full-length black lace D&G dress with gold embroidery at the 25th European

Lady Gaga took edible art to whole new levels when she showcased the Franc Fernandez designed meat dress at the VMAs in 2010. The dress received a bemused reception from bloggers and was condemned by PETA. Her rationale behind the dress was that if the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ laws regarding homosexuals in the US armed forces weren’t overturned, then human beings would be worth ‘no more than the meat on our bones’.

My second look of the night had to be from the gorgeous Miss Carrie Underwood. She rocked a stunning soft brown and black smokey eye, with nude lips. Her skin was glowing with a subtle tan and pale pink blush: minimal yet sexy. Taylor Swift also tried and succeeded with this look at the Brits this week, a trend I will have to try!

From rejoicing the style of these icons of all ages, never have the words of Yves Saint Laurent seemed more appropriate; ‘fashions fade, style is eternal’. For the full article go to: www.mancunion.com

Here come the boys 4. Lil Kim (VMAs, 1999) Staying true to form, Lil’ Kim powered the trashy mermaid look at the 1999 VMAs. You’ve got to hand it to her, she owned it. Who knew someone was embracing crazy coloured wigs and sea-life chic ten years before Nicki Minaj and Azealia Banks?

Since JT has recently been photographed at various events bedecked in Ford’s stuff, including the recent SAG awards where he looked killer, I assume we can expect this duo’s alliance to continue. That makes me happy. The 20/20 Experience drops on March 19th.

5. Hilary Swank (Oscars, 2005)

Unsurprisingly, Tom Ford’s lavish brand is ubiquitous throughout the

Age: just a number?

Red Carpet Moments

Whether it has left you reeling in haute-couture horror or high street happy, the growing appearance of non-designer garments at awards ceremonies is a trend and an interesting one and, with the weekend’s announcement that the UK has become the latest economy to lose its AAA status, it can only become more so. But is the donning of accessible fashion by not-so accessible figures really a statement about the arctic economic climate? I doubt it. I imagine, sorry for my scepticism, that it’s probably something more like cardio for the column inches. But to be perfectly frank, I’m not sure I want high street on the red carpet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being elitist. I love the high street and I’m all for celebrities sporting stuff that a normal personal could afford without selling their soul to the devil (or John Galliano, as he’s more commonly known) and for stamping right out the sadly growing gap between rich and poor (Cheers, Dave). But leave the red carpet out of it.

For a long time I have joked that Justin Timberlake is the safest human being on earth. He’s just such a nice guy. He picks nice roles in nice movies and makes nice music. His hair is also very nice; I bet it smells like sandalwood. It seems fitting then that for the release of his long awaited album: The 20/20 Experience, JT has teamed up with designer and all-round maker of nice clothes, Tom Ford. Word is old Trousersnake himself will have a say in designing a line of men’s formalwear alongside this fashion veteran.

ISSUE 16/ 4TH MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Hilary Swank was the epitome of glamour in this Guy Laroche dress at the 2005 Oscars. She proves that keeping it simple and classy sometimes really is the best, yet the incredible deep V back has me swooning each time, even 8 years on. Ben Brown

Joanna Dryden

Move over ladies and put away those ball gowns. Miles Zilesnick is taking a look at the men on the red carpet and here are his nominees for best dressed. Robert Pattinson. While I’m aware the elusive R-Patz is the receiver of much hate, I’m not one to go along with it. Ignoring the Twilight franchise, which he hates, he’s been in some pretty decent films. However, he’s often seen with some particularly trampy pieces (not including Kristen Stewart) but did brush up exceptionally well for the premiere of Breaking Dawn Part II, as shown, wearing this green Gucci suit. Whoever said red and green should never be seen was clearly wrong. Paired with a pale shirt, dark tie and trimmed stubble he almost looks like a sexy leprechaun, albeit much taller, with brown hair and minus the accent. It’s well fitting too, which is vital with such a bold choice of suit, but then again, he is a leading man. I feel like this is a faultless choice for a premiere; however I’m glad it’s just that and not the Oscars, which should be less “snazzy”.

Unfortunately, it appears some stars may have got ready in the dark this season, with some truly horrific makeup looks getting papped! Don’t get me wrong, I admire Florence Welch for her quirky style and incredible musical talent, but her makeup artist needs to be sacked ASAP. You can easily perfect palechic without looking like a zombie, but unfortunately Florence took the drop dead gorgeous memo a little too far.

Edward Norton. Classically untouched: sometimes the simple look is the best choice in men’s fashion, especially on the red carpet. The paparazzi may just be holding cameras, but a bad shot can be as harmful as if they were armed with guns. Edward Norton however, looks dashing in this dark grey suit, with a skinny tie to complement his slim physique. I think for any man who faces a red carpet and wants a traditional style without too much glam, this is a great example. Well groomed too, this look has it all. Although it is a given that a man’s options are significantly less than woman’s, you’d think it would be hard to go wrong. The most important point in this piece though is the tailoring. With something as humble as this suit, if the fit was wrong then it would all go wrong. An ill-fitting jacket can be as glaringly obvious as a wandering bra strap and there’s simply no point wearing a £3000 suit if it’s going to fit like a bin bag. For the full article, go to Mancunion.com

I wasn’t even sure who this strange looking creature was without Googling her, but the Estonian singer Kerli appeared to have arrived three months in advance for the Star Trek 2 premiere. Need I say more?

Music

ISSUE 16/ 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Interview

Editor’s Column

John Williams: The man behind the music Daniel Jones Music Editor With a career spanning over six decades in the biz, John Williams has almost singlehandedly popularised the mode of film scores in the 20th century. His recent Oscar nod for Lincoln brings his nominations tally to a whopping 48, the most of any living human and second only to Walt Disney. Of those 48 nominations, he has won five, adding to his four Golden Globes, seven BAFTAs and 21 Grammys. Yet even these impressive figures do no justice to the significance that Williams has had in each of our lives; we have all grown up humming his tunes. Star Wars alone is enough to cement his place in history, but if you add to that Jaws, Superman, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and Harry Potter then the reach of his genius becomes incalculable. In other words, John Williams is film music. His foray into composition began in 1952 when he was drafted into U.S. Air Force. The Air Force Band soon became his pet project, giving him a first real taste of conducting and arranging a large group of musicians. When his service ended, he relocated to New York to study piano at the famous Juilliard School, whilst working the club circuit as a jazz pianist. It was at this point that Williams decided to move back to L.A. in order to find work in the studios. Little more than ten years had passed before he won his first Oscar for Fiddler On The Roof, back in 1971. Despite this initial accolade, Williams has always maintained that the real road to stardom began to pave itself four years later, when he teamed up with Steven Spielberg for

5 SONGS IN THE FIELD OF... Sealing the deal James Hunter

Jaws. The famous alternating two note “shark” pattern has since become a classic piece of suspense music and can be used in any situation that involves approaching danger. It made me laugh when Mychael Danna’s acceptance speech for “Best Original Score” (Life of Pi) was cut short by this very pattern. You have to question who the real winner of that category is. It was also the success of Jaws, both musically and cinematically, that kick-started the long running Williams/ Spielberg collaboration. Close Encounters, E.T., Jurrassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Schindler’s List followed, each soundtrack receiving massive critical acclaim. The relationship between director and composer blossomed to such an extent that sight and sound soon became completely synonymous. You can’t imagine Indiana Jones without that theme tune. It’s the sound of adventure. Outside of the Spielberg realm, Star Wars is by far the biggest hit in his back catalogue. It’s the highest grossing non-pop music recording of all time for Christ sake. It speaks for itself. But in more recent years, it’s probably Harry Potter that has ensured yet another generation of appreciation. Owls are quite mysterious anyway, but ‘Hedwig’s Theme’ epitomises the feelings of the entire franchise; a mixture of whimsy, pomp and menace. He went on to compose the scores for the next two films, but, like ‘The Imperial March’ and ‘Luke’s Theme’, it is his work on The Philosopher’s Stone that will stand the test of time. Next time you’re delivering a letter, give it a little hum and see if it doesn’t make the experience that little bit more magical.

The Joy Formidable Nature, solitude and being Dave Grohl’s favourite new band: Ritzy Bryan talks Wolf’s Law to The Mancunion Joe Goggins Music Editor “We’ve definitely followed a non-traditional path.” Ritzy Bryan is recalling The Joy Formidable’s early days. “Although, honestly, I’ve got no idea what a traditional path is these days.” She’s speaking to The Mancunion from Antwerp, in the thick of a European tour. “We really had to look to ourselves back then. We were touring to fund recording, then putting EPs out as and when we had the songs; I’m glad we did it in such an honest way.” The Welsh trio’s sophomore release, Wolf’s Law, landed last month and represents a fast turnaround by their own standards, arriving two years after debut The Big Roar, which itself was twice as long in the gestation. Ritzy’s cautious when I ask her how she feels it’s been received; “I don’t think we need validation from other people - it’d go against the ethic of the band. We’d never release something we weren’t proud of. The important thing is the reaction from the fans, which has been fantastic. It’s been a lot of fun getting our heads round playing it live, too.” Since their inception in 2007, the band seem to have been on tour pretty much permanently, which leaves you wondering how they managed to write and record Wolf’s Law with so much of their time swallowed up by their extensive live schedule. “We did a lot of work on the road,” explains Ritzy. “We never really stop writing, really. We did an awful lot of demoing in hotel rooms, just experimenting with different ideas we were coming up with. We wanted a contrast to that for the recording - that was why we went to Portland, Maine. Indeed, the trio travelled across the pond to decamp to the wilderness. “We just really needed the solitude, the isolation, to be able to take all these different concepts and diverse little experiments and make them into something focused enough to come together

1. Frank Ocean Thinking Bout You

2. The Weeknd - High for This

Whether it’s your first meeting or not, it’s always good to reassure the other half with a reminder of your unfaltering attention span, plus it might earn you some of those crucial brownie points needed to seal the deal.

The lyrics “You don’t know what’s in store. But you know what you’re here for” perfectly sum-up most drunken encounters, and if said aloud, effectively works as a disclaimer.

as a cohesive record. “ The Joy Formidable sound has become even more grandiose on Wolf’s Law, with the introduction of a string section; was it deliberate, I ask, to try and forge a sonic departure on the new album? “Not at all. I certainly don’t believe you should ever to try to force anything when you’re writing; you’ve got to experiment, and try and dabble in a bit of everything that appeals to you. You should be pursuing whatever’s exciting you musically. A lot of bands seem to have a pretty rigid structure that they stick to when making records, but that’d never work for us; you’ve got to be adventurous, you can’t be scared of things going wrong. There’s a lot to be said for trial and error.” Thematically, there’s been a lot of talk about the influence of nature on Wolf’s Law, which, on reflection, Ritzy attributes to the environment the band grew up in. “There’s definitely a lot of metaphor and imagery on the lyrical side of the record that’s inspired by nature,” she says. “I think that comes from myself and Rhydian growing up in North Wales; the surroundings there were very evocative. Nature really informs the imagination.” Not that the album’s themes only extend to that one concept: “I think we address technology on there as well, and the balancing act of wanting to advance but being careful not to become too disconnected from the real world. There’s a real breadth of themes on the record, which I think is a symptom of the way it was written; when you’re travelling, you’re constantly having your mind stimulated by so many different things. I do think our own personalities anchor the songs on the album though; there’s personal stuff on there too, about what inspires us and what frustrates us.” Recognition in rock music doesn’t really come much bigger than the seal of approval

from one of the genre’s genuine legends, as The Joy Formidable discovered when Dave Grohl pronounced ‘Whirring’ to be the ‘song of the year’ on Twitter. It marked the beginning of a relationship which saw the band open for Foo Fighters on a slew of U.S. dates, including shows at Madison Square Garden. “It was just an incredible experience all round. They were so good to us. I’d like to think we’d treat up and coming bands that way once we’re a bit more established.” Taking into account this current jaunt with Bloc Party and the support slots with Muse late last year, it looks like a trend is developing . “Maybe,” Ritzy ponders. “I do think it’s very flattering to be appreciated by such a diverse range of bands; it proves that we’re multi-dimensional, that we’re not easy to pigeonhole, which is great. It’s a fantastic challenge to have, but, to be honest, nothing beats playing to your own fans, and knowing you’re in front of a crowd that have invested in you.” There’s an obvious divide between the band’s identity in the studio and onstage check out their party piece, a ten-minute extended version of ‘Whirring’, for proof - and it’s something they’re clearly comfortable with. “You know, I fucking hate going to gigs and hearing a record played exactly as the studio version sounds. We definitely embrace the difference between the two; we never worried about how we were going to make the new songs work live when we were recording. We want to let them breathe.” Characteristically, exhaustive touring is set to dominate 2013 for The Joy Formidable, but they’ve already got one eye on the next record. “There’s quite a bit of stuff left over from the Maine session, actually,” says Ritzy. “And we’ve got an EP in Welsh that we’ve been meaning to get finished for ages now. We’ll keep writing on the road, definitely. We

certainly aren’t planning on slowing down any time soon.”

3. N*E*R*D - Lapdance

4. Drake - Practice

5. K. Roosevelt feat. Hit Boy - Do Me Now

Turn that always awkward and often frenzied mid-kiss trouser-removing leg scuffle into a seductive trouser-eradicating leg shuffle, furthermore, her pitying laughter may help remove any residual tension. Also, it’ll probably earn some more delectable brownie points.

“I can tell you’ve been practicing”. Acknowledging her well-honed technique is an often-neglected compliment, though beware, as it is sometimes just taken as a verbose way of calling her a slag.

“I ain’t gonna give you waiting all night, I got to say do me now, do me now, uh don’t stop, just do me now, do me now, I need your love”, as the lyrics suggest, it’s time to cash in those brownie points.

Music

ISSUE 16/ 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Feature

The day the music died Tom Ingham Music Editor In a month that saw two of the biggest award ceremonies, February should have been a huge month on the music calendar. But as I lie awake at night I can’t help but worry, what do I actually remember? Previous Brit awards at least had scuffles worth recalling, Vic Reeves and Sharon Osbourne being a particular favourite. 2013 saw events resided over by the loathsome James Cordon, accompanied by an array of equally uninspiring hosts. Which leaves me wondering, did anything actually happen? I know time passed, we can’t deny that, but what can I actually tell my mates about down the pub? Oh, silly me, there was loads of things! For a kick off Harry clapped Taylor Swift, you’d think after a month’s worth of romance they couldn’t bear to be in the same room as each other without one of them breaking down. Then at the Grammys there was Elton John getting a fist (steady on) in the face from Lumineers drummer Jeremiah Fraites. As far as drama goes we can’t ask for much more, but I feel like I’m missing something, oh yeah – music. If there was anything more depressing than the tabloid tittle-tattle it was the acts themselves. A particular disheartening moment was seeing a

once exciting and interesting Muse reduced to a hopeless parody of themselves as they opened the Brits. The grandiose drama of Origins of Symmetry has been blown up to ridiculous proportions, with ‘supremacy’ featuring violin sounds reminiscent of those head-jerking maniacs on Britain’s Got Talent. Alternative rock music even your mum can digg, no thanks. Along with Muse, The Brits saw other commercial heavyweights like Mumford and Sons, Coldplay and One Direction collect meaningless awards – calling them a best of a bad bunch is overplaying their worth. Most were surprised to see Ben Howard pick up British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist, despite trending on twitter with ‘who the fuck is Ben Howard?’ He’s got all the prerequisites to be popular, so he shall be – just another droid, this year’s James Blunt if you like. The Brits got so bad that Mr. Showbiz himself, Robbie Williams has even had enough. Dubbing the event “so fucking boring” then going on to elaborate “It’s like a VD clinic, only pricks are in it, so fucking corporate and professional and timid. To be frank sir, I prefer this showbiz chancer…” Ironic really, considering Robbie has been one of our main

corporate pricks for a while, some call him cheeky, but in actual fact he’s just an arse. Again this show of limp-wristed defiance is certainly more interesting than his performance at the Brits, a track I wouldn’t wish on the worst of people. Despite Robbie’s hypocritical stance, he makes a valid point. Music has always had a commercial hunger, right back from the Motown hit factory to the Brit pop rivalry of Oasis and Blur. Unfortunately its grip has become so tight on music that even playful plebs like Liam Gallagher can no longer be

relied on to spice up a bland evening. We used to have charming, funny, controversial dicks in music, now it seems we’re just left with the dicks themselves. None of these acts have any edge, despite 1D saying they may have turned to crime without fame. I’d have quite happily taken a mugging of Harry Styles just as long as I didn’t have to see his boat-race on my TV screen. It’s not as bad as it seems folks, there’s plenty of exciting new music out there - you just won’t find it on ITV.

The Mancunion Music Mondays, 4-5pm, Fuse

@FuseFM

Listen: fusefm.co.uk

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Live

The Bronx

The Lumineers

Club Academy - 19th February 2013 If support acts Axis Of and Single Mothers were the ones that cheekily placed sticks of dynamite amongst the crowd beforehand, it’s The Bronx who stomps on the detonator when they arrive on stage. Even prior to the band appearing, the audience is bottled up and ready to blow; four years have passed since they last played Club Academy, and the anticipation is not lost on the crowd nor singer Matt Caughthran, grinning a mile wide before launching into new album Bronx IV’s opener ‘The Unholy Hand’. It’s only been out a week, but that’s enough time for this faithful crowd to digest the music and regurgitate the words right back at them, spitting lyrics as if these were classic Bronx cuts. That said it’s the older tracks that result in the most chaos. The scuzzed-out roar of ‘Rape Zombie’ flares the crowd up like a rash, Shitty Future kicks out the jams with assured swagger as the folks up front really let loose and Knifeman gets the venue jumping as one. These motherfuckers want our blood, and we’re all too willing to oblige; at one point a manic

and bloodied fan sails over the barrier, punching himself in the face as he does so. Though it’s largely customary to see the singer in the crowd for most of the set, Caughthran remained mostly on stage. It’s only towards the end that Matt Caughthran and the Infinite Mic Lead gets stuck into the crowd for ‘They Will Kill Us All’, swigging punters’ drinks and unleashing his bellicose howl in their faces as a thank

9/10

you. ‘History’s Stranglers’ gets anyone that was previously in the woodwork to appear for one last stomp. When the band leaves, everyone is in disarray. As their new album proudly states, when The Bronx shoot to kill, they don’t fuck around. Ol Urwin

Academy 1 - 19th February 2013 The Lumineers’ European shows are sold out for the next two months solid; their public profile here is relatively low, but their huge reputation in the US has earned them a cult fanbase. They begin with ‘Charlie Boy’: the opening notes from a mandolin tease the audience into silence. Frontman Wesley Schultz, blonde hair surfing over his forehead, delivers the song’s sentiment with a resonance that echoes beyond its simple lyrics. A cello swells the sound between the words, spot lit in the arms of Neyla Pekavek. The set gathers momentum, accelerating through the military syllables of ‘Submarines’ and the parlor room piano chords of ‘I Ain’t Nobody’s Problem’. With each song, a new scene is set. For ‘Classy Girls’, Schultz animates his guitar by balancing a brown fedora on its head – the furious rhythm of the song makes it seem like there should be sawdust, not plastic cups, spread across the floor, with a summer’s evening outside Next, the band disappears from the stage. The lights blink on, illuminating hundreds of confused faces – until shock registers as Schultz’s guitar

is spotted threading its way through the Academy. Coming from chairs in the center, his request to “put away all recording devices” goes directly against the instinct to preserve this experience, even as the audience is given parts in singing the band’s anthem, ‘Ho Hey’. Like the dental veneers that share their name, The Lumineers’ songs don’t amount to much more than a bright surface. They have, however,

8/10

crafted a live show that is all about being present, giving real meaning to the word ‘live’. Queue for tickets, leave your phone at home: follow the line ‘It takes a boy to live / It takes a man to pretend he was there’, from ‘Flowers In Your Hair’, and be a child in our time. Polly Checkland-Harding

Music

ISSUE 16/ 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Now then, now then

NOW: To Kill a King Cannibals with Cutlery Communion - out 25th Feb

Lisa Murgatroyd

Marketed as “orch-folk”, To Kill A King are a five-piece based in London that have steadily progressed to the brink of their debut album launch since forming in 2009. The group consists of Leeds uni mates Ralph Pelleymounter, Ian Dudfield and Josh Platman, joined by Jonathan Willoughby and Ben Jackson. Heartwrenching and humble, definitely a grower; it’s a pleasure from start to finish – tall order for a debut. The last couple years have seen the release of two EPs, numerous tours, including a campaign of ‘guerilla’ and ‘living room’ gigs and spots at Bestival and Wilderness. Cannibals with Cutlery draws on their previous releases but under

9/10

the wing of producer Jim Abbiss (Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Bombay Bicycle Club) becomes a much meatier affair. The songs which may be familiar to fans have been reworked and fleshed out; layered with strings and brass, delving into new depths of harmonies led by the distinct vocals of frontman Pelleymounter. Conveying the emotion of his own lyrics, the track progression holds listener interest throughout, and even includes a curveball of the 42 second title track in the middle. The future single ‘Cold Skin’ creates an anthemic feel, and the video which has already had over 100k hits on YouTube certainly offers a few talking points, filled with face painted kids running amok and wrestling men. Other potential single tracks include ‘Rays’ and ‘Funeral’, with distinctive riffs and choruses to sing your heart out to. The stand out track would have to be the beautiful ‘Choices’, which may start off simply but gradually builds to a dynamic finale. Similarly, the more folky ‘Children Who Start Fires’ shows a great range to what this band can offer. The album launch will be followed by a stint supporting band-pals Bastille, offering the opportunity for an on stage collaboration which has till now been limited to the recorded videos from Ralph’s Balcony Sessions. This includes two back to back sold out shows at Shepherds Bush Empire, before shortly afterwards setting off on their own headline tour around the country in April.

BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111 www.manchesteracademy.net Live Music and Clubs at the University of Manchester Students’ Union

MARCH

FutureProof Thursday 28th March - £10

Bastille Tuesday 5th March - £10

SOLD OUT

Saturday 30th March - £16

Wednesday 6th March - £10

The Stranglers

Twisted Wheel

Saturday 30th March - £23

Thursday 7th March - £12

Hurts

The Virginmarys + + The Hyena Kill

Monday 1st April - £15

Friday 8th March - £10

The Wildhearts – Earth Versus The Wildhearts 20th Anniversary Tour + Eureka Mahines

SOLD OUT

Wednesday 13 + Sister Friday 8th March - £13

Dan Reed Band

Bluey Robinson

Saturday 9th March - £14

Friday 5th April - £8.50

The Last Carnival

Imagine Dragons Monday 8th April - £11

Emmure

+ Mike Marlin

Saturday 13th April - £13

Sunday 10th March - £15

Sonata Arctica

Cancer Bats

Monday 15th April - £17

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Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls

Claudia Brucken Friday 15th March- £18.50

Wednesday 17th April - £18.50

The Alarm

Lower Than Atlantis

Saturday 16th March - £17.50 Alex Fenton

Over the course of two decades, Radiohead have established themselves amongst the elite of the musical sphere. On their debut album ‘Pablo Honey’, they met with only modest acclaim, but the fundamentals of their future sound were laid. Whilst it was their later albums (namely Kid A and OK Computer) that propelled Radiohead to greater stardom, their roots still drew from the alternative sounds of The Smiths and U2. With Pablo Honey, the world was arguably given just another alternative album, another to add to the seemingly endless production line. However, the album hinted at their potential. It tempted us with the future favourite ‘Creep’ and teased us with the groove of ‘Ripcord’. Dubbed the ‘British Nirvana’, the foundations of their future experimentation were set; as NME put it, they would ‘blossom’ later on. Though criticised as their weakest album, Pablo Honey was not without its gems. It had a raw simplicity, with the blunt lyrics of ‘Creep’ (‘I want you to notice, when I’m not around’) creating an effortlessly piercing track. The delicately picked notes of the verses were blown apart by Greenwood’s guitar in the chorus, with dead notes and distortion turning a seemingly steady beat into an anthem that punches through to the core. Upon the track’s re-release, ‘Creep’ would become a worldwide hit. Sincere lyrics mixed with Thom Yorke’s distinctive vocal flair showed Radiohead’s potential from the outset, with his high pitched vocals creating a sensitive sadness that would endure on later

albums. Other gems appeared in the form of ‘Stop Whispering’ and ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’, where another rough guitar sound, paired with a pulsing bassline, had heads bobbing. Through the distortion, it’s almost as if they were scratching at the surface, itching for the sounds they would find on The Bends.The acoustic presence of ‘Thinking About You’ also showed a calmer side to their music and that they were not solely reliant upon grunge. Pablo Honey was rough, but on ‘Creep’, the band showed their potential as a future great. The album formed a base from which their future would develop, as well as showing the world that anyone could play guitar, even a group of melancholy students. Radiohead still owe much to their debut.

+ Dinosaur Pile Up + Blitz Kids Thursday 18th April - £12.50

Brantley Gilbert

Patent Pending + Erik Chandler

Saturday 16th March - £12.50

(of Bowling For Soup)

Eels Sunday 17th March - £23.50

SOLD OUT

The Brew + Federal Charm + The Jokers Sunday 17th March - £12

FM Thursday 21st March - £16.50

Frankie Cocozza Thursday 21st March - £10

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The Black Crowes

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Huey & The New Yorkers

Parlophone - February 1993

+ Zico Chain

Kvelertak

Sunday 10th March - £7

THEN: Radiohead - Pablo Honey

Steve Harris British Lion

Doors 7pm, Showtime 8pm (no support)

Sunday 24th March - £33.50

Thursday 18th April - £10

And You Will know Us By The Trail Of Dead Friday 19th April - £12.50

The Feeling Saturday 20th April - £18.50

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Atonement Fest 2012 Saturday 20th April - £10

KMFDM + Sheep On Drugs + Resist + Deadfilmstar

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Sunday 21st April - £15

Wednesday 27th & Thursday 28th March - £21.50

Mallory Knox

Everclear

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Books

ISSUE 16/ 04TH MARCH 2013 WWw.MANCUNION.COM

Warrior Poets – a poem by student J.J. Goodman When you fight with a pen or fingers on Keys tapping or clutching scribbling Your defence of hope or some other inalienable value think of a warrior Decked in lusting blue tartanned and defiant tattooed in dreams of Liberty angering Souls forgotten entombed.

Feature

Women in Love: read it now Read D.H. Lawrence’s classic before you become too cynical to enjoy it

Then this sword in my hand Seems less potent righteous or even Determined, it’s lifeless Lead asking do I care enough to fight or just Write and escape mystified courageous deeds designed dreamt beautifully imagined. Is this a reason derived urging a cowardly telling of a Story braved acts abandoned these warrior poets, sit. With conjuring Images of gods and demons silhouetted in the sun, Inspired light calling all men and shining on necessary heroics in blood. Manned arching steel drops into inferno oppressed and cleft with love tarnished. The eclipse of these oh’s burned, holes of chasmic sorrow Gleam like bulleted light seeping, weeping onto the floor. -The battle turns tears. Uncaused, unknown, unkissed slain echoed In words resounding hearts thrown back from those holes with anger.

Can you defeat a man stood on the edge of the world

In defiance of tyranny who’s lost in golden valoured altruistic tides Turning fate’s great gross unshifting flow, can we fight like this?

Do inner twists of soul and words wield black plagued rotted

Tendrils like a Scottish Leo can with bare paws and limbs clad in Bloodied tartan rip rip ripping with liberties unbluntable claws.

Can a Coer de lion fight harder than a warrior poet?

Am I a coward to craft curves defiant alone splitting heads bloodless? Words seep and spill into deepened dark sorrowed chasms Echo, kissing arms eyes crying souls breaking dreams alive forever. J.J. Goodman Philosophy student, Creative Writing Society committee member Want to submit your creative writing to Books? Submit poems, stories, etc. to books@mancunion.com

“I consider this the best of my books,” wrote D.H. Lawrence of Women in Love in 1917. Now widely considered to be Lawrence’s masterpiece, the novel was only recognised as something of a classic in the 1950s and 1960s, having received substantial support from the famous literary critic F.R. Leavis, who regarded it as the most profound and rewarding of Lawrence’s novels. A sequel to The Rainbow, Women in Love charts the lives and loves of the Brangwen sisters, Ursula and Gudrun,

Feature

Online book recommendation sites get away from best-seller lists and towards personally tailored selections

How do you choose your next book? Do you ask friends what they’ve read recently, or perhaps wander aimlessly around a bookshop? Do you want to be surprised? Or do you have specific criteria for your next read? Choosing the next book to read can be challenging, but there are plenty of new online formats to help you along the way.

as they become involved with Rupert Birkin, a school inspector, and his friend, the industrialist Gerald Crich. When I first read Women in Love a few years ago I was enthralled. Leafing through it again now, however, it seems somewhat absurd, silly even. Perhaps I have learnt to take life, and indeed myself, a little less seriously than I did then. Perhaps I am now more cynical as well. Leavis was right in thinking that there is much to be gained from Women in Love. But I think it is also a book that is best enjoyed in youth at a time when we ourselves are, like Lawrence’s protagonists, overcome with violent emotions and are constantly questioning ourselves and the way we relate to others. There is much to criticise in Lawrence’s novel. He is a notoriously difficult writer: sometimes difficult to read, often difficult to like. In Women in Love, he attempts to capture something of the ineffable, inner human experience. In this, he often falls short, resulting in passages that remain merely obscure. Women in Love is remarkable among the novels of its time for the violence of the emotions expressed by its characters, who spend the whole 500 pages writhing in a frenzy of sexual awareness. Whether this renders the

novel as impassioned as its characters or simply monotonous is up for debate. Lawrence, though consistently popular, is almost certainly one of the most controversial authors of the past century. After the suppression of The Rainbow in 1915 for obscenity, he acquired a reputation as a writer of salacious books. For many, Women in Love, published five years later, only served to reinforce this view. One review, appearing in John Bull the year after the novel’s publication, said: “I do not claim to be a literary critic, but I know dirt when I smell it, and here is dirt in heaps – festering, putrid heaps which smell to high Heaven”. Women in Love requires compassion from its readers. We have to take Lawrence’s novel as seriously as he does if we are to gain anything much from it. But as time passes, I find myself increasingly unable to do so. And besides, can any author, however great, ever expect so much from his readers? Esmé Clifford Astbury

Review

How do you choose how to choose your next book?

Image: N. Bojdo

Whichbook is a new website that allows you to find the perfect book based on some very specific preferences. There are twelve p a r a m e t e r s , adjustable according to what you want from the book. For example, would you prefer ‘no sex’ or ‘lots of sex’? Simply move the sliders to either side, depending on what you’re in the mood for, and Whichbook will sort you out. You can also find books according to character – age, sexuality, plot etc. and setting preferences. You can even choose the specific country the book is set in. If you’re worried about the quality of the website, it may reassure you to know that every book on the site is read by 70 different books’ connoisseurs before they’re displayed online. All the titles are also fairly recent, published in the last ten

years or so. Do not expect Fifty Shades of Grey after searching ‘lots of sex’ though, because bestsellers aren’t featured. Their philosophy is that well-known books are already easy to spot so you don’t need another website telling you to read it. Online book clubs are also a great way to find new books to read, and in fact motivation to read at all. Goodreads.com is a famous example, but there are lots of small book clubs within this website that can be quite interesting. I recently joined the Rory Gilmore Book Club, in honour of the character from the TV show, Gilmore Girls. Other examples are ‘My Vampire Book Obsession’ and ‘Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: An Advanced Roleplay’. You can even create your own fantasy universe (or, you know, other) book club. Whichever you choose, these sites are all about helping you find great books that you might miss otherwise. Who doesn’t love a good personalised search? Happy reading! Mariana Cerqueira

Review – Isn’t It Pretty To Think So, by Nick Miller Nick Miller’s debut novel treads familiar, if not unwelcome, territory You know how the saying goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Or, in this case, when life throws you into the deep end, write a book about it. Nick Miller’s new book, Isn’t It Pretty To Think So, details the life of a 20-something stuck in something of a quarter-life crisis. It is the signature cry of our millennial generation: wideeyed and fresh out of college, heads filled with dreams of a glossy future, greeted instead by a terrible recession. Miller’s book takes all that comes with this territory, and gives us Jake Reed – a 20-something young adult stuck with an uninspiring job and as existential a crisis as a bored, privileged graduate can have. Jack is taking some time off to focus on himself. The story is as simple as this. Young man travels up and down the West Coast of America, hopping from a small beach town to West Hollywood to shiny downtown L.A. – with all of the accompanying vices and hard drugs we might expect from a trip like this. Eventually Jack sobers up when he meets a prostitute named Tatiana and finds himself slowly easing back into his old

routines. At times, Miller’s writing makes you wonder about the hedonistic, hard-partying ways of our postGen-X generation, armed with a huge bundle of student loan debt and a vague sense of purpose about ‘The Future’ The personal and fictional familiarity of this subject matter turns out to bring with it stabs of annoyance, simply because Miller has painted such an unrealistic picture. There are a lot of references to Ernest Hemingway in the book – such as the title, “Isn’t it pretty to think so” is a line from The Sun Also Rises. Miller seems to be taking his cues from Hemingway, along with that other great of the American novel, John Steinbeck, and a few hints at D.H Lawrence and Marcel Proust. Isn’t It Pretty dips its toe into the lives of our millennial generation and our inability to reconcile a world of real-life events and an increasingly absorbing digital realm. However, Miller somehow seems to try too hard to glaze his sentences with flowery language and an abundance of overly descriptive words – taking us, in fact, ever further away from a grounded, recognizable reality.

With this minor quibble aside, with this first attempt, Miller shows that he might just be a promising new talent in the literary field. Isn’t It Pretty To Think So, by Nick Miller, Fernando French Publishing, (2012) Jasmine Ee Jie Min

Food & Drink

Basque lamb stew (Serves 4) Emily Clark Food & Drink Editor

Lamb is more expensive than beef, but its flavour is so incredible that it’s really worth paying a little extra - and go to a butcher’s if you want to save a couple of pounds. It’s such an easy recipe, and the key to depth of flavour is allowing it to slow cook for a couple of hours. Ingredients: About 3lbs lamb shoulder (chopped into 2 inch pieces,) 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, 1 large chopped onion, 4 cloves chopped garlic, 2 tsps sweet or smoked paprika, 1 jar roasted red bell peppers (or 2 normal chopped red peppers,) 3 - 4 chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley or rosemary, 1 bay leaf, 1 glass red wine, 400ml chicken stock, Salt and pepper Method: Over a medium high heat, brown the lamb in batches with the oil. Salt as you go. Remove meat from the pan and add the onions to the pan. Scrape the sticky brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute Add the meat back to the pan, with the paprika, peppers, tomatoes, herb of choice, bay leaf and red wine. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer unlidded for 15 minutes. Then add the chicken stock, bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Add seasoning accordingly.

Ploughman’s loaf Joanne Procter

Ingredients: 500g strong white flour, 7g dried fast action yeast, pinch of salt, 400ml lukewarm water, 2 tbsp pickle, 50g grated cheese Method: Put the flour in a mixing bowl, and add the yeast on one side of the bowl, and the salt on the other. Pour 300ml of the water into the flour mixture and mix it in - you’ll probably need to put a little more in, but just keep mixing it and adding water until you have a soft, but not sticky, dough mixture. Tip the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it for 5-10 minutes until it’s nice and stretchy. Then lightly oil the mixing bowl and put the bread back in, and cover with cling film or a damp tea towel. Leave it in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size (if you’re in a cold, cold student house it’s always a good idea to time your breadmaking to coincide with when the heating will be on, then you can leave your bread near the radiator.) Once it’s doubled in size, put it back onto the lightly floured surface and knock it back (basically punch all the air out of it.) Then add the grated cheese: knead it in well. Now add the pickle: things will get a bit messy at this point so make sure you have a bit of extra flour to hand if it gets too sticky. Then put it back in the mixing bowl, cover, and leave to rise for another hour in a warm place. Grease and line a baking tray. Gently flatten the bread mixture out on a floured surface, then roll it back up and put it on the baking tray. Using scissors or a bread knife, cut lines across the top of the loaf for that bakery effect.Put the baking tray in a plastic bag, and leave it in a warm place for another half hour. Meanwhile, heat your oven to 200°C. Bake the bread in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until it’s golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. I left mine in for 30 minutes and it was a bit over-done, so to be on the safe side check it at 20 minutes to avoid going over.

ISSUE 16/ 4TH MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Delia Smith: food missionary or business mogul? Eve Commander

Delia’s back from self-imposed TV retirementand she’s on a mission. Her new free online cooking school teaches her old gospel: for everyone to cook, healthily. However, when she announces this on The Graham Norton Show the muffins, chocolate gateaux and caramel sauces that whirl around on the clip of the first ‘lesson’ suggest she doesn’t practise what she preaches. As if that wasn’t bad enough, when Graham holds Delia’s 1970s book One is Enough up for the camera to tout its re-release, its plain to see Delia’s motives aren’t strictly charitably Christian. Not that Delia sees it that way. When Graham picks her up on the food porn that’s just graced our screens, she devilishly says she’s tempting us with something indulgent before getting to the nitty-gritty. Even the ever-acerbic Graham doesn’t dare challenge her for cynically timing her amazing free cooking school with her farfrom-free book. A discussion of all the pretty pictures she’s added to help us now we’re so woeful at cooking has me split between whether I think our adopted the Patron Saint of Home Cooking sounds most like the witch from Hansel and Gretel or just plain patronising. Either way, I fear this is set to be of a line of bizarre misjudgements, which has seen her dethroned from cooking queen with the common touch to simply out-of-touch. Her series in 2008 How to Cheat At Cooking was

where she lost a lot of followers. I wasn’t alone in being unconvinced that the ready sliced and pre-cooked onions and bizarre ‘cheat’ ingredients were the golden link that would allow us finish a hectic day of work and rack up a home-cooked dinner. A fact cemented by the disappearance of said items from supermarket shelves quicker than the time it took to gobble the McDonald’s quarter pounder they thought they were saving us from. However, it was that (non-cooking) halftime incident at Norwich FC which really flagged up her deluded ideas about her relationship with us ‘normal’ folk. Descending from the Chairman Box to pitch-side to screech ‘let’s be having you’ at awestruck Norwich fans, it was as if she’d got some bizarre Messiah complex (which is not such an outrageous accusation when you learn that she has written several religious books.) However, it was less Jesus descending from heaven to the masses, rather a mockney transformation into Peggy Mitchell. In fact, a look at her website suggests she moved herself from the mortal sphere altogether. Its clinical white lines and her pristine photo almost convince me that I’ve navigated to a page for a dental clinic. When we’re invited to save money with their coupons it seems like she’s reconciled herself to the fact she’s no longer a human being but an industry. What more evidence do we need that she’s left the common cooking touch behind than the fact, despite she’s trying to get us to cook, she chose to re-release a book rather than cook up

Kukoos Jessica Hardiman & Anna Lawson

Kukoos is a new fast food joint on Oxford Road from the team behind award-winning Indian restaurant, Zouk. Despite the area being overrun with chicken houses, supermarkets, a Greggs and a Subway, this isn’t your typical takeaway, and sits as a beacon of light amongst its neighbours. With queues out the door every lunchtime, we obviously weren’t the only students to be enticed by a change from the Sainsbury’s meal deal. It serves up fresh Indian, Moroccan and Lebanese street food, all intended for you to take on the go. There are no tables beckoning you inside, just one long and cumbersome bench that stretches along the length of the shop. This is quite difficult to negotiate and is so high up that your legs dangle, confused, from your seat – but street food has never claimed to be comfortable. The street food concept is expertly reflected in the menu, which boasts wraps, dosas, salads, soups and sweet and savoury snacks. All act as perfect substitutes for the pre-packaged sandwich, which may rival in cost and convenience, but are no comparison in flavour and freshness. Filling, delicious and at only £3, the hot wraps are the best choice for lunch on the go, and for an extra £2 you can add any three salads. Wrap fillings include lamb, spinach and hummus, spicy meatball, chicken tikka and vegetarian alternatives such as cheese and onion bhaji, aubergine and falafel. All are encased in warm, doughy flatbreads with a choice of garnishes and sauces. Be careful, though, as they sometimes run out of the popular meaty fillings towards the

12a Oxford Road M1 5QA Manchester 0161 236 7989

end of the day. Dosas, which are large, thin pancakes, are made to order before your eyes on a contraption reminiscent of a French crêpe griddle. One man photographed the whole process on his phone, clearly impressed. These also come with a range of fillings and are slightly cheaper than their thicker wrap counterparts. The salad bar gleams behind its glass display, colourful and inviting. We sampled the beetroot, chilli and broccoli, a slaw of roughly grated carrots and raisins, Bombay spiced potatoes, Baba Ganoush, Kukoos’ variation of a Greek salad and deliciously crunchy spiced cauliflower. The choice is extensive despite all being vegetable-based, and unlike the homogeneous mayo-heavy salad bars we have become accustomed to, each dish seems to pack a distinct and flavourful punch. Initially, the long, extensive stretch of

a couple of new recipes? I would like to view her re-release not as a cynical money-grabbing scheme, but a kind of prodigal return to those good old days when she supplied us with dense books of ‘nononsense’ recipes. There’s a lot to like about the old Delia: leaving school with no qualifications, she’s worked hard to become a UK bestselling cookery author. As co-chair of Norwich FC she’s an upstanding female in a male world. Whilst an ethical approach to food seems like an afterthought to Gordon Ramsay’s bombastic Hell’s Kitchen cooking, ever since her first show, Delia has been trying to preach a food gospel. However, it was Delia the cynical business mogul rather than Delia the misguided food missionary sat on Graham Norton’s sofa. Whilst the cooking school looks like she’s been called back to the public sphere to fulfil a food mission, Delia’s re-release suggests she’s back for the material gain: she’s merely hedging her bets and cashing in her former glory.

“Each dish seems to pack a distinct and flavourful punch.” counter seems intimidating, almost overwhelming its customers with the amount of choice it holds behind the glass. However, once you become aware that this is a place where you are encouraged to pick and choose exactly what you want, you realise that the intent is not to intimidate, but merely to feed you a good range of tasty and affordable street food. It stands out from other takeaway dives with an exciting, flavoursome and seemingly much healthier menu, and, even when queues sprawl out onto Oxford Road, Kukoos still manages to produce speedy service. The only downside was the difficulty of eating a wrap, which is perhaps something that is overseen when you enjoy a drunken kebab and, more importantly, just the nature of street food. However, every dribble of meat juices or sauce that slid down our faces was dutifully scooped back up – a good sign if ever there was one.

Food & Drink

ISSUE 16/ 4TH MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

In conversation with: Seb Emina Maddy Hubbard interviews witty food writer Seb Emina, who explains his passion for the most important meal of the day Maddy Hubbard Breakfast is a very important subject, and none take it more seriously than Malcolm Eggs, alias of the pun-loving founder of the London Review of Breakfasts, Seb Emina. I interviewed him as he recovered from the launch party for his first book, The Breakfast Bible, and although rather hungover, his passion for all things breakfast-related was clear. For many, breakfast seems a cheap but slightly grotty fixture on the high street, but Seb waxed lyrical about greasy spoons, arguing that they are places of real cultural importance. In fact, The Breakfast Bible is dedicated to G Muratori, a caff where contributors to the book – including the fabulously named Grease Witherspoon, Blake Pudding and H.P. Seuss – would meet once a week. He claims the magic was due to the sausages, which he fondly but rather sadly reminisced - the caff closed down just after they submitted their manuscript, and has been sorely missed. In the wise words of Thomas Babington Macaulay, “Dinner parties are mere rituals; but you invite a man to breakfast because you really want to see him”. Breakfast is at once the most intimate and also most democratic of meals. Seb points out that whether you’re in Claridge’s or a cabman’s shelter, you can have pretty much the same plate of food, made to the same recipe, and while the produce might change in quality, at no other time of day can you find such an egalitarian meal. Seb has had little breakfasting experience in Manchester, and regrets missing the opportunity

to eat Bury black pudding, which he claims as “one of the three great black puddings of the UK and Ireland” (the others being Stornaway in the Outer Hebrides and Clonakilty in County Cork, Ireland.) However, he ended up eating at his Travel Inn on his last visit, despite crowd-sourcing Twitter breakfast recommendations of Trof and North Tea Power. He describes the chronic disappointment of breakfast in buffet form, summed up by the fact that “I want eggs cooked for me, not just for someone who happens to be me!” A bad breakfast can be horrible – flabby bacon, watery egg, undercooked tomato or flaccid sausage can all ruin the experience. Even in posh places you aren’t guaranteed a satisfying meal; Seb argues that in fact many of them put breakfast on the menu without truly thinking or caring about it. This, of course, is a cardinal sin, as a good English Breakfast is a marvellous thing. While not prescriptive, The Breakfast Bible sets out the framework for this: the Magic Nine. These are eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, black or white pudding, toast, baked beans and potatoes. The last two are particularly controversial, and we agree that chips have no place on a breakfast but are unfortunately ubiquitous. HP Seuss immortalised the image of a “baked bean militia” in an early review for the London Review of Breakfasts, which, if insufficiently disciplined, will flood the plate and “carouse like drunken navvies”. As I am firmly in the school of thought that sees baked beans as the work of the devil, I couldn’t agree more. This wonderful image is a good example of the central feature of both the blog and the book. While

Guerrilla Eats

firmly focused on the subject of breakfast, the form is more literary than food blog. Reviews come in the form of poems, political dispatches and Freudian dreams. In fact, many of the writers in the early years have gone on to have extremely successful literary or journalistic careers. In the Breakfast Bible, along with recipes, there is an essay on Freud’s breakfast dream, a list of songs the perfect length for boiling an egg to different degrees of hardness, and a strict

Recipe for the ultimate Breakfast Cocktail Seb was in a quandary on the morning we spoke, as his hangover had in fact been caused by far too many of these the night before, but in general this is the perfect antidote to a heavy night. He found the recipe in Harry Craddock’s 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, and it came with the instruction that it is “to be taken before 11am, or whenever steam or energy are needed.” While Bloody Marys are for hair of the dog, this is if you just want to get right back on it. The Corpse Reviver Serves 1 20ml gin 20ml Cointreau 20ml Lillet Blanc, or sweet white vermouth and dash of bitters 20ml lemon juice Dash of Absinthe Mix all ingredients and shake over ice. Pour into a cocktail glass and consume immediately.

Manchester is taking its tentative steps into the shiny new world of street food, and we’re checking out its most recent offerings Frideswide O’Neill

A sample of the ice-creams available from Ginger’s Comfort Emporium. Photo: Frideswide O’Neill

guide to breakfast etiquette, such as the first rule: breakfast should be held in silence, punctuated by occasional grunts about passing the marmalade. Clearly, this is a man who respects breakfast and treats it with due reverence and sincerity. One would be a fool to visit London without referring to the London Review of Breakfasts, and now his new book will enable lovers of breakfast to create the perfect breakfast at home as well.

Street food can be really hit and miss. You might find yourself paying £5 for a frankfurter in a bun just because it has Mrs Marple’s marvellous homemade relish on it (which turns out to be a combination of tomato ketchup and balsamic glaze,) or you might manage to indulge your senses in something truly scrumptious and creative. Guerrilla Eats is a group of street food traders based primarily in Manchester, and is a typical example of both ends of the spectrum. Tired of the usual pizzas and burgers I went in search of the Chaat Cart selling traditional Indian roadside snacks. Never has a vendor had such a welcoming smile even after the fifth customer in a row asked her to explain what was in the food. Unlearned as I am in Indian cuisine, I just said I’d have whatever she thought was best and I was given a Masala Dosa; a pancake made of lentil and rice filled with a spicy potato mix and topped with her own coconut and tomato chutneys. This was something I’d never make for myself, it was

inventive and you could really tell that the vendor was serving what she loved to cook. Her passion certainly manifested itself in the food, which was delicious, healthy and hearty. Contrary to the enthusiasm shown at the Chaat Cart, round at Pancake Corner the mood was bleak. Perhaps it was because their ﬁllings were so uninspiring? Yes, I too would be bored stiff after my 200th customer asked me for a Nutella pancake. There is nothing wrong with doing something traditional and simple but if you’re going to do it, you have to do it really well, and these thick doughy pancakes really didn’t make the cut. At Ginger’s Comfort Emporium, however, it was a different story. As winner of ‘Best of the Best’ at the British Street Food Award 2012, the ice creams, with fantastic ﬂavours like orange saffron and whiskey marmalade, were good enough to tempt you to have one in Manchester in February – and that’s pretty good. Other things on offer included rustic artisan pizzas, marinated and barbecued smoky

beef buns and traditional Mexican burritos, among others. My friends vouched for the delectability of all of these though none of them were likely to leave a lasting memory. The great thing about street food is that it’s a fun and cheap way to eat out, as well as an opportunity to get to know a different part of the city. As we bobbed along to Jamie T and the Libertines blaring out of the speakers – whilst attempting to keep the contents of our burritos from escaping – I decided that it wasn’t really about the food. Of course, it’s always a bonus if there are some sellers that leave a lasting impression, but the fun is really to be had in the relaxed atmosphere. With everyone wrapped up in coats, holding a chilli hot chocolate in one hand, a burger in the other and happily chatting away, it’s the most casual and inexpensive way to go out to eat that you can get. Main, pudding and a can of beer for a tenner: what could be better? Check out their website for news on upcoming events in Manchester: www. guerrillaeats.co.uk

Cheaper than chips: sausage edition Frideswide O’Neill One important thing to get to grips with if you want to eat cheaply is that you can do so many different things with one ingredient. Take sausages for example - they are always on offer (3 packs of 6 for £6 in Sainsbury’s and 2 packs of 10 for £7 in Tesco) and are so versatile. No one wants to eat bangers and mash every night, so try these out for a bit of variety. 1. The Classic: Toad in the Hole Serves 3 Ingredients: 6 sausages, plain flour, eggs, milk Method: Put your sausages in a roasting tin in the oven at 200°C for 20-30 mins, shaking them about occasionally. Meanwhile, take a medium sized cup and measure out a cup of flour, a cup of eggs and

a cup of milk. Whisk these together in a large bowl (for a really airy Yorkshire pudding mix, cheat by adding half a teaspoon of baking powder.) When the sausages have browned, take them out of the oven and shake the fat that has come off them all around your tin to grease it up. Spread the sausages evenly around the pan and pour in the Yorkshire pudding mix. Put the pan back in the oven for 25 mins or until your batter has risen to golden crusted glory! 2. The Hunger Stopper: Man Pasta Serves 3 This is a simplified version of Jamie Oliver’s ‘Proper blokes’ sausage fusilli.’ Ingredients: 6 sausages, pasta, 2 onions, garlic, herbs and spices Method: First get the pasta water on to boil, then

chop your onions. Gently sweat them in olive oil, before adding salt to release water. Crush the garlic and add to the onions. After 10 minutes, turn the heat up slightly and this is the fun part - squeeze the sausage meat out of their skins and into the frying pan. Once the sausage meat is browned, turn the heat down slightly and add your herbs and spices. Any powdered or dried herbs and spices need to be cooked off for the flavour to really come out whereas fresh herbs like parsley and basil can just be added at the end. Man Pasta calls for big flavors like fennel seeds and cumin. Try adding a chopped chilli for extra spice. All that’s left is to drain the pasta and mix in in the sausage.

3. The Winter Warmer: Sausage Casserole Ingredients: 6 sausages, 2 onions, garlic, 2 tins of chopped tomatoes, 2 tins of beans (flageolet, cannellini or butter beans are the best,) 150ml stock, 1 tbsp brown sugar, herbs and spices Fry your sausages on all sides with oil. Put them aside, sweat the onions and add the crushed garlic, a teaspoon each of ground coriander, paprika and cumin. When your onions are soft, tip them into a large pan or casserole dish, before adding the tomatoes and beans and simmering gently. Add 150ml stock to the casserole along with the sausages and a tablespoon of brown sugar. The casserole needs a good hour and a half cooking time, so either keep it on the hob at a gentle simmer or put it into the oven at 180°C.

Arts & Culture

S u r v iv i n g

SUPPER:

Dinner party essentials with Lucy J

ISSUE 16/ 4th MARCH 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM /TheMancunionArtsCulture @ArtsMancunion

Interview

‘Four’ at Cornerhouse: The Curation Sarah Jones gains a rare insight into the curational process of ‘Four’ at Cornerhouse

Mann im Café, 1914, by Juan Gris (© Wikimedia Commons)

CUBISM ‘forms as they think them, not as they see them’ Picasso It is commonly thought that Cubism was spawned when Picasso returned to Paris in 1907. He painted Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon, not considered a Cubist painting itself, but key in the development of Cubism as the influence of Cézanne and ‘primitive art’. Picasso and Braque like ‘mountaineers roped together’ developed a new way of depicting reality in painting that was simultaneously representational and nonnaturalistic. Cubism came close to total abstraction but always retained some element of our visual world within the composition. It is important to remember how shocking this new style would’ve appeared for the art audience in 1907 when all the conventions of painting were dropped.

STYLE AND SUBJECT MATTER There were in fact two different forms of Cubism: Analytical and Synthetic. Both phases focused on geometric patterns, sharp interpenetrating angles, monochromatic colour schemes, multiple viewpoints and images containing few recognizeable forms. The main difference was the increase both in colour and decorative elements in Synthetic Cubism which was also more visually simplistic. Another key development when we consider Synthetic Cubism is the addition of collage and ‘ready-mades’ which displaced the skill of the artist being central to the work of art and can be seen as the beginnings of the Conceptual art we are surrounded by now.

THE KEY PLAYERS Pablo Picasso – co-founder of Cubism Georges Braque – co-founder of Cubism Juan Gris – pioneer of Synthetic Cubism

PAINTINGS TO KNOW Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon – Pablo Picasso 1907 (MoMA, New York) The Portuguese – Georges Braque 1911 (Kunstmuseum, Basel)

Whilst browsing the interesting installations and original sculptural pieces of Cornerhouse’s latest exhibition, ‘Four’, several questions came to mind. To shed light on these, I spoke to one of the four young curators who worked on this exhibition, Elizabeth Gibson, to find out her main aims for the exhibition, how the team went about the selection process and why she thinks Cornerhouse, once again, managed to hit the nail on the head. What drew you to the work of the artists you chose to include in the exhibition, and did you want it to embody a particular theme? We had written out a brief for artists to respond to, so we were looking for applications for work that we felt fitted the criteria we had set out, which included originality, creative use of media and accessibility to a wide audience. We didn’t have a definite theme in mind; we simply wanted to pick the best works and see if a theme started to emerge. In the end several did, such as colour and texture. What made you decide to include solely British artists in ‘Four’? The brief was open to artists anywhere in the world, and indeed we got submissions from all over the globe (over 600 in total!). We would happily have included international

is accessible straight from the street which means that you can pop in whenever you like and spend a short time there, or you can go for a whole evening and incorporate a meal and a film. It’s a lovely place to be. And they do amazing hot chocolate. How do you think the exhibition was received by the viewing public, and if you could go back and change anything, would you? We had lots of visitors on our opening night, and lots of positive comments, so I think it was well-received. I don’t think I would change anything; I really like the way it turned out. All the artists have excelled themselves, and the work is brilliant.

Attendent at ‘Four’ preview evening, © Paul Greenwood artists in the exhibition; it just happened that the four we picked were British. It wasn’t a conscious choice to only have British artists. Did you encounter any problems during the curation process, considering your age and experience? Not really; the hardest thing was narrowing down so many good applications to just four. I don’t think our age or inexperience was a hindrance; I think it’s a good idea to have young curators at galleries like Cornerhouse as we often have different ideas to older and more established curators, and this can lead to greater variety in the exhibitions a gallery puts

Everyday Analysis

on. Can you give one piece of advice to any young curators hoping to follow in your footsteps? Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion - I am known for being quite a quiet person but when you are working with a group of people who all have different ideas, communication is key. Make sure your ideas are heard. If there is one piece of work you think would really work in an exhibition, fight its cause! In both exhibitions (Lost is Found – at Cornerhouse in 2012 - and Four) there was a piece I felt strongly about that I managed to “sell” to the others by describing clearly why I thought it would work. Both

@EDAnalysis

times the piece made it into the final exhibition. So don’t be afraid to speak out! How did you feel when you were chosen to take part in curating an exhibition for Cornerhouse? Very excited; I had previously been on the curation team for Lost is Found and it was an amazing experience. I hoped curating Four would be as enjoyable; it turned out to be even more so. What do you think makes Cornerhouse unique in comparison to other galleries across Manchester and the UK? The fact that it is quite small I think gives it a more intimate feel than in some other galleries. In addition, it

Elizabeth’s responses provide us with a rare insight into the finer details of the curation process, and could certainly be said to drum up more appreciation for the time and effort that goes into organising such a thought-provoking and entertaining exhibition. Giving some great nuggets of advice, Elizabeth demonstrates why she and other young curators should be granted the highest praise for their contribution to the city’s culture. Sarah Jones

See Sarah’s original review online.

Poetry, Comedy and Spoken Word

‘Everything for your leisure’

Review: ‘Improdigy’

Everyday Analysis Collective discuss Žižek, Ideology and the CrossCountry Train Network

Grace Williams finds the Frog and Bucket’s latest Student Comedy night brings laughs, but not plenty of them

John McCririck tells us in a special Cheltenham Cup CrossCountry Trains advertisement that when travelling with this company ‘everything is laid on for you at your leisure!’ The first comment on the YouTube video of the ad, from stevealston185, however, rather gives us these odds: ‘5-1 sit on the floor; 4-1 sit on the roof; 3-1 trolley can’t get through; 2-1 aircon fails; Evens – DB, the German firm want rid of this God awful fran- CrossCountry Train, © Wikipedia Commons chise.’ On the 15:11 service from its advertisand. If ‘Everything laid Nottingham to Cardiff Central on at your leisure’ be the slogan, on Friday 15 February 2013 there and sweatily standing in an were approximately 12-15 standunventilated vestibule with the ing passengers to each vestibule, trolley service waiting to get past every seat being taken on the for an hour is the reality, here we under-carriaged train. can do something like attribute One of the things Slavoj Žižek is a simple ratio, e.g., 5:2. 5 for the big on identifying is ‘five-star’ expectation based on ‘precisely how ideology functions McCririck’s slogan, and 2 for the today.’ Perhaps we can propose actual experience (an overpriced something of an empirical means journey in relative discomfort, of testing this functioning, in which albeit got there on time). taking cognisance of the distance Ideology, fittingly perhaps, between an advertisement and

The rather oddly named Frog and Bucket is a comedy club situated at the scruffy end of Oldham Street in the Northern Quarter. Established comedy acts have been road testing new material over the past couple of weeks, the improvised comedy troupe Improdigy being one of them. The troupe is made up of four rather over-excitable theatre types, game to make you laugh at any cost. As an improvised comedy virgin I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turns out audience participation is the name of the game. Results range from great spontaneous gags, to some awkward side-ways glances amongst audience members, to agonising silences across the room, when no-one on stage can think of anything witty. The dodgy compere warmed up the stage for the main act. In terms of sheer effort, the troupe deserved a pat on the back, but it was clear to all they needed to keep practicing. Two hours later and after a fair few seriously

is the colon that separates the ratio’s two numbers; a colon giving enough leeway to allow companies access to unlimited disproportionate distantiation. In other words, there’s no need any longer, on the ideological level, to represent a product’s actual experience with a correlative expectation: there’s no need for a monopolist to produce a true reflection of their product, to give its potential customers such real knowledge. Indeed, what other service can we use to get home? And nevertheless, it’ll be full-whack again, farewise, to take the next sweaty train, if we’re pre-booked on this one. As Richard Appignanesi et al put it in Introducing Postmodernism: ‘the opposite of knowledge is not ignorance but deceit and fraud’ (p.136). Ideology functions best today when the standing are in no way entitled to take a stand.

unimaginative suggestions from the crowd, predictably along the lines of sex, paedophilia and genitals, I was all improv-ed out, but had had many laughs along the way. The venue itself is dimly lit and dingy in a tacky but charming way. The faces of big name acts who had once started out here adorn the walls and give the feeling that you could be in the presence of the next big thing. But to be honest Improdigy probably aren’t it. However, if you fancy a cheap evening out, and can be bothered to trek out to the Northern Quarter on a Wednesday evening, you can’t go far wrong with some improvised comedy at the Frog and Bucket. Although be sure to have a few bevvies beforehand (the drinks at the bar are pretty overpriced) to loosen the tongue for some serious heckling.

Grace Williams

Theatre

ISSUE 15/ 25th FEBRUARY 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Preview

What’s On MIFTAs kick with a bang 25 FEB-4 MARCH

Ben Marshall goes along to the first performance of the MIFTAs season

That Face - MIFTAs by Polly Stenham, directed by Amy O’Toole and Thea Paulett That Face is a darkly comic look at an affluent family in freefall. It explores the reality of a modern day dysfunctional family. Stenham’s rich characters create the perfect dynamic for an absorbing production that highlights the intricacies and the extremities of the human condition. Runs 4th-6th March 7pm at the Council Chambers, Students Union.Tickets £5.

The Conquest of the South Pole - MIFTAs by Manfred Karge, directed by George Combe Four unemployed men transform crushing boredom and desperation into a triumph of the human spirit… namely a reenactment of Roald Amundsen’s victorious 1911 expedition to the South Pole. But can they keep the traumas of real life out long enough to reach the Pole? Runs 8th-10th March 7pm at the Council Chambers, Students Union. Tickets £5.

Boy in a Dress A piece of autobiographical drama which follows La JohnJoseph, a ‘third-gendered, fallen Catholic’, from his life on the council estates of Merseyside to the strip clubs of New York City. Dubbed ‘incisive, witty, moving and glam’ by Time Out magazine you’d be a fool to miss it. Runs 5th-6th March at the Contact Theatre. Tickets £5.

Best thing/worst thing I’ve ever seen on stage Hannah Lawrence gives us her best and worst

Saoirse Brewer and Richard Southgate in the MIFTAs performance of Paper Shield. photo: Joshua Val Martin Journalists are often seen as criminals nowadays due to the exposure of several newspaper scandals in the last few years. But Piers Black-Hawkins’ newly written play shines the light in a different angle, by having journalists as the actual victims of these outrageous practices. And because of its thoughtful, three-dimensional insight into a world that we all think we understand, ‘Paper Shield’ is no flimsy piece, but a well cut concept. The plot centres around budding, young reporter Nick (Richard Southgate), who along with his three colleagues, works as a junior reporter for the fictional tabloid ‘The Shield’. When he finally achieves his ambition

of front page news, however, everything changes… and not necessarily for the better. In an unbelievable twist of events, we witness just how this hardworking young man is dragged from his seat of dignity and honesty to a clandestine world of deceit, lies and selfishness. As far as acting is concerned, this play, which was the opening performance of the 2013 Miftas showcase, definitely delivered; while Esme Bayley-Knaggs inputted an exciting level of cruelty and manipulative superiority into a captivating performance of newspaper editor Cathy, James Warburton was on hand to provide the opposite – the cocky, jack-thelad persona of junior reporter Terry. A series

The worst I’ve ever seen: Romeo and Juliet with puppets at the Contact Theatre

Its weird, I would have thought it would be hard to decide what the best thing I’ve ever seen on stage is. However, despite having seen some good performances I can confidently say that the Royal Exchange’s production of Orpheus Descending last year was by far the best thing I’ve ever seen on stage. I was sent to review it for this paper and went in knowing absolutely nothing about the play, not knowing what to expect. I ended up seeing it twice and am now writing a dissertation on it. Without The Mancunion I have no idea what state my dissertation would be in, to be quite honest. Set in small town Southern America it captures a sense of American mysticism which has always fascinated me. In the central female role, the mentally unstable wife of a local dry goods store owner ‘Lady’, Imogen Stubbs was pretty incredible. I don’t usually believe in one actor/ actress being able to make a play but in this case I’m going to let go of that and say that she really did.

Okay, so last week Rosie Panter cited the exact same play as the worst thing she’d ever seen on stage, but I don’t want you to think of this as mere copying. This is actually testament to how truly bad the whole performance was. Don’t get me wrong, I could see where they were going and I totally applaud them for it. Its just that it also, totally, didn’t work. The puppets were a confusing mix of figures and the significance of such a diverse array of puppets was never really made significant in any way. There were moments in which I felt it was successful, such as the enactment of Mercutio’s sword fight but in general the whole thing just conjures a feeling of confusion and boredom in my memory of it, not something I rate highly in a good play.

And a play which achieves this is worthy of a solid four-and-a -half stars out of five.

Review

Theatrical hat-trick: football, suffragettes and heroism Bolton Octagon • Runs from 21st February - 16th March

Romeo and Juliet at the Contact Theatre. photo: Contact

The best I’ve ever seen: Orpheus Descending at the Royal Exchange

of hilarious-but-humiliating encounters between himself and pretentious sub-editor Tim (Richard Jones) had the audience howling with laughter on several occasions. On the other side of the coin, hard-working but unappreciated Sally’s (Saoirse Brewer) heartwrenching monologue on what it means to be happy in life created a solemn, contemplative mood all round, and was really the character whom the audience warmed to the most. Atmosphere was fantastically created by visual elements as well, which were simple but effective. Intermittent flickering of the strip lights above each reporter’s desk connoted the dull and unpredictable nature of life at the bottom of the newspaper hierarchy, and the repetitive work spaces portrayed the reporters almost as children in a scary classroom, who submit to a fearful figure. Different coloured card props signifying reporters’ rights and privileges further emphasised the control of the newsroom imposed by the editors in their desire for money, and the lack of music or other recorded sound in the play was a sign of repression in this journalistic dictatorship – an interesting paradox, since newspapers are supposed to represent freedom of speech! Although an ending is reached that has an element of closure for Nick, many questions are left unanswered, leading to insightful consideration of the play’s events and themes long after leaving the theatre.

Tull at the Bolton Octagon. photo: Phil Vasili I can’t think of a time when I enjoyed any live experience more than Tull. The blend of the hero’s tale, that of Walter Tull, with the contemporary message of racism, particularly in the modern sporting world, alongside gender equality made for a thoroughly engrossing performance. The story centres around Walter Tull, performed by Nathan Ives-Moba, for whom football acts as an escapism for what begins as an extremely difficult life. His mother dies of breast cancer early in his life, his father dies soon after then and his aunt puts Walter and his brother in care. Walter’s brother then gets adopted and moves to Glasgow, severing their contact with each other for the next 10 years, leaving him by himself with the

game he loves. The beauty of the play is its simplicity. There are no props or costumes, and in fact many of the actors had to perform more than one role, sometimes even extremely conflicting roles. Almost as if it were Epic Theatre, the audience were only able to focus on the story and internal struggles that the characters themselves faced. Indeed, the times media was used, it was used to wonderful effect. There were several times throughout the production when a football match had to be created. With the movement shown you would think that they had the ball at their feet. The accompanying soundtrack also created cheers of jubilant fans, timed with a strike at goal. The characters of the play portrayed the striking message that the performance had to

Andrew Georgeson convey. Ives-Moba, playing the lead role, as a young actor making his professional debut carried the perfect mix of youthful exuberance and naivety that a young Tull possessed. His character was extremely well complimented by Fiona Hampton who played a key founder in the Suffragette movement as well as Tull’s fiancée, Emmeline Pankhurst, who herself has an idealised aspiration of equality and suffered from as much oppression and abuse as Walter did. These characters were well juxtaposed with the experience of John Branwell, whose most influential role out the many he played was that of Herbert Chapman, regarded as one of the most successful football managers of the twentieth century, as well as being manager of Northampton Town when Tull was transferred there from Tottenham Hotspur. Kieran Hill also playing the role of Rev. Dr. Stephenson, founder of the modern day charity Action for Children, was a guide for Tull throughout his life from his time at the orphanage to his time in the army. The play discussed a number of contemporary issues, within the context of the frivolous nature of war. The racist language used throughout the play towards Tull delivers the shocking effect that the play intends.

Tull receives racism in every respect of his life, from the racial abuse directed at him at his time at Spurs, blaming his for racial disunity. Then again during his time in the army, despite being noted as an inspiration to his comrades, was nearly refused promotion to 2nd Lieutenant because he was not of ‘pure European descent.’ Similarly in the case of Emmeline who was not only faced with troubles of obtaining votes for women, but was also adamantly against the war which her fiancée went to fight in, deeming it the battle of capitalism fought via the poor proletariat. Unfortunately, Tull did not survive the war, he was killed in 1918 at the second battle of the Somme. The last scene of his death is the same scene that opened the play before going back through his life. However, at the end there is a soliloquy by the manager who tells the story of how a young black boy affected his life, and the dreams of equality in football in the future. Unfortunately, we are not quite there yet. Five stars out of five

Lifestyle

ISSUE 16/ 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Feature

The Great PDA Debate Claudia Carvell fights the corner of good old fashioned PDA in response to last week’s criticique of the Facebook variety When entering into a new relationship, you have to test the waters to find out what your other half is comfortable with when it comes to public displays of affection. Having established a safe ground between the two of you, you must then negotiate the reception of your PDA by the general public. Being in a relationship myself, I have often noticed disapproving looks from others when I kiss my girlfriend goodbye. However, having said that, I often find myself looking critically at other couples engaging in PDA. So, how much is too much when it comes to alfresco affection, and where do you draw the line between being yourself and appeasing others? It goes without saying that intercourse and the likes are off the cards. For the most part, it’s illegal and it’s unlikely that parents will want their children to learn about the sexual world from the couple at the back of the 143. Surely though, kissing in public is a different matter? Our parents, our friends, our siblings and even our grandparents kiss (shock horror). We know it goes on, and we know that it’s a natural display of affection, so why are we so bothered about seeing it in the flesh? For those 698 people who have liked the ‘I

hate PDA’ Facebook page, public displays of affection are not okay. Ever. One argument is that it is a sign of immaturity. This need to be affectionate with a partner in public, apparently, demonstrates insecurity within the relationship and thus, the argument goes, is not a natural act but one of possession and boastfulness. Whilst I can appreciate this opinion and it cannot be ruled out in some cases of excessive PDA (namely dry humping and extreme groping), it does not explain the entirety of the situation. For those on the other side of the PDA debate, kissing your partner in public should not be frowned upon. As a natural act of affection it shouldn’t be supressed unnecessarily for the sake of an uncomfortable few. These pro-PDAers fairly claim that nobody has the right to suggest that we curb our natural and unimposing desires, in order to accommodate for the potential and unjustifiable disgust of others. After all, we are no longer in the Victorian era. It has to be said that nobody complains when photos of Kim Kardashian snogging Kanye West are plastered all across the front of magazines. However, it’s ‘uncalled for and unnecessary’

when a non-celebrity couple are seen kissing outside Tesco. I’m beginning to think it’s not the act of PDA itself, but its proximity to our personal space that bothers us most. Maybe we don’t want to be confronted with our single status or lack of affection, but that doesn’t warrant us condemning those who want to engage in PDA. In my opinion, we’re way too rigid when it comes to PDA. America even have a National PDA day, ( June 20th if you’re interested) when people are actively encouraged to show affection towards other people, in public. As appalling as it may

sound to some of you, I think it’s a great idea. The Free Hug Campaign, which started in Australia in 2004 and spread across the world, had the same idea. Affection is important no matter where you are. So, as inevitable as it is that someone will feel uncomfortable when I kiss my girlfriend in public, I don’t think that that is a good enough reason for me not to do it. All people kiss, hug and hold hands, so it’s about time we accept their right to do so publicly.

Date

Blind Debbie, 3rd year, Maths

Jonathan , 2nd year, Chemistry

What were you initial thoughts when you arrived? I thought he seemed nice and relatively good looking.

How did your date go? Yeah it was great, very nice, not too many awkward moments. We were both chatty and outgoing so overall, a good date.

How did the date go? I thought it went well; we had a really nice time. The conversation flowed really well and I thought we agreed on a lot of things.

What was your first impression of Debbie? My first impression was that

Would you say that there wasn’t much flirting? A bit but not a lot. I’m not sure why. Maybe that was my fault, I don’t know.

looking and so am I. She reminded me of Natalie Portman.

we would probably make very attractive babies, as she was very good What did you chat about? Cockroaches, she found one in her Weetos

What did you chat about? We had interesting conversation actually, very interesting… We spoke about ourselves, our hobbies. I told him about my swimming, he told me about his skydiving.

once. We also bonded over wine. What was her best feature? Probably her lips. How did you part ways? A nice kiss on the cheek with a parting hug, then

Did he make you laugh? He made me laugh a couple of times but not a lot. He had some interesting stories though. He told me about his travels in Vietnam which I found really interesting. He mentioned he had eaten some interesting things such as tarantula which was, I suppose, intriguing to hear about. What happened after the meal? We stayed for quite a while, we had a nice chat and we finished our wine. We shared a bottle. He likes red wine which is good because I also like red wine. How did you part ways? That was kind of weird. We walked to the main street and he was like, “Thank you I look forward to reading the article”. I was like, “Oh, okay.” It was very formal. Do you think you’ll be seeing him in future? I would definitely be up for seeing him again if he asked me. I just don’t think he was interested in dating me. Snog, marry or avoid? That’s a difficult one. I wouldn’t avoid. It would either be snog or marry. I suppose I’d go with snog as I don’t know him well enough to marry, though he did seem like a lovely guy.

she gave me the, “So I’ll see you around…” and I was like, “Yeah, bye.” So that might have been awkward. So were you not interested in seeing her around? I’d consider it. Did you get her number? No. Why not? Theright moment just wasn’t there. It never came up.

Debbie

& Jo nat han

Snog, marry or avoid? Marry as she had the whole package. She had beauty and brains. So no potential future plans? No, it was nice but I don’t think that there was enough chemistry there.

By Oliver Taylor

As always a special thanks to Trof Fallowfield. If you would like to take part please email Beth Currall at bethcurrall@hotmail. com, or Lauren Arthur at lauren.n.arthur@googlemail.com with your name, age and degree.

Lifestyle

ISSUE 16/ 4TH MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

E G A M I BODY

Sex and Relationships

Lights on or off?

a few decades, our worries about having a thighgap or a V-line will have given way to desperate attempts to conceal wrinkles and greying hair. Flaunt this youthfulness while you can, and remember this: if you’re naked and smiling, your partner usually considers themselves as pretty lucky anyway.

the mirror and see something that I would love to change. However, I also see things that I like about my body. Too many people envisage their sexual partners as some sort of body detective, scrutinizing every bump and imperfection with disappointed eyes. Just take a second to think of the last time you really noticed a problem with a partner’s body - was it so unattractive that you couldn’t bear to continue touching them? The answer, I’m pretty sure, is no. The sexiest asset anyone can have is confidence. If you are constantly worrying about whether your thighs look big or your stomach is sticking out, you’re not concentrating on the desires of yourself or your partner. I’m sure, if you let them actually see your body, your partner will find many assets to compliment. We’re only this young once and in

Choose lights off, says Lauren Arthur: The thought of someone else noticing, or worse, thinking critically, of the imperfections that I am fully aware of, petrifies me. Very rarely does anyone see me without make-up on and it is even rarer to see me without clothes. Anyone unfortunate enough to fall into the latter group will do so in the dark. Unfortunately, unlike my face, I can’t cover up my body so skilfully. I cling onto the winter months, during which I can be wrapped in layers of oversized men’s knitwear: cosy, content and cleverly covering up any signs of my female figure. The dark is therefore my forgiving best friend when it comes to certain situations. The male species aren’t (that) stupid; it’s not physically possible to pretend that you have Rosie H-W’s figure when you’re on top of someone. However, lack of light gives me peace of mind, and with that comes confidence. I suppose it comes down to the fact that many young people just do not feel completely comfortable in their own skins. A certain extent of maturity and independence is thrust upon you as soon as the key to your delightfully decorated breezeblock box room is handed over, yet reaching a comfortable confidence in yourself and your appearance may take longer. For me, it has done, and for the time being, I will still be reaching for the switch.

Opinion and Health

101

Stop loathing and start loving your breasts, ladies, says Molly Allen

Should a desire to keep the lights off during sex be seen as a display of body image issues?

Body confidence has become an everincreasing issue for both women and men when it comes to sex. An astounding number of us are apparently too self-conscious to let even a partner see us naked. So, should keeping the lights off be seen as a a body confidence issue? Beth Currall and Lauren Arthur share their views. Choose lights on, says Beth : We live in a society where the airbrushed curves of Kim Kardashian and the spray-on abs of Zac Efron are seen as normal, attainable physiques. It is no wonder why so many people have serious confidence issues when it comes to their own bodies. However, if we cannot allow a partner to love our bodies and boost our egos, who else can? I don’t have a perfect body: every day, I look in

Breasts, boobs, tits, knockers, jugs. As Julia Roberts famously said in Notting Hill, “Every second person in the world has them, what’s all the fuss about?” Why do men covet breasts but women despise them? In some serious cases, they are even considered to be an affliction. Having attended all-girls school, boob discussion was a frequent activity. Hours were spent reassuring a particularly flat chested friend that her tiny buds would one day blossom into fabulous double D’s and we were in awe of my best friend’s gigantic (and surprisingly heavy) GGs. However, both of these girls have said that in an ideal world, they would like to change their breasts. Both have uttered those unholy words, “I hate my boobs!” Why, I ask? It seems to me, that women are under the impression that the ideal female has long blonde hair, a washboard stomach, miniscule waist and an E cup to boot. Unfortunately the majority of us are not as fortunate to have the breasts of Scarlett Johansson, but if we’re really unhappy with what nature gave us, we can always fake it. Ann Summers boasts some fabulous ‘push your tits up so they’re by your chin’ bras, for instance. What is worrying, is that this obsession with breasts has led to more permanent measures being taken, such as surgery. With botched boob jobs and exploding implants, women are being exposed to serious health risks, all in the name of the perfect pair. The question is, why waste all this time focusing on what you don’t like about yourself when you could think of the positives? You should embrace ‘the twins’ regardless. Your boobs will be with you your whole life (unless you go down the aforementioned surgery route, of course). Admittedly, one day they could end up down by your knees, but until that day comes, enjoy the pertness that comes with youth. So what if one nipple is higher than the other? No matter what their shape, size or pertness, the truth is that your breasts will always be appreciated by someone, somewhere. Just make sure that, most importantly, you embrace them as well.

An itchy issue

Alcohol vs exercise

Gwen Ellis talks porn and pubic hair

Victoria Goodwin on balancing your life

I have a friend who doesn’t mind her partner’s genital area being hairy because it feels as though she’s having sex with a ‘real’ man. I then asked if it makes her feel like a ‘real’ woman to leave her froufrou untouched and her answer was no. She should be hair free, she said. So, why does he expect his girlfriend to be bare down below? My guess: because women are bare in porn. Over the past 30 years, porn has had a huge influence on our sex lives, even down to how we manage our pubic hair. A lot of the female population wax or shave their labia because it is what men expect them to do. The expectation is that women, during sex, should be neatly trimmed at the very least. God forbid that you should get down and dirty with a guy when you’re sporting the overgrown hedge look. I myself have often undergone full deforestation and stripped my lady garden bare, making myself look like a pre-pubescent nine year old in the process. Even if I’m not having regular sex, the expectation is that I should be well groomed at all times, like some kind of show dog, just in case I get lucky after one too many G and Ts.

Even though the majority of men in porn are also stripped of their pubic hair, most guys choose not to go for the full on Christmas turkey look. What is more, women don’t expect them to. That said, some do take the plunge and pornify their bodies these days, though they seem to be in the minority. Perhaps I haven’t accredited the possibility that this is a tricky situation for both men and women alike. So, should we all just abandon our razors and live out the Bohemi-

an dream? As appealing as that first sounds, maybe not. What I think makes my friend’s partner a ‘real’ man is the fact that he is unwilling to subject himself to a time consuming and uncomfortable pubic shaving regime just because porn stars do. He’s living in the real world and he is a ‘real’ man because he’s doing what he wants to do and he’s comfortable with himself. This is something which we should all be aiming for.

One drink seems like a good idea at the time, then two turns into ten and you wake up the next day in a Hangover style scene. ‘What the fuck happened last night?’ The day is then spent trying to piece together your night. Your head is pounding, you feel nauseous and the last thing on your mind is exercise. So, the dilemma: you could go to the gym or you could stay in bed. To combat feeling sluggish, it is necessary

that we incorporate exercise into our uni lives, despite the drinking culture doing everything it can to prevent this. Let’s face it, the late nights and kebabs don’t make us feel good. Follow these hangover remedies to ensure that the day after the night before isn’t a total waste. Drinking plenty of water will help you on the road to recovery, along with a glass of fruit juice which will give you a vitamin boost and combat dehydra-

tion. Instead of raiding the crisp cupboard, eat something like a banana or a kiwi. These are both good sources of potassium, something which your body loses due to the diuretic effect of alcohol. It has to be said that the real key to your wellbeing in a society in which body image has (rightly or wrongly) become everything, is being able to balance your social life with an exercise regime. Regular gym sessions are

beneficial for both your mental and physical states; endorphins will be released, helping you to feel positive about the day ahead. Running is another great option, along with swimming or even walking (bonus, it’s free). So, you’ve been out the night before? Take a few days off and then get back into your routine. Don’t choose vodka OR exercise, choose vodka AND exercise.

ISSUE 16/ 4th March 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Games

Manchester University gamers win $1000 prize Manchester Students were runners-up in the European Collegiate Starleague Manchester University students have finished as runners-up in the European bracket of the Collegiate Starleague in both League of Legends and StarCraft 2. For their performance in the competition the teams both won a $1000 cash prize. The Collegiate Starleague is an online gaming competition comprised of universities and colleges from all over the world. The competition is divided into three brackets, North America, Asia and Europe, which Manchester took part in. The European bracket covers around 40 different universities. Only two games are played in the Starleague, StarCraft 2 and League of Legends. I spoke with University of Manchester Gaming Society eSports manager Maris Doniks about the team’s success, the popularity of eSports and the challenges of making Manchester the best eSports university in Europe. Maris became the eSports manager of the Gaming Society in November, he’d heard about the Starleague before, but he hadn’t considered putting together a team and actually competing. It was only when Jacob Harrison (now Assistant eSports manager) took the initiative to gather people and compete in the Starleague that things started to fall in place. At first it was a challenge to put a team together, being part of such a big university might mean a bigger pool of talent, but it’s a lot harder to get the word out and reach the right people when people are so far apart. While interest in League of Legends was strong and lots of people wanted to get involved, Starcraft 2 was a bit more of a challenge to gather a team for. But with events, like regular BarCrafts, where gamers watch the big StarCraft 2 matches, being held in Kyoto Lounge Maris was able to assemble a team. One team member was found when

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006

they had made it through to the grand finals, they would have been looking at prize money of around $5000. Still Maris tells me “$1000 is not bad for a hobby.” I asked Maris about the rising popularity of eSports, he told me that over the past few years, with the release of League of Legends the popularity had really expanded. Still, he told me, a lot more people would be taking part if they knew more about it. He told me that Manchester was looking to expand its eSports team to include players of Halo and Fifa. In particular he found that Manchester had some very good Halo players. eSports are a global phenomenon, with Starcraft matches being shown live to millions of viewers in Korea and prize pools at major competitions reaching over £2,000,000, If it continues to grow at such a rapid pace, we could soon be living in a world where the back pages of newspapers are dedicated to League of Legends matches, and top StarCraft 2 players are household names.

I love Sonic. The original Sonic the Hedgehog was the first game I ever loved, and the first I ever broke (turns out you can’t put a Megadrive cartridge into a VCR). I love the 3D Sonic Adventure games. I even love the poorly received spinoff Shadow the Hedgehog. But Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, I do not love. The game was an early release on the 360 and PS3, and aimed to bring the spiky blue hero into the next generation. The story was bigger in scope than anything Sonic fans had seen before, and the levels were more realistic than ever before. The plot involved a time travelling silver hedgehog, a human princess and, inevitably, Dr Eggman. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense. The fast paced, fluid action Sonic is famous for was all but missing in this game. There was hardly a stage that wasn’t jarringly punctuated with stops/starts as you wrestled with the camera and controls. Nothing is as frustrating as Sonic plummeting to his doom without really doing anything wrong, apart from getting caught up in another dodgy camera angle. The stages as Silver were marginally better, only because of his ability to hurl stuff around with his mind, which made a satisfying change of pace from the boss fight against him which was nigh-on impossible. For a title that was supposed to be leading the way into the new generation, Sonic 06 was surprisingly bad graphically, barely an improvement over past-gen games from the series. It was also riddled with game-breaking glitches that, at best, lead to the scientific improbability of being able to stroll through a loop at a nice, leisurely pace. At worst, they caused spontaneous, rageinducing death. I knew exactly how hated this game was before I bought it, and yet it still somehow was worse than I expected. I’d talk about the final boss, but I simply do not have the insane perseverance it would have taken to get there

Sam Dumitriu

Alasdair Preston

Manchester’s StarCraft 2 team in action Maris’ friend spotted him playing StarCraft 2 on his laptop in the pub. To start with, the team was very disorganised. Maris told me of being ringing players up ten minutes before the match only to find that they were still in bed. However, as the competition went on and they started to rack up the wins in the group stages the players became more and more serious. By the end of the group stage the StarCraft 2 team had qualified for the playoffs on 5-0. This was the turning point; they saw that they had a chance of winning the whole thing. Now they had beaten teams with exprofessional gamers, gone where the days of Maris having to ring players up before the match to check where they were. Everyone was putting in the time and arriving online 15 minutes before each game. The team continued to rack up the wins beating three other teams before making it to the European final where they lost to Aarhus University from Denmark 4 – 2. Aarhus went on to the grand finals where they lost to the eventual Winners University of California Berkeley. While both the StarCraft 2 and the League of Legends teams got a $1000 prize, if

News

Preview

Gears of War: Judgement Epic Games • March 19th • 360 Exclusive Gears of War is back, two years after the trilogy concluded with Gears of War 3, Epic Games are revisiting the Gears universe with Judgement. Judgement takes place before Gears of War 1 and for the first time the story follows Baird and Cole of Kilo Squad rather than Marcus and Dom of Delta Squad. Squad is on trial for treason for stealing COG technology after the Battle in Halvo Bay. Judgement has you playing through the testimonies, taking on hordes of Locust as you argue for your innocence. One interesting mechanic is the ability to alter your testimony and get a higher end of level rating by taking on additional challenges, like only using certain weapons for the duration of the combat. This should be popular with achievement hunters, looking for more to do than just complete the game on Insane difficulty. Judgement looks to expand the popular multiplayer with Overrun mode. Similar to Beast

mode in Gears of War 3, Overrun allows you to play as all the different locust, from the lowly Ticker to the powerful Corpser. You can play as either the COG or the Locust. As the COG you’ve got to hold your ground against the Locust as they try to open up Emergence Holes and destroy generators. As the Locust, you start off small, building up and attack with Tickers, but as the game goes on you build in strength and are eventually able to call upon Corpsers and tear the COG up.

Sony announce Playstation 4 Sam Dumitriu

Not content with offering chainsaw bayonetted assault rifles, Judgement expands the Gears of War arsenal with two new weapons, the Booshka and the Markza. The Booshka is a grenade launcher that fires small shells that ricochet around the map, detonating on impact with an enemy. The Markza on the other hand is a semi-automatic rifle with a sniper scope, that’s deadly at a distance. Gears of War: Judgement is set to be a worthy instalment in the Gears franchise.

Sony’s latest console is set to be in shops before Christmas Sony has announced that the Play Station 4 will be in US stores as early as Christmas 2013, with the UK expecting movement in the first quarter of 2014. But will the PS4 offer the features required to top the Xbox? In terms of Hardware the PS4 will run on a single-chip custom processor and use eight X8664 AMD Jaguar CPU stores. Sony have also committed to using a next-gen AMD Radeon based graphics engine. All in all the PS4 will be powerful, but questions will remain over how innovative this system will look a couple of years after release. Here’s to hoping the

ability of the console to devote more processing power to the gaming-side of things will see Sony get plenty out of this system. It is worth noting that the 18 processing clusters, each with 64 cores should pack a greater punch than what Microsoft have currently indicated they will put in the rival Xbox console. Looking past the boring technical stuff the PS4 will have 8 GB of memory, Blu-ray and DVD compatibility and HDMI output, making it a good all round device. The console will also offer Ultra HD video quality as a playback function, but the in game quality will come just

shy of this. Some more exciting features will be on offer as well, including the PS4 eye. Ultimately a built-in camera device, the PS4 eye will differentiate between images of a player from the back and foreground as well as allowing users to log in via facial or voice recognition. Alongside the Play Station Move in game body interactions will add an interesting aspect to the PS4 s attractive repertoire. The controllers will don the classic Play Station skin but the Dual Shock 4 will have majorly upgraded vibration and enhanced motion sensors, as well as a touchpad on the front much like the Vita. Disappointingly for some the PS4 will not be compatible with PS3 titles, but gamers will be able to purchase classic titles on the Sony Entertainment network. At around £299 RRP and with Bungie and Ubisoft both committing titles on release the PS4 promises to be an exciting bit of kit.

Jack Crutcher

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ISSUE 16/ 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

BUCS Gatorade Nationals

University of Manchester returns triumphant from 6,000-strong student games

BOXING by Guy Michels

SWIMMING by Ella Stone

Lukasz Posnik returned from Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium as the new BUCS 71Kg novice boxing champion. In what was a highly exciting encounter the UoM student overcame Shay McCartney of Sheffield Hallam to claim an unanimous points decision. The opening round saw both fighters trade punches, with the Hallam boxer looking to take the fight to his Manchester opponent. However, it was Posnik who landed the cleaner shots, and towards the close of the first stanza began to gain the ascendancy through the use of his superior jab and dangerous straight. The opening minute of the second round continued in a similar pattern with the UoM student repelling his opponent’s advances with flurries of well timed punches. Sensing his growing superiority Posnik upped the ante, and it wasn’t long until a crisp combination forced McCartney to take a standing 8 count. Despite being momentarily shaken the Hallam boxer recovered well and even caught Posnik with a couple of powerful shots before the end of the round. Following one last debrief from the corner the duo returned to the centre of the ring for the final two minutes of what had been an action packed fight. Both men knew they still had a chance of claiming the victory, but fortunately for Posnik the final round continued in much the same vein as the previous two. The UoM student again landed the more telling blows and kept out of harm’s way, to the frustration of his tiring opponent. With the final bell signalling the end of the fight, it was of little surprise to hear all the judges scoring in favour of the UoM student, whose record now stands at 6 wins from 8 outings. After the fight a clearly delighted Posnik was quick to thank everyone from the University, as well as Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Club, for all their support and help over the past 3 years.

This year has seen yet another successful BUCS long course championship for the University of Manchester swimming team. Not only did we finish in 6th place overall behind the five ITC’s (Intensive Training Centres), but we were also only 23 points behind Bath University - a notable achievement. Some stand out swims to mention include Jen Titterington, who had multiple top 10 finishes including the 800 freestyle, 400IM and 200 fly, as did Vicky Garlick in the 200IM, 400 and 200 freestyle, and Daniel Mills in the 1500 and 400 freestyle. Other swimmers that gained those valuable point scoring top 10 finishes include Ella Stone in the 50, 100, and 200 backstroke, Yasmin Bithrey in the 100 fly, and Jess Powell in the 100 breastroke. Rebecca Guy also produced some impressive individual swims, not only making the final for the 50 breastroke but also winning a silver medal in the 50 freestyle and a bronze in the 100 freestyle, adding to her medal collection from previous BUCS championships. Leni Papadopoulos also won the multidisciplinary 100 fly and 200 IM as well as breaking both the British and European records in the 200 fly in a time of 2.41.41. Once again our relay teams produced some great results, with both freestyle teams progressing to the A final. The girls (Ella Stone, Rebecca Guy, Vicky Garlick and Yasmin Bithrey) finished 4th missing out on a medal by only a second and the boys (Tom Moss, Justin Craig, James Garland and Danny Mills) finished 9th. Both teams also broke club records in this event, and over the whole weekend six club records were broken, showing how the swimming team is not only keeping up with the competition in the pool but also improving consistently on our own achievements. So, overall the BUCS weekend saw some fantastic swims, and the team looks forward to achieving even higher next year.

Boxer Lukasz Posnik (left) alongside trainer Nigel Travis

Swimmer Eleni Papadopoulos was in action for UoM

TRAMPOLINING by Andrew Georgeson

OTHER SPORTS by Matthew Barber

The University of Manchester trampoline club, captained by Camren Williams, returned from the 2013 BUCS Open in Sheffield with their first trophy victory for over five years. The competition was split into five categories based on experience and the top twelve from each category would go on to receive a place in Sunday’s final. Should a team get three or more competitors through from the top four categories competing, they would then form a team which would go on to compete on the Sunday. The competition was fierce with some categories having nearly 200 competitors in, making Manchester’s achievements all the more impressive. Manchester men’s squad had a brilliant weekend with Matty Burton, Paul Quarton and Chris Wort all progressing through to the final and ultimately coming away national champions in the team event. Although the women’s team got three competitors through to Sunday’s final in Ruth Shevelan, Dawn Pickavance and Katey Phillps, the difference in categories they performed in unfortunately meant they were not eligible to form a team. First-year student Alice O’Grady had this to say about the weekend. ‘It was a great experience to perform in front of a massive audience, and we were extremely proud as a team to come away with such a brilliant result and get so many competitors through to the finals.’ The team would also like to pass on their thanks to coach Sarah Scott who travelled with the team to Sheffield.

ATHLETICS Sport scholars Scott Wong and Jack Andrew were the standout UoM achievers at the EIS, as both made the final of their respective events. Wong finished 4th in the final of the shot putt, while Andrew, a decathlete by trade, came 5th in both the pole vault and 60m hurdles. Having battled through tough heats, this was an excellent achievement by the two athletes. The UoM Trampolining Club pose for a photo

JUDO It was a succesful weekend for the Judo team, as Rosana Dutkiewicz and Sigita Zigure won gold medals in each of their individual weight categories and Steven Woltering claimed a bronze. KARATE The karate team celebrated a great championship at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge. The women’s team were awarded the bronze in Kumite, whilst individuals Christina Finta, Erica Pericas-Hewitt, Holly Carey and Victoria Ogunseitan secured further bronze medals in their various Kumite categories. Plus, Brian Kayanga went on to secure the gold medal in the Men’s Senior Kumite.

It was a good weekend for UoM Judo

THE VERDICT AU Chair Andrew Cowan said ‘Well done to all the competitors that took part in the BUCS Gatorade Nationals 2013. It was a fantastic weekend for Manchester and it was great to see so many purple vests out there representing the University. Teams have been training hard for this event and it really paid off with lots of points gained to secure our overall position in the BUCS table.’

BOWLING Chris Lam put in a top performance to reclaim his gold medal in the men’s individual ten pin bowling. FENCING Fencer Mihai Rascu picked up silver after a fantastic performance in men’s foil event. BADMINTON Ben Dolman reached the quarter finals of the men’s individual tournament but was knocked out by Manchester graduate, now Leeds postgraduate, Jamie Bonsels, who finished 2nd overall.

SPORT : 31

ISSUE 16/ 4th MARCH 2013 WWW.MANCUNION.COM/

Samaggi Games come to Manchester Over 2,000 students from across the country descended on the city for annual Thai sporting event Carissa Sirikitputtisak On Saturday February 23rd 2013, the Thai Society of Manchester (TSM) hosted Samaggi Games at Sportcity sports district. This year over 1,000 Thai athletes from 55 universities came in from across the United Kingdom to participate in the annual Thai sports tournament. The event was sponsored by Samaggi Samagom, the Thai Student Association in the UK, which was founded in 1901 by Thailand’s (then known as Siam) King Rama VI. Another 1,200 Thai students came to cheer on the athletes making this year’s event one of the largest Samaggi Games ever held and marked the first time the games had been hosted in Manchester. The event was organised by Samaggi president Pongnakorn “Tone” Pochakorn and his staff: TSM president, University of Manchester Chemical Engineering PhD candidate Tule “Tyun” Sirikitputtisak, and a group of 60 dedicated TSM volunteers from the Universities of Manchester, Salford, and Manchester Metropolitan. Sports played included men’s and women’s squash, men’s and women’s 4 x 100m relay, mixed 8 x 100m relay, men’s and women’s doubles badminton, mixed doubles badminton, men’s

and women’s doubles tennis, basketball, and football. The event also included cultural play including tug of war, a three-legged race, an eating game, and the Thai games of wing-peaw and chairball. Chairball is a popular Thai sport that resembles basketball or netball. The baskets are held up on each side of the court by a person standing on a chair who can move the basket to catch the ball thrown by their team to score points. Each basket is assigned a blocker from the opposing team who stands in front of the basket holder to block any incoming passes. Similarly to netball, the ball is moved by passing player to player. Running with the ball or dribbling is not allowed. Chairball is predominately a female sport but each team is permitted a maximum of three male players who can play the positions of blocker and basket holder where height is an advantage. The universities were divided into six regions: Upper North, Lower North, Midland, South, West, and London. Manchester competed for Lower North Region along with Leeds, Lancaster, York, Huddersfield, Liverpool, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, Nottingham, and Nottingham Trent to take third place overall with two gold medals and four bronze. The Midland

The University of Manchester Thai Society pose for a photo during the games. Photo; University of Manchester Thai Society.

Region came in second place with three gold and seven bronze, and London Region placed first with six gold, six silver, and two bronze. Imperial College London won the trophy for the school with the highest medal count with an impressive three gold, three silver, and one bronze. The Midland Region was awarded the trophy for the best cheering section. Students from the

University of Manchester won two medals at the games. Materials Science PhD student Poonsuk “Nook” Poosimma won a gold medal in Women’s Squash after a 2-0 victory in the finals over the University of Southampton. Badminton Men’s Doubles duo Tanapat “Kan” Wilaingam, a second year Civil Engineering student, and Jirapas “Pao” Tantipiriyakij, a first year Architecture

student, took home the bronze medal after a 21-18 win over the University of East Anglia. In addition to Thai athletes and students, the event also welcomed distinguished visitors from the Royal Thai Embassy in London including the Education Minister from the Office of Educational Affairs, Dr. Piyawat Sivaraks, and the Thai Ambassador to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, H.E. Mr.

Pasan Teparak, who presided over the opening and closing ceremonies. “[The] Samaggi Games was a great success, thanks to our volunteers and athletes,” posted TSM president Tyun Sirikitputtisak on the society’s facebook page. “Our facilities, organization, volunteers, and attendance have set a very high standard for years to come.”

Beautiful game, ugly fans

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Spartak Moscow fans clash with police Photo: Wikimedia Commons

SPORT

4TH MAR 2013/ ISSUE 16 FREE : @Mancunion_Sport : /TheMancunion

MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

UoM return triumphant from BUCS Nationals

P30

Thai Society host Samaggi Games

UoM dreaming of double after semi-final win

WWW.MANCUNION.COM

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BUCS

Hockey MEN’S NORTHERN 1A P

Pts

Manchester 1st

Durham 2nd

Newcastle 1st

Sheffield 1st

MMU Cheshire 1st

-37

Liverpool JM 1st

-35

BUCS HOCKEY TROPHY 2012/13 SEMI FINAL RESULTS: Wednesday 27th Feb Manchester 1st 1-0

Birm’ham 2nd

Newcastle 1st

4-0

Exeter 2nd

THE FINAL: Tuesday 19th March (venue tbc) Manchester 1st v Birmingham 2nd

BUCS rankings PTS

Manchester take on Newcastle back in February 2012 Photo: Paul Campbell

University of Manchester 1st

Newcastle University 1st Andrew Georgeson The University of Manchester secured their place in the BUCS Hockey Trophy final with a close 1-0 victory over Newcastle University at the Armitage. The team went into the match already having won the Northern 1A division, in which they played Newcastle twice, winning once and drawing their second match. Despite the fact that the two teams knew each other well, there was still a distinctively cup tie feel about the match with both teams showing lack of quality in the

final third during the opening exchanges. Although Newcastle’s slick passing seemed to cause problems at first, it was Manchester who came closest to breaking the deadlock with Osbourne firing just wide before Plummer’s shot was well saved from a penalty corner. However, much of the first half was a disjointed affair, with free hits a constant occurence as boh sides struggled to gain control. The goal the game desperately needed came in the 28th minute. A free hit from Clemenson was played

to Osbourne, who turned on Newcastle defender before sliding it underneath the oncoming goalkeeper. Manchester started to turn the screw after taking the lead. Another shot at the Newcastle goal strayed agonizingly wide, before the Newcastle goalkeeper made an excellent diving save from a Plummer shot. Newcastle picked themselves up for a last attack on the Manchester goal before the first half drew to a close; however, the defence coped excellently with anything that was thrown at them. Before the half was finished, Stateford managed to release Douley who found Radcliffe in an excellent position in front of goal; unfortunately, he was unable to control the pass and the ball ran out of play, ending the first half. It did not take long for Manchester to find their rhythm in the second half

with Osbourne having a shot saved with only two minutes on the clock. Much of Manchester’s play in the second half came from the outstanding Capper. Every aspect of his game in the second half was excellent, setting up three chances in as many minutes by playing great passes to Plummer and Mullholland before one of his runs ended in gaining Manchester a free hit. Despite the early Manchester dominance they were still unable to break the deadlock. Ten minutes into the second half, however, it appeared that the deadlock had been broken from a penalty corner. First Trent hit the crossbar then Mulholland’s attempt was blocked before Dutoy finished. Initially it appeared as if the goal had been rewarded and the teams were ready to push back again, however, after consultation with his second

official, the referee ruled the goal out. In truth a goal would have ended the game as a contest, but despite the fact it was dubiously dissalowed, Manchester did not let it dishearten them, keeping the pressure on Newcastle to the extent that Newcastle had only one venture into their opponent’s D. The match ended in one final attack from Manchester with Osbourne breaking with a two on one overlap. He cleverly released the extra man but he was fouled by the Newcastle striker, gaining a free hit which eventually came to nothing. The final whistle went and, despite the early problems, Manchester had totally dominated Newcastle to book their place in the BUCS trophy final and give themselves a great chance of completing a league and cup double.

Loughborough University

2852

Durham University

2173.5

University of Birmingham

1964

University of Bath

1891.75

University of Exeter

1869

University of Nottingham

1744.5

Leeds Met Carnegie

1677

University of Manchester

1606

University of Edinburgh

1366

Newcastle University

1323.5

University of Bristol

1316

Oxford University

1274.5

Cardiff University

1010

Northumbria University

1003.75

Oxford University

997

University of Warwick

818

Cardiff Metropolitan

780.5

Nottingham Trent

756

Swansea University

580

University of Stirling

582