2nd MAR 2015/ ISSUE 17 FREE
MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
Manchester Academy Launch Brightside IPA
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Are MPs Worth The Cash?
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University Free Speech Rankings Released
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- Thursday the 26th saw the largest ever Reclaim the Night march in the UK, here on the University of Manchester campus, with over 2000 student protestors attending to light up the city and fill the streets with noise Jenny Sterne & Lauren Gorton News Editors On Thursday the 26th of February over 2000 students took to the streets of Manchester for the Reclaim the Night 2015 march. Making the Manchester march the largest ever Reclaim the Night in the UK. The march is described by the organisers as a chance to light up the city of Manchester, amplify our collective voices and take to the streets and say ‘NO’ to sexual violence against women, street harassment, rape culture and victim blaming. As stated on the Reclaim the Night Facebook page recent surveys of young women show that 43 per cent have reported being sexually harassed in a public place in the last 12 months. A 2013 Home Office study
showed that one in five women have been sexually assaulted since the age of 16, yet only 15 per cent felt able to report this to the authorities. In Manchester specifically recent statistics published by Greater Manchester Police have shown that student rapes have increased 100 per cent this academic year in comparison to last year. Further this year numerous incidents have been reported even at student led events such as the ‘Pangaea: Rumble in the Jungle’ event in September. The march, which was fronted by a women
against sexual violence. Protestors donned neon face paints and glowsticks, as well as many homemade placards, some of the most powerful of which read statements such as; “my cunt, you cunt,” “even my dog understands no” and “girls just want to have FUN-damental rights.” In a public statement on the Reclaim the Night 2015 Facebook group Lishak said: “What an amazing night! Thank you all for coming and making Manchester reclaim the night 2015 the biggest (ever) in the UK and too visible to ignore.
only block, kick-started in Owens Park at 7pm and proceeded through the Curry Mile until the student protestors reached the University of Manchester Student Union. At the Union Jess Lishak, Womens’ Officer and a key organiser of the event, addressed the crowds and led the protestors in chants
“We hope you enjoyed the incredible and empowering evening as much as we did, and see you next year!”
Continued on Page 3... Photo: The Mancunion
02 : NEWS
ISSUE 18/ 9th MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Highlights P13
Music: Live – Pond
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Picture of the week - “Flipping good pancakes!” Picture of the week - “Breaking news: Spring comes to Manchester.” Temperatures rose this week as Manchester finally saw some sun. Photo: The Mancunion
Government invest over £500000 into student voting
Film: Focus
Plans to invest £530000 to encourage students to register to vote for the upcoming 2015 General Election after many are thought to have dropped off the electoral register Joe Astill News Reporter
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Theatre: Interview: Dylan Moran
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A sum of £530000 is to be invested in to a scheme devised to persuade students across the country to vote in the upcoming 2015 General Election. £380000 of the money will go to the NUS who will use it to host a nationwide competition involving creating and promoting ideas to persuade students to register to vote. The Students’ Unions of universities across the country will ask their students to team up and think of ideas that will be most effective in getting students to register to vote. The best idea will receive £10000 to fund their project. The remaining £150000 will go to other organisations in the further education sector. This news comes as a link was recently suggested between the newly introduced (in June 2014) Individual Electoral Registration method (IER) and a drop in the aggregate registration rate in each constituency. IER means that everyone wishing to vote in future elections will have to register individually rather than one person in each household registering for the rest of the inhabitants of the household. Previously for students, if they lived in student accommodation then their university would be able to register everyone living in halls of residence at once, however since IER has been introduced students
have to register themselves individually regardless of whether they live in student accommodation or not. Due to this, there are fears that students will be underrepresented in the upcoming election. Critics of this correlation have called it spurious as the initial data showing registration rates in each constituency was an aggregate and did not actually show how many students had fallen off the register.
Sub-Editors: Morgan Hollet, Gemma Sowerby, James Jackman & Charlotte Pangraz
Lifestyle: Blind Date
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News Editors: Anna Phillips, Lauren Gorton, Jenny Sterne & Helen Chapman news@mancunion.com
www.mancunion.com
Science & Technology Editor: Andy van den Bent-Kelly
Facebook: The Mancunion Twitter: @TheMancunion
Features Editor: Roberta Rofman features@mancunion.com
Editor-in-chief : Aidan Gregory editor@mancunion.com
Opinion Editors: Morris Seifert & Marcus Johns opinion@mancunion.com
Deputy Editor-in-chief : Charlie Spargo deputyed@mancunion.com Postal address: Univerity of Manchester Students’ Union, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PR Phone 0161 275 2933
Fashion Editors: Aimée Grant Cumberbatch & Gráinne Morrison Beauty Editor: Nikki Patel fashion@mancunion.com
However, a study conducted by contributors to the London School of Economics General Election blog found that there was a strong correlation between the proportion of students living in halls of residence in each constituency, and declining registration rates since the introduction of IER—suggesting that it has had an effect on students living in halls.
Photo: Mykl Roventine @ Flickr
Food & Drink Editors: Elena Gibbs & Adam Fearn foodanddrink@mancunion.com Film Editors: James Moules, Thomas Bruce, Martin Solibakke, & Andriana Hambi film@mancunion.com
Sport Editors: Andrew Georgeson & Will Kelly Sports Reporter: Liam Kelly sport@mancunion.com Theatre Editor: Nicole Tamer theatre@mancunion.com
Books Editors: Leonie Dunn & Ali Pearson books@mancunion.com
Arts Editor: Holly Smith arts@mancunion.com
Games Editors: James Thursfield & Matthew Cole games@mancunion.com
Photography: Hannah Brierley photography@mancunion.com
Lifestyle Editors: Kitty Treverton Jones & Molly Allen mancunion.life@gmail.com Music Editors: Patrick Hinton, Samuel Ward, Lowell Clarke, and Daniel Whiteley music@mancunion.com
If you have any comments or questions, or would like to contribute, please e-mail the Editor-in-chief or Deputy Editor-in-chief. The times of meetings are listed on our website.
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
NEWS : 03
Why you Reclaimed the Night ...Continued from Page 1 “It was incredible to see so many people at Reclaim the Night, and the feeling on the march was electric. I particularly enjoyed talking to people before the march and hearing all the reasons people were choosing to take a stand. “It was also really important to me to talk about Nightline to people throughout the night, as Nightline provides through its service a safe space to talk about your feelings and experiences, whether about sexual assault or anything else, as well as information on services relevant to you, or even just a person to talk to if you’re walking alone and want to chat to someone.” –Hannah Jewell speaking on behalf of Nightline
“After stewarding my second time with the Reclaim the Night gang, I can honestly say it’s a fantastic experience. I saw some old faces from last year as well as so many new ones. “You have to be a bit of a bad cop, and try and keep everyone within the cones, but that’s only because people get carried away—which is amazing! We’re just there to ensure everyone’s safe. “But, that doesn’t mean to say I wasn’t sporting my neon face paint, screaming along with the enthusiastic chants and getting as many passing cars to make some noise as possible! “We will be heard, and I can’t wait to see how big it becomes next year!” –Rebecca Rigg, 3rd Year student and volunteer steward
“Liberation has always stood at the heart of our politics, so naturally Reclaim the Night has always been one of our favourite events of the year. However, this year—following all of the high profile sexual assaults that have taken place—marching for our liberation and in solidarity felt more important than ever. “There was an incredible atmosphere of unity and support as we marched along, chanting and waving placards. It was also really encouraging to have been joined by such a great number of male allies who understood the importance of Reclaim the Night. “We all had an incredible time at Reclaim the Night and look forward to marching together in solidarity for years to come.” –Manchester Labour Students “Reclaim the Night is arguably the most special and subversive night in the University of Manchester calendar. It offers all students the opportunity to reclaim the streets from gendered, sexual and societal discrimination and to voice their solidarity in demanding a society which is free from these injustices. “Save Our NHS Manchester powerfully marched yesterday evening, Reclaiming the Night and demanding; no ifs, no buts, no rape crisis cuts! We hope to have highlighted the disastrous extent of cuts to services for victims of rape, domestic abuse and sexual violence. “This slashing of essential services are part of Manchester Council’s £58 Million public sector cuts, which are systematically destroying the lives of some of the most vulnerable in society!”
“The event was incredibly empowering and it was a powerful thing to see so many people marching in solidarity. It’s important at events such as Reclaim the Night to acknowledge the diversity of people who are angry and want change, and that’s why I marched—to make sure my voice as a queer woman was heard.” –Monica Dhillon , Communications Officer for Manchester LGBTQ Society
“The Mancunion were present at Reclaim the Night because we wanted to amplify what we believe to be a fundamental issue, not just for students or women, but people everywhere. We are tired of reporting incidents of students being sexually assaulted or raped on our campus—the one place all students ought to be safe. “We feel it is our duty to support our Union’s declaration of solidarity with victims everywhere, and add our voice to that of the Union’s.” –The Mancunion Editorial Team
“The work of MASH has always been about the safety of women - it is at the heart of what we do - and we were very pleased to see so many people voicing this important issue.” –Helen Clayton for Manchester Action on Street Health
–Hannah McCarthy for Save our NHS Manchester Photos: The Mancunion
The Israeli West Bank Barrier. Photo: meexplore @Flickr
ISSUE 17/ 2nd March 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
NEWS : 04
80 per cent of UK Universities restrict freedom of speech
Jenny Sterne News Editor
The Free Speech University Rankings (FSUR) is the UK’s first university rankings for free speech. The survey was launched by Spiked a UK-based online magazine. They have surveyed all British universities, examining the policies and actions of Universities and students’ union. The project has grown out of Spiked’s student run free speech campaign ‘Down with Campus Censorship!’ which launched in March 2014. FSUR questioned whether students are free to speak their minds on campus. The have ranked them in a traffic-light system, with red meaning the University or Students’ Union has actively censored speech and expression, amber meaning they have chilled speech and expression through excessive regulation and green meaning they have not restricted or regulated speech and expression. The survey revealed that when ranked individually, students’ unions far more restrictive than universities. 9.5 per cent of universities gained a red ranking compared to 51 per cent of Students’ Unions. The most popular bans were of The Sun, in protest of the existence of page 3 and Robin Thicke’s song ‘Blurred Lines’. The most censorious policies were found to be Bullying and Harassment policies, censorious external speaker policies,No Platform policy and censorious Safe Space policies. Spiked noted however that holding one of these policies did not constitute an immediate offence - they are each
assessed on the basis of their content. The universities who came first in free speech rankings, being classed as the most open universities, included Trinity St David, Buckingham, Liverpool Hope and Southampton Solent. At the bottom of the class, the most restrictive universities included Essex, Bath Spa, Northampton, Portsmouth and UWE. Overall The University of Manchester received an amber ranking. The University itself received a green ranking, meaning it places no limits as an institution on speech and expression. However the Students’ Union received an amber ranking as it restricts societies from promoting extremist causes as part of its Safe Space policy. The policy states that societies must ensure they, or an invited speaker do not ‘promote or recruit ideologies or groups’ and refrain from using ‘discriminatory language’. The students’ union also passed a notion to boycott The Sun back in 2013, coming on the heels of the ‘No More Page 3’ campaign. The Students’ Union also made the decision to ban the controversial Charlie Hebdo cartoon from this year’s Refreshers’ Fair, as reported in The Mancunion. “The challenges as an organisation, representing such a diverse membership, is balancing the freedom of speech and the freedom to be in a space free from offence. We believe as an organisation that we should protect our members from oppression, bigotry, racism, sexism and homophobia and sometimes that means making decisions on what people are and are not allowed to say.
Lost or found? M-RAG to put students into the wild The committee from the Manchester Raising and Giving (RAG) have launched a new way of fundraising for charity through an event called LOST, though we are hoping to not actually lose any students in the process Aileen Rose Duffy News Reporter
The description of LOST is the exact opposite of the commonly performed charity fundraiser ‘Breakout’ where teams of two individuals aim to get as far away as possible from a certain area within 24 hours, on a minimal or no budget. LOST is the reverse of this race, aiming to put students from Manchester in an unknown location with the aim of getting back to Manchester within 24 hours. The teams will also have to complete a list of challenges given to them by the coordinators related to their specific location. The first team to get back will be the winners. Those who are interested in taking part can sign up online through the Students’ Union, and a meeting is being held on Tuesday the 3rd of March in room 6 of the Students’ Union to provide further details for those wishing to take part. The LOST event itself is expected to take place of Friday the 20th of March, the day semester two ends and Easter break begins. RAG are hoping that those who sign up will be able to raise £80 towards the charity in their teams. Organised by the RAG committee, LOST is hoping to raise money for the Mines Advisory Group known as MAG International. They are a charity that work to create a safe and secure future for men, women, and children
who have been affected by armed violence and conflict. MAG have worked in more than 40 countries since being founded in 1989. Their efforts include reclaiming land contaminated with the remnants of conflict, such as landmines, cluster munitions, bombs, shells and mortars. They also use their funding and resources to strategically find way of reducing the daily risk of death or injury for civilians in affected areas. The RAG committee behind LOST are hoping to help the Mines Advisory Group to create safe and secure conditions for development. MAG is currently working in 16 countries, including Chad, Somalia, and South Sudan. Speaking on the upcoming LOST event, Matthew Lo, the head-organiser of LOST and a RAG committee member, said: “It’s for such a good cause, it’s not like a conventional charity like Oxfam. MAG are really out there, changing lives and helping people in danger. They’re trying to rehabilitate people affected by war, so we want to do as much as we can for it. “It’s quite a cool way to raise money. It’s all good fun and has a great outcome. It seemed right to do it due to the success of Breakout last year. The challenges we’re setting for the journey are still being decided, but they won’t be as bad as last year!”
Our role is to facilitate debates within the scope of our members beliefs - as the Safe Space policy was voted for by our members - while at the same time allowing there to be debate about issues themselves. We do not have an equal and inclusive society, but that is what we seek to establish within our Union and the Safe Space policy is designed to ensure that our diverse student community can feel comfortable in their Union. It is not designed to restrict, critique or prohibit challenge but to accommodate this in a respectful way; we facilitate many controversial discussions and activities every week. Respect and tolerance are key to a thriving, educational environment and to achieve this people
need to feel at ease to participate. In this policy we acknowledge that their contributions are valued, enriching, that they have the right to be heard and that we will protect their right to be heard.” After the success of the FSUR and to celebrate ‘Down with Campus Censorships’ first birthday, Spiked in going to be touring UK universities to spread the fight for free speech. There will debates held in Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Manchester and more to be announced. For more information on the debates and to read to student reporting on campus free-speech issues visit: www.spiked-online.com/dwcc
Photo: waltjabsco@flickr
Students face ‘unlawful’ conduct at universities Anna Phillips News Editor
“Students deserve to know what they can expect from a course before signing up so that they can be confident they will get what they pay for,” he said.
An investigation has revealed that many UK universities may breach consumer law. The consumer watchdog Which? has shown that due to increased marketization in higher educa-
The report shows that some of the worst offending institutions were able to make drastic changes to course structures after students had enrolled, and changes to the type of assessments used.
tion, more than half of British universities may
Some other examples of potentially ‘unlawful’
breach the 1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Con-
practice include one university’s statement that
tracts Regulations.
“fees are subject to annual increase”, and “students
A series of freedom of information (FOI) requests have been analysed, and, only five per cent of universities use terms that Which? considers to be good practice. 20 per cent of institutions were shown to offer ‘unlawful’ terms, while 31 per cent used terms which are ‘likely to be unlawful’. Only one university, the University of York, meets the best practice criteria. This follows a previous report, which found that
accept fees in the second year and subsequent years of study will increase”. 26 institutions used terms deemed to be unlawful, allowing them, “unfettered discretion to increase fees year-on-year, where no indication is given as to the likely size of the increase,” Which? said. Of the providers approached by Which?, ten failed to respond to the FOI request, and 49 were criticised for failing to provide adequate information for analysis.
an increasing amount of students feel that their de-
Which? has passed the evidence to the Competi-
gree is not value for money following the steep rise
tion and Markets Authority (CMA), and called for
in tuition fees.
the entire sector to come together to draw up clear
A second year English Language and Film student
terms that comply with consumer law.
at the University of Manchester, who has on aver-
Since this report, Labour have announced that
age six contact hours on a non-tutorial week, said:
would cut university tuition fees in England to
“When you work out how much money we pay per
£6,000 per year from autumn 2016.
day to study, the calculations do not add up.
The Labour leader attacked Liberal Democrat
“Universities have become more corporate, and
leader Nick Clegg for his U-turn on tuition fees,
when you consider their turnover from invest-
which he said: “left a whole generation doubting pol-
ments it does not make sense that we pay so much
itics - doubting anyone can be believed or trusted”.
for so few contact hours,” she added. Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which? said: “It’s worrying to see such widespread use of unfair terms in university contracts.
Ed Miliband says a Labour government would pay for the fee cut from £9,000 by reducing tax relief on pensions for those earning over £150,000 per year.
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
NEWS : 05
A Blend on the Brightside Andy van den Bent-Kelly Science & Technology Editor
If you were to list things commonly associated with students, beer would almost certainly make the cut. But the image of students as rowdy lager louts is changing rapidly. In recent years there’s been something of a revolution in the beer world. For every student you see exploiting the ‘two crates of Stella for £19’ deal at Sainsbury’s, you’re likely to notice several others hovering around the ale section in the neighbouring aisle. The number of young people drinking real ales has skyrocketed in recent years, with more students than ever opting to try beers typically associated with the older generation instead of the usual lager selection. It was with this in mind that when the Students’ Union decided to launch a new beer, they sought out a local brewery to produce an ale for them. An India Pale Ale (IPA) to be precise. Academy IPA was officially launched in the Union Bar on 25th February to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Manchester Academy. Created by local brewers the Brightside Brewing Company, with whom the Union already have close ties, the beer has been a year in the making and is now available at all the Union’s music venues. During the event, I spoke to Carley Friedrich, the Director of Sales and Marketing at Brightside – over a pint, of course. Firstly, I asked her what the inspiration behind the new beer was. “For the style, we wanted something that would have a large appeal to customers,” she explained. “We aimed for a popular style, so we went for an IPA. At the moment, IPAs are really, really popular in the drinking community. A lot of people like golden ales or IPAs.” India Pale Ales are commonly found in pubs and supermarkets. The name is slightly misleading – they do not originate from India. Rather, they were originally brewed for export there. Many of the pale ales that dominated the English beer scene in the late 18th Century couldn’t survive the long trip to India. IPAs were subsequently developed to cater for the many expats who longed for home comforts in the form of beer. With more hops and higher alcohol content, they not only endured the journey but actually benefited from it. The need for a new beer in the Union and its associated music venues arose from the fact that
Academy IPA is available in bottles, cask and keg. Photo: University of Manchester Students’ Union
vast quantities of ale were being consumed there on a daily basis. “The bar is going through so much real ale, in the bottles and in the casks, we thought ‘Well, we’ll sort it out!’” explained Carley. “It took quite a while to get round to it. Because we’ve been expanding, it’s been quite difficult to fit it in. But now that we’ve got an 18-barrel plant we’ve got plenty of capacity to brew for them and keep on top of it!” I asked Carley about the ale revolution currently sweeping the younger generation. Her delight was clearly apparent. “It’s really interesting to see actually,” she stated. “I go to all sorts of different pubs. It used to be that it was the old guys drinking the real ales – now you chat to people and there are a lot of young people drinking ale. “A lot of the older guys are now sticking to what they know and drinking Carlsberg and John Smith’s! It’s quite odd, although the majority of them are still drinking real ales. “The growth, even since we started, has been really impressive. We’ve been going for four years and now it’s quite rare not to have a hand pull or some kind of bottle-conditioned beers in the fridge in most places. “Even places you wouldn’t really associate with ales – we supply the Hilton Double Tree! They’ve just installed a hand pull.” The new breed of real ale enthusiasts aren’t just young male adults though. Carley has noticed a huge variety of people strolling into pubs and shunning the lagers in favour of the ales. “It’s lost its image as a working man’s or old man’s drink. Now it’s universal – women drink it, old men, young men, anybody!” Brightside are only a few years old, but they’re already spreading rapidly through this corner of the country. While their distribution is currently limited to the North West and North Wales, brewery swaps that they participate in mean that their beers often reach other parts of the UK. “We started about five or six years ago. My mum and dad wanted to change businesses – they’d been in the bakery trade for about 25 years and they were fed up with getting up really early every morning!” she laughed. The idea of starting a brewery didn’t start in a pub, however. In fact, it was at a local farmers’ market that Carley’s parents found their inspiration. “Someone was selling beer there and they saw that there were loads of people buying it,” she explained. “They thought ‘Oh, it must be nice!’ so they took it
Photo: The Mancunion
home and tried it. It was really bad! Really, really bad beer! “So my dad thought, ‘Well if this beer is selling so well and it tastes so bad, I can make a better beer and make loads of money!’ “He got his old home brewing equipment out and took it to the bakery. He had a bit of a play around with it.” Since that day, the family haven’t looked back. A pilot plant with two and a half barrels was set up, capable of producing 10 gallons at a time. Any beer that they produced was given away to friends in the hope that they would provide constructive feedback. “We started by brewing once a week, then that increased to three times a week,” Carley said. The landmark moment occurred roughly two years ago, when the family sold the bakery and moved into the brewery in Radcliffe. With 18 barrels, they are capable of producing multiple casks every day. The company continues to expand. “We’ve just ordered two more fermenters, which will bring our brew capacity up to 200 casks a week,” Carley said. Academy IPA is their most recent creation. It’s a modern, zingy ale with an alcohol content of 4.5 per cent. The beer contains four different types of hops, all beginning with the letter ‘c’ and all hailing from the United States: Cascade, Columbus, Citra and Comet. Carley stated, “Initially we were thinking of going for a New World style IPA, with Australian hops, but when it came down to it, we decided to go for an American one. American IPAs are quite popular. “Usually we don’t tell people too often what’s in
their beers, my dad’s quite paranoid that people will try to copy them! But to be honest, you could give the ingredients to anyone and say, ‘Here are the four hops, go and make the beer’ and they’d all be different! The water’s different, the malts are different, what you do with the hops, you know, where they are in the boil, how long you leave them boiling for – it can all change things.” Despite being a real ale enthusiast, I often find it hard to describe the flavours in a beer. So who better to ask for a definitive description of the taste than someone from within the industry itself? “I find it quite hard to describe them as well!” she laughed. “With wines I can be quite precise, but with beers I find it hard to pinpoint a particular flavour.” Nevertheless, she took a few sips and gave me a professional description. “It’s very hoppy and it’s quite bitter on the back palate. It’s quite fruity but not in a cloudy way. It’s quite bitter citrus, I’d say grapefruity. Quite often with American hops, you get a lot of citrus.” Since that first sample, I’ve enjoyed several more pints of Academy. And it would appear that there are many other students at the university who share my view. After the Reclaim the Night march, which took place the following day, the Union Bar ran out of the new IPA in seemingly no time. If you visit Brightside Brewing Company’s website and head to the ‘About us’ section, you’ll see their mission statement proudly printed at the top. It reads: “Beer should taste like beer!” Based on their latest creation, it’s fair to say that they’re sticking to their values.
06 : NEWS
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Alan Turing’s family present University to celebrate petition to David Cameron “philanthropy day”
A petition created by journalist Matthew Breen demanding that all 49,000 men convicted under the infamous UK homosexuality laws be pardoned was presented by the family of Alan Turing to David Cameron Lauren Gorton News Editor
A Change.org petition has been created demanding the government pardon all 49000 men convicted under the infamous homosexualITY laws. The petition was presented by the family of Alan Turing, including his great nephew and niece, to David Cameron in Downing Street on Monday the 23rd of February. Turing is most famous for his accomplishments during World War II, in which he worked in Britain’s code breaking centres and was responsible for breaking many of the encrypted codes used by the German navy. The story of Turing is of
gathered over 575000 signatories from over 74 countries. It is believed that 15000 of the men convicted under these laws are still alive today and under law, without a pardon, are still currently considered as sex offenders. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, alongside other young leaders, have also been asked in an open letter to The Guardian to give their support to the petition. However a spokesman for the couple said they had declined to comment as the matter, being political, was a matter for government to decide upon. Little is yet known as to how David Cameron has responded to the petition or if it will have any further consequence, however with February being LGBT month the matter is all the more poignant for those who support the petition.
The University of Manchester will be kicking off a month long celebration of the importance and impact of philanthropy on Tuesday the 3rd of March. It is hoped that the celebrations will encourage both students and staff to recognise the generosity of donors. Since UMIST and Victoria University merged in 2004, over 9300 individuals have donated over £22 million to support students and research at UoM. On philanthropy day students can visit stands at University Place and the Students’ Union where you can sign thank you cards for donors. Donations made to the university go towards projects such as helping students from low-income backgrounds and developing countries, battling cancer and climate change, and enriching the Manchester experience for students. Students can get involved on social media. Keep an eye out for I Love UoM stickers around campus. The best selfie explaining what they love about UoM will win a University of Manchester hoody. Enter by using #ILoveUoM on Facebook or Twitter for your chance to win. You can also be in with a chance of winning a Summer Term Unirider Bus Pass (worth £60) or a Key to the City Card Manchester discount card (RRP £35) by sharing your views on charitable giving. The survey closes on the 13th of March. Throughout the month the University of Manchester
Alumni Association will be posting a lot of interesting facts and stories about the impact of philanthropy at UoM via their Facebook page and Twitter account. Follow @alumniUoM to keep updated about events such as Celebration of Philanthropy day for donors on the 26th of March. When asked by The Mancunion why philanthropy day is important, Emma Brownlow, a Regular Giving Officer from the Division of Development and Alumni Relations, said: “The idea behind the day is both to raise awareness and to express thanks. Students often go through their whole university careers without realising that each day they are supported, in one way or another, by many generous people – most often people who were once Manchester students themselves, who love Manchester and choose to give something back by making donations.” She added further that “for the most part, there is a lack of understanding among students and staff members about why the University fundraises and asks for donations – hopefully this day will go some way in changing that. For those students who receive donor funded scholarships, these donations are life changing. Yet, other students may not realise that many of the activities they do, or facilities they use, have been made possible by our donors.”
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particular significance to students at the University of Manchester as following World War II Turing joined the Computing Laboratory at Manchester University, the precursor of the University of Manchester. Here Turing, amongst other accomplishments, helped to develop the Manchester
computers, some of the first storedprogram electronics computers. Unfortunately, four years later in 1952 Turing was to be prosecuted by the gross indecency law under the homosexual acts, which were finally repealed in 2003. Rather than be sentenced to prison Turing instead accepted as an alternative chemical castration by oestrogen injections. Two years later Turing died from cyanide poisoning, which, whilst widely considered to be an act of suicide, has also been argued to be consistent with accidental poisoning. Whilst Gordon Brown made a public apology in 2009 for the treatment of Turing and the Queen in 2013 granted him a posthumous pardon, the petition presented to David Cameron demands that all homosexual men convicted under the homosexual acts, some 49000 men, be officially pardoned. The Change.org petition, created by journalist Matthew Breen just over a month ago and backed by celebrities such as Stephen Fry and Benedict Cumberbatch, has
Kathryn Murray News Reporter
Have you received inspirational teaching or outstanding support from University staff this year?
Why not nominate your lecturer, graduate teaching assistant or support staff for a Manchester Teaching Award?
Guidance and nomination forms available at www.manchesterstudentsunion.com/teachingawards
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
NEWS : 07
Former GMP officer sentenced after filming up women’s skirts A former officer for Greater Manchester Police has been sentenced with voyeurism and outraging public decency after officers found evidence at his home including footage secretly filmed up women’s skirts and of individuals engaging in private acts at home Lauren Gorton News Editor On Monday 23rd of February Kevin Dwyer, a former servicing police officer, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court for possessing dozens of indecent videos, which were found on his computer and mobile phones. He pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism and ten counts of outraging public decency. Dwyer received a three-year community order, was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for five years, was issued a five year Sexual Offenders Prevention Order and was ordered to attend a Sex Offenders course. Dwyer was a serving officer with GMP at the time of the arrest and was suspended from duty for the course of the investigation. On Thursday 15 May 2014, a warrant was executed at Dwyer’s home address and officers carried out a search of the property. Officers seized three
computers, a Sony Camcorder, an iPad, a mobile phone and a number of memory cards, which were sent to GMP’s High Tech Crime Unit and were forensically examined. A significant number of videos containing footage filmed up women’s skirts and of people engaging in private acts in their own home, in Manchester, Chester and Warrington, were found. Dwyer is currently suspended from duty and following the conviction and sentence, GMP will now begin the misconduct proceedings. Detective Inspector Chris Packer from GMP’s Counter Corruption Unit, said: “When officers searched Dwyer’s house they seized his mobile phones and when they were examined by officers from the High Tech Crime Unit, a catalogue of indecent videos were uncovered that he had filmed over the course of a number of years. “These videos were filmed without the knowledge of his victims; showing a complete lack
of regard for their privacy for his own sexual pleasure. “The conduct of former PC Kevin Dwyer fell well short of what is expected of a police officer. “Police officers, staff and the communities of Greater Manchester would be appalled by his actions, which detract from the hard work that our officers and staff do on a daily basis. GMP expects the very highest standards of all its officers and staff. They should be honest and act with integrity and should not compromise or abuse their position. “When we receive information or intelligence that someone is involved in such immoral activity we will take decisive and robust action.” If anyone has concerns about any of the issues mentioned or feels they may have been a victim of voyeurism please call Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Visit a museum, find a new species Adam Draude & Daniel Han Science & Technology Reporters
Ancient lizard-dolphins known as ichthyosaurs thrived in the oceans of Earth from the Triassic Period to only millions of year before the extinction of dinosaurs. Recently, a new species has been identified, not in the ancient seabed, but in a museum. Dean Lomax, an Honorary Scientist at The University of Manchester and palaeontologist, has discovered a rare find that had been in plain sight for 30 years. Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery had the 180 million-odd year-old fossil, previously thought to be a plaster cast, in its collection for more than 30 years until Lomax spotted, in 2008, differences in the bone structure between the specimen and other ichthyosaurs of previously identified species. His realisation led to a five year
world tour comparing ichthyosaur bones with colleague, Professor Judy Massare of Brockport College, New York. His findings were published this week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. “After examining the specimen extensively, both Professor Massare and I identified several unusual features of the limb bones (humerus and femur) that were completely different to any other ichthyosaur known. That became very exciting. After examining perhaps over a thousand specimens we found four others with the same features as the Doncaster fossil.” “The recognition of this new species is very important for our understanding of ichthyosaur species’ diversity during the early Jurassic, especially from this time interval, ” Dean added. New species of ancient creatures are still being found all around the world. These are usually in the ground, but next time you visit a museum, keep your eyes peeled!
The fossil of an Ichthyosaurs. Photo: Ryan Somma @ Flickr
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08 : Features
ISSUE 17 / 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Photo: Dan Tentler @Flickr
Modafinil: Become a genius for a few hours? Is it possible to become smarter, more focused and alert for a few hours from just taking a pill? Modafinil is just one of many study drugs that has been associated with these effects. But can it be beneficial to student life? Roberta Rofman Features Editor
W
hat if there is a way to make yourself smarter, more focused and motivated for a few hours without any long term negative drawbacks? These are the characteristics given to Modafinil, one of the most popular and prevalent study drugs out there now. Originally used for narcolepsy, the drug has become more mainstream. Being seen as a drug that makes you a genius for a few hours, it’s easy to see the appeal of it and why people choose to take it. Modafinil is a central nervous stimulant and prevents excessive sleepiness, which narcolepsy is known for. It affects three sections of the brain, the dopamine system which will make you more alert and interested in something, norepinephrine which, again, makes you more alert and focused and finally histamine which will keep you awake. The drug claims to increase and focus attention on a certain task, enhance memory, motivation for a very generous length of time. It also claims to enhance short term memory by up to 10 per cent. By also keeping you awake, it seems to knock
caffeine out of the park. Some describe virtually no side effects from it, feeling calm, clear headed and focused while others say they feel agitated and anxious. Some students have reported the lack interest in socialising while on it as the mind is solely focused on working, which isn’t an awful thing given the reason that someone would take it. Julia Smith, of the Guardian , also reported that while Modafinil stopped her feeling sleepy, her body felt tired and lethargic. But, where there are highs, there are also lows. What goes up must come down as they say. A major crash after the effects have worn off can sometimes be expected, especially if someone has undertaken repeated dosages. The biggest drawback would be that it can mess up a person’s sleeping pattern if taken regularly. You are unable to fall asleep which becomes counterproductive given that we consolidate our memories in our sleep. The Guardian reported that some students, after regular does, felt trapped in a ‘twilight zone’ where they were neither awake nor asleep. Eventually, however, this would wear off, it’s never smart to take too much of anything. 1/5 students have taken Modafinil, according to The Guardian, and there
haven’t been any serious adverse effects reported.
In 25 years, sleep w i l l h ave become optional The effects are taken from a laidback stance; they are seen to wear off with no lasting side effects. The average length of time that Modafinil lasts for is reported as around 7 hours, but this would vary depending on the individual. Some have reported feeling the effects for 24 hours or more, again
this is usually associated with regular dosing. Everything is best in moderation; it is true that there can be too much of a good thing. Dr Peter Morgan of Yale University stated that while it does help enhance the memory, frequent use could actually harm it. Since it is a prescription drug and not every student has narcolepsy, the main source of getting them is through the internet. One of the most prevalent brand of Modafinil in the UK and US is Provigil. There are a lot of different websites that do sell it but this brings up many problems of buying on the internet that are obvious. The main danger is do you know what you’re putting into your body? Given the prevalence of drugs among university, it is doubted that students care that much. The hard bit can be deciding what dosage to take and at what time for optimal results. 50mg has been described by some to not have any effect that is worth it, but it’s good to build it up. It’s always better to not take enough rather than to take too much. 400mg, however, has been described to have the same effect on the brain as involved with substance abuse. The usual amount tends to be between 100 – 200mg. It does make you think, how much is the development of Modafinil going
to change society? Will we get to the point where we don’t need that much sleep? The author of The 24 Hour Society, Leon Kreitzman, said that drugs like Modafinil will transform society. He went on to say that within the next quarter of a century, we’ll reach the point where sleep becomes optional. The NHS discussed an experiment to check the validity if the claims of Modafinil i.e. it makes you smarter. There were two groups, one group was given Modafinil while another a placebo, neither knew which group they were in. It was found that the people who took Modafinil had a slower response than the ones who took the placebo, and were no more accurate. It doesn’t seem like it would end the world to try Modafinil once if you’re feeling up to it. Testimonies show it to be something that can help, combined with the usually lack of side effects (depending on the individual), why not? It makes a nice change from the jitteriness of caffeine. Also, not being addictive, it could be a miracle when work gets too much. Some doctors have even reported using it to perform better surgery. There hasn’t been that much research on study drugs so each experience leads to more understanding.
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Features : 09
Unveiling the veil – oppression or liberation?
Photo: Neil Hester @Flickr
Amiel Cohen considers from a Western perspective the role and representation of the veil in both Western and Muslim countries and cultures Amiel Cohen
A
veil can portray a number of different acts; from an expression of religious identity, to a bride wearing traditional clothing on her wedding day. With regard to the religious aspect, within western society, the majority view the veil as a religiously oppressive signifier which upholds the patriarchal separations within Islam and Islamic societies. Strange considering similar assertions would not be drawn when observing a Nun pass by... Someone who is also expressing their religious identity but somehow, luckily for the Nun, there is a western ‘acceptance’ to this more familiar religion... Edward Said, the Palestinian scholar responsible for the academic critique known as Orientalism, would possibly acclaim this idiosyncrasy to the western view of Oriental behaviour as strange, in opposition to our own ‘rational, enlightened manner’. Considering the apparent ‘multicultural’ society we claim to live in, such habits and understandings one would assume, should have been taught and understood outside this frame of ‘western’ thinking. As a Jew, growing up in a left wing and secular family, largely juxtaposed by the orthodox synagogue that I attended from a young age,
I have always found the separation between genders in religion baffling. Consequently finding myself moving away from this section of my religion toward a fully egalitarian community (Masorti Judaism). When nurturing my thoughts on a Muslim woman’s veil, my somewhat ignorant reaction, has always been to view it as another tool used by the dominant male to control and ‘oppress’ women, both religiously and socially. But why?... Considering that I know very little about the practices of Islam, it seems unfair that I base my judgements through the eyes of a western society that assumes moral superiority. This led me to delve deeper, finding myself even more concerned and fearful with the knowledge uncovered. Having carried out research, it seems strange that nowhere in the Quran does it explicitly state a Muslim women should cover up her face, with the relevant reference stating that she should cover her ‘breasts’ with a veil. Additionally, the notion of a veil within Islam seems to have stemmed from a rather nonchalant act performed by the Prophet. Indeed, when Muhammad lusted for one of his wives whilst in company, he would drop a veil to symbolise the separation of the public and the private, expressing desire for his
company to leave. Certainly, within the society he lived in, Muhammad was huge strides in front of his peers with regards to feminist thinking. It therefore seems that there has been a refusing to continue Muhammad’s progressive nature and through time, inherently patriarchal Islamic societies have forced the veil upon women, manipulating its origins with claims that it provides safety from the male gaze... ect. During a seminar I attended this week I was struck by some of the adjectives used by the women who wore Hijab’s (head scarf). Words such as modesty, protection, liberation, and safety. Whilst asserting my somewhat western and egalitarian ‘moral superiority’ upon a class of largely veiled women, I stated my struggle to comprehend and accept gender specific religious practice as ‘liberating’. I received a captivating response. A chorus of voices gathered claiming a feeling of protection and safety whilst veiled, something that perhaps did not seem possible without them... ‘WHAT’?! I was in a state of shock... These were not women living in oppressive Middle Eastern Islamic countries, but women living in the UK, a country with a society that assumes a level of gender equality and safety. It is a country which on the surface claims to have tackled large obstacles on the road to eliminating patriarchy.
One girl shared an example of the treatment she received before she started wearing a Hijab, and the increased respect she received whilst wearing one, claiming that some men indeed found it ‘attractive’. I did not quite know how to react to this; however, a sudden realisation dawned upon me. It was perhaps not the ‘oppressive and patriarchal’ nature of Islam itself that these girls were liberating themselves from, but the misogynistic, non-egalitarian societies and circles that they found themselves surrounded by. I must say, I found this thought very upsetting. The depressing notion that someone would need to change their appearance in order to feel liberated, feel safe... feel protected. Though I understand the positives that religious expression can bring to an individual, providing a feeling of fulfilment, pride and unity, I cannot escape my western, egalitarian mind-set which fails to accept gender specific and separated traditions as ‘liberating’, on the contrary, finding them as a means of sustaining patriarchal dominance.
10
Opinion
Editors’ Foreword Marcus Johns Morris Seifert
With LGBT history month in full swing and Reclaim the Night vocally demonstrating the need for women’s rights the two things on everyone’s mind, and on our pages are: sex and politics. Are expensive shouting matches worth paying the participants 70k? How progressive is socieities holistic perception of sexuality? Is Gay Pride less valuable if the attitude it only adopted for one day a year? Is our perecption of Muslim radicalisation misinformed? Read on for answers to all of these questions and more. Let us know your reactions, opinions, criticisms and your heart’s desires by tweeting us at: @MancunionOp.
How to get away with Murder Marina Iskander Contributor When it comes to the media reporting on such crimes, no words are chosen at random, but instead the titles imposed on the criminals dictate sentences stricter than anything the court may decide. This is especially true when it comes to homicide. Arguably the most serious of crimes, homicide is split into two categories, murder and manslaughter. Linguistically, the noun murder can turn into another: murderer. However, the term manslaughter-er simply does not exist. Hence, the former is a social label that is impossible to ever escape. Recognizing this, the law aims to differentiate between manslaughter and murder–sometimes unjustly. One of the types of manslaughter is loss of control, meaning that some ‘triggers’ justify killing someone in rage. For example, in a 1990s case, a victim of domestic violence set fire to her husband in his sleep, claiming that after years of violence, she lost control. At first face, the crime seems like pure, cold-blooded murder. However, as far as the legal definition goes, the wife has ‘merely’ committed manslaughter. Whether her husband deserved it after years of unfairness is an entirely different issue, but it is inarguable that she has– literally–got away with murder. Similarly, another type of manslaughter is constructive manslaughter, where the criminal kills someone in the process of carrying out an illegal or harmful act. In other words, if you are robbing a store and kill the owner in order to reach your goal, you still are not a murderer. Realistically, to the family and friends of the victim, the fact that their loved one has been killed makes whoever did it a killer, a murderer. But to their dismay, the courts, for all practical reasons, will not agree. This blurring of boundaries has led to quite hefty debate on reforming the law of homicide in the UK. The words first and second degree murder are often repeated in American TV series or movies, as in other countries, murder covers most charges of homicide. Whether this is the right way to go or not is still arguable; however, as long as the law remains this way, many criminals will continue to escape this harsh, yet probably welldeserved, label.
This is an abridged version of Marina’s article. Find the full piece online at: www.mancunion. com/opinion
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
@MancunionOp
MPs: worth the cash? Isaac Atwal Contributor There’s nothing more that we love in this country than catching out somebody who is in the public eye and then watching them squirm, grovel, hide and, if we’re lucky, get angry in front of the ensuing cameras. Not content with a mere fall from grace, we–through our notoriously vicious tabloid press–bay for their blood until the excitement of the kill wears off and whoever had just been subjected to the mauling of a lifetime is left to pick up the pieces. This is not always a pretty or honourable sight. The tabloid press can and does embarrass itself, and by extension us, in its relentless pursuit of some. However, when it comes to a directly elected representative of the people, caught seemingly discussing the exchange of political influence for money, it is open season. And quite right too. We like to think that our society has extremely low levels of corruption and our public servants are among the most dedicated in the world; we sorted our expenses scandal, remember? Maybe not–recent revelations concerning the Rt Hon Jack Straw and the Rt Hon Sir Malcolm Rifkind have again raised awkward questions regarding the finger-topie ratio of some of our most experienced legislators. In a joint investigation by Chan-
nel 4’s Dispatches and The Telegraph, both Rt Hon members were caught on camera allegedly offering to further the interests of a Chinese company looking to expand in Europe. Both, as former foreign secretaries, are well placed for this kind of work. Sir Malcolm boasted “I can see any ambassador that I wish to see” and Straw talked of a previous conquest of changing laws in Ukraine. Needless to say that this is extremely unfortunate for the two gentlemen concerned, they will miss out on what was no doubt going to be handsome payment for their services, up to £8,000 a day it would seem. Whilst this scandal had, in no more than 48 hours, claimed the political careers of two Westminster heavyweights, it also raised serious questions about how much our MPs should be paid and how much they should be
allowed to earn outside of parliament–the earning potential is obviously there. Our society will forever benefit from hardworking investigative journalists exposing wrongdoing. However, in the aftermath of these stories, we often fail to ask the right questions to ensure that whatever was broken before can be properly fixed this time round. Instead, it is much easier to maul a public figure for a while and sit and wait for the next exposé. Our MPs enjoy a salary that is more than twice that of the average Briton, and are able to claim expenses for conducting their parliamentary duties. This is fair enough, they work for us and it is only right that they have the necessary support to run an office, stay in London when on parliamentary business, and have the appropriate expenses for travel paid for. It is also necessary that
doing the job of an MP be seen as worthwhile. These are, after all, the 650 people out of a population of more than 60 million people who we entrust to run our country. We want to be attracting the most knowledgeable, desirable people for the job so that we get the best out of our parliament and thus our population. This is a logical process of thinking, and is the reason that I think that MPs should be handsomely paid; otherwise, what is to stop our best and brightest choosing the private sector every time? The real issue, however, is not that two MPs have been caught offering influence for cash–we all know this is and should be illegal; it is that the salaries of our MPs are whilst high by national standards at £67,000, lower than what some MPs would expect to earn in the private sector. In Japan law-
A storm brews over the Houses of Parliament, a sign of things to come?
makers earn £165,945, in Australia £120,000, and £108,000 in the US. Couple this disparity with the fact that in this country there is no cap on MPs earnings outside of parliament and we have a problematic situation. What is a fair amount to earn outside of parliament, and should you be barred from certain jobs whilst a serving MP? According to the Register of Member’s Financial Interests, Jack Straw earned £41,000 from speaking since 2014, and Rifkind more than £250,000 from holding various non-executive board posts. Many people would find that hard to say no to. Whilst is it not suggested that these outside earnings resulted in any lobbying, the size of the amounts earned will raise eyebrows and sit uncomfortably with many. So, how much should our MPs earn? If we raise their salary can we expect them to then not take extra jobs? Should a business owned previous to being elected be treated differently to a consultancy picked up after election? These are the questions we should be asking, and answering in a mature manner, instead of rushing to grab the pitchforks and demand all our MPs live in a cardboard box under Westminster Bridge, eating cold beans. That kind of debate serves no one except those advocating the status quo.
Photo: Maurice@Flickr
The limits of unlimited sexuality Joe Evans Contributor Name somebody famous who is not heterosexual. Now name somebody of influence that is not heterosexual. Now try and name somebody with a direct political agency who is not heterosexual. Now directly name a politician who is not heterosexual. The prominence of LGBT figures in positions of direct power is surprisingly sparse. While LGBT is by no means an exhaustive categorisation of sexuality, the diversity of sexuality within the public positions of power is shockingly narrow. This isn’t true of all sectors, however. Look towards the arts and the diversity of sexual orientation becomes far more wide ranging. There is an interesting parallel between the manifestation of acceptance towards sexuality and the emergence of race acceptance in early 20th century America. Without access to direct political agency the exposition of black legitimacy manifested itself through cultural output. This was perhaps most visible in the Harlem Renaissance. We would probably now consider this to be a sad state of affairs, yet we may be forcing the LGBT community to express their legitimacy through exactly the same outlets. There are just three MPs currently holding office in the United Kingdom who do not identify as heterosexual. Relative to the effect that the LGBT community has on our society this is miniscule. Despite this, the contribution to culture by individuals of diverse sexuality is huge. Attempt to name a collection of sexually diverse singers or sexually diverse actors and the task is a whole lot easier. It would seem that, like historical attitudes to race, we are societally
comfortable to sit and observe those who identify with non-traditional sexuality. For them to entertain us is fine. We, however, appear to still be deeply uncomfortable assimilating them into positions of real influence. The spectrum of sexuality is on the surface becoming more accepted; its repercussions however aren’t permeating all areas of society. This landscape looks much like that faced by newly liberated African Americans in the US. Duke Ellington’s famous line, “when you go backstage there’ll be a line of these [white] people out there getting your black autograph”, seems to be likewise true of our increased awareness of alternative sexuality. It is unable to manifest through anyone with direct political agency and so it is expressed by the Sam Smiths, Ellen Pages, Tom Daleys and countless other outwardly LGBT celebrities. Like white America’s difficulty in accepting the idea of equal rights for black people, the idea cannot be destroyed by a political policy. A look towards the rise of violence illuminates where that gets us. Perhaps this is why the field of entertainment proves so fruitful for effecting change in the acceptance of wide ranging sexuality. The issue of non-acceptance is not one that can be bulldozed into submission. Perhaps that is why the subtlety of allowing society to become comfortable with differing aspects of sexuality through the seemingly harmless front of a pop star has proven so fruitful. Boy George, for example, wasn’t going to be able to directly force anybody to acknowledge that the homosexual community was not solely responsible for AIDS. ‘80s crowds then, even those who felt AIDS was a homosexual disease, saw no danger in nodding along to Culture Club’s records. While this may seem like nothing, outlets like
this are responsible for making us more culturally comfortable with alternate sexuality. Making people comfortable and developing their understanding is a far more persuasive method than forcing them to accept your difference. This is wrong, it is. We shouldn’t need cultural icons to tell us that there is no difference between a member of the LGBT community and the heterosexual majority. It is not right that thousands of people were labelled ‘queer’, or an array of differing slurs, while the slow burning process of recognition took place. However, shifting a person’s idea of a moral standard takes time. Perhaps this accounts for the success of an artist like Ray Charles in the segregated south while black politicians struggled to get into office. Likewise, it perhaps accounts for why we seem comfortable with buying Sam Smith’s records while the concept of a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex person directly shaping our world makes us squirm slightly more. The case of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie allowing their biologically sexed girl Shiloh to be known as John will perhaps be rebuked by some. It’s true, it is easier to allow your child these freedoms when you are rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams and the child’s mother and father are world famous movie stars. While this is true, famous people do, rightly or wrongly, have an impact on social understanding. Like Boy George softening the harsh unfamiliarity of homosexuality, cases like this can only serve to soften the blow of gender experimentation. In that sense the fame of the couple comes with it a great responsibility which they appear to be managing extremely competently. Many people flock behind the famous as if they were their shepherds. Imagine, therefore, the re-
percussions on their followers’ attitudes to gender experimentation had they forced John out of a suit and into a dress that he felt would be inappropriate to his gender. So while the assimilation of alternative sexuality and misappropriated gender categories into the public consciousness continues to improve, we still have the issue of lacking political prominence. We supposedly live in a secular society. However, when former Tory MP James Arbuthnot is forced to wait until stepping down from the next election to ‘come out’ as an atheist, this seems unlikely. This evidences what a long way we have to go before we have true equality of belief in politics. It becomes more shocking, however, when he compares maintaining the pretence of faith to avoid career suicide to “keeping quiet about being gay”. That is by no means a swipe at
Arbuthnot. It is a full blooded uppercut towards the attitudes still clearly prevalent in British politics in general. If such backwards views on religious conviction are allowed to stand then Westminster seems a long way behind the rest of the UK in terms of keeping up with the times. Atheism is accepted by most in modern British society. By this standard, equality towards sexuality is a long, long way off. In the face of resistance, the LGBT community has proven itself to be unflappable before and it will do so again. True equality at times feels a long way off, but diversity is rearing its head elsewhere and will eventually be something invisible in its normality. It’s just like race; it’s just another wall to chip away.
How long until the acceptance of differing sexuality rivals that of differing religion?
Photo: Daniel Trump @ Flickr
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ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
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11
Is pride ‘out’ for the count?
‘Pride mentality’ needs to infiltrate the everyday life of everyone if it is to have the necessary impact on awareness, openness, and equality Mitch Maidstone Contributor For many, LGBT+ and otherwise, Pride is often a wonderful, rainbow-infused blur. It injects extra equality, open-mindedness, and (best of all) glitter into our lives. Seems obvious, but it’s a golden opportunity to circle back to why exactly we are so damn proud of our (often marginalised) identities in the first place. However, like every other day, the bright lights of Pride do, of course, eventually fade. This wouldn’t be an issue if there were extensive networks of support available, as and when needed. Fantastic strides forward have been made by the likes of Manchester’s own LGB Foundation’s fund— and awareness—raising efforts. But one invaluable support network in one reasonably-sized city does not equality make. Frankly, it’s the endemic lack of support, outside the likes of the Foundation, which leaves Pride looking a little hollow. Its own one day a year is easily overshadowed by the tide of oppression it limply tries to stand against. In the same sobering vein, Stonewall’s 2012 The School Report found that 55 per cent of LGBT children and teens had experienced direct homophobic bullying. Pair this with a staggering 96 per cent exposed to homophobic language, such as “dyke” or “poof,” and there is obviously still a long way to go. Pride has a definite place, and, I would argue, it shines brightest in the sustained, everyday acts of authenticity that lead others, especially young people, by an open and energetic example. What is happening at the moment, in contrast, is a serious case of a flash-in-the-pan attitude. Throw enough fireworks and rainbows (however fabulous) at people, and they will, apparently, be blinded enough to forget about the rest of the year. Having a full life, fair enough, but when that life includes throwaway oppression and a widespread, blatant disregard for key parts of LGBT+ identity, the oddity of Pride, strewn somewhere in the midst of summer, just doesn’t cut it on its own. Pride could, clearly, use an assist. The Minister for Education Nicky Morgan’s announcement of £2 million to help schools combat homophobic bullying in October 2014 seemed, therefore, to be good news—wonderful, even—except that throwing short-term investment at a systemic and potentially life-altering problem will not make it vanish into
Why can’t this happiness be all year round?
Photo: Man Alive! @ Flickr
thin air. It’s true, however, that monetary support is a great step in the right direction, especially in an area as crucial as educating young people about the damage bullying can cause. But if this isn’t sustained, Pride will remain the fantastic introduction to the LGBT+ community that many will never have; it will come too late to repair the damage done, and too late to undo the emotional wounds inflicted. Equally well-intentioned, but next to useless in the long run, is the plan to open a school for only LGBT pupils. What seems an innovative solution will not (surprise, surprise) magically eradicate bullying. The commendable drive to celebrate diversity and the enduring need for community, embodied in Pride are therefore left somewhat dampened and one-sided. All bark and no bite, Manchester, therefore, even with its Queer as Folk pedigree, is part and parcel of this oppression. What seems an almost utopian expression of each
slice of queerness on Pride day, quickly comes across as niche, risqué, or otherwise outlandish on any other. What’s more, without a strong backdrop of support, measures like opening an exclusive school for LGBT kids serve to do exactly that: exclude people who may well have otherwise become allies and, you know, decent human beings. It’s exactly this ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality that Pride is standing against. Yet now, instead of acting as a point of unity, Pride remains a gesture towards a future where visibility for all is the norm. But it’s one that many have not, and will not, be able to enjoy, because that fuzzy feeling of belonging does not yet translate into everyday life. Pride is supposed to break down these barriers, and offer a bright, accessible beacon for the uninitiated. But, instead, as with the planned LGBTexclusive school, the likes of Pride and Canal Street only serve to increasingly ghettoise LGBT people.
Having a safe space, a ‘hub’ for open expression is a brilliant, inclusive idea. But this freedom of expression belongs also beyond the confines of a particular festival, school, or area. And that won’t happen while the support does not exist outside of it, however attractive and wellintentioned the ideas might be. However, bashing and blaming Pride itself for these problems would only be a symptom of the oppression highlighted here. And guess what? Any LGBT person turning in on themselves—through no fault of their own—only serves to unceremoniously shake the sparkle out of an environment that desperately needs it. Because, let’s face it, glitter is vibrancy and life. And Pride has a hell of a lot of it. But that needs to be shared around more equally because, however you identify, who would want to live in a world without it?
Radicalisation, the perpetual problem In order to keep us safe from the ever-looming threat of terror in the UK, our government has channelled its ignorance and hypocrisy into the counter-terrorism strategies of ‘Prevent’, which has gained much response and discussion. ‘Prevent’ is stigmatising the Muslim youth of Britain as potential threats to the country, and patronising everyone with its wilful ignorance of history and denial of the current state of affairs. Done in the name of ‘protecting the UK against terrorism’, Prevent is a response to the fundamentalist ideology of organisations such as Al Qaeda and ISIL, hoping to prevent young British Muslims from catching the next plane to Turkey. However, there is a greater problem, a worm in the heart of the attitude towards Islam in Britain. In a much repeated Chomsky quote, we find the foundation that this article is built upon: “Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it.” Britain’s interference in the Middle East is well recorded in history, and is continued through its current foreign policy. The ravaged state in which our military left Iraq, combined with the collapse of civil order in Syria, created the perfect opportunity for the most fearsome and merciless militia to seize control, and pillage the Levant, in the name of their warped concept of an Islamic Caliphate. It is very clear that we are still at war, and
whether it is with the spectre of terrorism or over national interests doesn’t excuse the fact that when a country is at war, it is only logical for it to expect attacks on its home soil. Why are do we feel so outraged and victimised
by retaliatory offences? Britain has no problem attacking them on their territory. It is happy to support oppressive regimes that suit its interests, invade a country under false pretences, and bomb towns and
Jake Bergamin Contributor American F-15s en route to bomb IS IS targets
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Come to our meetings: Mondays, 5pm, on the first floor of the Students’ Union
villages, leading to high civilian casualties. These are all heinous acts of terror, resulting in much wider death and destabilisation than the four terror attacks committed by radical Islamist terrorists in Britain since 2005. Britain has got off pretty lightly. How can we blame the Muslim youth, or those more susceptible to influence or exploitation, for their anger and disillusionment, or for joining an organisation which claims to value and empower them? The reassuring thing to remember is that, funnily enough, those Muslims who choose to join the ISIL ranks are a tiny minority, as most people have a strong aversion to ethnic cleansing and living in oppressive and intolerant societies. But the consensus amongst our government and mainstream media appears to be that Islam is the problem; they are unwilling to acknowledge that statistically Muslims are the most common victims of terror attacks across the globe. Only days after the Chapel Hill murders of three American Muslims, The Telegraph held an online poll asking its readers if they were ‘concerned’ about the growing number of Muslims in Britain. We need to reassess, and realise that our modes of thinking are arrogant and inherently misguided.
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Music
Interview
Opinion
the
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Patrick Hinton, Lowell Clarke Samuel Ward, Dan Whiteley
Photo: Donetts Diniz@flickr
OPINION
Under the Radar: Blur, Bowie and Anti-Publicity Cordelia Milward 12 years since the release of Think Tank, the britpop champions Blur have sprung an announcement out of nowhere, for the release of their seventh studio album The Magic Whip, out on 27th April. Set to a similarly enigmatic video (a Chinese cooking guide to vanilla ice cream), the first single ‘Go Out’ was unveiled on 19th to us unsuspecting fans. A stunt that shocked us all, if not only because of the sheer wonderment at where Damon Albarn finds the time to have his finger in pretty much every pie in the musical sphere. The best news of all being Graham Coxon’s return to the band, making it the first album all four of them have been present on since 1999’s 13. When in a similar vein back in 2013, David Bowie announced his resurrection with ‘Where Are We Now?’, what was most commendable was how the hell everyone had managed to keep it so quiet. Before they had even listened to the track, people were going wild at the sheer wondrous feat of its non-marketing. How one of the most widely admired mega stars could rise out of the depths of darkness, not just to prove he was still alive, but having written and recorded an entire new album, was an astonishing accomplishment. I wonder how much of all this is merely a publicity stunt? Take, for example, Marika Hackman. Her debut album We Slept At Last was released on Monday, but on the run up to its release she had been day by day streaming each track from her Soundcloud. For an up and coming artist, this technique is understandable; tantalizing people’s taste buds, to excite and hopefully inspire them to buy the record. But what naturally occurs is there is so much hype about an artist that by its release date, people have already tasted it, swallowed it and spat it back out again.
But Public Enemy told us not to believe the hype, didn’t they? Well, what better a way to counteract false hype than ensuring there simply isn’t any. In a press conference with Zane Lowe where Blur made the big announcement, they admitted they had written this album over a year ago, and kept it silent till now to ensure the ultimate reveal. Don’t get me wrong, I am as excited by the return as any other mad fanatic, but even I can’t shake off this ounce of scepticism. Was this a stunt merely an attempt to create a quiet before the storm - almost like faking a death to see how many people rejoice at the resurrection? Yet, publicity stunt or not, there’s got to be something magical about being able to slip under the radar in 2015. Where rumours spread like wildfire, songs are leaked, phones are hacked; the list of constant surveillance goes on. Blur managed to prove there is still hope for self-preservation, perhaps carrying on the theme of Damon Albarn’s recent solo record Everyday Robots, on which he woes our complete consumption by modern technology as we turn into walking robots. Here, Blur have managed to beat the system. We didn’t see it coming, and yes, it may be all in the name of publicity, but this is a band who’ve never exactly been praised for their modesty - and if they can tell Noel Gallagher to fuck off, they can also flick two fingers at the watchful eye of the 21st century.
Photo: Album Artwork
the MUSIC INTERVIEW
The Cribs
The Cribs’ Gary Jarman speaks to Samuel Ward about identity, alchoholism and collaborating with One Direction 14 years on, 2001 - it’s long gone! How time has flown for the Cribs, it seems like it was only yesterday they were accepting NME’s “outstanding contribution to music” award during their 10 year anniversary. Since then, and the release of 2012’s epic In the Belly of the Brazen Bull, the band’s constituent brothers have been up to their own devices: Front Ryan Jarman has been hard at work with Here We Go Magic’s Jen Turner on their side project, Exclamation Pony, whilst Gary has been dabbling in production and engineering. “At first it feels weird being back but then it’s like nothing ever changes really, it’s not quite Ground Hog day I just mean when you first come back it’s such an unusual thing. When I’m at home I can’t imagine it; I’m so introverted when I’m back in Portland then as soon as I get into it it’s back to normal. In fact I look back at who I was when I started touring and I was really so maladjusted, I was just weird and unprepared.” To me it seems a miracle that, over the past 10 years, the Cribs have maintained their “come on and be a no one” ethics and jumped all the hurdles which would usually bring a band crashing back down to Earth. “Yeah when you get to a certain point the parameters and goalposts change. You get told you only have that period of being the zeitgeist for a very short time, so everyone around you starts to say that you should capitalise on it. I’ve seen it happen with a million bands. When we were offered it in 2007 we were just too prickly of a proposition – there’s time when you can see us on e4 and we look so uncomfortable.” Indeed the present is most certainly a time of artistic freedom, where, at the advent of the internet and self-promotion, musicians have more control of their own paths than ever before – but that doesn’t seem to help when the pool of available artists is so large and staying power is dwindling. “It worked for us
but not everyone, because we’re such a tight unit, we all grew up together and we have the same core principles and there’s very little disagreement. “We even got asked to do a song with One Direction; it’s a pretty weird way to infiltrate that kind of thing. It wasn’t even Sony who asked us, 1D are actually fans of us – it could have been an interesting thing. If anything it all shows what a difference production
When we’ve got the distortion on and I’m shouting I don’t feel exposed makes, if you consider most songs their cores are really basic things. Looking at ‘You Really Got Me’ by the Kinks, it’s a raw garage rock song and it’s really rad but I’ve heard some monstrosity versions. It’s all about production. “I am really into the tech side as well; I probably prefer to be in the studio now compared to playing live because I just love writing songs and messing about with gear- it’s a different reality. I enjoy that logical thinking and problem solving [when producing]. Recently I’ve been really intrigued with lots of 80’s production techniques, that era when I was growing up as a kid seemed full of other-worldly super high-end techniques so I’ve become fascinated in achieving that. Actually one of the Crib’s big secrets is that we use a lot of synth bass which no one really knows about because I just hide it, usually a
Moog Taurus or something - it makes it sound huge. Plus with the Cribs it’s important since the guitars are so loud; most of the time we’re trying to generate power.” So far that much seems obvious, that is, before Gary goes on to say: “It’s hiding is what it is! The volume, the aggression, I have my eyes closed when I’m on stage. When we play the more gentle songs I find it really hard since I feel so exposed but, when we’ve got the distortion on and I’m shouting, I don’t feel that at all. Back home my friends don’t really know that about me, I’ve played in Portland like four or five times and they just don’t know that piece of me - it really does shock them. It was always my first love punk rock but I never truly wanted to be on stage, I wasn’t one of those people. That’s why we’ve got that reputation of drinking a lot back in the early days, we had to be drunk to play a show and it became a kind of obsession thing, playing every show a bit buzzed. Then when we tried not doing it at all and we were dead self conscious and it was just really difficult - it became a kind of crutch.” It’s true that the Cribs were known for playing toilet venues in return for crates of beer, but is that still the dynamic? “It’s pretty much exactly the same. That’s how we retain that same enthusiasm we always had. We still feel like we’re on some sort of mission. The funny thing is even though we’ve been perpetually viewed that way [as underdogs] we’ve had two long-standing top 10 records. “Now we’re somewhat content with how we’re perceived, where as for the time we had the spotlight on us we were malcontent. We know who we are a lot more now and I think other people know who we are a lot more now. I think we make a bit more sense to people, it was an overlooked element before and people just liked the recklessness of the live show. But that’s the hope anyway, and we still have an axe to grind.”
Mother’s Day Special
TOP 5
Songs
Your mum probably Dan Whiteley loves Music Editor
1. Say What You Want Texas Texas’ slick radio-ready tunes seem purpose built for humming along to on the school run; mums were basically issued with a copy of White on Blonde back in 1997— check the glove compartment, it’s probably still there.
2. Stars - Simply Red With its soppy lyrics, soaring chorus and silky smooth bassline, this eighties classic helped turn Mick Hucknall into Manchester’s jazziest ginger lothario. All together now, “And aaaaaaaaaiiiiii wanna fall from the stars…”
3. Handbags and Gladrags - Rod Stewart
4. Man! I Feel Like a Woman! - Shania Twain
5. Dancing in the Moonlight - Toploader
Before he settled into the groove of churning out endless beige covers albums, his raspy howl and shaggy lid won the hearts of housewives everywhere, thanks in part to this timeless tearjerker.
This entry-level feminist anthem was the eighth (eighth!) single from Shania’s eyewateringly successful Come on Over album, and remains the mum’s karaoke song of choice. Sneak along to her next work do to see for yourself.
Also known as “the one from that Sainsburys advert with Jamie Oliver”, for whom she most likely also shares a similar fondness. Play that keyboard intro and just watch a beaming smile appear, as if by magic.
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
@ MancunionMusic /TheMancunionMusicSection
Music
13
Beartooth
the
Interview
Hannah Brierley speaks with Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo about his boredom with Attack!Attack!, dreams of playing at Wembley Stadium and making the choice to be happy After performing their set at the Kerrang Tour 2015 I was able to talk to a worn out Caleb Shomo, formerly a singer from Attack!Attack! but now starting anew as the frontman of Beartooth since their formation in 2012. “I decided to leave Attack!Attack! because I was just bored if I’m honest” starts Shomo. He went on to talk about how being a part of the band was beginning to become too much for him, that it was taking over other aspects of his life and causing strains on friendships. “It was making me so tired and exhausted all the time, so I realized and just knew that I needed to move on with it all.” “I already knew two of the other members in Beartooth before we were together because they were in the tech team for Attack!Attack! and
I knew that they were super talented. I originally knew the rest of the band because they were already involved in smaller bands that already existed in our local music scene back home in the US.” So, to be performing on the Kerrang Tour 2015 after being around for only a few years, playing alongside other successful names in such genres as rock/pop/metal – bands like Don Broco and Young Guns – must be a pretty good feeling and a good indication of the success predicted for Beartooth in the future. “Yeah I’d met all the other bands that we’re touring with before this, except from Don Broco but those guys are seriously so fucking awesome.” Shomo then adds, “I love watching the other guys perform. That feeling when the crowds sings with them and
get really involved - such good vibes.”
You need to make the most of your time on earth
He goes on to tell me about how busy they’re going to be in the next couple of months. “We’ve got so much planned for the next year.” “I don’t know if I can tell you, I can’t really talk about all of it right now” he laughs, “but what I can tell you is that there are a lot of festivals planned and a few house shows. Also Radio Festivals which we’re doing
with bands like Slipknot which is really exciting for us. So what I can tell you is that the UK will see us again very, very soon.” “But I think my biggest goal for the band would be to play for Wembley Stadium in London in absolutely any way. Whether we’re supporting or headlining I don’t care, just to be able to say we played there would be the absolute goal. Or maybe even if we got to play on the main stage for a massive festival like Reading and Leeds, it looks so much fun and that would be incredible too.” So on a final note I asked: if he was 80 years old and he could give one piece of advice to his grandchildren what would he say and why? Shomo initially just said “You need to make the most of your time on this earth.” He then elaborates further with “You need to make a conscious
choice to be happy. You can choose to be negative and miserable or you can choose to put on a brave face and smile through all the shit that life throws at you. I can tell you now
that when you’re on your death bed, you’re not going to lie there wishing you had been more negative and more pissed off about life. Are you?”
Photo: Alistair Hart@flickr Photo: Logo
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Live
Enter Shikari
The War On Drugs
Academy 1 – 20th February 2015 8/10 Albert Hall – 19th February 2015 8/10 Randeep Samra Enter Shikari’s most recent album, The Mindsweep, released last month, sees the band refining their distinctive brand of experimental posthardcore, incorporating a still-growing set of influences increasingly smoothly into it - and as their proficiency in the studio has grown, one gets the impression that their live delivery will have developed similarly. The band competently render their studio material to the live setting, and manage to incorporate theatrics and gimmicks without imposing on the energy transmitted through the music, yielding an incredibly fun show. Despite having significantly less media attention since their debut album, the band’s fanbase has evidently not suffered too much since: tickets to this show sold out within minutes, and the crowd, filling up the venue, was as energetic and enthusiastic as would be expected from the performance given by the band, as well as the two support acts. Allusondrugs, up first, played a competent and lively set. The intensity of Feed the Rhino did more than warm up the crowd in preparation for Enter Shikari: their performance showed vivacity and quality to the point
where one could easily have taken them for the headline act - which was reflected in the audience’s engagement in the set. The set list, unsurprisingly, favoured material from the album which only dropped last month. However, as testimony to the band’s growth, it was uncompromising in reflecting where the band are currently: some will have been disappointed by the
Photo: laubarnes @flickr
omission of old favourites; even ‘Sorry You’re Not a Winner’. Perhaps sometimes this has to be the price of a gig being as cohesive and focused as this was. “We draw upon your energy... this show is a twoway street, and without your feedback we’d be unable to perform”, Rou exclaims. “This is not entertainment; [mere] entertainment flows in One Direction”.
Rachel Connolly The American dream. That great inescapable theme of literature, music and teenage fantasies. To capture the essence of endless hope, choice, promise and possibility is a powerful thing indeed. Every review of The War on Drugs draws the obvious comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Neil Young, but to state this without highlighting how intentional it is misses the point. Adam Granduciel deliberately sticks pins in the map of American musical history and draws a contorted line to his own music, subverting the traditional dream to make a sound that is nostalgic, sad but hopeful all at once. Even the name ‘The War on Drugs’ hints at the broken dream that is Americas disastrously failing drug policy. I’ll admit I am the perfect audience for this concept. I grew up on Bruce and Petty, I share Granduciel obsession with Dylan. I love the American dream and the broken dream, I love Steinbeck, talking about conspiracy theories about American political corruption. I don’t care if its cheesy, I love it all, even the keyboard nod to The Eagles/Dire Straits. I’ve been
Photo: chrisgold @flickr
waiting for this band for years. But Granduciel has made new album Lost in The Dream different and clever and more universal than my American classic rock love. Granduciel wrote Lost in the Dream after a well documented breakdown; his sadness on the record is tangible but also disarmingly relatable, therein lies the universality that past albums lacked. The lights dim to reveal an unashamedly, brashly Springsteen style stage backdrop: old school ‘high school football tournament’ flashing lightbulbs line the stage and illuminate the catchy, punchiness of opener ‘Burning’. A few songs in, I spot the silver glint of light reflecting from a
harmonica and shudder; there are few things more awful than a bad Dylan impersonation, any Dylan impersonation actually. But Granduciel made it completely his own. The only negative of the evening was the over-the-top reverence of the crowd. Perhaps a result of the hype generated by Lost in the Dream, most people swayed slowly in silent awe throughout the evening in a fashion befitting the Church venue of the Albert Hall but not necessarily songs like ‘Under The Pressure’. Although as the lights dimmed to sunset red for a breathtakingly perfect version of ‘Set Your Eyes to The Wind’, this reverence did seem fitting for an almost perfect evening.
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Music
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
What’s Right... Or Shite....
Mancunion Recommends
This week in Music
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday Sour Mash; 2nd March 2015
The Desolation of Touts The UK government will finally be putting measures against ticket touts in place. At last, tickets will go to those who want them, rather than those sweaty old bald blokes hanging around by the exit.
8/10
Tariq Salarbux Recapturing past glories is a concept that most people will be familiar with, but for Noel Gallagher, it’s a damning quest that hits particularly close to home. After the stratospheric success of Oasis’s first two albums, Gallagher’s understandable plight in trying to reach similar heights has left him in the peculiar place of being one of the most underrated songwriters of his generation. Rid of the stadium rock-sized expectations (and the Liam-shaped boulder) he has been carrying over the past two decades, he finds himself free to write the music he wants, Chasing Yesterday is both a surprising and brilliant addition to the Gallaghercanon. The album kicks off with ‘Riverman’, a groovy, meandering opener tinged in light psychedelia. A Santana-esque guitar solo follows the mysterious chorus, before—wait for it—a saxophone solo rushes in to alleviate (think Pink Floyd, rather than George Michael). As the sax comes back to round off the song, it’s hard to shake the feeling that this may be one of Gallagher’s best—a bold claim to make about a man whose repertoire includes overplayed, monolithic pop-rock standards such as ‘Wonderwall’. ‘Riverman’ is a departure from Gallagher’s roots, but it is still imprinted with his DNA; the simple, yet irresistible vocal melodies and unforgettable choruses that only he knows the secret to. Hardcore Oasis aficionados shouldn’t be worried though—there is plenty here for those looking for more classic Noel songs. ‘Lock all the Doors’ is one of those throwaway rock numbers that Gallagher has fashioned so often down the years. One suspects
Photo: mrmeth @Flickr
ALL DAY
that with Liam on vocals, it really wouldn’t sound out of place on either of Oasis’s first two records. The album echoes with a bittersweet quality; a certain anxiety permeates the whole record, but always streaked with Gallagher’s unending sense of hope, most apparent on ‘The Dying of the Light’. A moody, almost paranoid number where Gallagher rages against the empty promises and fallacies we hold about growing up (“I was told there’d be no time for growing old when we were young”), he still has faith that it’ll all be okay in the end. Despite the themes, Chasing Yesterday is, ironically, a sonic testament to Gallagher growing up as a songwriter, comfortable in his own skin. There is no ‘nudging out of the comfort zone’ being done here; nothing sounds forced, which might be an indication that he has finally made peace, and given up on chasing the successes of yesteryear.
Dutch Uncles - O Shudder Memphis Industries; 23rd February 2015
Photo: courtesy of BRITS
Fresh Warpaint California stoner rockers Warpaint have released new single ‘No Way Out (Redux)’ this week, apparently the first in a series of standalone songs coming your way this summer. Photo: empru @Flickr
Going out with Grace 7/10
Cordelia Milward Heading out of their twenties, travelling on to confront the difficulties of adult life, Dutch Uncles are obviously anxious. Their fourth studio album O Shudder, marks this struggle between accepting responsibility and the desire to stay young. Where sex is no longer just fun but rather a considered act aiming towards reproduction, the opening track ‘Babymaking’ voices this exact predicament, with frontman Duncan Wallis singing, “’Cause you want my babies, baby?” The opening of ‘Drips’, with two conversing clarinets, sounds like something from Watership Down. As its complexities unfold, revealing the signature flirty guitar and the tickling piano like audible water droplets to become the most impressive track on the record. Wallis’s vocals are majestic, leaping about and flicking out short with precise syllables, yet still incomprehensible. With much going on elsewhere, it requires extra focus to appreciate the lyrics, but this is only one way Dutch Uncles hold your close attention hostage. Making it worth the wait, midway through all sound collapses, abandoning Wallis, quivering, “could it be me?” ‘In and Out’ displays the nerdy doing sexy, jumping about, whilst being embedded in an atmospheric fur of synth. In a similar style, ‘Accelerate’ takes on the role of an 80s crime thriller, with descending guitar sliding in and out of jerky pop. ‘Be Right Back’, is super funky with the bassline creeping close into the foreground to take precedence. The hint of the female vocals is
After performing new track ‘All Day’ at this year’s Brit awards Kanye West gave a shoutout to London grime artist Skepta, sparking rumours that he will feature on the upcoming album.
Britpop band Blur announced their new album, The Magic Whip. Before you get excited, (briefly) lend your ears to give the new single ‘Go Out’ a listen. See what I mean? Dogshite. Photo: amandafarah @Flickr
RJ Shitte
also a pleasurable shift from Wallis’s angst-ridden chirping throughout. If only the extended buildup to each song could be sustained in their outros, which frequently arrive undesirably unexpected. ‘Tidal Weight’ speaks perhaps most clearly about Dutch Uncle’s reluctance to take responsibility, with Thom Yorke-breath snatching lyrics like “I’m just a boy on the big shoulders/Who would imagine I could feel at home in a straitjacket?” Yet beneath all their seriousness of struggles and strife, Dutch Uncles never fail to keep your hips from swivelling, as if their unwillingness to take hold of responsibility is prolonged through their pursuit of the unconventional. Their music need not follow any predicted route, so why should they?
After Hodor’s ‘success’ with Rave of Thrones, Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte, who plays Walt Jr., has become the latest prestige TV actor to cash in their fame for 15 minutes behind the decks. Photo: Courtesy of RJ Mitte
On a Mad-one-na No-one expected The Fall to make a surprise appearance at the brits, yet alone during Madonna’s performance. It doesn’t get much more punk than falling backwards off a stage on live TV. Photo: Courtesy of BRITS
Games
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
15
Editors: James Thursfield, Matthew Cole
Review: Dragon Age: Inquisition Jonathan Lee reviews the award-winning title from BioWare
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the third instalment in the critically acclaimed fantasy RPG series from the veteran studio BioWare. From Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic to Mass Effect, Bioware has always produced excellent story driven RPGs and this one is no different. However, BioWare has recently had an issue with sticking the landing, and it feels like they haven’t really managed it this time either. You are the inquisitor. You are the hero meant to lead the world against what is effectively a portal to the demonic realm. You must do this during a time of war and chaos, where civil and real war ravages the world. Unite it or the world will cease to be.
Photo:Photo: Simmone Henne @Flickr K Putt@Flickr.com
You can design your inquisitor to be male or female; human, elf, dwarf or qunari; rouge, mage or warrior. An extensive character customisation system allows you the freedom to make your own inquisitor and nonplayer characters react to each of these choices differently throughout the game. For around the next 100 hours of gameplay you, the inquisitor, will be the focus of this march against evil. Dragon Age: Inquisition is vast. In Dragon Age: Origins you had an entire country to explore and in Dragon Age 2 you had a city, but this time Bioware has gone all out and now you can explore both the country of Ferelden and Orlais. This doubles the world and lore you have access to and
Top 5: Game quotes
practically triples the complexity of the politics as you jump back and forth between the two nations. It is made even bigger with Bioware’s decision to create entire sandbox zones to explore. These zones are large areas that you can visit and explore in your own time to find side stories, and new experiences. One of these zones is larger than the whole of Dragon Age 2 combined. They range from cities to forests to deserts. The variety makes each of these zones unique and interesting to explore. I managed to spend ten hours just running around a certain area helping people, reading lore, dungeon diving, and gathering resources to make potions and armour. Whilst it feels ridiculous that the inquisitor himself has to do such menial activities, it does add to the experience. It wouldn’t be much of review of a BioWare game without assessing the story. Bioware produces a fantastic story once again and continues its legacy of beautiful story telling. Stopping a civil war? Check. Political intrigue? Check. Sieging a fortress? Check. Squad mate missions? Romance? Betrayal? Check, check, and check. Bioware ups its game and creates a story that finally makes you feel truly like a powerful figure in their world. You make the decisions that mean the life or death of nations and the gravitas that you wield from the villages to the cities, from commoner
5) Lylat Wars
Peppy Hare: Do a barrel roll!
to king, is truly immense. You talk to leaders of nations, generals of ancient armies, and even gods to convince them to fight this evil with you. If you succeed, the payoffs from mission to mission are also immense. With the incredible talent that BioWare has summoned for the voice acting in this game, you truly feel immersed in the intense journey they have written for us. Sadly, the one issue I have with the tory is not a small one. Most reviewers seem to agree that the main antagonist is disappointingly weak, especially when the implications made about this character in previous games inferred such titanic repercussions and the one we are presented with is so two dimensional. With the antagonist feeling so comparably shallow it is hard to feel truly invested in the final act of the game. It is like he creates ripples and those ripples are incredibly fun to interact with as the world reacts to his destruction, but as we close into the epicentre of the ripple, we find it to be just a small bubble—hollow and weak. Mind you, he is by no means a poor antagonist, but in comparison to this vastly superior game, he stands out like a sore thumb and the fact that he could not bring us the closure to the many questions raised in the game makes him a true disappointment. I really enjoyed the gameplay. Whilst this hasn’t been the strongest aspect of
Photo: Videogame Photography@ Flickr
Photo: JP Freethinker definitively old and grumpy@Flickr
the Dragon Age series, it is great fun this time around. You feel empowered at every point in the game. There are still battles where you are challenged, be it by numbers or by a very strong enemy, but the player never feels cheated. When you fail, you will know what you did wrong. Your spells are crisp and your blows meaty, and when my shield warrior faced down an enemy, I was so indestructible I felt like taunting and goading my enemy. As it stands, the game rewards a good all-out fight and also a well-executed ambush, with good mechanics and balanced challenges. Every class in Dragon Age: Inquisition feels like it matters and every encounter feels satisfying. Dragon Age does still run into the standard Bioware game problems, but they are much improved from the previous titles. The animations don’t always match the dialogue and are frankly so recycled that it feels unnatural. There are bugs that irritate you, but when I start thinking about criticising a game for getting too close to the uncanny valley, I feel that I am nit-picking. However, it must be said that some of the side missions do occasionally feel like MMORPG fetch quests. The gameplay has been much debated by reviewers, with particular issues with the new healing system and the ‘tactical view’ being a focal point of these discussions. I personally had no large problem with either.
4) The Secret of 3) Portal 2 Monkey Island Cave Johnson: Those of you who volunteered to be
Pirate: Guybrush
injected with praying mantis
Threepwood? That’s the
DNA, I’ve got some good news
most ridiculous name I’ve
and some bad news. Bad news
ever heard!
is we’re postponing those
Guybrush: Well, what’s
tests indefinitely. Good news
your name?
is we’ve got a much better
Pirate [matter of factly]:
test for you: fighting an army
My name is Mancomb
of mantis men. You’ll know
Seepgood
when the test starts.
2) Conker’s Bad Fur Day:
Whilst the healing system is different, it feels like a limitation, making you feel like you are on an expedition with inadequate supplies. The tactical view, the top-down perspective mode, has its frustrating moments, but it doesn’t truly take away from the enjoyment of fighting the battles. It has also since been patched and improved. The music isn’t an incredible composition generally, but when placed with some of the scenes it elicits emotions on a par with the greatest moments in gaming history. Along with the sound design and the voice acting, it stands as a huge bonus to the game. Whilst it’s probably not going to win many awards, this game would not be the excellent piece it is without them. The multiplayer should be mentioned. Like Mass Effect 3’s multiplayer it is a well fleshed out experience that I really enjoyed with my friends. It has decent progression and synergy with a good link to the story. It feels like Bioware has used the lessons learnt from The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3 and made quite a fun multiplayer mode. Dragon Age: Inquisition has swept the awards for a reason. It is an excellent game with a whole world and characters you care about through and through. If you like fantasy RPGs, this is a definitive example.
1) Resident Evil Barry: That was too close! You were almost a Jill sandwich!
The Great Mighty Poo: I am the great mighty poo, and I’m Jill: You’re right. Barry, thanks for saving my going to throw my life! shit at you!
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ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Gráinne Morrison, Aimée Grant Cumberbatch, Nikki Patel (Beauty)
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
/mancunionfashionandbeauty @MancunionFash
Fashion
Beauty
Geography North Campus:: I cannot deny that the North Campus is an enigma to me - a place I have heard tales of but never visited. From what I gather, it is mainly home to an eclectic mix of engineers and textile science students. Nevertheless I do know some engineers. Generally, I would categorise their style as practical but preppy because, much like the Brunswick Street residents, engineers have a large amount of contact hours. Unlike Brunswick Street though, the majority of students wear branded or logo-ed clothing, aligning themselves with the image of a select few brands. North Campus does not play host to many female students, automatically reducing the variety of looks on show.
Warning helmet hair risk Peasant wagon Risk of drowned rats Style casualties Disclaimer: This map has not been approved by Ordnance Survey.
Brunswick Street: Home to many of Manchester’s science students; the Brunswick Street style is focused on practicality. These are people who stand up in labs for long periods, people who actually spend 8 hours of the day at University – people who require comfort. Trainers and hiking boots are almost mandatory for the residents of Brunswick Street if they are to make it through the day. Another vital part of their attire is a University of Manchester hoodie, t-shirt or if you’re going the extra mile - a varsity jacket. A friend of mine (a physics student) described the typical Brunswick inhabitant style as: ‘I shop at Next’. Admittedly, there are those on Brunswick Street who favour a different look: the simple style, often involving branded clothing (Levi’s, Hollister or Vans) that is equally comfortable, but a bit more… style conscious.
17
Readers respond
Welsh boy wears make-up Mancunion Fashion and Beauty put make-up on a boy. This is his story:
Make-up is weird. For most women, it’s a essential part of our daily lives: we wake up and put a face on without giving it a thought. But when it comes to boys, make-up is little more than mysterious substances girls use to magic away their spots and blemishes. In recent years, the use of male beauty products like guyliner and even concealer aimed at men has seen a dramatic increase, yet a full face of slap is still seen as something far too feminine for most members of the opposite sex. When you think of a made-up man, it’s Ru Paul who comes to mind, rather than say, Sam Smith, despite the fact that most male stars wear just as much make-up as their female counterparts. In a city like Manchester, where almost anything goes style-wise, we wanted to test the theory that even here, make-up on a man would be met with shock and confusion. After much negotiating and a tiny bit of bullying, we convinced our male lab rat to take to the streets of Fallowfield, foundation and all. His price? A post-night-out Chicken King, on us.
“ We Ask You Answer” This week we asked: Is it ‘false advertising’ when a girl wears make-up? “I don’t know about false advertising, but they should really let you know if they are going to leave orange tan stains on your sheets.” -Adam Lavery
“I don’t really care as long as they share the contents of their make-up bag with me.” -Alex Scott
“I don’t mind as long as you can’t tell that a girl is made up.” -Meirion Jones
Photo: The Mancunion
Campus style map From North campus to Sam. Alex, Sarah Kilcourse takes us on a style safari of our very own UoM Fashion fresher
Style Ph.D.
Street style
Street style : SU special The hub of all student activity, we scoured the SU for style savvy individuals
Photo: University of Manchester
Samuel Alexander: Arguably, this is the most fashionable part of the University – it certainly tries to be. There are a greater variety styles on show in the Sam. Alex. building compared to other areas, some of the staple characters include: the Topshop girl – she buys everything from the ‘New In’ section online; Second Hand chic – formerly known as ‘hipster’ but has become too popular for that title now - expect over-sized everything and a flashback to the ‘90s; the Fashionistas – they probably have a blog and accessories are their best friend. Safe to say there is no dress code in the Samuel Alexander building, wear whatever you like, you’re an Arts student and the world needs to know!
The immaculate conception: Our first task was to prep our blank canvas. Boys are notorious for giving their skin short shrift, so we ensured our subject was smothered in Nivea Creme before we got started. Base covered, it was time for him to lay the foundations, literally. Sensitive to his personal space, we let him take the lead with the application process. After even coverage was established, and unruly Gaelic beard successfully avoided, it was time to give this skinny little Welsh boy a healthy glow. He was surprisingly taken with his new bronzed appearance: “It looks like I’ve been on holiday! This is the closest to a St.Tropez tan I’ll ever get.” But as we live in Fallowfield, not the French Riviera, a bit of blusher was required to achieve that rosycheeked, in-from-the-cold look.
Photo: The Mancunion
Brows on fleek: On to eyebrows. We made the startling discovery that left to grow untamed, male eyebrows lack shape, discipline and know no bounds. So, after some skilful shaping and combing we cultivated our subject a killer set of brows. Every self-respecting make-up maven knows the importance of good smoky eye game, so we prepped his lids with a dash of primer and set about shading. Our subject’s complexion required a mix of warm tones. After dabbing on a matte mahogany shade, we highlighted with shimmering bronze pigment. Contouring completed, our subject attempted the obligatory cat-eye flick and finished off the look with a wave of his mascara wand.
-Claire Cottis
“I personally love wiping off a girl’s makeup for her; it’s an intense sexual experience.” -Phillip Shuttleworth
“Make-up allows me to be a more confident, happy and genuine version of myself, what’s so false about that?”
Opinion
Fashion fears: the graduate
“My cat flicks are a mere extension of my feline fierceness.”
Adrienne Galloway on why with great responsibility doesn’ t always come great style
-Nikki Patel
“Fake or not, any guy that thinks that my brows are naturally on fleek, and our skin flawless without intervention, isn’t worth the time of day anyway.” -Anjana Selvanathan
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Charlotte Cook
Samuel Ward
General Secretary and all-round superstar.
Music editor and president of Fuse TV’s Fashion Fix fan club
Photo: The Mancunion
Photo: The Mancunion
I am currently in the second semester of my final year at university and edging towards adulthood. Due to procrastination, I’ve had time to think about the evolution of my dress sense since the first day I moved into Richmond Park wearing a hoodie, baggy jeans and white converse. Styles develop and trends change but it’s fair to say that this city and its student culture have definitely influenced my dress sense. There is no definition for student style in Manchester, it comes from personal perspective and experience. For me, Manchester student style revolves around vintage bargains and looking super cool without trying. A combination of effortlessness, edginess and comfort are the key components. Pieces that spring to mind at the moment are fur jackets, Adidas Superstar trainers and baggy checked shirts. In my hometown I find that people dress far less ‘edgy’, probably because of the lack of good charity shops and pop up vintage fairs. Students in Manchester make up nearly 10% of the city’s total population and therefore there is a lotmore demand for second hand. Time and time again, I find myself saying that I need to dress more like an adult
instead of thinking about what trainers to add to my collection. More often however, because I’m in my last few months of education I feel I might as well enjoy dressing like typical university student whilst I have the time. Working 9-5 in an office means only really having the chance to dress casually at weekends. However, there’s no reason why student style can’t influence what you wear in the workplace. Take woolly jumpers for instance: worn over a blouse, skirt, tights and with Chelsea boots, this can appear equally as quirky as it is formal. Dress sense is all about personality so as a student your exploration of new styles and your sense of fearlessness can create a carefree dress sense. But as you enter into the world of work, it’s likely this boldness will be left behind. Perhaps films such as ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ or ‘Working Girl’ would have us believe that working in a high pressure environment will immediately cause you to change your hair or purchase a pair of thigh high Chanel boots like Anne Hathaway. But, in reality, the process of waving goodbye to student style is much more gradual.
Photo: The Mancunion
Hot lips: After a few well-placed words of instruction we were extremely impressed with our subject’s flawless lipstick application. The boldest shade in the make-up bag, red was the obvious choice. “Is it ok to lick my lips?” he asked, worriedly. While adjusting to the strange new sensations, he couldn’t stop gazing at his perfect pout in his compact mirror. We made a a note of these interesting developments. A prominent member of the university’s men’s football team expressed feelings of sexual confusion upon catching sight of the subject’s shapely smile.
“Is it ok to lick my lips?”
Photo: The Mancunion
Into the wild: It was soon time for our subject to show the world his new self. Destination: Shell garage. On the walk over, he was filled with nervous excitement and despite putting up the hood of his parka, we caught him stealing glances at passers-by to check for their reactions. But before they could pause to take a second look, he scuttled across the garage forecourt and into the shop. Once inside he amused himself with a copy of Women’s Fitness and perused the canned goods aisle. The tempting 2-for-1 offer on mushy peas made him temporarily forget his new look. He finally plucked up the courage to make a purchase, and after his ordeal, only a nice glass (or 5) of Pinot Grigio would do. Shuffling past several confused-looking shoppers, our subject came face to face with an astonished-looking cashier. After spluttering, “Got any ID?” it took him an awkward 30 seconds to remember the price of the wine. The make-up couldn’t hide the blood rushing to our subject’s already rouged cheeks.
Operation complete, it was time for our tired subject to return home for a good cleanse, tone and moisturise. Despite his initial protests a niggling part of him can’t help but be intrigued by the perfecting potential of make-up. Maybe he doesn’t want to look just like every other boy after all…
“Only fakers wear make-up, it’s just a façade that hides what’s really lurking beneath.” -Ben Murphy
Next week we are talking about heritage fashion and what influences the way we dress. So we’re asking: how has your heritage shaped your personal style? Instagram your pictures of any garms or accessories that you’ve inherited and tag us on Instagram at @mancunionfashionandbeauty using the hashtag #fashionheritage
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Film
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Tom Bruce, Andriana Hambi, James Moules, Martin Solibakke Feature
TV Binge
Broadchurch
The Birth of an Artform As The Birth of a Nation celebrates its 100th anniversary, Elliot Coen reflects on the controversial film`s influence on cinema.
Photo: Kudos FIlm
The common consensus amongst small screen viewers is that the best crime dramas are currently being made in the US and it’s hard to discredit that argument with the likes of True Detective and Fargo providing stellar entertainment. A common misconception is that the best dramas the UK can produce are period dramas, with Downton Abbey being the benchmark. In actual fact both these points of views couldn’t be further from the truth as another show, Broadchurch, has proven that it can rival anything produced across the pond and is the actual true apex of UK TV. Sorry Dame Maggie Smith fans. Created by Chris Chibnall, the story follows two detectives in a fictional, close-knit, small town in Dorset as they try to find the killer of a young boy. The impact of grief, mutual suspicion and media attention has traumatising effects and causes the inhabitants to begin to unravel. The show has been somewhat of a victim of its own brilliance and many viewers argued that a second season was unnecessary due to the fitting and satisfying closure of the season one finale. The first season could have easily stood as a one off whodunit. However with the new season the show has evolved and allowed greater exploration of the central characters. Even the new characters have seamlessly eased into the fabric of the show. One of the true delights in the way the show has grown and expanded is the examination of a modern day criminal trial. In this way the show has retained its mystery murder element which made Broadchurch so successful in the first place and has also allowed a continuation of the original story by providing a tense and unpredictable courtroom drama. The show is visually gorgeous and the scenery of the south coast is stunningly captured with vivid beauty. The location is ultimately a character itself, with secrets harbouring in every jagged rock of the cliffs. The choice of Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds is inspired as he provides a chilling and ominous electronic score far removed from typical orchestral pieces that accompany many other shows of the genre, thus providing a real sense of uneasiness. The majority of the praise though must lie with the combination of the writing and acting; as the script continues to absorb audiences with twist and turns and there isn’t a fault note amongst the ensemble cast. The main detectives played by David Tennant and Olivia Colman share relatable chemistry and thanks to the real and honest script both individuals are highly flawed, therefore creating well-drawn characters. What makes Broadchurch such a fascinating watch is that there are no heroes and villains, everyone has their demons and each person overcomes them in different and sometimes devastating ways. Interestingly an American remake of Broadchurch did air, titled ‘Gracepoint’, but it was poorly received and deemed a failure. This further illustrates that the excellence of Broadchurch cannot be imitated and now that season three has been commissioned by ITV… Could lightning strike for a third time?
Amid the February Oscars buzz, a highly important milestone in film passed by mostly unheralded; The Birth of a Nation, a political, silent epic from 1915, celebrated its centennial. Why is this such a big deal for me? Firstly, it is the work of a true visionary and innovator of the time. In the film, director D.W. Griffith lays down the rules for everything that has followed in the industry since. He’s the OG (original gangsta, for those not as street as me); the very first auteur, who pushed directing from simply being another job, to being an artform. And secondly, it is the most abhorrently racist piece of art I have ever experienced. The Birth of a Nation places me in such an odd position; I love and hate the film with a passion, all at the same time. To give a clearer idea of just how racist it is, the film was used as a recruitment tool for the KKK in the U.S., right up to the mid-1970s. I share an appreciation for something that actively led to rampant hate crime for decades (though I imagine the brilliant use of panoramic long shots and iris effects was lost on such individuals). That really gets to me, and makes writing this piece way harder than I originally thought. For those unaware of the film, it chronicles 18th century America as the southern states seceded over slavery laws and the feuds that ensued because of this. Split into two acts, the first depicts the civil disputes between leading northern and southern families, along with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This first act is rather historically accurate and inoffensive, aside from the plentiful use of white actors ‘blacking up’. It’s the second
equality. We can have films about slavery, like Amistad or 12 Years A Slave, without white actors in blackface makeup, with the oppressed as protagonists. We can have films where a woman plays a character that’s not just a mother or a love interest for a man. Is it, then, unacceptable for me to proclaim love for this film in 2015? Probably not, because I don’t agree with the controversial views about race portrayed in it. It does raise the question, however, about how far is too far when it comes to art. Can views expressed in a film be held as the views of those making the film? And if so, who is to say what should be censored if it detracts from a film’s artistic essence? Pretend a film came along this year, as racist and sexist as The Birth of a Nation; it would be banned outright, most likely not even making it into production. Say such a film did get made though, and it was a trove of new filmmaking techniques that would push the industry into new bounds, as The Birth of a Photo: Epoch Producing Co. Nation once did. Would that make such despicable ideas any more of actual facts, and it totally undoes anything excusable? I’ll have to sleep on that one. meaningful put forward in the prior act. For those who have their interests piqued, So, why is it worth remembering this The Birth of a Nation is in the public domain, mesmerisingly horrible film 100 years on? so is available in full on YouTube (in potato Aside from the direct impact it has had on quality though). Watching it is a bit like hearing the development of filmmaking techniques, your grandad tell racist stories at Christmas; The Birth of a Nation acts as a measuring stick You love him, but he’s definitely wrong. for how far the industry has come; culturally, ethically, and artistically. Society as a whole has gone through numerous movements since 1915, pushing forward race and gender
Classic Review
Alien It would be hard nowadays to find anyone who has not heard of Sir Ridley Scott. It is safe to say Blade Runner (1982), Thelma & Louise (1991), Gladiator (2005) and American Gangster (2007)did not go unnoticed, but Alien is where Sir Scott proved he is worthy of being one of
Director: Ridley Scott Starring: Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright Released: 1979 discover that the signal was a warning and that their employer, the Company, has made them expendable in its mission to capture and study an unknown organism. The cast does a great job of conveying the fear and desperation of the crew of the Nostromo, trapped on one side by a hostile ‘guest’ and their superiors on the other.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
Imran Bukhari
This edition of The Mancunion is dedicated to Leonard Nimoy, who sadly passed away last Friday. His memory will live long and prosper.
act that spirals down into the pits of absolute disgust. The slaves are depicted as imbecilic, sex-addicted ruffians whose only goal is to prey on the young white women of the film. They riot and pillage until they are stopped by the shining white knights of the KKK, brandishing fiery crosses as they go. This act is largely fantastical, with such a scanty use
the biggestnames in modern cinema. At the beginning of a great sci-fi saga, Alien has kept up with the timeswhile maintaining an authentic feel. Sigourney Weaver stars as Ripley, the third officer on board of the Nostromo, a commercialspacecraft sent to investigate a mysterious SOS signal. However, they quickly
Alien pits Dallas, portrayed by Skerritt, and his crew against “the ultimate survivor, unclouded by judgement”. It is the brute struggle for survival at its most primitive in a high-tech setting, dominated by coloful buttons and ‘bleep bloop’ sound effects. Based on H.R. Giger’s concept art, this sci-fi horror flic raised the bar for visual effects in the
film industry. While most of the special effects belong to the Star Wars era – as in they were probably revolutionary at the time – and seem rather outdated nowadays, the decors do not fail to impress. From the very first seconds of the film, the dark and still settings inspire nothing but unease. In fact, I will even go as far as to say that the decors, along with the cinematography and unsettling music are the biggest contributors to the horror. The film just feels creepy from start to finish, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. The facehugger, in particular, made me uncomfortable in ways I’m not sure I can describe… I only regret not having been able to witness Alien when it was first released. While it is important to respect the huge leap forward that its special effects represented at the time, I felt slightly underwhelmed by the emergence of the actual alien. However, true cineasts will join me in lookingover this minor hitch and enjoying the strong acting, intense dialogue and creepy cinematography. This classic is a must-see. It will bring you back to the origins of the modern horror genre and the start of an iconic movie franchise. It will make you shiver at your most primal level, as Ridley tugs at your fear of the dark, your fear of the unknown and even your trust issues. Alien demonstrates that no matter how advanced our technology becomes, humanity is still driven by very animal insticts. Arne Dumez
Film 19
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM /MancunionFilm @mancunionfilm
Review
Top 5
Music Biopics
Blackhat Jack Lunn hacks away at this hacker-suspense-thriller with the fury of an Asgardian Michael Mann’s first feature for six years is Blackhat, a cyber focused investigative thriller, though it can’t be said to be too much of a happy return for the man who brought us The Insider, Heat and his previous most recent effort, Public Enemies. Mann often delivers strong action films with some degree of intrigue where the story is concerned, as seen in The Last of the Mohicans, but this element is certainly missing from Blackhat. Chris Hemsworth stars as the muscular protagonist Hathaway, who we first meet imprisoned for crimes related to his specialist subject of computer hacking. He teams up with former college room mate and current FBI officer Dawai in order to bring down an anonymous hacker who caused a fatal nuclear plant disaster. Hathaway’s reward for his expertise would be his freedom, a deal made even sweeter for him after he becomes infatuated with his friend’s sister. Hemsworth’s portrayal of his character is more comparable to his straight-up heroic good guy Thor, as opposed to his charismatic and complex enactment of Formula One star James Hunt in the brilliant Rush. Mann would have us believe otherwise, as he is introduced expanding his knowledge by reading during his days confined in prison, though, in the film we rarely see a cleverly written character of any real interest. The film gets off to a slow start and takes a while to gain any kind of momentum, with numerous shots re-imagining the insides of computer processors, which all look very similar. Being well versed in cyber lingo may be necessary to get to grips with the early phases of Blackhat, as for all the talk of ‘proxies’, ‘diagnostics’ and ‘malware’ it was easy to get lost and
felt hard to access. The beginning interested me so little that my time was utilised by attaching a new moni-
Blackhat draws, to an extent, on one of the key attractions of cinema - the fact that the audience can be carried off to a distant and visually beautiful land, sharply contrasting with a cold and rainy Manchester. Hathaway is whisked off to East Asia to track his anonymous nemesis down, where the vibrant skyscraper backdrop of Hong Kong makes for awesome viewing. Rural Indonesia and Malaysia are both further settings which add excitement to the film, but they are not utilised enough other than in an end scene at a visually stunning traditional festival. Blackhat suffers from a case of identity crisis up to the second half, where it fully dons the form of an action flick. Some of its more watchable scenes are situated here with a street gun chase being a stand out moment, yet other combat scenes are poorly executed, as with Hathaway in pursuit of his foes, the viewer is bombarded with enough shaky cam to warrant a mid film lie down. As far as I’m concerned, Blackhat’s legacy will be as one of a film that was all too forgettable for the most part of it and could have been so much better. It’s watchable for those with an inclination for action, though, otherwise it would be best to avoid Mann’s Photo: Universal Pictures latest release.
ker to the films title (one which I’m not even proud of at all), demonstrating how lousy Craphat ‘s initial section was. Things did begin to slightly improve from there, in what must be said is a relatively stylishly shot film.
Cornerhouse Pick of the Week
emotional tone. The theme of homophobia is touched upon but never overarches the story as a whole since Sachs refuses to exploit the material in order to create dramatic tension. A second romantic storyarch is introduced through the film’s obvious admiration for its setting. Love is Strange paints a Photo: Film4 Productions refreshing picture of New York City, which seems almost plain The release of Ira Sachs’ drama Love in its sereneness and gives ‘The City is Strange marks the emergence of yet That Never Sleeps’ a sense of reality one another Manhattan love story. The film would imagine only a real New Yorker invites its audience to follow lifelong to be familiar with. As the characters couple Ben and George (convincingly take us wandering through the urban played by John Lithgow and Alfred haven we feel strangely at home and Molina), whose tale sets off cheerfully on the city doesn’t seem so sleepless after their wedding day. Their joy is however all. quickly spoilt when George loses his job The only minor incoherency arguably as music teacher at a Catholic school lies in the film’s ending, which appears due to his now lawfully authorised slightly superfluous and disruptive of relationship with Ben. Arising financial the general subtlety inherent to the problems force the newlyweds to give story, and could have potentially been up their Manhattan apartment. The Big more productive if left ambiguous. Apple’s property market, into which However, it is easily relatable on an the film gives an insightful view, causes emotional level, succeeds in creating big problems which force the couple to a refreshingly genuine New York City separately move in with friends. Ben along the way and constitutes one of stays with his nephew’s family and the few examples of a love story that finds himself amidst teenage-anxieties doesn’t need a gendered genre tag to and work-related stress while George convey its message: Love is Strange is camps with a befriended couple of simply a beautifully subtle and heartyoung police officers that prove to felt tale about the strange powers of be party-loving social butterflies. mutual appreciation. Despite their separation, Ben’s and George’s relationship remains the central stabilising pillar keeping the resulting chaos manageable. Being gay is represented in a pronouncedly unspectacular way which transmits the tenderness of the protagonists’ love for each other and sets the film’s quietly
You Can’t Handle the Truth!
Ed Bains believes Nolan’s exploration of the final frontier was not alright, alright, alright. And rightly so. Every now and then there’s a film that you psych yourself up for ages beforehand; religiously watching every trailer, patiently scouring the web for months on end looking for a stream of sufficient quality because you were too broke to see it when it was out in the cinema. And every now and then, you are horrifically disappointed. Such was the case when I finally got round to watching Christopher Nolan’s space epic ‘Interstellar’. Apparently, this steaming pile of celestial bullshit scored an 8.8/10 on IMDb. 8.8 my arse! I won’t delve much into the total and utter lack of any logic or scientific plausibility found in this film, as suspension of disbelief is part and parcel of any fantasy story. One that I will touch on briefly is the ‘blight’ that in the film has killed off the entire world’s wheat and okra crop (and soon corn), hence humans are starving and wanting to bugger off somewhere nicer. Shame no one eats rice or fruit or anything or we might just have made it. This whole scenario was clearly just a giant cowardly cop-out to the American conservative climatechange denying right. Climate change would have made for a much more realistic apocalyptic scenario and could have given the film a real environmental message. But noooooo. A few morons would have called it ‘leftie enviro-nazi propaganda’, and we can’t have that. Moving on. I felt at times this film was trying to be lots of different genres and failing spectacularly at all of them. We get a snippet of ‘1984’-style censorship at the start with some school teacher pretending
4) Sid and Nancy (1986) Sid Vicious, the poster child of punk, portrayed by Gary Oldman… Surely something’s askew here? Think again. This film, despite being panned by the Sex Pistols’ John Lydon, owes most of its success to Oldman and his remarkable ability to transform beyond recognition in both appearance and persona. Alex Cox presents a fast-paced, turbulent portrayal of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen’s relationship, capturing the essence of the fragmented ‘70s era with flair.
Photo:MGM
The Duke of Burgundy Inter-Average, More Like! James Moules was captivated by this dark parable of sex and love
5) Nowhere Boy (2009) Director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s admirable attempt at illustrating the troubled adolescence of The Beatles’ most revered member is undeniably underrated. Despite only exposing a portion of John Lennon’s life prior to The Beatles’ explosion onto the ‘60s music scene, the film provides an insightful glimpse into Lennon’s infamously audacious personality, thanks to commendable performances from Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Kristin Scott Thomas.
3) 24 Hour Party People (2002) Of the more offbeat pictures within this line-up is 24 Hour Party People, which takes a look at the pivotal moment in 1976 when Tony Wilson made the decision to launch Factory Records. Steve Coogan was a somewhat unconventional choice for the leading role, yet is surprisingly convincing in his flamboyant approach to portraying the influential label owner, as he brings together James, Happy Mondays and Joy Division to form the legendary ‘Madchester’ scene.
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures
the 1969 Moon landings were faked. Why she does this is never explained and it’s never followed up in any way, so it just seems a bit irrelevant. Towards the end it descends into ‘The Road’ style humansgoing-mad-driving-along-roads-andturning-on-each-other anarchy, but this all stops when the stereotypical female scientist character runs outside to tell everyone her dad has just sent her a message from the centre of a black hole via interdimensional morse-code that’s gonna allow her to solve the equation of gravity, which will somehow save everyone. Yeah. It didn’t even do sci-fi very well. Half the time I felt I was looking at the cosmos through the camera from the Blair Witch Project. $165 million dollar budget and everything in space still looked rubbish, especially all these alien planets. I’m left wondering why anyone on earth even wants to go to them. That utopian spacestation they’re all aboard at the end looks a hell of a lot nicer. I’ll grant you, Michael Caine’s reading of ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ while they fly away from Earth was rather beautiful (as anything read by him would be). But then they decided to have him repeat it again later on, clearly conscious of the fact it was the only bit of the film worth repeating.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
2) Walk The Line (2005) Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are both impressive as always in James Mangold’s adaptation of the life of Arkansas-born country legend Johnny Cash. Vividly and effortlessly capturing American life in the ‘50s, Walk The Line is moving and sophisticated in the way it paints Cash and his relationships and harmful addictions that spiralled throughout the progression of his musical career. 1) Control (2007) Returning to Manchester once again, Anton Corbijn’s directorial debut clinches the top spot with its harrowing depiction of Joy Division’s idiosyncratic frontman, Ian Curtis, and his heart breaking demise. With its sleek cinematography and gritty black and white illustration of suburban Manchester, Control is a deeply affecting and sombre piece of film and simply the finest music biopic ever made. Georgia Welch
20
Books
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
/TheMancunion: Books @MancunionBooks
Editors: Leonie Dunn, Ali Pearson
Review
Review: George Johnson’s Cancer Chronicles
Johnson’s Cancer Chronicles explores cancer on both the level of science and lifestyle which blended with the narrative of his own life experiences of cancer makes for a truly moving read
Photo: Jay Fagerberg
A couple of weeks ago when I browsed through BBC, my attention was immediately caught by a heading: ‘Half of UK people’ will get cancer. Oh my… really?! I had just started to read The Cancer Chron-
icles, which introduces the topic when dinosaurs were still ruling this planet. Did you know that the history of cancer goes all the way back to the prehistoric times?
I found the beginning of the book somewhat discouraging and tedious, but don’t let that stop you. As soon as you are snuggled up in bed with a bunch of tissues at hand (you’re going to need them) and have got past the first chapter, you are in for a great read. By starting off to investigate the history of cancer, Johnson continues to smoothly manoeuvre the reader through the complex and versatile appearance of cancer through the disciplines of medicine, biology, physics and mathematics. To further point out the complexity, he reviews findings from subcategories within above mentioned fields, such as epidemiology, oncology, quantum physics and pharmacology to mention just a few. In contrast to this, Johnson’s simple language and authentic descriptions mix up the pure facts which help the reader to keep on track. Parallel to his research as a professional writer, he generously shares his own personal experience of what happened when his wife Nancy was diagnosed with cancer. The reader follows a moving and rather breathtaking story of how the cancer was first discovered as a little lump in her groin up until her last treatment. For a long time, the origin of Nancy’s cancer was unclear and it is heart-clenching to read about how it spread through her body. Johnson’s descriptions and imagery make the reader feel as though they are an old friend to the couple. Make sure to not skip the epilogue which, though it is of an unexpected nature, adds on to conclude the book in a truly special manner. This is where those tissues might come in handy. Nevertheless, not only does cancer need to be investigated in a scientific manner, but also as it is such a public health problem it needs to be
discussed with relation to lifestyle. In the 80’s for example, fruit and vegetables were thought to prevent cancer, whereas now, there does not exist any such proof. Nonetheless, I would not encourage you to skip the five-a-day since we don’t know what future research will unfold. Furthermore, the impact of both environmental factors and habits are examined, and I have to confess that I stopped making my porridge in the microwave for a while and avoided having my phone in my pocket in case it might send out radiation. As Johnson highlights, radiation can cause the DNA to mutate, which in turn can lead to uncontrollable proliferation of the cells which could end up in a tumour. This book presents the complexity and wide distribution of cancer. The massive reference list of 60 pages shows what great research Johnson has done and makes it easy to find cross references for those who are eager to find out more. What gives this book an extra dimension is the wide range of topics related to cancer and how he excellently changes between different points of views. The way Johnson alternates pure facts, personal experiences and portrays the environments make the book suitable for daddy, granny, friend or perhaps a friend’s friend. Before I finished this review, I quickly browsed through BBC’s article again which by now had received 550 comments. Clearly, cancer is an ongoing debate and it will be interesting to see what the future will reveal. Jay Fagerberg
Review
Classics Digested
Classics Digested: Middlemarch
Nearly 150 years after the first installment of Middlemarch, Leonie Dunn examines Eliot’s Magnum Opus of characters, where no one occupies the centre and no one leaves as the most important or influential character. It is epic in length and scope, portraying not only the intricaciesofsocialrelationshipsbutmostly the power we have on each other’s lives, whether we are aware of it or not.
Review: M. J. Arlidge – “Eeny Meeny” Katie Burns commends the plot of Arlidge’s story, but argues the execution of it was below par.
WHY should you read it? Eliot’s Magnum Opus, nearly 150 years after the first instalment Middlemarch, still retainsitspopularityandstatusasoneofthe masterpiecesofEnglishFiction.Considered by Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language among others, Eliot explores themes such as the status of women, the nature of marriage, political reform, and many more. Middlemarch is a work of realism and everyday life that fully represents the ambiguities of moral choice. While its magnitude could put you off, this novel shows Eliot masterfully weaving together politics, comedy, romance, and tragedy. Classic Quote: Photo: JamesGardinerCollec-
WHO is the author? Although baptised as Mary Anne Evans, she chose to write her novels under the male pseudonym George Eliot in order for her novels to be taken seriously. Eliot scorned the stereotypical female novelist; rather than writing what she regarded as thesilly,unrealisticromantictalesexpected of women writers, she wrote according to her own tastes. Although,itispresumedthatanadditional factor in her pseudonym was from her desire to shield her private life from public scrutiny, especially with her work as a prolificjournalist,translator,andeditor.Her novelsweretobeshieldedfromthescrutiny and scandal of her illicit relationship with the married George Henry Lewes.
“It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.”
WHAT is it about? Middlemarchisanovelofepicproportions which seeks to turn the notion of epic on its head. Instead of focusing on heroes and their grand adventures, Middlemarch represents the lives of ordinary people, notably the spirit of 19th century England through the historically unremarkable and often missed common people. Anyone who is reading Middlemarch for the first time will be astonished by the amazinglycomplexsocialworld,whereEliot repeatedly uses the metaphor of a web to describe the microcosm of Middlemarch’s society which is to be understood as the macrocosm of society as a whole. Eliot intricately weaves the lives of a large cast
Leonie Dunn
Image: goodreads.com
This is probably one of the worst books I could have chosen as my first review for the Mancunion – almost a week after finishing it, I stillPride have noand idea 1. Jane Austen’s Prejudice Jane Austen is thetoicon for what I think. The first book feature classic romance novels so it should Arlidge’s police officer protagonist, come as no surprise that she holds the Helen Grace, it is is a Pride pulpyand thriller to the top spot. Not only Prejudice core.ofOn themost surface, it is the prototype one the popular books in the English ever,soit’sit also onethat of of bookslanguage that I enjoy, follows the most romantic love stories you I should have fallen in love with it. At can find. Elizabeth Bennet is facing the times, when main plot waswith speeding prospect of the marriage, along her along with all blaring, relationship I almost did. four sisters. Ansires unpleasant with a Mr. Darcy turns into a much more complicated relationship as the The premise was strong; two two play the dating game in the 19th people century.wake up in some abandoned, inescapable hellhole, with only a gun 2. Nicholas The Notebook and a phone Spark’s for company. They are Nicholas Sparks has to be the most faced with a choice; kill their new popular romance author of our time. unexpected andcould be sethave free, While many roommate of his novels or diethe themselves. After a choice has made list The Notebook is the one that the rest, perhaps due beenstands made,above the scenario is repeated to to the now-classic film adaptation. over and over again, as the police After a summer romance like no other, frantically find the person Noah and scrabble Allie aretopulled apart by responsible. social class in the early 1900’s. Years later, the two reconnect, but it might be too late since Allie is engaged. By far the strongest aspect of the book whenBronte’s the captives are stuck 3. was Emily Wuthering in their own private struggles. This led Heights the that most heartbreakingly toPossibly paragraphs were dripping with beautiful love story ever written, tension and mystery, and created a Wuthering Heights was initially called
thought-provoking glimpse into the different characters reactions to this impossible situation. Then though, came subplots. the and police vulgarthe when it was Within published it was criticized for its difficult squad of roughly 7 therecharacters. was; an Of course, now we can recognize the alcoholic, a fan of pretty extreme BDSM, complexity of this relationship, which ashowcases mole and someone in the throes of a that societal standards pregnancy scare. Now, I am all forThis the shouldn’t dictate our happiness. novel depicts between proper fleshingthe outromance of characters, but Catherine and Heathcliff, whose love there were lots of times we were told, seems to both destroy them and keep for example, “this character married,” them going throughout theirislives. only for it to have no bearing on the 4. Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With plot, and never be mentioned again. the Wind First published in 1936, many In the this end, novel it all historical seemed more a bit consider unnecessary, the story seemed than romantic,and however the Civil War romance between badunder boy, itsRhett, in danger of collapsing own and Southern belle, Scarlett, is not weight. The book hasn’t made enough to be missed. Torn apart by war, it’s a of an impactthat on me to make jump relationship doesn’t seemme possible onto nextreunited in the series, it hasn’t until the they’re manybut years later. It’s a beautiful yetme extensive completely put off theRomance idea of novel whose reputation lives on today reading it either. If you are one of those with thanks to the Classic Academy people who like film theiradaptation. light reading with Award-winning a side of murder, then it might be worth 5. Shakespeare’s and Juliet giving the book a go,Romeo but if not, there are One of William Shakespeare’s most a lot of better thrillers out there. celebrated works and quite possibly the most influential love story of all time, how could the list not include this classic. This tale of “star-crossed lovers” has been told and interpreted time and time again. A story all lovers can relate
Photo
22
Food & Drink
Editors: Ellie Gibbs, Adam Fearn
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Curbing the No-Carb: 4 healthy swaps for under £1 Photos: The Mancunion
Ellie Gibbs Co-Editor The idea of cutting carbohydrates to promote weight-loss is no stranger to the diet scene, but it definitely gets a bad rep due to the inevitable heavy regain as the price for its betrayal. Instead of going cold-turkey from the white stuff (bread, rice, pasta), why not wean yourself off it or simply cut down by making a few small changes to your existing diet. Incorporate these swaps into your meal plan at least three times a week and bask in the glory of your guiltless, bulkless satiety.
1. COURGHETTI
2.SWEDGES (SWEET POTATO WEDGES)
S a i n s b u r y ’s : 1 x ( 3 fo r £ 1 . 5 0 ) = 5 0 p, A L D I : 1 x ( 3 fo r 8 9 p ) = 3 0 p
S a i n s b u r y ’s : 2 s m a l l s we e t p o t a t o e s x ( £ 1 . 2 0 / k g ) = 4 0 p, A L D I : ( 92 p / k g ) = 3 0 p
Hm, this might still be a carb but if we start cutting nutritious veg out of our life in the name of health then there is no hope for anyone.
Slice your courgette in half lengthways, then slide your knife across in half again —still lengthways. Cut the courgette into thin strands that somewhat/in no way resemble spaghetti.
Preheat the oven to 200°, place a roasting tin with a drizzle of olive oil in there to heat whilst you slice around two small sweet potatoes into wedges.
Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the courgette and cook or steam for 3 – 5 minutes, until tender. This is the healthiest way to cook as it involves no oil.
Add the wedges to the hot pan along with spices— think rosemary, paprika, a dash of cinnamon—and a restrained sprinkle of salt.
Treat the courghetti as you would pasta—top with pesto, sprinkle with toasted seeds or simply drizzle with olive oil, crushed garlic and black pepper.
Roast for 25 – 30mins until soft when prodded with a fork and looking irresistible. Skin on or off—down to preference. I prefer on.
Photo: twopeasandtheirpod
3. MUSHABON (MUSHROOM BUNS) S a i n s : 2 c a p s a t ( £ 1 /2 5 0 g ) = 70 p
Photo: Ellie Gibbs
Photo: The Mancunion Photo: thekitchn.com
4. FLICE (CAULIFLOWER RICE) S a i n s : 1 /2 x ( 1 fo r £ 1 ) = 5 0 p A L D I : 1 /2 x ( 1 fo r 7 5 p ) = 3 8 p
A L D I : ( 8 9 p /2 5 0 g ) = 5 0 p
These amalgamations are getting tedious, I know.
Halve cauliflower. Grate or finely chop one half (refrigerate the other for later flice meals), put into microwave-safe bowl.
Gently rinse two large (portobello) mushroom heads under cold water, heat a frying pan with olive oil and a tsp of crushed garlic and fry them until nicely browned.
Sprinkle with a tiny bit of water, cover with clingfilm or a plastic cover and microwave for two minutes.
Use in place of burger buns or make a whole other tasty meal by crumbling feta on top and browning under the grill. Best served with hot and crispy fried halloumi, a tomato slice, gherkin, lettuce and carb swap number 2.
Serve as you would normal rice—with curry, grilled chicken and vegetables. You could even bring this to life as an individual dish by adding spices and chickpeas.
If you fancy your hand at food and drink journalism, whether it be interviews, recipes, reviews, or some interesting culinary anecdotes, email us at foodanddrink@mancunion.com or get in touch via Facebook or Twitter .
ISSUE 18/ 19th MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
The Mancunion: Food & Drink @MancunionFood
Food & Drink 23
Recipe: Going Lentil Review
Ellie Gibbs explores the range of ingredients on curry mile In a separate frying pan, heat the oil with the garlic and the mustard seeds until fragrant, then stir into the dal along with the tamarind. The dal should thicken after around 3 minutes and then it is ready. Serve with rice and greens, or add more water and boil with sweet potato and carrots to make a flavoursome soup.
500g pack Heema Chana Dal: 89p A range of spices: priceless Well actually if you buy spices from the Worldwide supermarkets you can generally get a small bag for 69-89p. You could even stretch to £1 if you prefer to have them in a plastic shaker. Investing in spices will save you money on buying jarred sauces, make your food taste a lot more interesting and generally transform your cooking skills. Equipped with a range of spices, you can feed yourself for at least 4 delicious meals for 89p. I like the Heema brand as they have recipes on the back, so if you pick up a pack of lentils and have no idea what to do with them, you can confidently follow the directions on the back to ensure an authentic and delicious meal. Which is exactly what I did with my little back of split peas: Heema Dal: - 1 cup chana dal/yellow split peas, soaked overnight in 4 cups water - 3 cups water - 1 tsp salt - 1/4tsp chilli powder - 1/4 tsp cinnamon - 1/4 tsp cumin - 1/4 tsp coriander - 1 tbsp tamarind (could sub honey or treacle) - 1 tsp sugar - 1 tbsp oil - 1/4 tsp mustard seeds - 1 tsp garlic
Lentils are a great option for vegetarians, as well as the health-conscious (who isn’t these days?) They’re cheap, easy to use and act as a perfect base for lots of spicy dishes: soups, curries, stews and as an alternative to rice.
Eaten anywhere nice recently? Created something delicious? We want to know! Tell us about it at food.mancunion@outlook.com
Method: After soaking the lentils, drain and add to a saucepan with the 3 cups of water, Bring to the boil and simmer with the lid on for around 30 minutes, until the lentils are becoming soft. If you have a lot of time, this step can go on for as long as possible as you can’t really overcook them as long as there is enopugh liquid. After the 30 mins, add the spices to the dal and stir, turn the heat down and put the lid on.
Photo: Michele Wynne@Flickr
Review: Soup Kitchen Ellie Gibbs, Editor-in-Chief
Photo: Ellie Gibbs
At around £6.50 per dish, Soup Kitchen is a little pricey for something that takes its name from a concept based on providing free nourishing food, but this is made up for by the generous portions and vibrant, quality ingredients pleasantly un-reminiscent of a school canteen. Begrudging dinner ladies are replaced by bubbly staff, stinginess exchanged for extra helpings. Soup Kitchen have a relatively fixed menu with daily changing soups. This works well for variety as each time you can expect to find something new and enticing on the menu, with reassuring knowledge that the fail-safe jerk chicken, Caribbean dumplings with jack fruit and sweet yam curry will be present and steaming away in their industrial sized steel buckets. Everything is served with the option of jumbo purple coleslaw, chickpea salad, fresh herby tomatoes and help-yourself bread rolls. Water is available in thick swing-top glass bottles on the bar which is perfect if you’re the type to drink at least 3 pints with every meal and feel embarrassed to continually nag the waiter (I hate being served a half pint - of anything). The serving counter also doubles up as a bar which comes fully stocked with the usual NQ-style craft beers, quirky bottled brews and range of tasty liqueurs. It’s worth mentioning that SK has a downstairs club so it’s theoretically somewhere you could spend the whole night. Long trestle tables make this a good spot for large parties for evening drinks, though the music is a little loud even in the day so be prepared to raise your voice for a decent conversation. Or just resign to enjoy your food in silence and save your talking topics for later. That being said, the restaurant is cosy and friendly and perfect for a lunch that’s guaranteed to be delicious. Being able to walk through the door and be comfortably sat down with a ceramic bowl of hot food in the space of five minutes is a blessing that the Northern Quarter would struggle without. There’s no waiting for a table, no risk that it might not be right, and no gamble on how long it will take for the food to arrive.
The atmosphere is warm, wholesome and the embodiment of what its name derives from with extra funding, which I suppose is exactly what it is - apart from its customers are not homeless, though they may dress like they are (guilty). 31-33 Spear Street Manchester M1 1DF http://soup-kitchen.co.uk/
Photo: Ellie Gibbs
24
Arts & Culture
ISSUE 17/ 2nd March 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM /TheMancunionArtsCul@ArtsMancunion
Editor: Holly Smith Review
Art In The City: The What’s On This Best Days Out Month
Ever wondered what to do when the family comes over? No need to worry any more. The Mancunion’s insight guide is all you need to organise the best day out. the museum hosts works by As I was sitting on the magic locally and internationally bus and daydreaming my renowned artists. The gallery way through the Curry Mile, offers a mixed programme of I overheard a conversation contemporary, historic, fine between a student and her and decorative art, costume parents. She was engrossed and photography exhibitions. in introducing them to the Famous artists such as delights of Lal Quila and Reynolds, Gainsborough, Worldwide Superstore, when Stubbs, Canaletto and Turner she was abruptly asked what can be found throughout the they would actually be doing 21 rooms of artwork on show. once they reached the city Mosley Street, Manchester, centre. She seemed quite M2 3JL taken back by the question and it took her a while to 2) Whitworth Art Gallery weakly mumble “well there is Newly reopened just this the Arndale...”. The thought week with a £15 million suddenly occurred to me then, development, which has that actually, as students we transformed the gallery, don’t realise just how much doubling it in size and creating moreArchives cultureNew Manchester new spaces that embrace the Zealand@Flickr offers, other than the clubs and park it calls home. The best shopping. I therefore decided thing is, it’s so easy to find as it is to compile a list of places actually a part of the University worth seeing and, if ever the of Manchester. Whitworth the situation that this poor is a modern art gallery and unsuspecting student found includes works by Epstein, herself in of having to suddenly Hepworth, van Gogh and plan a family day out, you Picasso. The gallery became have a list of great art places noted for its championing that will impress everyone. of British contemporary art, staging David Hockney’s 1) Manchester Art Gallery first British show in 1969. Situated in a beautiful building dating back to 1824, Oxford Road, Manchester, the Manchester Art Gallery M15 6ER is probably one of the most obvious art galleries in the 3) The Lowry city. Just a five minute walk The Lowry is located right from Piccadilly Gardens, next to the television studios
in Salford Quays, just a short tram ride from Piccadilly Gardens. Showcasing a variety of visual and performing arts and running many special exhibitions is what The Lowry is famous for. The building itself is also just as impressive as the variety of art available to see. With restaurants, cafes and bars situated along the southern side of the building with spectacular waterfront views, this has now become a must-see tourist destination in Manchester.
M1 5NH
5) Bureau Bureau gallery is located in Spinningfields and represents many artists working across a diverse media. The gallery contains a series of rotating exhibitions, taking place in the gallery and in off-site locations. This is a chance to many unique and emerging artists showcase their work. From sculptures to prints, this is a gallery that never stays the same. To find something new, this is the place to go.
Your inside guide to the best exhibitons around the city in March.
Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ 4) Cornerhouse Sitting on the Corner of Oxford Road Station, the Cornerhouse is not only a cinema and cafe, but a great place to see a huge variety of unique art exhibitions, from both local and international artists. The building may look small from the outside, but inside you can find yourself wandering around 3 floors of art galleries. Over half a million visitors walk through its doors each year, making it one of the most visited places in the city. For something slightly different and often a bit more quirky than traditional galleries, the Cornerhouse is a must. 70 Oxford Street, Manchester,
3 Hardman Square, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3EB 6) Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art Established only 30 years ago the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art is the leading organisation for the promotion of Chinese art in the UK. The gallery runs many exhibitions reflecting the dynamism of Chinese culture and contemporary Chinese art. This gallery is one of the most unique in Manchester and is a truly new and unique experience. Market Buildings, Street, Northern Manchester, M4 1EU
Thomas Quarter,
Photo of the Week
Cornerhouse Projects: Full Stop @ Cornerhouse 19th February 2015– 2nd April 2015 Free Entry In the last ever Cornerhouse Project, before the transition to HOME, a new arts centre in the city begins, we will be able to see the public exhibition spaces handed over to the gallery invigilators. The invigilators are Manchester-based artists and creatives, with disciplines ranging from painting, sculpture, photography, acting, illustration, video, sound and installation. In this work, they will be investigating the building from top to bottom, making site-specific pieces in underused spaces, lifting lids, documenting the mechanics of the everyday, and researching stories and urban myths from their 30 year history, using a perspective and knowledge that could only be acquired from behind-the-scenes access to present you with a new last look at this iconic building. Cornelia Parker @ Whitworth Art Gallery 14 February 2015 – 31 May 2015 Free Entry
Manchester Cornerhouse: The Joneses @ Flickr.com
Cornelia Parker’s work invites you to witness the transformation of ordinary objects into something compelling and extraordinary. It is an extensive exhibition, one that features a wide range of work made during Parker’s career, from her signature piece Cold Dark Matter; An Exploded View (1991) alongside two important new commissions and many other new works, for example, the War Room which is unique to the Whitworth. Here, the huge sheets of paper from which Remembrance Day poppies are punched hang in neatly incomplete layers, creating a blood-coloured tent from the room. SICK! Festival @ Variety of locations across Manchester 2nd March 2015 – 25th March 2015 Prices Vary
The Lowry, David Nutter@Flickr.com
Spinningfields, Manchester, Sarah @ Flickr.com
SICK! Festival is the first of its kind in the country, exploring the medical, mental and social challenges of life and death and how we survive them. The festival will present an outstanding international, cross art-form programme featuring theatre, dance, public installations, debates and speakers. Find out more by visiting their website at www.sickfestival.com
Theatre
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Nicole Tamer, Luke Sharma Feature
The 3rd Degree
Nicole
Interview/Pre-
Nicole
Breakfast
A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal took the world by storm thirty years ago. Coinciding with the anniversary, Sam Ebner-Landy is bringing an adaptation of the popular coming of age film overseas and into the Council Chambers. The journey has not been without bumps, in order to not get into troubles with the law, he tried to contact Universal studios on both sides of the pond with some difficulties. I met up with the enthusiastic second year English Literature and Drama student to talk about his experience of being a director and producer for the first time, his Mean Girl-esque experience in America and the importance of the characters in the play. On Copyright issues:
Photo: Nicole Tamer
Entering its fifth season, the successful BBC Radio 4 show with host Steve Punt decided to challenge students and dons of the University of Manchester alike in the 6th episode. The show’s concept is an elaborate version of University Challenge in which three students of different fields try to beat the knowledge of professors of the respective field. The evening started with an applause and laughter practice and the audience was introduced to the concept and aim of the show by director and producer David Tyler. After exercising to laugh like pirates, the atmosphere became more serious and the recording began. The introduction of the 6 participants lead to a funny start and Steve Punt knew how to delight the audience with his (scripted) wit. After introducing the University of Manchester in a very favourable light, the contestants had to introduce themselves. The nervousness of the participants was apparent, but everyone made a good impression nevertheless. The dons were the highlight of the evening with their incredibly fast answers and funny facial expressions. Dr Natalie Zacek is a lecturer in History and American Studies and impressed during the evening with her speed of light response time and impeccable knowledge of her subject area. Her two team members were Professor Bernard Clarke, a honorary clinical professor of cardiology and Professor Matthew Cobb whose main research interest is the sense of smell of maggots. The bright student contestants fought hard for points in order to beat professors with more life experience and clearly more knowledge in their field area. The student team consisted of Polly Martin, who was quick in eliminating wrong answers of her team members in a witty way, the English Literature and American Studies student James Broadway and Sam, a third year medical student. I contacted James after the show recording because I was curious about the selection process, if he has any tips for students generally to have a better memory and if he had any expectations prior to the show;
Review
“I received an email from my department asking if anyone was interested, I phoned the producer and he asked me some practice questions then I got in. I dont have a technique for recalling information but I do watch quiz shows all the time. I didn’t realise how much fun it was going to be but I thought we would get thrashed by the academic team... and we did.” The show consisted of seven rounds, of which the Highbrow/Lowbrow round was the most entertaining. Each contestant is given a short clue to a question and is then asked if they want to answer a highbrow or a lowbrow question based on the clue. The students scored two points if they get the highbrow question right or one point if they get the lowbrow question right. For the Dons, it was the other way around. When the contestant chooses the question, their academic rival has to answer the question not chosen. Funnily enough, the questions that would have been answered very quickly by anyone in the audience posed most difficulty to the contestants. The apparent lack of general popular culture knowledge was obvious after Lana Del Rey was not identified and their TV show and Film knowledge was not very high. This made some people in the audience feel smug at first, but then it might have dawned on them that some of the contestants save lives on a daily basis or will contribute to important research in the future. The funniest moment in the show ensued when James was asked a lowbrow question about ‘Pacts and Treaties’ concerning the infamous book and film “50 Shades of Grey”. To the question “What is the safe word used by the characters?” he answered “Is it my safe word?” Despite the competitive atmosphere, humour played a big role and everyone seemed amused even if the answer they gave was wrong. It was exciting to be in the audience, especially because we were present when retakes were recorded. Steve Punt had to soften an offensive commentary about Nigel Farage, who is allowed to be described as ‘white and floppy’, but not as racist. Another highlight was the retaking of affirmations such as ‘Yes’, ‘Absolutely right’, ‘Spot on’,
Bad Company
Every February, the University of Manchester Drama Society’s Manchester In-Fringe Theatre Awards (MIFTA) season comes around, bringing exciting potential for new interpretations of existing plays, and debuts of original works written and created by some of the University’s most talented dramatists. As MIFTA audience members of past and present will agree, the extraordinary quality of work produced by members of the society never fails to surprise and amaze. Most recently, Manchester theatre-goers were presented with Tom Mackintosh’s gripping play Bad Company, in the Council Chambers of the Students’ Union. With the debut of this extraordinarily written comic drama, it has become clear that the relentlessly high standards have become an inevitable part of the MIFTA experience, and audiences ought not to be so surprised in future. For Martin and Helena Cabrera, life plays out each day in the same dreary fashion. Their marriage seemingly decaying around them at the same rate as the slowly crumbling bed and breakfast that they run together, time is pulling them down a miserable slope. It is upon the sudden arrival of three new guests that their dull existence is at once shaken to the core, forcing them to confront issues which have simmered silently and malevolently beneath the surface of their marriage for an agonisingly long time. Most significantly, the resounding success of Bad Company owes itself to the insightful and witty text. Illuminating the agonies and strains often suffered
Annabel Cart-
within adult romantic relationships, Mackintosh revealed an incredibly genuine understanding of married life. Cleverly juxtaposing an overbearing context of dissatisfaction and bitterness with many laugh-out-loud witticisms and one-liners, the audience was provided with a captivatingly ‘real’ presentation of a couple’s everyday life. Bolstering the movingly convincing text was the sensitive physical presentation of the play’s five characters. Supremely well cast, the talent of each actor in Bad Company is undeniable. With particularly resonant performances by Yasmin Al-Khudhairi as the resentful Helena Cabrera, and Tom Roberts as the mysterious and charming Quentin Lovelace, the cast unfalteringly personified their characters with compelling intuition. The precise comic and dramatic timing of delivery by the cast proved key to the general effectiveness of Bad Company. Of course, the overall creative input of director, Rishi Pelham cannot be overlooked in this respect. Having worked to fuse the textual and practical elements of Bad Company, Pelham has achieved a satisfyingly consistent and powerful overall production. While the MIFTAs provide emerging student writers with an extremely worthwhile opportunity to present their work, it is truly saddening to think that most of these plays are packed away at the end of their run, never to be viewed by an audience again. When it comes to Bad Company, there would be no bigger sin than to bury the script
“I’ve contacted so many people! I’ve made an official formal request but no one got back to me. It was really a nightmare, especially because I got into a Catch 22 situation. , I’ve send emails to Universal UK, but they’ve said that I should contact Universal US and they’ve redirected me to Universal UK. It was really confusing. but I’ve done everything they’ve asked me to do and I can prove that I’ve done everything and if I can prove it, there’s nothing they can say. The play goes ahead and the show must go on.” He adds that he finds the right issues bizarre since his adaptation is a promotion and some people who have not have seen the play might get curious and buy the DVDs. On American High School Culture and the characters: “A year and a half ago, I decided to do a stage adaptation and wanted to put my own stamp on it. There are such strong characters in the film. I focused on really developing them. I wanted to keep the set simple so that the characters are in the spotlight. I really wanted to focus on the American high school sphere. I‘ve been to America on a theatre course and it is very cliquey and kind of vicious. Literally like Mean Girls, it’s unbelievable. It is really bizarre there to sit between groups, but I kind of like that. People often asked me why I’m not in a specific group. I found that really interesting and wanted to focus on that. I initially wanted to set the play in an English school environment but it would lose that strong American culture and the soul and heart of the script would have been lost. There are, of course, similarities to the English school culture but it should rather be a voyeuristic experience by looking into a separate world and to analyse it.”
Editors’ Picks
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Luke
Blood Brothers
The classic nature-versus-nurture story, Blood Brothers tells the tale of two fraternal twin brothers who were separated at birth, and ended up being raised in completely contrasting backgrounds which take the two brothers in completely opposite directions. Mickey, raised by a poor housemaid, becomes a desperate criminal and Eddie, raised by a wealthy family, becomes a councillor. When the pair reconnects later in life, tragedy ensues. Blood Brothers is a cult classic with the music, lyrics and story all written by legendary playwright Willy Russell. It is not to be missed. Manchester Palace Theatre
02/03 - 02/14
Dead Simple The play is based on a best selling detective novel by Peter James and following a successful tour, Dead Simple is finally arriving in Manchester After a prank on his Stag do goes awry, Michael finds himself in a very compromising and life threatening position. When Michael is reported missing, it’s a race against time for Detective Roy Grace to find him. Directed by the Olivier award winning Ian Talbot and starring Gray O’Brien (Coronation Street) and Tina Hobley (Holby City), Dead Simple promises to be an intriguing and unique detective tale. Manchester Opera House 02/03 - 07/03
Review
Yen
Allie
On being a producer and director for the first time: “I had troubles with delegating, I always wanted to know what’s happening because I care about all of the aspects and I don’t want anything to get neglected on stage. I always feel like it’s partially my fault even if I delegated something. I’m normally on stage and it was really interesting to see the other side, I’ve only directed tiny things in school and I’ve been a codirector, but now you see how different everything is. I’ve always been quite chatty during rehearsals and now I realise how annoying that is and I’ll never do that again. It’s very different from adapting a character and putting your own spin on it and being that fictional person and having control over it instead of having control over the whole fictional world that you’re
Anna Jordan’s play Yen offers an unsettling reality of two young teenage boys desensitized to pornography and violent video games, whilst their absent mother struggles with alcohol addiction. Rather than play focusing on these themes and technologies, Yen follows the lives of a usually marginalised part of society in which half-brothers Hench, 16 and Bobbie, 13 face adolescence and all its complexities. The influence and consequences of being exposed to pornographic and violent material are brought into question through the brothers’ interaction and eventual friendship with Jenny, a sweet-natured girl from across the road, also 16. Before the 2 hour performance even starts, every aspect of the stage and set has been orchestrated to immerse the audience: the position of the audience on Hannah -Rose Ford either side of the stage, the low and exposed lighting, the setting of the boys’ dingy bedroom come living room, and the realistic Feltham vernacular. The performances of Alex Austin’s (Hench) and Jake Davies’ (Bobbie) are to be highly commended; both actors realistically and I arrived at the Three Minute Theatre to find a tank convincingly pull off the difficult task of portraying containing an axolotl in the corner: A sure sign I was the thoughts, emotions and mannerisms of a 13 and 16 in for a night with a difference. The evening began year old, without seeming contrived or too juvenile. It with five open mic speakers, with poems ranging was clear that the director, Ned Bennett, ensured that from body hair to assault to Ebola. They were in the two brothers had very distinct personalities and turn touching, funny, and utterly heart breaking. I’m characteristics as to consider their disparate roles in certainly not going to forget one line from Patricia relation to each other, to their mother, Maggie (Sian Snake’s ‘Tenancy’ anytime soon: “I carry a burglar Breckin) and to Jenny (Annes Elwy). Hench is the older alarm in my purse, but I know they’ll break in and more level-headed brother, keeping his emotions anyway”. Then followed the headline acts: Keisha concealed whereas Bobbie’s sensitive yet impulsive Thompson, whose poems were both charmingly nature makes him just as quickly attached and reliant personal and entirely relatable (a common theme for on someone as he is to turn against them. the night) and Camille Ralphs, whose work was a little Yen harshly juxtaposes sharp humour with more over my head as a non-poet but still lexically incredibly dark and disturbing themes of poverty, beautiful. Finally, AJ McKenna who describes herself violence and rape along with some genuinely touching as “fat, trans, kinky and queer” blew the room away. moments between the characters. Often, these themes Her poems about biological essentialism, sexual of misogyny are casually tossed around the stage – in assault and the global oppression of trans-women one instance even Maggie, jokingly remarks that Jenny were incredibly powerful, and their delivery was ‘would get raped wearing that dress’. However, during devastatingly real. She shared her unique pain and the climax of the play this comedic tone gets utterly joy as a woman, in a way that left us feeling angry, overturned as the brutality of what the boys experience touched and empowered. That’s the joy of feminism in pornography and Call of Duty is absorbed into their and of spoken poetry – it’s a way of engaging people reality. directly with the most crucial of issues. If, like me, you Anna Jordan’s play revolves around a sense of can find written poetry somewhat daunting, then longing; Jenny explains that her dad affectionately performance poetry may be for you. The night was nicknamed her ‘Yen’ for this reason, giving the play its well-organised, and it’s emphasized that people of name. Throughout the performance, the brothers long every gender and orientation are welcome. I highly for their mother, for Jenny, and ultimately, for survival. recommend keeping an eye out for Stirred, with their Even at the play’s bleak denouement, it seems that this next event Stirred: Shout taking place on March 23rd. longing is unfulfilled and the four characters are left
Bodies
26
Lifestyle
ISSUE 18/ 9th MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Editors: Kitty Treverton Jones, Molly Allen Features
Girls just The Big Fat Quiz wanna of the Year have fun
Test yourself, test your housemates: tick off all the facts you know and see how good your Manchester-themed general knowledge is
Molly Allen gives us a tour of why living in an all-female house is the best
Fallowfield Station
Fallowfield
In 1986 the first UK drive-thru McDonalds opened in Fallowfield There used to be a Fallowfield train station: look up and to the right of the Sainsbury’s café and you’ll see the old sign Richmond Park halls of residence used to be Fallowfield Stadium, which held the FA Cup final in 1983 (Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 – 0 Everton) There are 22 bus stops between Fallowfield and the Student’s Union (there and back)
Photo: Gene Hunt @Flickr
Arts and Culture
Manchester is home to the oldest public library in the Englishspeaking world: Chetham Library was founded in 1653 and you can still browse its shelves today It isn’t just the newly renovated Whitworth that you can boast about regarding the Manchester art scene, in 1857 the ‘Art Treasures’ exhibition was held in Old Trafford, the largest art exhibition ever in the UK Jack Whitehall only made it through two terms of studying History of Art before dropping out of Manchester University. He lived in OP Tower, maybe he failed at Tower Challenge? Benedict Cumberbatch is another well-known alumnus, making the drama department famous for something other than “the students who have the most sex at university”
Screenshot: Paramount Pictures
There’s a never ending supply of tampons, makeup and nail varnish A night out always starts with “what are you going to wear?” followed by raiding each other’s wardrobes Someone will always want to eat cake with you No one cares about nudity: rarely a day goes by where you don’t see a bum, nipple or other body part There’s non-stop comedy because girls are hilarious 2 words: communal tinder There’s no judgement with the weird food people eat Everyone has an opinion on whether you should wear that outfit Someone has a playlist full of sassy songs that is always played while cooking, washing up, getting ready for a night out, pre-drinks and coming in from a night out There is never ending support for the person who’s going through a bad breakup Someone always wants to have wine and/or cocktails The groaning “I have period pain” is immediately met with offers of chocolate, wine, hot water bottles and Zac Efron There is a never ending supply of tea If everyone plays their cards correctly, there is minimal bitchiness The average level of sassiness increases by 5000% Knickers and bras are drying on every available surface which makes it hilarious when the guys come round and never know where to look. Plus your friends choices will always start to influence your own, which is never a bad thing There’s no judgment if a dumb question is asked, so you don’t know where Germany is, more wine? If a guy stays over, the whole house waits with bated breath for him to leave until the minute the door shuts, then we gather to discuss every tiny (and I mean tiny) detail A birthday is a serious affair
Photo: marcus_jb1973@Flickr
Forward Thinking
The suffragette movement is thought to have begun in Manchester, with Emmeline Pankhurst founding the Women’s Social and Political Union in her home (which still stands on Nelson Street) in 1903 Vegetarianism began in the UK in Manchester in 1815, inspired by the sermons of the Reverend William Cowherd at the Salford Bible Christian Church, and leading to the founding of the Vegetarian Society In 1980, while the global superpowers were competing in the nuclear arms race, Manchester became the first British nuclear-free city The city has always been a hubbub of the LGBT community, Canal Street is a world famous tourist destination for the gay and lesbian community Alan Turing Memorial
Science
Photo: Burnt Rostad@Flickr
Ernest Rutherford discovered how to split the atom at Manchester University in 1917 University of Manchester scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 for inventing graphene, the world thinnest material Alan Turing, the man credited for shortening the Second World War by roughly three years and inventing the computer, lived and worked in Manchester after the war When he isn’t playing the keyboard or presenting science programs on TV, rockstar-turned-scientist Brian Cox works in the School of Physics and Astronomy as a Professor of Particle Physics
Other
We don’t need to be told that Manchester has an amazing sporting reputation. In 1888 the first professional football league was created here The city was a crucial part of the industrial revolution and was central to the world cotton and textile trade Ever wondered where the term ‘Mancunian’ comes from? Manchester’s historical record begins with the Roman fort Mamucium, the remains of which are still visible and are located in Casterfield. Citizens of Greater Manchester are still called Mancunians, and of course this led to inspire the name of a certain world-famous student newspaper Industrial Manchester
So, how did you do? 0-7: Measly. You’re probably in your first year, in which case, you’re forgiven. Second year and above; you should be ashamed of yourself. Try taking a stroll somewhere other than Oxford Road before the end of the year. 8-13: Mediocre. You’ve good a fairly good general knowledge of the city but some of these were pretty obvious, let’s be honest. Go to a museum once in a while. 14-19: Marvelous. Well done you. You are great. Be very proud of yourself. You are awesome. Photo: glamourqueenn@tumblr
Photo: isemantics@Flickr
Kitty Treverton Jones
ISSUE 18/ 9th MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
The Mancunion: Lifestyle @MancunionLife
Finance Horoscopes
Lifestyle
27
Feminism
Horoscopes: A global guide to Pisces harassment
With sexual harassment in the UK becoming less and less tolerated, Lauren Howells examines her experiences of sexism in Argentina
Holy Shrimp! This scampi happening! Perisha Kudhail reveals what’s written in the stars for Pisceans this month
With the fish being you’re ruling star sign, it will not surprise you that Jupiter and Venus line up perfectly to show that you will float through this week’s work load. However, you should be wary of leaflet givers as a paper cut, which may seem minor, may result in gangrene leading to the limb being amputated. This amputation means you won’t be swimming anywhere. To prevent this, you must sing at least two Take That songs every morning in order to get the full radiance of this month’s star alignment. Unfortunately, the position of the planets means love isn’t in the stars for you this month. Beware of brunettes: their luxurious chocolate locks will entice you with their promise of good
Features
food and movie dates. Fast food is the way forward for you if you pursue a brown haired one. Guaranteed obesity is in your planet composition if you channel your efforts into brunettes. Instead opt for blondes and you will forever remain good looking. All is not lost this month, you will find around £2 worth of change. So use it on something wise. Maybe invest in yourself, buy yourself a car or a notebook. Just don’t spend it all at once. Money will not be in abundance for you, but you will find your bank balance is slightly more increased than normal. Do not get this extra cash out in public, or walking dogs will mistake it for food. So be careful or your cash will literally be eaten.
Manchester’s recent Reclaim The Night march was declared the biggest ever in the UK. Around 2,000 people stood up against sexual violence, victim blaming and women feeling unsafe on our streets. As a feminist, I find myself up against a variety of arguments as to why this kind of demonstration is pointless and unnecessary. One of the most repeated phrases is; “people in less-developed countries have it so much worse. You’re a white, middle-class woman in a Western society. What do you have to complain about?” Taking part in this event forced me to reflect on that question. I spent a semester of my year abroad living and studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the attitude towards women there is very different from what we’re used to here. It is a country where “no” means “yes”, and “I’m really not interested” means “please, try harder to convince me”. Take catcalling, for example. While there’s no doubt that catcalling in the UK can be intimidating, most of us are probably most accustomed to a quick wolf whistle or a gruff “smile, love!” In Argentina, a catcall can range anywhere from “hey, pretty lady” to “Ay, mama! If I grabbed you I’d give you another baby” (an example from the posters everywhere by the protest group ‘Acción Respeto’). Threats of rape and violence are almost part and parcel of the culture of ‘piropos’, as catcalling is called in this part of the world. Strangely, despite this dark undercurrent of contempt for women, this phenomenon is so deeply ingrained that it is largely accepted as “just part of the culture”. I was even told by one local woman that if she wasn’t catcalled on her journey from
Photo: Hello Turkey Toe@Flickr
Blind Date
Emma, 4th Year French and Spanish
Llyr, 3rd Year Physics
What were your first impressions of her? She immediately came across as really personable which was very comforting given the potential awkwardness of a blind date. What’s her best feature? I think I’d have to say her smile or sense of humour.
The Happy Couple
What were your first impressions of him? Honestly, a simple “yes, he’s taller than me!” But on a more serious note he was a good looking guy who turned out to be very friendly and easy to chat to. He was actually there by mistake to replace his housemate, but I’m not complaining! What’s his best feature? His eyes – he has very impressive eyelashes.
What did you have to eat? A beef burger. In hindsight it was probably not the best choice given how messy it was!
What did you have to eat? Spanish chicken and chorizo stew and we shared a bottle of the house white.
Any awkward moments? None that I can recall but I have a bit of a habit of making slightly awkward comments so I might be wrong.
Any awkward moments? Not particularly, we seemed to have a lot in common so there was always something to talk about.
What was the most interesting thing you found out? I was pretty impressed that Emma had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. It turned out that she’d meant to have been climbing it in the same group as my lab partner too... Small world. Photo: The Mancunion
How did you say goodbye? We just walked together towards the bus stop and then a kiss on the cheek.
Would you see them again? I’m not sure. I’m pretty lazy when it comes to dating girls and I have no idea if she’d be interested. Date out of ten? 7.5 Kitty Treverton Jones
What was the most interesting thing you found out? He speaks fluent Welsh and once sang (in Welsh) at an event in Disneyland Paris!
How did you say goodbye? Errrm we said goodbye! And kissed on the cheek
Did you kiss? No, just on the cheek.
Many thanks to Fallow Café, 2A Landcross Road, Fallowfield. As well as serving tasty meals, it also holds free gigs, regular film screenings and club nights. www.fallowcafe.com
one place to the next, she felt disappointed or as though she looked unattractive that day. Does this then mean that we should be grateful to live in a country where this kind of publically misogynistic and threatening attitude is becoming less and less acceptable? Should we be thankful that we are more likely to hear “nice tits” than “we’re going to rape you” from a group of men as we walk past them? Probably. But this does not make this kind of behaviour any more excusable. Culture is a relevant concept, and for as long as I feel intimidated walking in a public area in my developed, Western country, I’ll continue to march for initiatives like Reclaim The Night, in solidarity with women all over the world who want to walk down the street without being congratulated for their achievements in growing normal body parts.
Did you kiss? On the cheek Would you see them again? Yes Date out of ten? 8
Overheard University of Manchester
The funniest things you’ve been saying around campus this week
“You’re funnier than the funny bone” Overheard in the union
“My sister had this ex-boyfriend and he was the cuntest of all the cunts” Overheard in Withington
“I know how to use my words to make someone hate themselves and I really want to do that to her” Overheard in Kro
“This comedown is so grim, I feel lower than my chances of getting a 2:1” Overheard in Fallowfield
“For some reason this weekend she’s making me go to a bridal and a baby fair” Overheard on Oxford Road
“Wish there had been a bomb on north campus, would have been a great improvement” Overheard on the bus Overheard anything hilarious this week? Tweet us @MancunionLife
vote
6th - 12th March
“Here at the Students’ Union, everything we do is for students, by students. Ever been to Pangaea? Joined a society? Needed advice on an academic, financial or wellbeing issue? Or simply eaten a delicious burger down in our bar? All of these amazing facilities and events are provided with the direction of our elected Exec Team. Vote to decide who wins!
manchesterstudentsunion.com/elections
HOW WILL WE USE THEM?
YOU DECIDE... On May 07 2015, the country will turn out to decide who governs for the next five years. With around 100,000 students in Manchester, we could finally make our concerns heard over poor housing, high crime, extortionate tuition fees and more. Even if you were registered last time, you must register to vote for these elections.
Register at: www.votebooster.org/register/umsu
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SPORT : 30
SPORT
ISSUE 17/2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
/TheMancunion
Sports Editors: Andrew Georgeson, Will Kelly
@Mancunion_Sport
Contact: sport@mancunion.com
Comment: Another blow in the Qatar bid
Daniel Jenkins provides an overview of the social, ethical and footballing problems linked to the Qatar World Cup Daniel Jenkins Sport Reporter The Qatar World Cup in 2022 has never been far from controversy with bribery allegations, corruption and abused migrant slave workers all becoming intrinsically associated with the tournament. The latest controversy announced this week is the news that the traditional summer World Cup will now commence from late November, in order to avoid the soaring heats of the Middle Eastern summer, easily known to exceed 40c. The imposed change Ridiculous heat, slaves and bribary are just some of the charges levelled against FIFA’s decision to award Qatar the World Cup Photo: wikimedia inexplicably adds to the already illconceived and unpopular decision to host the tournament in Qatar with the fans and players to the intense summer latest change unsurprisingly causing a However the cancellation of FA Cup deep sense of dysphoria. As Europe’s replays and a 6 week pause in England’s heat. He also, however reiterated his elite domestic league seem extremely aversion to the World Cup being in top leagues are begrudgingly forced likely to occur due to the change. Qatar at all stating that ‘the best option to adapt, compensating for the midClubs will see no compensation for would be to not hold it in Qatar’, which season disruption. This antagonistic rather ironically matches Sepp Blatter’s change in World cup tradition, feels like the severe disruption imposed, which another sorry chapter in Fifa’s current affects contractual agreements and new view on the tournament stating general income for English clubs, with that it had been ‘a mistake’ to award dismal totalitarian rule of the World’s FIFA’s secretary general Jerome Valcke Qatar the World Cup. most popular sport. It clearly seems now that ‘we’ve been The official dates of the World Cup dismissively stating that clubs have ‘seven years to reorganise’, seemingly misled’, on nearly every contentious have not yet been released however; the 23rd of December seems to leaving domestic leagues to pick decision, a point remonstrated by be FIFA’s desired date for the final, up the pieces of FIFA’s ill-conceived Stoke City’s 77 year-old Chairman; Peter inevitably wreaking havoc with the decisions. The rough deal for English Coates. A point which seems everEnglish Premier League. The reshuffle football is intensified once FIFA’s close increasingly hard to argued against, as FIFA seem hell-bent on Qatar to hold of domestic games is currently unclear, association, UEFA were able to retain with Football Associate Chairman Greg their current dates for Champions the tournament what ever the cost. Monetary complications, problematic Dyke and Chief Executive of the English League and Europa’s League games. Greg Dyke backed the decision climate, loss of human life don’t seem Premier League Richard Scudamore behind the change to a winter World to bother FIFA’s determined rapacious agreeing on the importance to maintain Cup, due to the impossibility of risking hierarchy in the slightest. SW2015.Manc.Half.pdf 1 19/02/2015 10:31 the traditional festive football period.
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Dyke’s comments strongly reiterate Qatar and FIFA’s less than impressive build up to the world’s greatest sporting event. The surprise decision to award Qatar the 2022 world cup was greeted with initial murmurs of corruption which rapidly gathered paced causing an 18 month, £6 million investigation into the allegations of acts of bribery and corruption. With the two time life banned football official; Bin Hammam, allegedly paying $5 million to influential FIFA’s officials in an attempt to buy votes for Qatar, supposedly documented by The Sunday Times who obtained a ‘bombshell cache of millions of documents’. However the report was banished with apparent ‘numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of facts and conclusions’ by the German judge; Hans-Joachim Eckert, resulting in FIFA’s ethics investigator; Michael Garcia quitting his job in disgust. FIFA and the Qatar representatives now seem to be running wild with the 2022 World Cup, reorganising preplanned prepositions and tarnishing football’s reputation with contentious corruption claims. However these despicable acts become insignificant once the numerous stories of abused migrant workers are accounted for, who face exploitation and abuse according to the International labour organisation, amounting to modern day slavery. FIFA are unable to cover up the statistics of migrant worker deaths, which according to the
Nepalese embassy in Doha stated that at least 44 workers died from the 4th of June to the 8th of August 2013. The apparent neglect of any form of human moralities, add to an already damaged world cup, which seems to show no sign of becoming a dignified and celebrated tournament. In Footballing terms, the uncharacteristic layout of the everchanging 2022 World Cup however may pose a blessing in disguise, with former England full back; Phil Neville, believing that the change in date will benefit the national team, whom traditionally arrive at summer tournaments utterly exhausted. With England’s Captain Wayne Rooney racking up 47 appearances before the 2014 World cup; compared to the unobtrusive 18 games he would expect in the run up to the 2022 Qatar World cup, undoubtedly travelling to Qatar mentally and psychically fresher. However will this really give us an edge to competitively challenge against the host of abundant superior footballing nations?
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Hopping for hopscotch
ISSUE 17/ 2nd MARCH 2015 WWW.MANCUNION.COM
Despite having a terrible injury whilst playing for uni, Alice Smith is determined to raise money for Ugandan playAndrew Georgeson Sport Editor Alice Smith isn’t the archetypal student. Whereas most of us made a News Year’s resolution of going to the gym or eating healthier before giving it up by February, she had different ideas. Unfortunately for Alice, who was a contestant on Junion Apprentice, she suffered a shatter dislocation to her ankle, total tibia fracture and several partial fractures to her fibula, in only her second match for the Women’s Rugby team in December. This resulted in spending New Year in a wheelchair, and an operation which resulted in 35 pins being insered in her ankle. Yet when I met up with her last week, now walking about on crutches, she seemed unfazed by her injury, and more determined than ever to raise money for her Uganda trip that she is going on in June with charity ‘East African Playgrounds.’ The Mancunion: So, when you were in hospital had you already signed up for the trip to Uganda? Alice: ‘I had already signed up for the trip before my injury. However, I was in hospital for 11 days, during which the staff were very ambiguous about what they were going to do. At one point, they told me had I been 16 that they would have amputated my ankle. My ankle was also too swollen to operate on for some time. Another problem was that I was in Liverpool as that’s where the injury took place, so my parents drove up from Leister everyday whilst the doctors were deciding what to do. However, I was determined to sit my exams in January still so I didn’t have to re-sit my
exams in the summer and miss the trip.’ The Mancunion: Can you tell me a little bit about the charity and when you came up with the idea of the run? Alice: ‘I was when I was doing a blog for the Endometriosis UK , a charity I am also a Trustee for, when it hit me that the rug can be pulled from under your feet at any time, and you need a contingency for when things go wrong. I became focused on finding a way to turn this experience into a positive, and that’s why I thought of doing this run. The charity itself is located near to where I live. Unlike other charities which are still intent on making money, the money for his project goes straight into building the playgrounds. It’s a far more effective use of time and resources and done for proper reasons. The only reservation I have about going is that I’m worried I won’t be able to do the physical work. I’ll probably have to be a bit sensible, which isn’t going to be easy as I like pushing myself. But the whole point of charity is that it is meant to be hard, and that it costs something to you, as someone who is the position of being able to give.’ The Mancunion: Sorry to bring it up, but I have no ask what your time on the Junior Apprentice was like? Alice: At first, I applied because I never thought that I would get in, but one thing left to another and it snowballed a little bit. That being said, it’s a lot worse than it looks on the television, it’s really intense and you can’t be alone at any time…not even to go to the toilet. It wasn’t exactly a nice experience to be in, but I can be appreciative of I now as it’s probably been one of the most important things I’ve done, it certainly has opened a lot of doors and people read my emails now.
The Mancunion: What would you say to anyone who wants to get involved in charity who feels like they can’t because of physical injuries or other problems? Alice: I would say do things that are important to you. It doesn’t have to be big or dramatic. A massive thing that I achieved was giving blood just before my 19th birthday, whereas for others that is just seen as an everyday thing. Giving blood is as important as going to Uganda, or writing a blog. Once you achieve your goal, you’ll continue setting more, it’s infectious. The Mancunion: Finally, to my knowledge, Stockport is quite hilly. Have you visited the couse? Alice: It is quite hilly… I really will be the last person, but I will have my bucket with me as well! I’m still looking forward to it though, hopefully people will ask about the charity and I can get the word out about it! As well as raising money for ‘East African Playgrounds,’ Alice is also a trustee for ‘Endometriosis UK.’ Her run will take place on the 1st March in Stockport, and you can donate to her efforts via. her Virgin moneygiving page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ AliceSmithUgandaBound
Alice in training feat. crutches Photo: Alice Smith
Lifting the lid on Rugby League #3
In this latest installment, Tom Marsden talks about away trips, Varsity build up and #rugbyleaguesleeps Tom Marsden UMRFLC Press Officer It has been a long awaited return to the Mancunion for University of Manchester Rugby League. An outstanding array of matches and results have been on display, with several close contests having been unlucky for the team, but with 2 games left in the league this year against Liverpool John Moors and Manchester Met, UMRLFC will be hoping to reverse the previous results in the 2 closest games of the season so far. Results since UMRLFC’s last Mancunion update are as follows: UoM 14-22 LJM; Man Met 38- 26 UoM; UoM 62-18 Leeds Met; Leeds 62-10 UoM; UoM 10-14 Northumbria. The squad also managed a good run in the cup, reaching the quarterfinals but losing via poor defensive play to the University of Nottingham, who progress onto the semi finals against bruising Northern heavyweights Leeds University. Cup results are as follows: UoM 62-18 University of Birmingham; UoM were then given the walkover in the next round after Brunel University were unable to field a team on the day of the match; UoM 12-24 University of Nottingham. Following the conclusion of the Men’s Northern 1A, the next step to take for UMRLFC always proves to be the largest in a fierce annual Varsity against cross-city rivals Salford on 27th April.
#rugbyleaguesleeps Photo: UMRFC
This follows previous years in being played at the combined home of the
Sale Sharks & Salford Red Devils, the AJ Bell stadium. Tickets will be available
after the Easter break from OP or from the main stand that will be set up near the SU, and transport to and from the match will be provided. In the midst of the endless away fixtures this year, the entire squad could tell something wasn’t right on the coach rides to and from our destinations. It was hard to put one’s finger on, but then a light went off when we realised it had been almost a year since the last edition of #rugbyleaguebeats, an innovative video series carried out by a couple of now-second years within the squad. However, with co-founder Ben Salisbury being harder to find than a well-written Tab article, an alternative emerged from those long journeys, and is consequently sweeping across the nation faster than an outbreak of the plague. The newfound craze I speak of? None other than #rugbyleaguesleeps (see picture) Now onto something non-sport related – a Spotify playlist for an interuniversity competition – “UMRLFC University of Manchester” by UMRLFV, promises a spectacular soundtrack to your day, boasting a musical variety unheard of on a single playlist. With tracks chosen by the club’s own members, you can be certain that you will be treating your ears to Spotify’s equivalent of Grey Goose vodka. From Cher’s “Believe” all the way to “Keep on Movin’” by Five, with the collection reaching an emotional peak at Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose”, it is definitely worth
a follow. The most exciting part of the New Year for the team and general Rugby League fans the country over however has to be the return of the Super League. The 2015 season finally kicked off a few weeks back, with matches on Sky most Thursday and Friday nights, and on Saturdays around lunchtime. The Australian answer to the Super League – the NRL, is due to start in less than a week’s time. South Sydney Rabbitohs are bookies’ favourite to win back-to-back grand finals following their success last year; something not achieved by any club since the mid 90s. They are due to take on a team in round 1 that travelled to the UK with them this past February as part of the World Club Series and will be hoping for a playoff spot in the top 8 again; the Brisbane Broncos. The NRL is not available on Sky, but is available to watch on Premier Sports or from other online outlets. The very highest level of what gladiator Russell Crowe calls “The best ball in hand sport in the world, to play and to watch” is something not to be missed for sure.
Competing in the Christie Cup next week? Make sure you Tweet your results and picures to @Mancunionsport to be featured in next week’s issue!
SPORT
2nd MARCH 2015/ ISSUE 17 FREE : @Mancunion_Sport : /TheMancunion
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MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER
QatarWorld WorldCup Cup Qatar
P.30
Rugby League #3
P.31
UMTC bounce to BUCS success
Trampolining record largest medal count in years at the BUCS open University of Manchester Trampoline Club
The University of Manchester Trampoline Club (UMTC) took a team of 29 strong to compete in the Trampolining BUCS Nationals in Sheffield. This year’s event was one of their most successful BUCS competitions. The team, captained by Chris Wort and Paul Quarton, won a total of 10 medals; their largest haul in the past few years, and took home several BUCS points for the university. With competitors at every level from BUCS 6 (novice) through to BUCS 1 (uber) performing to the best of their ability, the club achieved a record number of competitors qualifying through to finals on the second day. Finals took place for each of the six categories and only the highest scoring 20% of competitors within a group, or the top 12 competitors, were allowed to compete for the medal positions. The
Around the Grounds Men’s Basketball (League) MMU 2nd 48-46 Manchester 2nd Women’s Basketball (League) MMU 1st 68-33 Manchester 1st Women’s Netball (Cup) Manchester 1st 68-33 Cardiff 1st Men’s Water Polo (League) Manchester 1st w/o Bradford 1st Women’s Netball (League) Salford2nd 22-40 Manchester 5th Women’s Netball (League) Lancaster1st 57-27 Manchester2nd
The successful UMTC team Photo: UMTC
only individual medal was won by Nick Weise who medalled in first place in the Men’s BUCS 3 category, which is a notable achievement. Due to the progression of so many people to finals, the club could compile both a male and female team who were able to challenge for the first place team title. The men’s team of Paul Quarton, Matthew
Burton and Nick Weise placed third, which is an outstanding result. The remaining medals came from partaking in synchronised trampolining, which was a new addition to the competition this year. Seven pairs were entered and three partnerships medalled. In the higher synchronised category combining the uppermost BUCS 1 & 2
categories, Paul Quarton and Ruth Shevelan placed third with an extremely impressive synchronisation score. In BUCS 3 Matthew Whitehurst and Nick Weise medalled in second place and in BUCS 5 Kirstin Nunn and Mollie Anderson won the bronze medal. The support from all team members was incredible and contrib-
uted to the success of the weekend. This BUCS competition saw an extraordinary number of medals won, of which the team is very proud, and shows that hard work put in at training does pay off!
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Women’s Hockey (League) Keele 1st 1-7 Manchester 2nd Men’s Water Polo (Cup) Mancheser 2nd 1-18 Durham 2nd Women’s Hockey (League) Manchester 3rd 1-1 MMU 2nd Women’s Hockey (League) Manchester 4th 1-4 Salford 1st