Issue20

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27th MARCH 2017 / ISSUE 20 THE FINAL ISSUE FREE

Manchester stands in solidarity with London

The Lord Mayor of Manchester leads a vigil and minute’s silence to commemorate the victims of the Westminster attack Photo: Ollie Potter

Ollie Potter Senior News Reporter A vigil took place at 6pm on Thursday 23rd of March at Manchester Town Hall to show solidarity with London following the terror attacks in Westminster on Wednesday 22nd of March.

The Town Hall was lit up in red, white and blue and the Union Flag was flown at half-mast in tribute to the victims of the attack.

Greater Manchester Police Superintendent Arif Nawaz, when asked why it is important that cities such as Manchester show solidarity with London, said: “This is not just about London and Manchester. This goes nationwide. This is about the very fabric of our society, and the fact that we live in a rich, diverse, vibrant society.

“Something as appalling as what happened resonates throughout the country and far wider. This is about having a civilised society.

“The individual who does something as atrocious as that will not destroy what we have that we hold so precious.”

John Leech, former MP for Manchester Withington and current councillor for Didsbury West, when asked about the importance of the vigil, said he was here “to show solidarity with all the people who’ve been affected by the terrible tragedy yesterday.

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“Numerous events are going on around the country to show their support for the people of London, but just not London, the people from all those other countries who come to this country to visit, and some unfortunately have been directly affected by this tragic incident yesterday.

“I felt it was really important to come show my solidarity and show everyone that we cannot under any circumstances kowtow to terrorism.”

Led by Carl Austin-Behan, the Lord Mayor of Manchester, the vigil was intended to show support for the people of London, and stand together in a time of conflict and disorder.

A book of condolences has been opened at the Town Hall for people to share messages of sympathy and support. The council also accepts online entries on their website.

The attacker has been confirmed by the Metropolitan Police to be Kent-born Khalid Masood, 52, of the West Midlands.

Masood drove a rented car into pedestrians and police officers on Westminster Bridge, before crashing the vehicle, running on foot and fatally stabbing Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Squad officer PC Keith Palmer. He was then shot dead by armed police.

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The attack has so far claimed the lives of four people, whilst dozens remain in hospital in London. The other three named victims who were killed are Aysha Frade, Leslie Rhodes, and Kurt Cochran.

Victims of the attack include three French schoolchildren, four Edge Hill University students and a Romanian couple. Three police officers, two of whom remain in a serious condition, were also hit on Westminster Bridge. Four South Korean tourists in their 50s and 60s were injured in the attack.

The Islamic State group, who often try to impose their influence any terrorist attack that occurs, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Councillor Sue Murphy, Deputy Leader of Manchester City Council, said that “Manchester’s thoughts are with everyone affected by the sickening attack at Westminster, and especially those whose loved ones were killed or injured.

“We also pay tribute to the bravery of the emergency services, including the police officer who lost his life defending others, and the civilians who helped those injured.

“This, not the actions of those who would sow hatred and terror, is the true spirit of Britain, and Manchester stands in solidarity with London.”

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ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Photo: Ollie Potter

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Two in Manchester arrested in connection to London attack The Metropolitan police have so far made two arrests, a man and a woman, in the North West in relation to the Westminster terror attack Yasmin Mannan Head News Editor

News : Students react to triggering of Article 50

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Opinion: Politicians are

Carl Austin-Behan, the Lord Mayor of Manchester led Thursday’s vigil outside the town hall

Lancashire students among injured in Westminster

Lizzy Haughton Reporter

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Film: Record Reappraisal: Avril Lavigne: Let Go

Four Lancashire students were among the 50 people injured in the attack outside Westminster on Wednesday 22nd of March. They were part of a group of 13 students and one lecturer from Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, who were visiting the Houses of Parliament as part of a two-day politics trip.

The group had just watched Prime Minister’s Questions and were leaving the area when Khalid Masood drove onto the pavement and into pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge. He then crashed into railings and ran towards Parliament where he was confronted by police and shot, after fatally stabbing PC Keith Palmer.

According to an article in The Metro, students Owen Lambert from Morecombe and Travis Frain from Darwin were taken to hospital for treatment. Dr John Carter, Vice Chancellor of Edge Hill University, spoke to BBC North West Tonight about the incident; “We understand that two students have been taken to hospital but as walking wounded – one with a head wound and one with a wrist injury. There are two other students who have minor injuries who are with police and acting as witnesses.”

A statement released on the Edge Hill University

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website on the 23rd March said that; “One student is still undergoing hospital treatment and all at the University are wishing him well. All other students are now safely at home. Our students, their families and the staff member involved are being supported by the University. Counselling is available to all students and staff. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the events.”

Leslie Rhodes, a 75 year-old man from Streatham in South London, was being treated at hospital but according to the BBC, had his life support withdrawn on Thursday evening bringing the total death toll up to five. Aysha Frade who worked at DLD College London, US tourist Kurt Cochran and PC Keith Palmer all died from their injuries as well as Masood who was shot by police during the incident.

Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered MP Jo Cox, spoke on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme about the attack; “The first thing we need to do is to remember that this is a story about people who didn’t come home yesterday and the impact that that will have on their families, the thousands of lives that will be touched by it, the individual tragedies...”

He went on to argue that it is better to remember the victims names and the heroes who helped people during the incident than to give the perpetrator notoriety.

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

Head News Editor: Yasmin Mannan Deputy News Editor: Rosa Simonet & Lily Sheehan Science Editor: Georgie Hines news@mancunion.com science@mancunion.com Head Features Editor: Jacob Nicholas Deputy Features Editor: Emma Shanks features@mancunion.com Head Opinion Editor: Tristan Parsons Deputy Opinion Editor: Marina Iskander opinion@mancunion.com Head Fashion Editor: Sarah Kilcourse Deputy Fashion Editors: Sophie Soar and Talia Lee Skudder fashion@mancunion.com Head Food & Drink Editors: Lily Carden & Miriam Mizzi foodanddrink@mancunion.com Head Film Editor: Eliza Slawther Deputy Film Editor: Shema Begum film@mancunion.com

Two arrests have been made in the Manchester area in connection to the Westminster terror attack in London, one of which is “significant” according to the Metropolitan Police. So far ten arrests have been made around the country, in the West Midlands and the North West.

A man, aged 35, and a woman, aged 32, were arrested in the Manchester area. A car was seized at a £350,000 property at Lawnside Mews, in West Didsbury, close to the trendy row of restaurants and bars in the suburb. Two police vans and a tactical aid unit were seen at the property, where a raid was carried out over several hours, with police taking the man into custody overnight.

Speaking to The Guardian, one resident of the gated complex in West Didsbury said: “It’s strange to think someone has been arrested here for what happened... it’s a nice gated complex with families, kids and professionals living here.”

Another resident spoke to The Manchester Evening News, saying, “I’m shocked... Of all the places, West Didsbury — it’s such a wealthy, academic, middle class area... It’s unbelievable that something linked to a national incident is happening around here.”

John Leech, former MP for Withington and Councillor for West Didsbury, said: “We do not know the details of the arrest, and whilst incidents like this can be alarming and worrying for local residents, I want to send my reassurances that Didsbury, and Manchester, is an international, welcoming, open, tolerant, diverse and most importantly, safe city.

“But if anyone has any information at all, please contact Greater Manchester police on 101.”

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said, in relation to the arrests: “The horrific events of London have affected people across the nation and we know it has been felt strongly in our communities, here in Greater Manchester.

“In light of an arrest in Manchester overnight, I want to offer my strongest assurances that we are here to support our communities and will robustly investigate any reports of hatred towards anyone. We have reviewed our patrols to ensure we provide visible reassurance.

“Terrorist acts and hate crimes are committed by a tiny minority of people and are not representative of the public. We need to work together to defeat those who seek to destroy our communities with hate, fear, and violence.

“I urge people to come to us with any concerns you have, with the knowledge that we stand with you and will take action against any criminal behaviour.

“You can speak to a Neighbourhood officer, or call 101, if you are concerned about anything, and always call 999 in an emergency.

“I want be clear that there is no specific intelligence suggesting that there is any raised level of threat within Greater Manchester.”

This is a developing story, and we will continue to bring you more details as the situation develops.

Head Lifestyle Editor: Rachel Adams Deputy Lifestyle Editor: Araddhna Patel lifestyle@mancunion.com Head Music Editor: Joe Casson Deputy Music Editor: Katie Shepherd music@mancunion.com Head Sport Editor: Harry Newton Deputy Sport Editor: Alex Whitcomb University Sport Editor: Ben Ryan sports@mancunion.com Books Editor: Roma Havers books@mancunion.com Theatre Editor: Brogen Campbell theatre@mancunion.com

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

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

We gladly accept contributors from outside the University of Manchester.

Head Online Editor Rebecca Carr Deputy Online Editor: Holly Smith online@mancunion.com

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

Copyright belongs to the photographers. If you wish to reproduce them contact them

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

Arts Editor: Laura Joyce arts@mancunion.com

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Photo: BDS Campaign – University of Manchester

Students face disciplinary action after banner drop Hana Jafar News Reporter Following the tensions of Israeli Anti-Apartheid Week (IAW) in the first week of March. Two students have been notified by University authorities that they will be facing disciplinary action for hanging a ‘Stop Arming Israel’ banner from the roof of the Samuel Alexander building.

The two second year students were seen hanging the banner on a Thursday afternoon during IAW, as others stopped to watch or take pictures. The banner was “an attempt to draw attention to the University of Manchester’s violation of its own ethical investment policy ... by holding investments in companies such as Caterpillar, who supply the armoured bulldozers for the Israeli Defence Forces” according to a BDS spokesperson.

The banner was only hung for a few minutes until building security were seen on the roof, taking it down and noting down the details of both students involved.

After it was revealed that the students involved are now facing disciplinary action, a protest was organised by activist groups ‘Recognise Refugee Rights’ and the BDS Campaign. The protest is set to happen on Wednesday the 29th of March outside the very same building the banner was hung from.

Almost a hundred students have confirmed attendance to the Facebook event, the description of which states that “this is a discrimina-

tory attack on students that seek to raise awareness of the violation of Palestinian human rights, and therefore an attack on political expression.”

The event claims that this is not an isolated event, “as students at UoM that seek to raise awareness regarding the continual violation of Palestinian human rights regularly face discriminatory opposition on matters as simple as booking a room. An attack on students for political expression is unacceptable and unprecedented.”

The description continues to note that: “We are appealing to the University to comply with the following demands: withdraw completely the threat to discipline these students [and] apologise for attempting to restrict student action.”

The protest has received support from the University of Manchester’s Students’ Union’s current BME officer, who stated that “this is an escalation in the University’s policing of students and must be challenged.” It has also garnered attention and support from other groups, such as the ‘Sussex Friends of Palestine’ group.

The two students who chose to remain anonymous came together to provide The Mancunion with a statement on the events, in which they question the reasoning for their disciplining being that they were trespassing on a roof. They claim security argued them being on the roof “was a concern for our own safety”.

However they then recount that “they proceeded to put our safety at risk by ordering us to go back onto the roof and dismantle the ban-

‘Anti-establishment’ candidate running for NUS Tom Patterson Senior News Reporter Durham University’s NUS presidential candidate, Tom Harwood, has gained media attention with articles appearing in The Huffington Post and The Independent, amongst others, on his self-proclaimed “anti-establishment” agenda.

This April, NUS delegates will be electing a new President at their 2017 UK Conference. Current President Malia Bouattia is standing with the slogan: “For a strong transformative union.” Bouattia’s Vice President, Shakira Martin, is also standing, with the aim of “making education an option for everyone.” Tom Harwood has said he will create “a credible, inclusive NUS” if he is elected.

Speaking on the BBC’s Daily Politics show, Harwood said the NUS is run by “a very narrow group of people that come from an even narrower spectrum of opinion and they’re in no way representing the issues that actually matter to students.”

Formerly the Chairman of the national pro-leave Students for Britain campaign during the EU referendum, Harwood was also a vocal member of the 2016 A Better Durham (ABD) campaign, which aimed to disassociate Durham University from the NUS. The ABD campaign came away with just 40 per cent of the Durham student vote.

Harwood is now seeking to bring about change from within and make what he calls a more “representative” and “democratic” NUS.

Currently, a minority of UK students participate in student politics. The Mancunion reported a 16 per cent turnout in the University of Manchester Students’ Union’s Executive Team elections, down 36 per cent from last year. However, “the fall in turnout may be linked to the crashing of the voting system, Mi-Voice, for periods over Wednesday and Thursday.”

Figures published by market research company Ipsos MORI show that most 18- to 24-year-olds do not vote in national elections, with a 43 per cent turnout in the 2015 general election. The national rate was 66 per cent.

Harwood claims this lack of engagement is a result of student politics being “too serious.” Aiming to engage students in his campaign, Harwood has made heavy use of humour and satire, including pledges to build a statue of Malia Bouattia and to take down ISIS through NUS boycotts.

Promises listed on his website include a “one member one vote” system in all NUS elections, raising the earnings threshold at which further education students start paying back fees and “[lobbying] to lower taxes on alcohol in student bars.”

Summing up his main argument on the Daily Politics, Harwood said: “All of the people within the NUS come from the same political opinion and they rail against the government and sometimes, perhaps, they should focus on presenting a broader spectrum of student opinion that actually exists.”

ner. We were both surprised by this seemingly impromptu and rash decision as it followed self-righteous claims that we had endangered ourselves and breached the university’s health and safety regulations.

Therefore they claim that the reasons of health and safety cannot “be claimed to be legitimate grounds for disciplinary action. In the absence of such reasoning, as well as inconsistency with other banner drop cases, we can only assume that we are to be disciplined for the political context in which we were acting. It is hypocritical that two students be disciplined for bringing the university’s violation of its own ethical investment policy to light.

They continued: “It seems suspicious that the political context in which we are accused of trespassing has been brought to the forefront in the disciplinary letter we received, which stated ‘you were trespassing on the roof of the Samuel Alexander building during Israel Apartheid week’.

“This reveals an underlying discrimination against the political purpose of our action, which according to justice should be irrelevant. We hope the university reconsiders their decision to reprimand us in this particular case, in addition to the unethical investments they hold in contravention of their own investment standards.”

A spokesperson from the University of Manchester, when asked for a statement on these events said that “We cannot comment on student disciplinary cases.”

Afzal Khan selected as Labour candidate for Gorton Lily Sheehan Deputy News Editor Afzal Khan has been officially selected as Labour’s candidate for the Manchester Gorton byelection, following the death of MP Sir Gerald Kaufman.

Afzal Khan is currently the Member of European Parliament for the North West of England, having been elected in June 2014. From 2005 to 2006, Khan was Manchester’s youngest and first Asian and Muslim Lord Mayor. He described his appointment as Lord Mayor as “not just a win, but a big win.” He was appointed a Commander of the British Empire in 2011, for his services to community cohesion, inter-faith relations and local government in the United Kingdom.

Born in Pakistan in 1958, Khan was adopted out of poverty by a Manchester family at the age of 11. He left school without any qualifications, and worked as a cotton mill labourer, bus driver and Greater Manchester Police officer. He qualified as a solicitor as a mature student and is currently a partner at the Oldham solicitors Mellor & Jackson.

After unsuccessfully applying for selection in the 2012 Bradford West by-election, Afzal Khan was chosen from a list

of five potential candidates in Gorton. Coincidentally, George Galloway, who won the 2012 Bradford West by-election, is standing as an independent candidate in Gorton. Galloway took issue with Gorton Labour’s “all-Asian shortlist,” none of whom are supporters of current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The Liberal Democrats, who came fifth in Gorton in the 2015 general election, have also announced their candidate. Jackie Pearcy, a Gorton councillor, has been selected to represent the party. In a press release, she promised to “speak up for the thousands of residents who are angry and let down by the way this arrogant and out-of-touch Labour council does business.”

Referring to the ongoing power struggles in the Parliamentary Labour Party, Pearcy said the party are “too busy fighting amongst themselves to provide a decent opposition.”

Manchester Gorton has been a Labour-held constituency since 1935. Before his death last month, Sir Gerald Kaufman was the Member of Parliament for the area for 30 years. At the 2015 general election, Kaufman won 67% of the vote.

A date has yet to be set for the Gorton by-election.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Only four UK universities regard sexual assault as ‘mitigating circumstances’ Araddhna Patel Senior News Reporter

Photo: track24 @Flickr

According to an investigation by babe on the The Tab, a student news website, as few as four British universities regard sexual assault as reasons for granting students mitigating circumstances.

52 universities in total were contacted for this investigation through Freedom of Information requests, but only 16 responded.

Of the 16 that did reply, all have a clause in their policies on extenuating circumstances for students who have been a “victim of serious crime” or similar, including sexual assault. However, only four universities explicitly cite sexual assault within their guidance.

As reported by the Independent, Oxford Brookes University told babe that they did not decide to list sexual assault or any other particular examples in their regulations because “the University believes that the regulations should reflect a very broad range of circumstances; from physical or mental illness, through family and other personal difficulties, to the impact of work on students’ studies.”

A petition was made by Birmingham students when a student was raped on their year abroad, failed their exams, and was refused extenuating circumstances.

Since then, Birmingham officials have

edited their policy on mitigating circumstances to include sexual assault as a circumstance that is significant enough to affect the academic ability of a student.

Other institutions such as Cardiff University and the University of Sheffield have also altered their guidelines after the backlash received by Birmingham.

University College London also expressly mentions “sexual assault” and “rape” within their policy on mitigating circumstances.

The University of Manchester policy on extenuating circumstances states that “grounds for mitigation are unforeseeable or unpreventable circumstances that could have, or did have, a significant adverse effect on the academic performance of a student.”

A spokesperson for the university told The Mancunion: “The policy then provides four examples of circumstances that may be deemed as mitigating but these are by no means exhaustive and individual applications are judged on a case by case basis.”

Izzy Gurbuz, Wellbeing Officer at the University of Manchester Students’ Union, also told The Mancunion: “Sexual assault is very likely to fall under that definition [unforeseeable or unpreventable circumstances that could have, or did have, a significant adverse effect on the academic performance of a student],

and our Advice Service hasn’t seen any cases where the University has not considered sexual assault to constitute mitigating circumstances.

“There is sometimes, however, an issue around the requirement for evidence.

The University often accepts letters from the Counselling Service or the Students’ Union Advice Service for a range of circumstances where appropriate, for example mental health problems. However there have been cases where mitigating circumstances panels demanded police reports from victims of sexual assault. This presents a real barrier to victims of sexual assault, as reporting rates of these crimes to police are low.

“Our mitigating circumstances policy is currently under review and I have proposed that evidence in cases of sexual assault is explicitly addressed.”

An anonymous student who has been a victim of sexual assault told The Mancunion: “It is not shocking to me that this is the case. Universities request evidence for illnesses, death of family members and if you have jury service on the day of that exam, so of course they would ask for evidence of sexual assault or rape.

“I hope the policy at Manchester changes so it includes victims like myself in their guidance and we do not suffer even more.”

Debate regarding the treatment of pro-Palestine activists rages on Following the publication of an Al Jazeera article questioning whether anti-Israel sentiment is being silenced at universities, student groups speak out

Hanan Jafar News Reporter In an article published by Al Jazeera titled ‘Are British Universities silencing critics of Israel?’, the University of Manchester was put under increased scrutiny as the focus of limitations and restrictions to the controversial Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) events in support of the Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) motion recently passed by the Students’ Union.

Huda Ammori, student and lead activist of the BDS movement at the university, told Al Jazeera that, “The university has heavily scrutinised every single detail of each event… the number of conditions the university has placed on us is unheard of,” alleging that “other societies and groups do not face the same problems”.

The university, on the other hand, emphasised that organisational problems and late applications were the reason behind limiting the IAW events. A spokesperson told Al Jazeera “for the event scheduled in February, the application was received the day before it was due to happen”, with 14 days being the standard requirement for approval.

“Events held on campus are reviewed under the Code of Practice on Freedom of Speech if they concern potentially controversial topics and whenever they involve external speakers.”

The Students’ Union and BDS campaign jointly released a statement acknowledging that “human error” led to the delaying of the event.

According to Al Jazeera, Professor Banko responded to this decision, stating that: “The university is creating a very worrying precedent when it declares an academic who happens to be a historian of pre-1948 Palestine as not ‘suitable’ for the role of chairing a student-organised event on Palestine and the Israeli occupation.”

Although the article was focused on the University of Manchester, the title suggested that this was a pat-

tern among British universities. On 27th of February, citing the shutdown of an event called ‘Debunking misconceptions on Palestine’ which supposedly “contravened the definition of anti-Semitism recently adopted by the government” at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) as one of many examples, a letter in The Guardian signed by 243 academics claimed that “these are outrageous interferences with free expression, and are direct attacks on academic freedom.

“As academics with positions at UK universities, we wish to express our dismay at this attempt to silence campus discussion about Israel, including its violation of the rights of Palestinians for more than 50 years. It is with disbelief that we witness explicit political interference in university affairs in the interests of Israel under the thin disguise of concern about antisemitism.”

After the University of Manchester’s controversial IAW events, the Jewish student community of the University has responded to the event and BDS movement as a whole. A Jewish student who attended the events expressed their opinion on the regulations and restrictions imposed on these events, saying: “The University of Manchester, like other universities in the UK, silences pro-Palestinian and other anti-racist voices by constant accusations of racism. These accusations attempt to suppress the Palestinian solidarity movement [which] reveals the university’s disregard for human rights.”

As the main reason these events came under so much scrutiny was accusations of anti-Semitism, we contacted the University of Manchester’s Jewish Society (JSoc), and received the following statement: “The JSoc caters for all Jewish students, and therefore houses a wide range of views on Israel. One thing the JSoc does unify on is our commitment to respect and free speech on campus. Some members of our JSoc may oppose BDS and Israeli Apartheid Week but we respect the right of various groups to protest and

support their cause and we hope to receive the same treatment. The disruption to Wednesday’s event was not in connection with the Jewish Society.”

A number of Jewish students and groups supporting the cause share this sentiment. Boycott From Within, a Jewish organisation that supports the BDS movement, said: “The current BDS campaign is based on the one waged decades ago to end apartheid in South Africa.

Pro-Israel groups claim to speak on behalf of all Jewish students, yet many Jewish and Israeli students are supporters of BDS in the UK and in the US.” Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, Secretary of Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG) stated: “Boycotts are peaceful tactics often used by the weak against the powerful. We understand the Palestinian boycott, mobilising support worldwide in order to achieve freedom, justice and equality, to be just as legitimate as the boycott which helped to bring an end to apartheid in South Africa. This campaign is no threat to us as Jews.

Our identity is not tied to a particular nation state, nor to a particular ideology. In fact, it is anti-semitic to suggest that it should be!”

She added: “Demanding that speakers must acknowledge the British government-endorsed definition of antisemitism as a condition for meetings on campus to go ahead is a terrifying, McCarthyite development. We agree 100% with the letter in The Guardian last week from academics protesting against the shutting down of pro-Palestinian activities in universities.”

In recent news from the UN, a report released accuses Israel of having established “an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people as a whole” and urged governments to “support boycott, divestment and sanctions activities and respond positively to calls for such initiatives”.

However after both Israel and the United States denounced the report, the secretary general of the UN disassociated himself from the report.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Photo: martin arrand@Flickr

Magic Bus fare raised to £1.50 Lily Sheehan Deputy News Editor Stagecoach Manchester have announced a fare increase across their services, including a 50% price increase for the Magic Bus. Magic Buses were introduced in 2006 and have become the backbone of the Oxford Road corridor, offering an affordable mode of transport for students. The particular buses used are often older vehicles in Stagecoach’s fleet.

The popular bus service, famously priced at £1 for a single journey, will cost £1.50 from April 2nd onwards. Stagecoach also raised their fares last year, but chose to leave the oft-advertised Magic Bus fare at

£1. Before 2012, it cost just 70p to ride the Magic Bus. Other fares will be affected from April. Single adult fares under £2 will be raised by 10p, and single fares over £2 will increase by 20p. The Manchester Dayrider ticket will now cost £4.30, instead of the current fare of £4.00. A Magic Dayrider will rise to £3.60. There will now be a 50p surcharge for buying a StagecoachSmart card on a bus service.

Stagecoach has claimed on their website that they are “reducing the price of our group and plus one tickets”. However, this appears to be inaccurate. The lowered prices shown on their site are the same as the current ones. When asked about this discrepancy, Stagecoach claimed this was the result of a “promotional price, which [will] expire on 1st April.”

The company confirmed the news on Twitter. A concerned Politics and Modern History student, tweeted Stagecoach, asking: “wtf [sic]?”

She was not the only annoyed Mancunian to tweet their frustration.

Twitter user @_oliviaford tweeted: “if magic bus prices going up doesn’t start a proletarian revolution then i don’t know what will [sic]”, while @HazelFenner noted: “this magic bus fare increase is bullshit more like tragic bus am i right [sic]”.

The company attempted to justify the increase in their response, saying that “bus industry costs have been rising at [a] higher rate than inflation.”

Full details of the price increases can be found on the Stagecoach website.

Students react to the triggering of Article 50

Ollie Potter Senior News Reporter Prime Minister Theresa May has announced she will formally trigger Article 50 — the formal process under the Treaty of Lisbon for exiting the European Union — this week, on March 29th.

The Treaty, which became law in 2009, made Article 50 the first official mechanism for leaving the Union.

Its five paragraphs state that the exiting member state must inform the European Council of its intention to leave, any exit deal must be approved by a ‘qualified majority’ (i.e. 72% of the 27 remaining EU states) and, interestingly, that the state has the ability to re-join the EU at a later date.

Student reactions to the triggering of Article 50 have been mixed in Manchester, surprising for a demographic commonly seen as staunchly pro-European.

Gemma Sowerby, who voted Remain, said that she was “hopeful the government will put in the time and effort to make Article 50 work for the 48%, but I’m not at all expecting that to happen.

“As a student who lived in France during my year abroad — during the Brexit campaign — it was unthinkable to consider that we would leave the EU for good, because it has brought so much to my life.

“If the government can use the next two years to assess what students gained from the EU, and do their best to replace or replicate these opportunities, we have nothing to worry about. Sadly, this doesn’t seem to be top of the government’s priority list.”

French student Julie said that, despite the Brexit vote, she still feels “really welcomed in the UK, because I am living in the North and I know people here [in Manchester] were mostly against [leaving the EU].”

However, she said: “I have no idea how [Brexit] will affect my future and I feel really concerned. Will I need a visa? Is it going to be harder to get a job?”

Overall, she has “very negative” thoughts on Brexit, and posits that people “don’t realise the impact of their decision. I believe

it is more an answer to the migrant crisis than anything else.”

One student, wishing to remain anonymous, said: “I’m glad we could have a democratic say on the matter. And for that reason, I’m glad Article 50 is being initiated. I’m excited for a new future and for making the best of it!”

They also said that they were “neither here nor there when it came to the European Union,” and “would have been happy either way.”

Finally, with a sentence that few can democracy-supporting people could disagree with, they believed that “the majority had had their say and that’s the way it should go.”

Politics student Katie said: “Whilst I disagree strongly with the UK leaving the EU, I cannot be opposed to the democratic will of the people, expressed in the June referendum, being initiated by the government.

“I will never regret my decision to vote Remain, but the time has come to accept the result and make the most of it with what we can.”

Third year Politics student Calum Davies said that “the 29th of March falls at the optimum time for Britain to trigger Article 50.

It is not too soon to leave us unprepared for what will be lengthy and complex negotiations, or to unnecessarily draw out the process.

“This respects both the promise the PM made to the British people, and to the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome celebrations. [With] this, we begin one of the country’s greatest and most challenging moments on good, neighbourly terms.”

Another anonymous student, expressing the view of many Leave voters, said: “People should deal with it, we’ll only know the consequences [of leaving the EU] when it happens. Everything else is speculation.”

European Council President Donald Tusk will call a meeting of the remaining 27 states on April 29th to begin negotiations with the UK, which will be led by the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.

Photo: peter_from_wellington @Flickr

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Science

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

The science of attraction Ever wondered why are you attracted to someone? Is it hormones? Or maybe your immune system?

Iqra Choudry Science & Technology Reporter Science has been used to try and answer a lot of important questions. Amongst them are some real corkers: are we alone in the universe? When does life begin? What is dark matter?

And then of course, is the one we all ponder. Why do I fancy the people I fancy? What exactly makes certain humans intrinsically more appealing than others?

Well, science is on that too. Sexual attraction is pretty hard to unpick, however, because it’s so complex. There have been studies in every field from psychology to evolutionary genetics to try and put a proverbial finger on why some humans will make your heart beat faster and your stomach do that weird somersault-thing.

Some scientists are convinced that attraction (and love) are all down to hormones. Oestrogen and testosterone are the two basic types of hormones present in men and women’s bodies which, along with the limbic processes in the brain, respond to other substances called pheromones to create a physiological reaction categorised as ‘lust’, a state which is proven to have health-promoting and stress-reducing effects.

In a study in Psychopharmacology, scientists proposed that love and attraction were like addiction, where both participants’ limbic systems responded so well to the increased level of hormones associated with happiness (like oxytocin), that they entered into a psychological positive-feedback loop — seeing their partner made them happy and they liked that feeling, and so saw each other more, creating an attachment based on the hormonal feedback of the pleasure centres of the brain.

Others will argue that our consciousness plays more of a role.

In a study by Arthur Aron in the 1990s, participants sat opposite each other and were asked a series of increasingly personal questions, before staring silently into each other’s eyes. The result? At-

traction, intimacy, and in some cases, even marriage.

The scientists were just as surprised by the outcome of the study as their lovestruck participants, but concluded that part of being attracted to, and falling in love with someone, was self-disclosure - the age-old cliche of letting down your barriers and letting someone in.

More recent studies into attraction are wackier. A team at Newcastle University is currently looking into whether immunity to disease plays a part in attraction. The team are investigating

whether people find those with different kinds of immune systems are more attractive than those with the same kinds of immune systems, to ascertain whether evolution and natural selection play a subconscious role in who we find attractive.

These studies are just the tip of the iceberg - there are thousands of studies trying to get at the reason why you might drool over Tom Hiddleston on screen. But it seems we don’t fully know why yet, and we might not even be close.

Photo: bykst@Pixabay

Controversy: Are sex-specific abortions OK?

Following the criticism of an Ethics Professor for supporting abortions based on the foetus’s sex, Science & Technology reporter Jake Jones considers the ethics of sex-specific abortions Ethics Professor and accomplished women’s rights campaigner Wendy Savage has come under fire from The Mail on Sunday and pro-life advocates for her support of sex-specific abortions.

Prof Savage, member of the British Medical Association’s Ethics Committee and long-time pro-abortionist, has voiced her support for sex-specific abortions. Her reasoning? It’s fully in the rights of a mother to terminate her pregnancy and decide what to do with her body. Her comments follow recent statements by back-bench MPs to reinforce current laws which forbid sex-specific abortion, spearheaded by Conservative MP Fiona Bruce.

Existing laws which forbid sex-specific abortion mean that many doctors deny women the chance to learn about the sex of their foetus, due to fear of prosecution.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Prof. Savage stated that making a woman have a child of an unwanted sex “is not going to be good for the eventual child, and it’s not going to be good for [the mother’s] mental health…it’s her body and her foetus, so she should have that information”.

The Mail on Sunday published Prof. Savage’s interview on the

front page with the headline: “Let mothers abort babies of ‘wrong’ sex,” inferring the ‘wrong sex’ to be female, much to the dismay of pro-choice campaigners and other medical institutions who recognise Savage’s long-term support for women’s rights.

The ethics of sex-specific abortion are much debated and have caused a great divide in opinion, as not only do they involve the ethics of abortion but also the rights of unborn female foetuses.

I believe that the right to abortion is essential for gender equality, as without this right a woman with an unwanted pregnancy is forced to see it through until birth and expected by society to raise the child for years to come. Women have a full moral right to do what they want with their bodies and not be burdened by an undesired pregnancy. Not permitting abortions places women at risk, forcing them to seek riskier, illegal means of abortion.

However, the thought of a woman terminating her pregnancy due to the sex of foetus could be seen to be, in the words of Tory MP Mark Field “utterly abhorrent.” It’s easy to accuse such a woman who commits such as act as being sexist and heartless for ending a potential life on the basis of its sex organs.

However, there is very little evidence of women choosing to abort based on the foetus’ sex alone, according to the Department of Health.

Opponents of Savage’s views draw attention to China, where the combination of the one-child policy and desires for sons to carry on the family name and to assist in manual labour have resulted in baby girls being killed to enable the family to have a boy. This caused the Chinese population to become disproportionately male-dominated, and critics argue that similar could happen here in the UK. It seems highly unlikely that a similar situation would occur in the UK as it has no history of female infanticide and our society certainly does not favour baby boys over girls.

Critics of sex-specific abortion don’t take into account genetic disabilities which can be more likely to appear in one sex over another, and it is already common practice to abort on the grounds of a risk of severe genetic disease or disability.

Sex-specific abortion should be allowed to give women full freedom of choice and control over their bodies. Who is anyone else to tell them otherwise?

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Global 7

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

In theThenews this week... important and interesting stories from the wider world this week.

Stories by: Chloe Hatton and Macarena Martín Martínez

Shark sparks seaside shock USA A dead shark has been found ashore at a beach in Volusia, Florida. Spotting a shark isn’t unusual in Volusia County, where the number of shark attacks is so great that it is sometimes called the shark capital of the world. Just one half of the shark was found, and it appears to have been attacked by another sea creature. Tammy Morris, a spokesperson for the Volusia Country Beach Safety Ocean Rescue, believes that it was definitely bitten by a bigger animal. It is the first time that we have ever felt sorry for a shark!

Terror at French school France A 17-year-old student has been arrested for attempted murder after opening fire in an A-level college in Grasse on the French Riviera, injuring 14 and prompting the government to briefly issue a terror warning. The student carried two hand guns, a hunting rifle and two “training” grenades. A few days before the incident, he had reportedly sent classmates a morbid picture of students covered in blood on their group Facebook page, but later said it was a joke. He also posted a Facebook video of himself with a gas and clown mask with a gun to his head.

‘Piggy Bank’ dies after swallowing coins Thailand A turtle in Thailand has died after swallowing 915 coins.

These coins were thrown into the pond where she lived, and after undergoing surgery to have them removed, she was thought to be recovering well. However, she contracted an infection from the surgery, and although emergency procedures were carried out to try and save her life, she fell into a coma and later died. Locals had named her ‘Om Sin’, which translates to ‘Piggy Bank,’ and was she beloved by them, as the locals believe turtles to be a symbol of longevity. An autopsy will be carried out to try and understand how to treat these cases better in the future.

Weather presenting dream granted France A woman with Down’s Syndrome has achieved her dream of becoming a weather presenter, thanks to a campaign supported by thousands of people.

Mélanie Ségard has been offered the chance to present the weather on French national channel France 2 after she challenged French broadcasters to take her on if she gained 100,000 likes on her Facebook page, titled: ‘Mélanie can do it.’ She appeared on television on Friday, after doubling her target in just a few days. Her Facebook page was set up

by Unapei, which advocates for disabled people.

200 migrants feared drowned

Italy Five migrants’ bodies have been discovered off the Libyan coast. It is feared that 200 people have drowned, as the bodies were found near two capsized boats, each with the capacity to hold 100. The Italian coast guard confirmed the five deaths, but could not confirm whether or not any boats had sunk. No distress cals were received from the ships. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says that more than 20,000 migrants have arrived in Italy in 2017.

IOM also estimated that 559 migrants have died or gone missing en route to Italy so far this year.

In Science this week...

Artificial backpack lungs designed

USA A team at the University of Pittsburgh have developed an artificial lung machine that is small and light enough to be carried in a backpack, allowing patients more freedom. The machine is designed for people with lung failure, who are often waiting for lung transplants, which can take years. Previous machines require complex gas exchangers that are too large to carry, and confine patients to bed. The new device has been successfully tested on sheep, working for up to 5 days without the need for intervention. Instead of using large oxygen tanks, future design alterations hope that the device will run off air in the room, allowing people to continue with their normal lives whilst waiting for transplants.

Soviet nuclear cover-up exposed Kazakhstan A nuclear disaster, predicted to be four times worse than Chernobyl in terms of the number of people harmed, has been uncovered in Kazakhstan. The nuclear weapons testing in Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan, which occurred in 1956 and left more than 600 people in hospital, has long been known. However, a new report has uncovered that the radioactive contamination and radiation sickness was much more widespread and damaging than previously thought. Nearly half a century after the last tests occurred, many people in the region are still suffering the consequences of radiation exposure.

UK and USA announce flight electronics ban

UK/USA A ban on electronic devices larger than 16cm long, 9.3cm wide, or 1.5cm deep being placed in cabin luggage has been announced by the British government.

However, this ban only affects flights into the UK from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia.

This comes after the United States announced a similar ban for eight countries, fearing that devices could contain bombs. Any affected devices will have to be placed in hold luggage. It is up to the individual airlines affected to decide when to enforce the ban, and it is these airlines that should be contacted for further information, say Number 10.

Same-sex marriage debated in Taiwan Taiwan Judges at Taiwan’s top court are currently hearing a case, which could result in the legalisation of gay marriage. This would make Taiwan the first Asian country to legalise samesex marriage. The court is debating whether a line in Taiwan’s civil code, which states that marriage is between a man and woman, is constitutional. Prominent gay activist Chi Chia-Wei attempted to marry his partner in 2013, but this was rejected; he has petitioned for this case to be heard.

The Taiwanese parliament is also debating whether to pass laws allowing same-sex marriage.

Photo: lneprz@Flickr

‘Hero’ street dogs save stab victim

India Two street dogs have become local heroes after saving a stabbing victim from the perpetrator. In the south Indian city of Chennai, the dogs, both named Puppy, chased down and bit R. Raghunath. Locals were then able to catch him.

Raghunath is accused of attacking a former colleague after she accused him of sexual harrassment, causing him to lose his job. He stabbed her in the stomach in what has been described as a “revenge attack.”

Natasha Chandy, a Canine Counsellor, said the dogs’ behaviour was typical, as canines tend to go to the rescue of those who are hurt.

Twitter bans 377,000 ‘terrorists’ International Social media website Twitter has reported that it shut down 377,000 accounts for promoting terrorism in the second half of last year. 74 per cent of these accounts were detected by spam bots, and the rest by reports from individual users. Since tracking began in August 2015, 636,248 accounts for promoting terrorist beliefs were suspended. Last year, MPs described Twitter as a “recruiting platform” for terrorism, and said that the rate at which the site suspended accounts was “a drop in the ocean.”

First autistic Sesame Street character announced

USA Julia is Sesame Street’s latest addition to the family. She has orange hair and loves her toy rabbit, but she is also the show’s first autistic character.

This is another step in the popular children’s show’s quest for inclusion, which first aired in 1969. The character was created in consultation with autism experts in order to present the condition realistically. Sesame Street is known for its head-on approach to real life issues, and Julia’s first episode will address what autism looks like, and how it affects communication with others. The show’s writers hope to educate people about autism, and hope that she will just become ‘Julia,’ rather than ‘the character with autism.’

Science by: Megan Harvey

Living in the countryside reduces chances of obesity and depression Europe A new report from the Institute for European Environmental Policy has shown that people living in close proximity to trees and open green spaces are less likely to be obese and require anti-depressants later in life. One example from Scotland showed that middle-aged men were found to have a 16 per cent lower death rate, whilst pregnant women also had lower blood pressures and healthier babies. The report claims that “nature is an under-recognised healer.”

But in other parts of the world, it has been recognised. Planting an extra 10 trees in Toronto city blocks provided health benefits to residents that were equated to a $10,000 increase in annual income or feeling ‘7 years younger’.

‘Miracle’ device makes any cheap wine taste good Worldwide The VelvWine Oxygenator device has been heralded for making any cheap wine taste expensive (even Blossom Hill), and will be available in the UK in the near future. The handheld machine works by pushing oxygen into the wine to soften tastes and open aromas, creating better quality wine in only a few minutes. In addition, the device removes tannins and sulphites, which are often added to increase the shelf lives of mass-produced wines. However, these preservatives are also thought the be the reason that cheaper wines can cause such bad hangovers.

8

Feature

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

The future of journalism As The Mancunion winds down for the year, we thought we’d leave you all with some wanton self-indulgence Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

Feature 9

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

by future journalists We spoke with the rest of the editorial team to see what they think about the future of journalism, from the decline of print to the rise of fake news and political interference

Paying for journalism

Politicians control over media

Future of traditional student media?

Do you pay for journalism? If yes/no why? Would you in the future?

Thoughts on announcement that George Osborne is new Editor of Evening Standard….

Do you think traditional student media’s reliance on funding from their Union or University affects their editorial independence?

I pay £1 a week for the New York Times, because apparently my anti-Trump vehemence is worth £52 a year — ouch.

It’s a joke! Proof the media isn’t unbiased. Nothing we didn’t already know though...

I will be the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I talk a lot of shit about people with huge salaries and little effect on the world, but secretly I want their jobs. Hopefully I’ll be one of those awful bourgeois caricatures soon.

If I ever become rich enough to afford such a luxury then maybe, but for now austerity wins.

In my 30s, Why oh Why?

I guess we all shouldn’t have bothered building up experience in student media as clearly that’s not what counts.

No comment. I don’t want to reach for the stars and have my dreams come crashing down when I read this in 30 years and look at my life compared to what I expected it to be.

Not yet. I fantasise about one day being financially stable enough to give money to The Guardian.

As a rich white male, he’s clearly a disadvantaged member of our society. He needs all the help he can get to get a job. We should be grateful to this man for making an often ignored sector of our society visible in the media.

I will have just received my first promotion that finally means I can start to pay off my student debt.

Do you think media can survive without charging for its content?

Will he write all his articles in cocaine braille?

More hot takes is the answer

What do we do in a world where POTUS openly disparages and bans the media? How can it be tackled?

In 10 years I will be the Fresh Prince of Bel Air I talk a lot of shit about people with huge salaries and little effect on the world, but secretly I want their jobs. Hopefully I’ll be one of those awful bourgeois caricatures soon.

Dead in a ditch just west of Bristol Hopefully with a job, more likely just in debt As far too old for all this nonsense Working as a film producer at Warner Brothers

No, but hopefully outlets will look to support day-to-day coverage with sales of more informative, long-read content for those who wish to pay. In an idealist’s world.

No, of course not, the SU absolutely love free speech and invite everyone to have a say, no matter what their views, nobody is banned or silenced, ever.

I just need to check with Naa Acquah about that one. One sec.

Things get frosty from time to time. #TeamNancy

The Tab has seen the introduction of for-profit student media, how has this impacted on traditional student media?

Carry on regardless.

It’s made us up our game, a lack of competition could lead to us becoming complacent.

‘Media’ can ‘survive’ through just about anything, because we’re a ballsy bunch who are physically unable to back down.

Someone give Donald a history lesson — a totalitarian regime attempting to stop freedom of expression doesn’t usually end very well.

I personally think for-profit content could revolutionise student media, but I can’t discuss The Tab in particular because I immediately projectile vomit whenever I think about them.

I’d like to be optimistic and say yes, but who am I kidding? I would rather see ads than pay at this current and desperate period in my life.

I hoped that Trump’s election would signal less dependence of the UK to the whims of America. I was wrong. So very wrong.

The Tab is to The Mancunion what Solange is to Beyonce — pretty cool right now, but lacking lasting appeal.

No.

Memes.

What’s The Tab?

Living in London or somewhere hot

Future of Print

Fake news

Diversifying media

Do you read a print newspaper? If yes/no why?

What’s your view on the rise of fake news?

If by that you mean pages 8 and 9 of Features in The Mancunion, then yes — but only as a narcissistic self-validating pick-me-up every Monday morning after delivering them around campus for hours.

It makes people respect real news more so it’s not too awful, and forces people to triple check their sources which is never a bad thing.

The media industry is still not a very diverse environment, why do you think this is?

Yes, because I am Editor-in-Chief of one.

From my hotel window I can see a few arctic worms screaming at the sight of the tip of a historically-continuous iceberg.

I read the Guardian or the i when I’m at home. I can’t afford to buy a daily newspaper at uni, and

The Daily Mail has been doing it for decades, what’s new?

I do feel slightly guilty about that. I hate the Metro with a burning passion - it’s where journalism goes to die.

Why do we need fake news? The real news is surreal enough.

Fake news? Sad!

I never learned how to goddamn read.

Where do you see the future of print heading?

How do you think it should be tackled?

I see it heading online, but what would I know?

I don’t even know where my own future is heading - what makes you think I’d be able to predict this?

It’s all about contacts unfortunately — I think lack of representation means people think their voices and opinions don’t matter and we need to combat that

It’s been great for my ego and also it’s pretty cool making an actual paper every week.

Something to put on the old CV

I think the freelance aspect of journalism is quite daunting for working-class students. Also, it takes a lot of confidence to go into a career in the media (the public can be overly critical).

Being part of a team so diverse in our general knowledge that we won the SU pub quiz, which meant a £50 bar tab for the night - my friends are better than yours.

Whine and moan on social media, and sip tea angrily, because those are some of the things we do best here in dear ol’ Britannia.

Hire people who don’t look and sound like yourself and your entire staff. It’s literally so simple.

More lies, as our reality is a symbolic construct and fantasy to hide us from the traumatic real inside our hearts so who really wants the truth anyway?

The really helpful constructive criticism I have received in the comments section.

Winning the pub quiz was a personal highlight

How can it be changed?

If we know that it is ‘fake’, does it need to be tackled?

Being part of a team and meeting new people—plus it doesn’t hurt that it’s good for the CV.

Because working for free requires money and I don’t think there are enough access programmes. Also, some of the jobs (like critics) are dead men’s shoes.

Keep making glib jokes about it, that’ll help.

Becoming more dependent on people who are getting closer to death. Why is this being printed?

It won’t be long before we’re all living under sea level, and I hear ink tends to run when it’s wet.

Seriously though, I think most journalism will have gone online and print media will be polarised between luxury publications for conspicuous consumption, and DIY-independent papers that aren’t concerned about profit.

Never underestimate the supreme self-confidence that cis/het white guys have in their own opinions.

What the best thing about being an editor at The Mancunion?

Meeting new people with similar interests and gaining experience and knowledge from them Definitely has to be feeling superior to the authors when I correct their SPAG. Don’t judge me.

Being able to be more involved with my interests, also the free cinema tickets

More diversity programmes and more diversity shown on the mastheads to encourage people who wouldn’t normally to apply.

Learning how to design pages - learning how to live and love

Ban the employment of white, middle class, straight, cis-gender men.

The Mancunion is the largest student paper in the world (don’t verify this)

Ban banning.

The questionnaires for sure.

Opinion

10

Get in touch Facebook: /mancunionop Twitter: @MancunionOP Email: opinion@mancunion.com

Have an opinion?

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

Millennials face real problems

Louis Cane Contributor

I am twenty-one years old, and I think I am similar to other people my age in that my hackles can be raised at a mere passing mention of the term ‘millennial’. This is because criticism for our generation has become so widespread that it is no longer uncommon to hear complaints about generation Y from within our own ranks.

Comments passed about those born from the mid-eighties onwards are usually something along the lines of a poorly researched whinge about selfentitlement, political apathy, laziness, or all of these things.

Late in 2016, an extract of an interview with Simon Sinek on Inside Quest emerged, addressing these complaints. Namely, this was in light of the fact that many employers had raised concerns about their younger employees.

It was wildly popular, shared on social media by millennials and older generations alike. It amassed over 56 million views on Facebook alone.

The younger people that I know who shared this video did so largely because they felt as if someone was finally giving a coherent explanation for some of our generation’s problems rather than simply insulting us. Sinek acknowledges problems of selfesteem as well as the current youth’s alarming rates of drug overuse, mental illness, and suicide. These were linked to factors that were generally out of our control, such as the fact that most of us have grown up with access to mobile phones and social media throughout most of our adolescence.

I don’t have too much of a problem with the points raised in this video itself. I do think that Sinek takes a slightly patronising tone throughout, and the more alarming statistics linked with our generation like mental illness are skimmed over, lumped in with other far less pressing problems and unsatisfactorily blamed yet again on technology alone.

It is starting to feel as if even those who are coming to the defence of millennials are missing the important points. Growing up without any memory of living in an age without social media will inevitably affect a generation in some way.

This is too much of a simplification Sinek and others who seem to be championing this cause are acknowledging some worrying symptoms, but not linking them to the social environment in which we live.

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

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Special Feature: The People in Politics Student: toxicity in MLS

Ex-Co Chair of Manchester Labour Students Ally Routledge details the scenery of her journey through student politics Manchester Labour Students (MLS) has regularly grabbed the headlines of this paper over the past 18 months, and increasingly for the wrong reasons. But it was not always this way. I went along to my first MLS event because I wanted to help put Labour into Government, to give people in this country the leadership they deserve.

My first experience of student politics was a cold, wet Saturday morning, knocking on doors in Withington. I loved it. This was not shouting from the side lines.

We were talking to voters and changing minds. Despite the relative doom and gloom of the 2015 election, I took pride in the fact that Labour won a seat from the Lib Dems in the the constituency in which I campaigned for the very first time.

I joined MLS in campaigning across the North West, even giving up the two weeks before my first year exams to spend every day persuading the voters of marginal seats. I did it because I enjoyed it, and along the way I made some great friends.

We did not agree on everything — the Labour Party has always been a broad church — but we respected each other’s opinions.

I made so many friends that I went to help them campaign at the National Union of Students Conference. Here, I experienced first-hand the toxic side of student politics. I had delegates that I didn’t even know approach me, blame me for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children, and hiss when I tried to campaign for one candidate. They felt that any Labour member was fair game.

Despite defeat at the polls in 2015, I enjoyed my time in MLS, so much so that I decided to run for Chair. I was incredibly

“Suddenly, we were a house divided: you were a ‘Red Tory’ or a ‘Corbynista’. There was no in-between.” humbled to be elected as Chair of the society by the people whom had made my first year so enjoyable. However, when I returned to Manchester two months later, something had changed. The first question that everyone asked me was who I voted for in the 2015 Leadership contest.

Suddenly, we were a house divided: you were a ‘Red Tory’ or a ‘Corbynista’. There was no in-between.

Amongst our Freshers’ events that year, and after the sad death of Michael Meacher, MP for Oldham West, my Co-Chair and I decided to make campaigning against UKIP in that seat our priority. I would have loved to report that every member of the society was enthusiastic about this opportunity to campaign in the first by-election after the General Election. Unfortunately, a few individuals decided to hold ‘alternative’ Freshers’ events, without inviting the Co-Chair or myself, branding themselves the ‘Labour Left Students for Corbyn’.

There, individuals spread rumours that I was a bully and that Manchester Labour Students was an unwelcoming place. If these people had come to Oldham with us, they would have seen that all we wanted was to elect a Labour MP and to drive out the divisive narrative that UKIP was spreading. I informed our Students’ Union of these events going on without us being invited and they assured me that they

Photo: Manchester Labour Students

would intervene. Nothing happened.

I wish that these meetings were the only problem that I faced in my time as Co-Chair. Sadly, this was not the case.

Around three months into my term, I was asked directly if I had slept with a previous Co-Chair, who happened to be a man, and was told that this rumour was being spread around MLS and actually being believed. This misogyny was just the tip of the iceberg: I was shouted at in meetings, harassed in the SU building, and pestered on a daily basis about the state of MLS.

“My name was spread across both the student and national press, with newspapers obtaining my personal phone number and calling me relentlessly” My name was spread across both the student and national press, with newspapers obtaining my personal phone number and calling me relentlessly over the Christmas break. Unsurprisingly, my male Co-Chair was never accused of sleeping with anyone, and members behaved

completely differently when he spoke or chaired meetings. And, despite their antiharassment policy, again, the SU did nothing.

Throughout my year as Co-Chair, I was in regular contact with my Students’ Union. I spoke to five different members of staff about how I was being treated. They were fully aware of the misogynistic bullying I was facing on a daily basis and yet did nothing to intervene, support me, or look out for my welfare.

However, when a friend of one of the SU sabbatical officers had a complaint, a meeting with MLS’s committee was set up within a week. I wanted to be involved in the Students’ Union, but they just helped the people who wanted to push me out. I was asked by various people as to whether I was going to run for one of the Exec elections, but I replied with one question: why would I want to be involved with an SU that has let me down time and time again?

I joined MLS because I wanted a Labour government — not to be labelled Blairite scum, questioned on how I won my election, or to feel a wave of anxiety every time I got an email or Facebook notification. Sadly, this is what I will remember from my time in student politics.

National: they are humans too Our representatives aren’t the cold-blooded reptiles that some like to imagine

British politics has been somewhat of a rollercoaster since the EU referendum.

Article 50 is set to be triggered this month.

Internal disputes within the Labour Party are ongoing. To the disgust of many, George Osborne was recently unveiled as the new Editor of the London Evening Standard.

Nicola Sturgeon is pushing for a second EU referendum, though Theresa May says “now is not the time”. Just keeping up with day to day news is becoming exhausting.

With all this mess, we have moved on from one particular event all too quickly. On the 16th June 2016, the hugely respected MP for Batley and Spen Valley, Jo Cox, was murdered in her constituency.

Police investigations revealed that the murderer, Thomas Mair, was a far-right extremist.

Indicative of the character she was, Jo had used her maiden speech in the House of Commons to celebrate the role multiculturalism had played in shaping her constituency: “While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.” How could someone with so much love, warmth, and compassion have fallen victim to an attack full of such evil, anger and hatred?

Unfortunately, though the country mourned and paid their respects following Jo’s death, British politics is as polarised and toxic as ever before. Sky News reported this week that a specialist police unit has been set up to investigate other security threats posed to MPs. Since Jo’s death, there have been “33 reports of malicious communications, 13 reports of theft, three reports of

harassment and four allegations of criminal damage.” Furthermore, female MPs (already underrepresented in the House of Commons) are reportedly disproportionately victims of online abuse.

This issue goes beyond party politics.

It’s not about left or right; liberalism or conservativism. It’s about decency, standing up for democracy, and fighting to protect the civil liberties we all hold dear. We must stand up and defend our politicians. Further, we must work to challenge perceptions and bring them closer to the public.

Too many people currently feel ‘left behind’ by an uneven global economy.

This notion was often channelled in Brexit debates. However, it is systems that are at fault — not individuals. Politicians do have some agency to change economy, but that agency is rather limited. Inequalities and injustices do not justify making huge, dehumanising generalisations about politicians.

“It’s not about left or right, liberalism or conservativism; it’s about decency and standing up for democracy” However, there are many MPs who help to degenerate the image of Parliament.

The crisis of confidence in politicians is still ringing on from the expenses scandal.

And, rightly, people are angry that Osborne will have editorial duties four days a week, alongside his MP duties (whilst also reportedly pocketing over £600,000 a year through a financial advisory role).

Photo: garryknight @ Flickr

Cameron Broome Opinion Writer Though, it is worth emphasising that not all MPs are like Mr Osborne.

Amidst the drama of the expenses revelations there lies a temptation to generalise the whole of Westminster as corrupted. But expenses are incredibly important, and they link directly to the pressures and strains of the job. MPs have to spend time in both Westminster and their constituency, as well as frequently attending events up and down the country (especially if they are members of Select Committees, for example). It is right that taxpayers’ money is used to subsidise travel costs; if it wasn’t, only the wealthiest of individuals could afford to be MPs. By all means let’s scrutinise expenses, but let us not forget their purpose.

In this spirit, Talk Politics are currently running a “People Behind The Policy” interview project, which seeks challenge negative perceptions of politicians by getting to know more about their background, interests, and general life as an MP. Hilary Benn MP also recently pointed out that, “it’s not easy for families because

as a Member of Parliament you have to live and work in two places and that’s quite unusual.” As fathers, mothers, husbands and wives, it can be incredibly difficult for MPs to juggle politics with family life, and they deserve a huge amount of respect in that sense.

In addition, nothing is private in politics.

Investigative journalists like those from Guido Fawkes will bend over backwards to find stories on MPs and their families to try undermine people’s faith in politicians.

Standing for Parliament takes a huge amount of courage, and the idea that MPs have an easy life is ridiculous.

So when you next hear someone make a snide remark about politicians, be the change you wish to see in the world: call them out. No, they aren’t all the same. No, they aren’t all out for themselves. No, they don’t all milk the expenses system.

Nicky Morgan put it perfectly: “It’s important that people do realise that MPs do a crazy, extraordinary, uplifting job, but we are normal people”.

It’s time we all stood up and defended our hard-working politicians.

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McGuinness and either-or historical judgements Mark Montegriffo Contributor

The death of Martin McGuinness has prompted questions about the contrast between his IRA ties and his later peaceful actions Martin McGuinness passed away this past week at the age of 66. There is no doubt that the majority of the reactions to the news of the death have been controversial. He is seen as either a peace-broker or a dealer in death, but a true historical reflection cannot be restricted to this binary, which seems to have engulfed much of the tabloid media and many social media commentary It is no question that the former leader of the IRA, the illegal terrorist group, has blood on his hands. At one point in time, he was encouraging violence and murder when the Troubles were shaking the foundations of Northern Ireland.

Indeed, aftershocks during the Troubles extended across Britain for decades. Operation Flavius was arguably a turning point for McGuinness, with his acknowledgement that violent methods had only gotten him so far. Like other terrorists-turneddiplomats in the twentieth century, McGuinness’ willingness to pursue a peaceful solution was vital. Without him, it is quite possible that the Good Friday Agreement may never have happened when it did.

As someone who had influenced terror, and perhaps played a very physical part in it, he was undoubtedly a leader who commanded enough authority to move towards ending the Troubles.

Regardless of whether he killed anyone in the flesh, he definitely ordered or commanded acts of mass murder. The outrage felt by victims of the IRA at the fact that he was never brought to justice is understandable. One can imagine that if they were affected personally by the IRA, they would find it extremely difficult to conclude anything other than this man should have died rotting in a prison cell.

But the life of McGuinness is a tale of two chapters.

The fundamental question here for observers to ask themselves is: can people change? Can a young violent radical morph into a mature man of responsibility for the greater good?

Of course, it is regrettable that he never apologised or publicly acknowledged the error of his ways. Perhaps this was because to do so might have impacted on the popularity that he had in republican circles, which he used during the Peace Process. In the 1970s and 80s, Norman Tebbit referred to him as “murderous scum”. However, the daughter of an IRA attack victim, Jo Berry, provided an intelligent and rare nuanced reading when she said, “I value Martin McGuinness as [an] inspiring example of peace and reconciliation.”

“A complex life has to be judged in a balanced way, by only making moral assertions after first accepting that people can change in politics” A comparison with Nelson Mandela, the ANC leader who oversaw terror campaigns to end apartheid but then came to peaceful resistance when it became the only credible solution, is often raised. Certainly, in both cases, terrorism and the murder of non-combatants and civilians is not justified. Resorting to terrorism should never be condoned when innocent lives are taken intentionally.

It is extremely rare, if nigh-on impossible, to find

Photo: beis1 @ Flickr

instances of justified terrorism. We can condemn the acts of terror that both men committed. It is also too much of an ask to weigh out the crimes committed versus the crimes avoided after these men changed. This mathematical approach would naturally undermine the importance of the issue to the families and communities involved.

What one can do, however, is attempt to take a sensitive and mature response. Reducing the complexities of dialogue to two-sided dogma, picking a side, and covering your ears until the next ice age is not a helpful approach. In political life, which is not as simple as supporting your favourite football team, there are often instances of dreadful actions that bring about years of instability and other instances of principled actions that bring about a peaceful settlement. After all, it was the then-Prime Minister Tony Blair who presided over the peaceful settlement with Northern Ireland (albeit John Major did a lot of the legwork during his tenure) and then later instigated the invasion of Iraq.

Victims of the IRA have every right to feel indignant, and I am sure that I would have

preferred him to have died in a prison cell. One should never blame them for that reaction. But if one must ask, would I take back this man’s change of heart and the years of progress since the Good Friday agreement just to have him die as young as some of his victims did?

The answer is bound to be rational and considered. Despicably, too many lives were taken away at too early a stage, and McGuinness is one of those responsible. But he was equally responsible for being a partner in peace and preventing further violence.

We need to stop judging the lives of every political actor through slogans and statements that do not provide an intellectual, accurate and nuanced approach. A complex life has to be judged in a balanced way, by only making moral assertions after first accepting that people can change in politics — even if we think that their true nature does not. I fear that there are forces in our society (including social media) that lend to sound-bite analyses that do not properly reflect the full state of affairs.

A defence of irony Omnipresent Opinion Writer Elliott Mills brings us back to a straightened-out meaning of meaning

Photo: Duncan Hall @ Flickr

My voice is said to sound ironic. Often, if I attempt to console someone it sounds like I am taking the piss. If I tell someone I love them it seems insincere and also as if I am taking the piss. I once tried to console someone by telling them that I loved them.

They told me never to speak to them again.

I chose to use irony in my last article to, amongst other things, expose the contradictions of a student who, feeling disenfranchised by the student election process, didn’t vote in the recent students’ union elections. Some readers thought that there was no irony intended. Such was my delicately crafted character portrayal.

Sentences like “yes, sure, I initially made the point that nothing ever changes, but, on the other hand, what about all those obtrusive changes?”, “Yes, sure, I initially made the point that they don’t represent me because I didn’t vote, but I still think they ought to,” and having the phrase ‘ongoing contradictions’ in the title were apparently insufficient clues. The dualities of purpose were clearly deployed too subtly.

I suppose the dramatic irony worked to an extent, as readers picked up on the invalidity of the indignation in the article despite the seeming ignorance of the speaker. Yet it did not work entirely, as they then did not suspect that this

may have been part of the play. It was a bit like an audience member cottoning on to Iago’s treachery for Othello only then to jump on stage and knock out the actor playing Iago.

“What, then, does it mean for someone to say that someone is saying one thing and meaning something else?”

You might have asked why I did not just say what I meant. But this question is not a simple as it may first seem.

What does it mean for someone to say one thing and mean something else? This question attempts to distinguish between ‘saying’ and ‘meaning.’ Yet, when taking note of how these actions relate to each other, then the suggestion that irony can only serve the purpose of ‘not saying what you mean’ becomes inconceivable, for meaning in speech or writing, ironically layered or not, is always in some respect constituted by the words we say or write.

Even reading between the lines requires those lines to have been marked. Instead of telling a writer to ‘say what you mean’, there might be more at stake for a reader to be more careful and more attune to multiplicity of voice.

What, then, does it mean for someone to say that someone is saying one thing and meaning something else? If that first someone has read or heard the words of the other, arrived at an understanding of their meaning, but only after processing what they considered to be words which did not lead to that meaning, then I would like to know how they got to that meaning if not through the words. How exactly did those words that person encountered not lead — whether directly or indirectly, with irony, obliquely or via detours — to the meaning?

Irony openly exploits the already pluralistic and dialogic nature of words in motion. That is to say, saying one thing is often necessarily already saying more than one thing, and when I say “saying more than one thing,” I mean “meaning more than one thing.”

With irony always in play, those who are most willing to believe that meaning is behind words rather than on and between their surfaces are the least likely to scrutinise the sentences they read, and thereby more likely to take statements at their face value.

The benefit of multi-voiced discourse is that it need not finally privilege a single stance and that there is a degree of uncertainty as to how one might reduce the words down into a single line of argument; with reduce being the operative word.

There is even a systematic impossibility in arguing from a single stance, for this single stance does not glance back at the position from which the argument is made, and prefers instead to pretend that its view is universal or external. When one makes an argument, the voice used to make it is not outside of that argument describing it, but implicated inside and constituted by that argument.

A monitoring of the position from which one speaks allows for interplay rather than a severe imitation of the divine Word. And there is playfulness to this self-reflexivity. It’s just a shame that potentially my final words for The Mancunion have been from a fairly dull single stance. How iron—” Elliott Mills is cut off by Elliot Mills who, angered, speaks thus: “What a load of rubbish. I feel as though this guy would relate to what T.S. Eliot said: “it is impossible to say just what I mean!” I prefer to speak directly.

My argument does not produce dual meanings, nor is it ‘double-voiced’.

“I prefer to speak directly.

My argument does not produce dual meanings, nor is it ‘double-voiced’.”

Look: I will use short sentences to show you. These sentences are my own. They are not undercut by irony. I am externally commenting on the matters at hand. I am not inside of a ‘dialogic’ discourse. I am not implicated inside a wider argument. Plain and simple. Things don’t have to be so complex.

Finally I am telling it all to you straight, with finally being the operative word as this article will be my last for The Mancunion.

“At the end, you want a definitive statement of closure, not self-reflexive nonsense, hedging its bets at every turn,” said Elliot, an altogether easier person to talk to than the first.

He seemed to put things straight, apart from attributing that line simply to T.S. Eliot, when really it was a character names J. Alfred Prufrock through which T.S. Eliot wrote those words. So, less reductively, Eliot both said and did not say those words.

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Album Album

Drake: More Life

Released 18th March via OVO Sound

Drake’s More Life is hardly groundbreaking, but does show us a darker, more mature side of the squeaky clean rapper, writes Lily Sheehan Lily Sheehan Contributor

6.5/10

Photo: album artwork

First things first: More Life is not an album, apparently. It’s a ‘playlist.’ Instead of calling this 22-song, feature-laden musical project an album, as literally any other person in the world would, Drake has decided it has more in common with your average revision play-

list. Perhaps he could have included some irritating Spotify adverts for authenticity.

Like many things Drake does, I don’t really understand it, but I like it anyway.

Everyone’s favourite Canadian rapper (not a very competitive title) described

his project as ‘the soundtrack to your life’. No pressure, then. It seems to be a fairly accurate description — the playlist broke the Spotify record for most streams in a single day, at 61.3 million. I am eternally grateful to Drake for taking this accolade from Ed Sheeran’s ÷, notable only for managing to be bland and nauseating at the same time.

More Life explores the dark side of fame and fortune. ‘Passionfruit,’ one of the playlist’s stand-out tracks, is a welcome departure from the clunky opening songs. Drake once again explores the theme of failed relationships, the subject that has made him a multi-millionaire. “Passing up on my old ways/I can’t blame you,” he sings introspectively, cementing his place as “a reflection of all your insecurities,” as mentioned in ‘Do Not Disturb.’ Drake’s confessional nature actually makes it possible to feel sorry for a man who is worth $60 million — this is no easy feat.

The contrast between the previous track, ‘No Long Talk’ (Drake’s attempt at being ‘road’ which he somehow dragged Giggs onto) and the soulful ‘Passionfruit’ only serves to make the latter seem even better. Whilst the song is ostensibly about a long-distance relationship, it is also a reflective look at his

past behaviour (very relatable) and his boredom with the touring lifestyle (not so relatable).

“Drake’s confessional nature actually makes it possible to feel sorry for a man who is worth $60 million — this is no easy feat” Drake borrows heavily from other rappers in his quest to give his songs — often more pop than rap — an edge. ‘Lose You’ reflects upon everything Drake has lost due to his fame. Over a soothing combination of the piano and a repetitive synthesiser, the rapper complains that “opinions started to burn when tables started to turn.” ‘Lose You’ could easily have been inspired by Kanye West’s ‘Real Friends,’ which makes his feature on ‘Glow’ an even greater disappointment, lacking both musical and emotional depth.

‘Can’t Have Everything’ uses a voicemail from Drake’s mother, similar to Frank Ocean’s ‘Be Yourself.’ In keep-

ing with the ‘fame is shit’ theme, this reminds the listener that Drake is a person and not simply a vehicle for Instagram hate. Drake and Future’s 2015 mixtape What a Time to be Alive was a caricature of the brainless, braggadocious face of rap; introspective and mature, More Life is its total opposite. It is a modern retelling of the age old adage: be careful what you wish for.

More Life could be described as something of an identity crisis for Drake.

When looking over the tracklist for the first time, I immediately cringed at ‘Blem’ and ‘Gyalchester.’ I laughed out loud when he said “habibi” on ‘Portland’. Falling just shy of cultural appropriation, this playlist will inform white Americans of the existence of British grime in the most sanitised way possible, just as Views did for dancehall. Both ‘Jorja Interlude’ and ‘Skepta Interlude’ are excellent, but they can hardly be classified as Drake songs — he is almost a featured artist on them.

Perhaps bored of his winning formula, Drake has attempted to mix it up on More Life, but it is hardly a musical innovation. It shows us a darker side of rap’s commercially viable sweetheart, which leads me to ask: is everything okay, Drake?

Obituary Album

Chuck Berry: Rock and roll pioneer

In his memory, Tara Bharadia looks over the career and impact of the groundbreaking songwriter

Tara Bharadia Obituary writer though the trio originally played blues, Berry played to the area by playing country music. In a later interview, Berry stated that rock and roll had always existed, just under other names such as ‘Country Bumpkin Jazz’.

After meeting blues legend Muddy Waters, he got his first recording contract with Chess records in 1955. His pioneering song ‘Maybellene’ reached number one on the R&B chart, this track is arguably the founding statement of the rock and roll genre. The mix of blues and country, original guitar riffs and storytelling lyrics made ‘Maybellene’ and the tracks to follow the first of their kind, and this new sound — while a big gamble — was a resounding success and shows true evolution of music.

His biggest audience were teenagers: Berry once commented that he wanted to make

1. Weirds – ‘Phantom’

by Amy Matthews

Tracks of the week

The original rock and roller, Charles Edward Anderson Berry, passed away earlier this week in his home state, Missouri.

You don’t know anything about rock and roll if you don’t know who Chuck Berry is. A widely-accepted view is that Berry was one of the founding fathers in the genre and a pioneer in the emerging art of stage performance. But his life wasn’t always touring on the road. Deep down in St. Louis, Missouri in the summer of 1941, Berry gave his first performance at his high school. His rendition of Jay McShann’s ‘Confessin’ the Blues’ was controversial for the times, but proved to be a resounding success and it was this success which inspired him to learn the guitar from Ira Harris.

When Berry was 21 he married his wife, Themetta Suggs, and worked several jobs in the janitorial and manufacturing sectors in order to support his growing family. It was in the 1950s, when Berry started working with T-Bone Walker, that he began to go back to his music and started performing with Johnnie Johnson’s trio. Even

Leeds based band Weirds have only recently stormed onto the scene with their debut track ‘Valley Of A Vision.’

Their newly released track ‘Phantom’ from their up and coming debut album Swarm Culture out in May is reminiscent of early The Wytches or Foals. It’s addictive, dark and loud, yet still upbeat. Aidan Razzall’s screeching vocals add weight to the track’s overall heaviness. At just over two minutes long it certainly leaves a long-lasting impression.

music appealing to the ‘identity of the teenager’, and ‘without showing too much love’ he was able to relate to the teenage masses. Subsequent singles ‘Sweet Sixteen’ and ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ were also hits, but Berry himself felt that the main reason for rock and roll was the times and the technology and that he, like many other musicians, was but ‘a cog in the wheel’. But Berry really did live up to the sex, drugs and rock and roll outlook of the genre, having served some jail time for both offences in 1944 and 1962.

Despite his misdemeanours, Berry achieved a lot in his time. He was the first musician inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, a mere year after accepting

2. Lorde – ‘Liability’ Grammy award winning 20 year old Ella Yelich-O’Connor, follows up with a second single from her second album ‘Melodrama’ arriving in June. Liability highlights the insecurities and struggles of early adult life. Its mellow, sad and relatable. The subtle piano in the background allows O’Connor’s powerful vocals to take centre stage. Its slow and emotional, it’s not your generic pop song. It’s clear that Lorde is one of the most powerful female musicians in the industry right now. Her new sound is refreshingly mature, exciting things lay ahead for the New Zealand singer-songwriter.

his Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His clear influence over other musicians and pop culture is probably his greatest achievement, and what will make him a legend long after his passing: The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Buddy Holly all have made flattering imitations of Berry, whether it’s the eccentric guitar riffs, narrative lyrics or erratic stage performances. What’s more, you merely have to give a cursory glance to any list of ‘80s hit films to find one with a Berry song, from Marty McFly’s before-his times-rendition of ‘Johnny B Goode’ to the Twist contest in Pulp Fiction featuring ‘You Never Can Tell’.

Berry’s influence is greater than any of us can imagine, but we still have new music to hear from him, almost forty years since his last album: Chuck will be released in the coming months.

With music constantly evolving, it says a lot that one genre can still dominate the charts. You can’t beat good music, and as Berry said: “Only rock and roll stays.”

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

3. The Amazons – ‘Black Magic’ The Reading indie rockers follow up a stream of successful singles and EPs with ‘Black Magic’ a track that hints at what is to come for the band, before their debut self-titled album is released in June. Quite possibly one of their biggest tracks to date, its beaming guitar riffs in the intro are distinct and entrancing.

Matt Thomson’s lyrics explore feelings of being stringed along and let down. It’s loud and catchy, it’s a song that you can’t help move to. After one listen, you won’t be able to get it out of your head and with good reason.

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Feature

I followed my favourite band across Europe

Reckless? Yes. Stupid? Yes. The best experience ever? Absolutely. Katie Shepherd writes about her experience following her favourite band across the continent Katie Shepherd Deputy Music Editor Seven shows, six countries, Twenty One Pilots.

It was, without any doubt, the most reckless, stupidest thing I have ever done. And believe me, I’ve done some stupid things. But whilst it was stupid and it was reckless and I did end up literally sleeping on the streets of Prague, it was also the best experience of my life.

Twenty One Pilots have been my favourite band for a few years now; way back when they were still playing the Deaf Institute and no one knew who ‘twenty-four what?’ were. I had already seen them eleven times across the UK before my Europe excursion, but when they announced their Emotional Roadshow tour, I knew that, just like the venues they were playing, I had to go bigger.

A few months later and I was getting on my first flight by myself to Copenhagen.

From Copenhagen, I went to Berlin, then Prague, London, Brussels and finally Paris. In total, I was travelling for about two weeks and in that time I had one shower, spent seven nights on the pavement outside various music venues, accidentally stumbled upon a sex machine museum and ended up submitting an important essay from an internet cafe in the middle of Paris (French Google is not easy to navigate FYI). But from that time I have some of the greatest memories with the most wonderful people, and ones that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

People often ask me whether seeing

Photo: Drew de F Fawkes @flickr

the same band performing the same set with the same songs every night starts to get a bit boring, but I can honestly say that every single show has retained the same magic as the first one. And there is something really special about your favourite band recognising you as being at the front of that crowd again; knowing that of all those faces in the crowd, they know yours.

But the shows are just half of the experience. I did most of the shows with friends of mine, but I also met a lot of

new and really lovely people along the way too; I met a girl from Leeds in Prague, people I met in Berlin have become some of my closest friends and I have regular conversations with people living all across Europe that I met on that tour. ‘Diehard’ fans of any band get a pretty bad reputation from anyone outside of the ‘fanbase’, but I can honestly say the kindness and the generosity of the complete strangers I met lining up for those shows remains unrivalled.

If anything, what this tour taught me

was how much good there really is in this world. Maybe that sounds dramatic for someone that blew all her money to watch two nerdy guys from Ohio play a ukulele and backflip off a piano every night, but it is true. Not just in the amazing friends I made; a man working in a SafeStore saw us camped out on the street in London, asked us what we were doing and immediately invited us into his office to warm up, made us tea and let us charge our phones. The team at Alexandra Palace in London went

above and beyond, even providing us with portaloos. And the shows themselves, the band themselves, created such a sense of unity amongst strangers, such a powerful and pure feeling that everything is okay. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how incredible it feels to be seeing your favourite band with your best friends, but I will say that I’m pretty certain its the closest thing we have to magic in this world.

The truth is that music really can help people. This band helped me, and they helped my friends too. And to be in a room of thousands of other people that had also been helped by, and brought together by one band, by music, in a completely strange country, really reminded me of just how powerful that was. And the immense hope and joy that one band can bring people brought a much-needed reminder of just how much potential for good the human race has.

So, if you have ever considered running off and following a band on tour, I say do it. Just maybe not during the most important year of your education.

And definitely be prepared to go a while without showering and eating nothing but McDonalds fries. But then, that’s all part of the tour experience right?

If you want to read more about what I got up to on my adventures following Twenty One Pilots, check out my blog drivingtowardsthemorningsun.wordpress.com

Live

Live: Glass Animals

The industry influence casts a dark pineapple-shaped cloud over the Indietronica wunderkinds disappointing set, writes Ben Rout

Ben Rout Contributor You know when you go to a gig and there’s an audience member that’s indecently and disproportionately into the music? You know the type — someone who insists on extending his arms fully to emphasise the beat, more often out of time than in, with a metre-radius void of empty space surrounding him, no-one willing to risk permeating his sea of obnoxiousness in case they attain a minor injury. Well, what do you do when that person is the frontman of the band performing?

Unlike body-shaking white boys before him — Samuel Herring (magnetic), Thom Yorke (endearing) and David Byrne (transcendent) — Dave Bayley of Glass Animals’ sterile wiggling is difficult to watch. It’s quite honestly impressive how Bayley can reach the dizzying (or should that be bile-inducing) heights of slimeballery matched only by AMera Alex Turner.

Perhaps it’s difficult to dance with any kind of subtlety when Paul Epworth is

3/10 pulling the strings attached to his limbs.

That’s right: renowned industry hack Paul Epworth — responsible for the larger chunk of landfill indie that has made the last ten years chiefly depressing for fans of guitar music — has ‘executively produced’ (whatever the fuck that means) Glass Animals’ two albums, 2014’s Zaba, and last year’s effort How to Be a Human Being (the title of which is presumably taken from the agenda of a team meeting for the lizards at Epworth’s label). Like Dave Bayley’s unfortunate dance moves (nothing screams authenticity like sheepishly swaying on top of the kick-drum — Death Grips they are not), it’s difficult to tell what aspects of Glass Animals’ act are genuine and what was thought of in the boardroom.

Epworth’s industry cynicism is a spectre that looms over the entire set — quite literally in the form of their giant, and frankly offensive, pineappleshaped disco ball. Either Glass Animals are crazy bastards and purchased this

grotesque tumour of crude oil in a KLFesque move of decadence, or Clive from marketing has a new bullet point for the ‘Passion for Excellence’ section of his quarterly performance appraisal.

This hanging sequined scrotum actually reminded me of the episode of the Simpsons where Cypress Hill mistakenly take the London Symphony Orchestra intended for Peter Frampton’s performance. Accidental appropriation is the only conceivable explanation for its presence, because the implication that the music of Glass Animals is at all danceable-to is as laughable as Dave Bayley’s dancing.

The rest of the band are sort of just there, though occasionally prance up to enact the homoerotic Guns N’ Rosesstyle rock ‘n’ roll cliché of playing their guitars into each other like a bunch of sixth formers. Nice work lads!

I know thus far I’ve made it through this review without even discussing their music, but Glass Animals make

it easy by having mixing so atrocious that it’s virtually impossible to ascertain a single ounce of melody. When the mixing isn’t so horrendous to convince you that Glass Animals aren’t playing in another building entirely, the songs are just average. That or they’re blatantly plagiarised from house music, and Timbaland and John Frusciante’s work from the early to mid-2000s — not coincidentally the era that most of tonight’s audience grew up in.

God damn Lindsey Buckingham and Rostam Batmanglij for their pioneering drum production in letting hacks like Glass Animals get away with writing completely vacuous songs by burying them entirely beneath the drum kit.

And the alt-J-inspired nonsense lyrics are so obnoxious and empty, the only worthy comparison Dave Bayley’s dancing.

The audience, by the way, are so invested in Glass Animals that they maintain a constant volume of chatter

throughout the whole set, which Glass Animals need to subtract from any vindication they get from their admittedly huge applauses (which exponentially decrease over the course of the evening — go figure).

File Glass Animals with the mounting portfolio of acts like CHVRCHES, Moderat and Slaves inexplicably able to sell out Manchester venues thanks to stellar marketing and having one good song (respectively: The Mother We Share, Bad Kingdom and… um…).

File Glass Animals with acts like Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots and Jungle who hid their unoriginality and dullness behind glossy production and marketing nonsense. Glass Animals are a GCSE music project gone too far. Glass Animals make me want to throw away all my patterned short-sleeved shirts.

Glass Animals’ last album probably got four stars in the NME. Glass Animals are the Hoosiers for 2017. And the singer is crap at dancing.

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Record Reappraisal Album

Avril Lavigne: Let Go Released June 2002 via Arista

Feature

We affectionately look back at the Canadian singer’s 15-year-old skater-rock debut

Rebekah Shaw Contributor That’s right, it’s been 15 years since a teenage Avril Lavigne released her debut album, topping charts in the UK, Canada, Australia and Argentina, amongst others. As an owner of this record — my first ever music album, no less — I have a tender spot for Let Go in my heart. I also believe that it was incredibly important in capturing the attention of angsty pre-teens who hadn’t bought into the pop-craze of Steps and Britney Spears, yet were too young for ‘proper’ rock music. Even Entertainment Weekly described her as the “anti-Britney” in November 2002, a statement with which Lavigne did not agree.

For this debut Lavigne was musically inspired by artists of vastly different genres, from Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks, to blink-182 and Marilyn Manson, to the Ramones and Nirvana.

Yet Let Go stands separately, and has even been seen as changing the pop/ rock-punk music scene, particularly in helping rise of female-driven poppunk bands.

Let Go was mixed up with the ‘skater’ trend of the early 2000s, and let young girls (amongst others) know that this was a viable alternative for expressing themselves. However, in a now-YouTube famous interview from this era, Lavigne stepped away from the ‘punk’ and ‘skater’ images created by her PR, moodily describing herself as “just a rock chick”.

I first listened to this album when I got it for my ninth birthday (a year after it came out, when it started to gain traction in major charts in Britain) and I still know the lyrics to this day. At the time, I loved the dramatic, rebellious nature of the record and how much it stood out from most of the music my peers were playing. But I had no true

Photo: album artwork

understanding of the experiences my girl Avril was talking about. Listening to it just a few years later — approaching the age Lavigne was when she wrote it — it resonated immensely with adolescence.

Her debut single, ‘Complicated’ demonstrates this — a fond fan favourite, written shortly after getting her recording contract aged just 16.

With heavy guitar as her weapon of choice (and pretty constant throughout the entire record), the teenager sings something you were probably saying to your own mum at her age: “Chill out, what you yelling for?” This track perfectly captures the confusion many young people feel as their friends change drastically around them, “you’re acting like you’re somebody else/getting me frustrated”.

Fears of change and fitting in are also a theme throughout tracks ‘Mobile’

and ‘Anything But Ordinary’. In the former, Lavigne is trying to get her head around the pace of her new life, both in the music industry and as a young adult, as “everything’s changing/when I turn around/all out of my control”.

Similarly, ‘Anything But Ordinary’ is an anxious struggle to identify outside of ‘ordinary’ boundaries, and understand if you’re doing it right. The line “sometimes I get so weird, I even freak myself out” is painfully, yet suitably, full of teenage angst.

‘Sk8er Boi’ is the standout track from Lavigne’s debut, incredibly catchy and capturing the defiant ‘outsider’ nature of the skater trend amongst young people of the time. It is one of those early 2000s tracks that holds such a fond place amongst people who grew up with it that it is still played at parties by people in their early twenties. She recounts a story of a presumably high-

Released 17th March via Matador

Album

Spoon: Hot Thoughts

The indie rock titans return with their latest masterpiece, writes Jacob Nicholas

Jacob Nicholas Head Features Editor Let’s get straight to the point — Spoon’s new album is fucking exceptional. Not that you should ever expect anything less from them, arguably the most consistently brilliant indie rock band ever.

Their latest effort is yet another hit in a string of fantastic records stretching all the way back to 1997’s Soft Effects, with not a single dud in twenty years; even Transference, the band’s least critically acclaimed release, is a glorious scratchy mess of wonder.

Hot Thoughts initially seems to be something of a departure for the band. There are walls of synth and ambience, and seemingly no acoustic guitars whatsoever. On first listen, it sounds like their first mistake in my lifetime. However, a couple more listens later it all clicks — as with every Spoon album, it takes a while, then you wonder what you were ever worried about.

Eight of the album’s ten tracks are ab-

er-class girl who rejected a ‘skater boy’ who “wasn’t good enough for her”, yet he ended up becoming a rockstar. Boy, she regretted spurning his advances as she found out about this years later whilst “stuck at home feeding the baby, she’s all alone”.

Lavigne worked with production team The Matrix in songwriting, who she attributes as significantly helping with her musical direction and vision.

However, after release, there were several claims from The Matrix that Lavigne was not the primary songwriter on key singles ‘Complicated’, ‘I’m With You’ and ‘Sk8er Boi’, but she has vehemently denied them. This songwriting actually received quite a lot of criticism by music journalists, so why try to take credit for it?

As much as this album is focused on the process of growing up, we must not forget that Lavigne was still a child for the majority of its writing.

This is glaringly evident through Let Go, from her use of cringeworthy gimmicks such as Canadian faux-rap in ‘Nobody’s Fool’ and a comical record scratch at the beginning of ‘Losing Grip’, to childish lyrics: “Why should I care? If you don’t care, then I don’t care”. It makes me even more fond of this album, to be quite honest.

Let Go is a series of mood swings: Frustration with how the whole world is against you, to falling madly in love with a boy in your class, to determination that your identity as a ‘skater kid’ is truly you. Avril Lavigne’s ability to capture this teenage angst through music rebelling from the party-pop scene was key in getting this album to multi-platinum status throughout many countries after release. I reckon that this debut was her finest moment — sorry Avril.

9/10 solutely massive, swaggering clouds of groove and poise. Jim Eno’s drums are more hip-hop inspired than his usual tick-tock perfect timekeeping — ultra-processed to the point where you can’t tell if they’re man or machine, they’re just percussive slabs, coupled on most songs with superslick bass that sounds like it’s been dragged out of a tar pit. ‘Can I Sit Next to You’ is a great example of this, a hyper-tight funk masterpiece that’s always focused on the beat, even when it bursts into manipulated strings and ambience.

The guitars are now just as carefully considered as everything else — deployed only when strictly necessary.

In ‘whisperi’lllistentohearit’, a standout in an album of standouts, they spend the first half muted, building tension behind the wall of keys, bursting out only in the peaks of the second half, snapping out a wiry and brilliant riff

over Britt Daniel’s repeated demands to “come on and give me some spirit”.

The new focus, then, is a deep dive into synths to explore more textural sounds. ‘I Ain’t the One’ is built around a slowly repeated Rhodes pattern and washes of echoes, finally ending in a sudden blast of static. The experimentation is best on the two more ambient tracks, which are genuinely different to anything Spoon have ever done before. ‘Pink Up’ is a patient, slowly swelling track that moves through vibraphones, enormous reverberated fills and a final wash of soft piano and backwards manipulated vocals similar to Radiohead’s ‘Daydreaming’. But ‘Us’ is the real masterpiece — a steady series of mournful saxophones, ominous waves of noise and long spaces of near silence that sounds straight off the second half of Low, Heroes or Dirty Beaches’ Love is the Devil. It’s shockingly beautiful.

Instead of a sea change though, Hot Thoughts is really a continuation of what came before — the mastery of albums like Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and They Want My Soul came in the little moments of weirdness — screwed up samples or tape hiss bursting out for just a moment. Hot Thoughts just brings these weirder moments to the fore, whilst diving into their biggest influences’ most essential and experimental records. The overall effect is a record that sounds like a cross between Prince, Bowie and Kid A, whilst still remaining quintessentially Spoon, with all their strutting majesty.

Is it as good as that sounds? Not quite — that would be the greatest album ever made, but it’s amazing just how close Spoon get. It’s only March, but it’s going to be hard for anything else this year to come even remotely close to this astonishing record.

Top 5: album closers All good things must come to an end — it’s our last print issue of the year!

Let Joe Casson’s selection of album closers help you to wipe the tears away

Photo: Matt Biddulph @flickr

Joe Casson Head Music Editor 5) ‘This Must Be The Place’ by Talking Heads Placed at the end of 1983’s invariably funky and agitated Speaking in Tongue s, ‘This Must Be The Place’ is a warm embrace that sees David Byrne, usually the uncomfortable skeptic, finally write a straightforward love song. Talking Heads didn’t totally abandon the weirdness though — they all swapped instruments to record this song, and when performed live Byrne sings it to a lamp.

4) ‘Impossible Soul’ by Sufjan Stevens “Don’t be distracted”, sings Sufjan, six minutes into this gargantuan closer to his 2010 electroorchestral nervous breakdown The Age of Adz. Skipping from autotuned soul to marching music to the tender singer-songwriter style Sufjan is more known for (accompanied by everpresent sputtering electronics and sweeping brass), this track demands your closest attention. It’s a wildly ambitious end to a wildly ambitious album, and Sufjan pulls it off commendably.

3) ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’ by David Bowie With typically cryptic (and, in the context of his death, rather tragic) style, Bowie closed last year’s Blackstar with this deeply satisfying cut. Looking back to the 1970s with streaks of harmonica (referencing ‘A New Career in a New Town’ from Low) and a Young Americansstyle saxophone solo, Bowie cruised into the sunset with a knowing wink.

2) ‘Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2’ by Neutral Milk Hotel Every track on Neutral Milk Hotel’s 1998 masterpiece In The Aeroplane Over The Sea is superb, but the closing track does the most to tie together this simultaneously enchanting and deranged work of magical realism. After singing the final line “don’t hate her when she gets up to leave”, Jeff Mangum did exactly that: you can hear him as he puts down his guitar and leaves the room. He didn’t return to public life for nearly a decade.

1) ‘New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down’ by LCD Soundsystem With its New Wave influences, Talking Headsfawning and persistent disco grooves, 2007’s Sound of Silver is a tribute to New York City in many symbolic ways. It’s only on the weary final track that LCD Soundsystem make this explicit, though, as the band turn their tribute towards Lou Reed’s retro ballads. Before the track’s cathartic blow-out of an ending, the subdued instrumentation allows James Murphy’s witty songwriting to shine, as he pens an open letter about his complicated relationship with the city that made LCD Soundsystem great.

BOP is back BOP is back on 28th March with a silent disco to host the FIrst ever social for all societies! tickets ÂŁ5

with a free drink if you buy at the union bar or buy through your society for discounted tickets

Fashion & Beauty

16

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Gyalchester and the King of the Fallowfield look

According to university style profiles, Manchester’s female students have a specific look that resurfaces across campus. Deputy fashion and beauty editor Sophie Soar examines what our stereotype is and how to style yourself accordingly

As far as click bait goes, the most frequent resurfacing theme of article on my Facebook homepage reads something like ‘What is your uni’s defining look?’ Curiosity gets the better of me (yes, I am a weak sheep that succumbs to click bait) and I invariably scroll through dozens of “defining looks” to find our glorious university, which I always hope will prove itself the shining beacon of style amongst the array of clichés.

I am inevitably disappointed by the stereotype staring back at me, which slouches nonchalantly with a perfectly poised bucket hat, hoops, and Ellesse jumpers. The caricatures also always emit passive aggressive arrogance, as if we spray on attitude each morning like perfume.

These articles emphasise the aesthetic of effortless casual wear that takes hours to style. At this, you can’t help but share a self-conscious giggle with your friends. There is certainly a stylised effortlessness across campus, although little changes from these looks when day turns to night (aside from the added accessory of glitter).

Ok, maybe as a collective we are a slight cliché. After all, finding your friend outside Alan Gilbert in her once distinctive pink puffa jacket seems to have morphed into a hybrid version of ‘Where’s Wally?’, especially considering the puffa is invariably styled with a baggy pair of mum jeans, Adidas or Nike trainers, and some form of colourful hair dye.

This footwear however really is unique to Manchester, for the look can only be achieved from traipsing down the gravel entrance to Antwerp. It provides the perfect muddy sheen to one’s brand new white sport lux trainers. Avoid standing in the smoking area for too long though; too much mud might ruin the balance between wornin and lost-in-the-crowd-for-three-hours-at-Parklife. Even Vanish can’t help you relocate the Nike tick after that.

Whilst there is certainly a particular style Manchester girls adhere to, it holds far greater variety than the proposed pigeonholed personalities. After all, we wouldn’t spend so many hours in charity shops or the Northern Quarter vintage stores to look just like everybody else.

Manchester presents an endless array of personal style and, most importantly, it is a site for fun fashion. The city and university are spaces in which no one will judge you for what you wear, for it is guaranteed you will never be sporting the most outrageous outfit. So whilst you finish your three years at Manchester, appreciate the time it gives us all to find our own personal style in an unencumbered environment. After all, Drake’s ‘Gyalchester’ is apparently an ode to the women of Manchester, celebrating our style and attitude in a wholly Mancunian way. Let’s own it.

Although fashion does have a global reach, here in Manchester we seem to have our own style bubble. Fashion and Beauty Editor Sarah Kilcourse talks us through the male Mancunian look

Photo: topshop.com

Photo: marketplace.asos.com

The University of Manchester has a distinct look. As much as students across the UK discover themselves at university through vintage fashions and leave behind their former highstreet self, Manchester seems to take this to new highs. When the train pulls into Piccadilly, the Northern Quarter air must infiltrate the mind and send vintage vibes to the newbies in town.

It’s only fair that in our final issue of the year (sad face) we pay homage to the look that has dominated campus this 2016/17 academic year. So, let’s start at the top and work through the full look...

A mini fisherman’s beanie is the best hat in town right now.

Rolled up so that it offers precisely no ear warmth, which to me forces the questions why would you wear a beanie in the first place? Ah, let me answer myself, it is to draw attention to your ears! Yes, I have deduced the reason that the mini fisherman hat has become so cool — ears. There is, however, no colour preference, so choose whatever allows your style to shine through.

Mr Fallowfield has selected his upper body as the best area to display his personality this year, the only real requirement is that whatever you wear must be oversized. Wavy shirts are no longer de rigour, instead, there has been a surprising rise in the number of 18-21 year old blokes wearing fleeces. Or, how about, a piece of vintage sportswear? Here colour is most definitely appreciated, why hide when you can wear turquoise! Either way denim jackets, shearling and puffa coats have seen the Don Juan’s of manchester through the winter months. I imagine a few shearlings will linger on into summer as well. There’s always a few stragglers.

Sadly for guys, there aren’t as many mainstream options for the bottom half. Much as I would fully embrace men in skirts this year the boys have stuck to their old faithful: skinny trousers. The rolled up ankle has gone up a tad this year, preferably so a hint of white sock peeks through. I can’t lie, skinny trousers on men never look particularly comfortable but it’s your pain to suffer. There has been a slight increase in the number of straight legged trousers in sight, so if I were to make predictions for next year I think those skinny jeans may be taking a back seat.

Trainers absolutely rule the roost of footwear choices. Stan Smiths, Superstars and Gazelles are all incredibly popular choices, providing they’ve got a smattering of mud on them too.

Best of all, you can match shoes with your girlfriend.

The Fallowfield look has certainly advanced in my three years here. The windbreakers of yesteryear have been and gone, the edgetables have moved on. If I were to coin a term to describe the look it would be ‘sports loving skateboarder meets practical dad’.

Prepping for the poolside The sun is slowly coming out and it’s time to start thinking ahead to those summer months! Jenny Knowles helps you become the ultimate, on-trend beach babe As we are well into spring and summer is fast approaching, it is nearing that time of year when we bare all in our bikinis. However recent trends suggest that, to our great relief, it needn’t be a two-piece we pack in our suitcases this time around. Vogue puts the current popularity of the one-piece down to the return of 80s styles in high street stores. This year also sees the release of the new Baywatch movie, in which we see bronzed actresses running elegantly across the beach in low-backed, high legged swimsuits. It is a classic style we see splashed across the Instagram accounts and magazine pages, capturing the likes of Beyoncé and Kylie Jenner.

The ‘frong’ style is an increasingly popular revived 80s feature, seen in both swimsuits and bikinis according to Bikini.com — and the high-

Photo: tandokuno-gurl @Flickr

er the leg the better! It seems designers are currently experimenting with stylistic options for the bottom half as well as the top. Examples of this are the Brazilian; a ruche running down the centre of the back of bikini bottoms that accentuates the natural shape or the ever more daring thong style bikini — useful for avoiding large unattractive tan lines!

Off the shoulder styles are big this year. This is normally a clothing feature but can also be transferred into swimwear, creating an ultra-flattering, Bardot look. As well as the typically feminine look, we will also see a lot of sporty style bikinis. For example the Calvin Klein range, often high-neck, racer-back, crop-top style — perfect if you prefer to opt for practicality.

In addition to the differing cuts and shapes of swimwear, there is a lot of attention to detail with the patterns and fabrics used. Crochet is all the rage, as well as many of boho-chic style decorations including bright colours, tie die patterns, pom poms and, of course, embroidery.

We’ve seen it on blouses, denims, dresses, skirts — and now swimwear. Floral reds, pinks, and greens against a black fabric background seem to be most prominent.

So this summer take your pick from the vast assortment of swimwear designs at your disposal. Check out Seafolly, Australia’s leading swimwear company for the ultimate beachy vibe, as well ASOS, H&M and many more if you’re on more of a budget over the holidays this year.

Fashion & Beauty 17

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Fake your way to the tan As a self-confessed fake tan addict, Deputy Fashion and Beauty Editor Talia Lee-Skudder reveals her top tips for successful tanning that will give you that sunkissed glow ready for the warmer months

Photo: allkindsofnew@flickr

Although we try our best, living in a climate like the UK means the chance of getting a natural tan is incredibly slim. Whilst at the slight sign of sun many strip off to try and catch the fleeting rays, the sun usually only lasts approximately three minutes and we are left shivering in a state of partial undress.

What’s a girl to do when she is faced with the unreliability of the British summer but is desperately seeking a tanned complexion? As sensible adults sun beds are out of the question, therefore we are left with only one option: fake tan. I have regularly been told that I am lucky that I have a natural tan to which I point out is absolutely not the case. When I bought my first Mac foundation in 2011, I was told that I needed the lightest shade they sold but for the past four years it seems that I have managed to mislead those around me to believe that my tan is all natural. Admittedly I have managed to top my natural tan at lengthy intervals over the past few years but the everyday maintenance is all down to my trusty combination of fake tan products. The comparison photo of Ariana Grande circa 2011 surfacing on the internet in recent weeks, when placed next to a recent image demonstrates the power of fake tan in all its glory.

From a self- confessed fake tan addict to the fledgling fake tanners or the girls who know the tricks all

too well; here is a list of my top fake tan tips: 1) The cardinal rule to any fake tan endeavour: make sure you give your skin a good scrub/ exfoliate before you apply any fake tan.

2) In the days leading up to your fake tan session and after you have exfoliated, make sure you generously apply moisturiser to your whole body to ensure that your tan applies smoothly.

3) Pay particular attention to the knees, elbows and hands. These are the trickiest parts to apply fake tan to, so make sure you do this carefully. I’ve had a fair few misapplication disasters and trust me, the banter you receive almost isn’t worth it. I apply Nivea shaving balm for men to the drier areas to ensure a smoother application.

4) When wearing fake tan overnight wear loose fitting long pyjama bottoms to protect your sheets from the stains.

5) This one is obvious, make sure you wash the palm of your hands from all of the excess tan but be careful not to get the top of your hands wet.

6) Start with a lighter tan and build it up. Garnier gradual fake tan is great for this and is super hydrating. It comes in two different shades, the light sunkissed look and the dark. I always opt for the dark.

One occasion I unknowingly bought the light tan and was convinced that I had become immune to the product after excessive use. Actually, I had just bought the wrong colour.

7) Fake tan contouring! Fake tanning can give your body the illusion of instant toning and definition.

Don’t bother going to the gym, just fake tan and lose 5lbs!

8) Reaching the middle part of your back is difficult but is imperative if you want to achieve a flawless tan. If you are struggling to find a willing volunteer to reach that awkward area, then make your own mitt-stick. I’ve have trailed and tested many different variations of this from shampoo bottles to hairbrushes, but after much experimentation, I can confirm that a loofah brush with the mitt fixed in place with a hair bobble is the perfect way to reach this area. Alternatively, if you’re a big spender then bronzieuk.com have a product called ‘got your back’ which is perfect for this notoriously tricky spot.

9) Use make up wipes to get rid of the product that clings to the bottom of the palm and wrist. Excess fake tan tends to clump here and can leave you looking orange so make sure you pay particular care here.

10) Finally, make sure your fake tan has fully dried before you get dressed to avoid any patches.

My favourite tan products include: Garnier summer body fake tan moisturiser (£7.79), Superdrug’s Sunkissed self-tanning mousse (£3.99), St Moriz tanning mousse (£7.99) and of course, the holy grail St Tropez (£29.39). All products are available from Superdrug.

With the application of fake tan, comes the risk of orange related disasters but follow these simple tips and you’ll be looking as if you’ve just hopped off the plane from St Tropez. Just don’t let anyone in on the secret…

Festival friendly beauty tips

Kitty Mitchell Turner reveals her top tips to keep your festival look fresh Beauty and festivals are not two words that typically go hand in hand, probably because a) we live in England, a country that doesn’t lend itself to traditional summers and b) you are living in a tent in a muddy field without access to a proper toilet, let alone a nice sink and a shower. Yet deep down we all want to look as good as our favourite celebrities do in the photos taken of them in Coachella. So here are a few ways to look glasto glam from start to finish.

Glitter With most people, glitter is the first thing to come to mind when people consider festival looks, and while this is all very well and good, there is far more to it than just slopping some craft glitter down the side of your face in a crescent.

Firstly, you need to have the right materials. Opt for fashion or beauty glitter rather than craft glitter (Claire’s has a surprisingly good selection and 15% student discount!) It is softer on your skin, easier to take off and does not stain skin like craft glitter has a tendency to do.

As well as this, it is rather likely that you are going to be away from your tent (and therefore your make up bag) so you want to make it stick all day and potentially all night too. To ensure this, a popular hack is to dab Vaseline or chapstick to the desired area. However, I also like using eyelash glue to make sure it really sticks.

But why stop there? Make or buy stencils of hearts, stars, flowers etc if you don’t trust yourself to do it with a free hand. Experiment with fun eyeliner to outline shapes, add gems or even go all out and add temporary tattoos to leave you looking like the fairy version of Mike Tyson. Once you’ve customised your face (and body) to your heart’s delight, don’t forget to set it all with setting spray or, failing that, hairspray.

Make-up Make-up at festivals is a bit of a tricky one. This is partly because people don’t like bringing their whole make up bag to festivals, partly because usual rules don’t apply and partly because it needs to last so damn long. Personally, I totally disregard those who advise that you should not bring your good make up to festivals. It is more important

Photo: urbandecay.co.uk

than ever that you have good quality, long lasting products to ensure longevity and minimal damage to your skin. Because of this, I prioritise my ‘vice’ eyeshadow palettes over festival snacks. As long as your items are carefully packed (I wrap my makeup bag in jumpers and cushion with socks to avoid it moving around too much during transit), I guarantee they will be fine.

Anything goes with festival make up looks, so it really is a chance to have fun and experiment. Check out Barry M and NYX for fun, reasonably-priced yet good quality items like lipsticks, bright eyeshadow palettes and eyeliners, or Lime Crime and Urban Decay if you have a bit more money to splash.

One of the most important things to remember (and one that is often over looked) is that good glitter and makeup don’t exist without good skin. Tempting as it may be to crawl into your sleeping bag fully made up, don’t. Always completely remove makeup each night and don’t forget to cleanse, moisturise and use sun cream. This will prevent spots and peeling skin, making your skin appear softer and clearer. Decant your favourite brands into miniature bottles or search for travel minis of what you use. And whatever you do, don’t solely revise on babywipes, they are made for baby bums, not your beautiful, delicate face.

Hair One of the things I struggle with most at festivals is making my hair look acceptable throughout the duration, especially as my hair is so

vibrant that even a squirt of dry shampoo shows up so obviously.

My first tip here is to learn a couple of different hairstyles to utilise as your hair gets progressively more greasy. French plaits and Dutch braids look great and are super easy to do on greasy hair, space buns , regular plaits and half up-half down are all really fun to do and keep dirty hair out of your face, reducing your chances of developing spots. If you don’t venture beyond ponytails and messy buns, ask a friend to help. My friend Ella led a bit of a hair masterclass in our living room (as I think we were driving her mad constantly asking her to do our hair), or you can find hundreds of tutorials on YouTube.

As well as this, there are lots of fun accessories to add to your hair; bandanas, tiaras, hair piercings, flower garlands and large clips are just a few cheap and cheerful items you can add to your look to jazz it up a bit and are pretty cheap and available from places like Claire’s.

Or, if you want to go one step further, using glitter and hair chalks are lots of fun and quick and easy to do. Heed my warning though, glitter is an absolute nightmare to get out of the scalp and will cling on for weeks afterwards.

Photo: Asos.com

Film

18

Review

Personal Shopper

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

TV Catch Up

Riverdale

Cassie Hyde praises Kristen Stewart in her latest endeavour

Photo: Badi Fox @Flickr

Shema Begum Deputy Film Editor

Photo: Icon Film Distribution

Cassie Hyde Film Contributor Personal Shopper in set in Paris and centres around Maureen (Kristen Stewart), a personal shopper, working for a highprofile model. Yet, she is also a medium trying to contact her recently dead twin brother, who recently died from a heart condition that she has as well.

One of the main strengths of this film is its cohesiveness. Its themes include supernatural elements, psychological horror, grief, quarter-life crises, materialism, and jealously, to name a few. It’s easy to manage this film to be a tonal mess under many filmmakers. Indeed, several critics have cited these tonal shifts as a problem, but this seems largely due to the expectations on a film such as this. If a film has supernatural elements, people often expect it to just be a ghost movie story. If a film has psychological horror, people often expect it to just be a thriller.

Yet the director, Olivier Assayas, glides between themes with ease and without contradiction. Being able to take elements that are nearly always contained into genre movies and to expand them into a broader setting is an impressive feat!

Yet, the main tentpole that holds up the entire film is an exceptional performance from Kristen Stewart. Some corners of the internet can’t seem to get over the idea that someone from the Twilight movies could turn out to be a good actress, or even a great one. For them, my advice would be to go see Panic Room, go see Certain Women, go see Sils of St Maria, the latter of which she won a César Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Kristen Stewart is a good actress – end of. In Personal Shopper, Stewart is able to be believable when her character, Maureen, alters her mannerisms when talking to different clients, her boss, her boyfriend, her brother’s grieving girlfriend, all the while still recognisably being the same person. This is hard for any actor to pull off, yet Stewart does this effortlessly. Plus, being on screen for nearly all the film, Stewart is simply a joy to watch!

Credit where credit due, this is pretty much the only film out there that makes texts scary. Most times, it’s simply a gimmick.

A cringeworthy attempt to try and be “cool”. In Personal Shopper, meanwhile, it not only works, its works incredibly well. The result is genuinely suspenseful and a highlight of the film!

However, if there are any criticisms of the film, it would be that some of the supporting characters are somewhat underwritten. For some films, this would be a major problem, but this seems somewhat purposeful here. The film is called Personal Shopper for a reason. The film very much centres around Kristen Stewart’s character, Maureen. Someone who is going through an existential crisis. From Maureen’s vantage point, the rest of the cast fades into the background because of what is going on in her life. Makes sense, right? Yet, it still would have been appreciated if the supporting characters were as well written as Kristen Stewart’s. Nothing was really lost by doing this, but nothing was really gained either.

Overall, whilst Personal Shopper combines its many seemingly contradictory themes together well, Kristen Stewart is the stand out part of the film. If there Is any reason to see this, it is to see this career best performance!

4/5

American entertainment channel The CW is renowned for its teen dramas. However, most recently it has been very successful in its collaboration with DC Comics in bringing the popular shows Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow. If you have had enough of the typical comic book action, Riverdale may provide you with some solace. Based on the characters by Archie Comics, Riverdale is arguably on its way to becoming the next hit show. Having been renewed for a second season and Netflix acquiring international broadcast rights, it is one of the most talked about shows and definitely one to watch.

The seven episodes which have been released so far have done enough to get audiences hooked. The basic premise of the show follows the titular character Archie (K.J Apa) and his friends. Archie is a talented musician and star American football player

Review

at his high school, though his father has plans for him to pursue the latter. His neighbour and best friend Betty (Lili Reinhart), struggles with an obsessively control freak of a mother, who has secrets regarding her sister. New girl Veronica (Camila Mendes), daughter of a disgraced businessman enters the town, and as expected a love triangle ensues, which thankfully lasts about two episodes. Last of the gang is Jughead (Cole Sprouse), a quick fan favourite as audiences will be all too familiar with Sprouse’s work.

Jughead narrates the underlying story of the series, the mysterious murder of Jason Blossom, whose body washes up at the town lake.

Riverdale is a combination of Gossip Girl, 90210 and Pretty Little Liars. The typical teen drama and romance exists, and like the shows that have come before it, prevailing societal issues are tackled in the episodes, including race and feminism. The show is crammed with pop culture references, as

“Our story is about a town, a small town and the people who live in the town” though no character can go one sentence without it. It comes to a point where it is frankly just annoying, Veronica being the main culprit of this. As the protagonist of the show Archie is still yet to become an exciting character, though comparisons are made between him and Jason, which only suggest that big revelations are to come. But for the moment he is not part of the main action unravelling. Betty is the active force of the show, and despite dysfunctional families being an ongoing theme it is The Coopers who are the most intriguing.

Where Riverdale excels is in the enigma surrounding the characters and the murder.

Each character is teased to be somehow either connected to the crime or having information surrounding it. Unlike some shows where it is a question of ‘whodunnit’ and the narrative becomes irritating when not much happens, Riverdale does not fall foul of this. Each episode so far has proven to be compelling, in driving the narrative forward and revealing more about the central characters, leading to some suspicions that all may not be quite what it seems. Stylistically, Riverdale is rather neonoir like in its dark tones and neon colours, which enhance the story at hand.

It is no doubt that Riverdale is proving to be a success, as Archie Comics has signed a new deal with Warner Brothers to produce more content. It looks like the steps of the Arrowverse is being followed to create a whole new Archie universe.

The Salesman Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar winning drama

Georgia Welch Film Critic Following his critically-acclaimed 2011 marriage drama, A Separation, Asghar Farhadi is a director whose name has been at the forefront of world cinema for some years now. Fuelling his noteworthy presence even further was his decision to boycott this year’s 89th Academy Awards ceremony on account of Donald Trump’s ban on travellers entering the US from seven Muslim-majority countries, with Farhadi’s Iranian heritage even at one point raising the question of whether he would be able to attend in the first place. When it was later revealed he would be permitted to attend, he made the widely-supported move to send an associate on his behalf to collect the Oscar he won for his latest film, The Salesman, in protest of the travel ban.

With the film still hot on the lips of audiences and critics alike, following Farhadi’s Oscar win, it was disappointing to find that it didn’t quite live up to my high expectations.

Whilst its core ideas were interesting and ambitious, issues with pacing and structure prevented it from reaching its full potential.

The plot follows the marital turmoil which ensues between couple, Emad (Shahab Hosseini) and Rana (Taraneh Alidoosti), after Rana is assaulted whilst alone in the pair’s new apartment. A gulf emerges between them as a result of the emotional scars left on Rana by the incident, alongside Emad’s obsessive pursuit of the perpetrator. Simultaneously, the couple are starring alongside one another in an adaptation of Arthur Mill-

Photo: New Zealand International Film Festival

er’s Death of a Salesman, which is not only affected by the troubles they face following the assault, but also begins to parallel aspects of their faltering relationship.

Whilst this dual narrative structure added depth and texture to the events which unfold in wake of Rana’s trauma, the right balance was never quite achieved. The stage play parallel could have been developed further to create a more dynamic pace and create deeper characterisation, but the lack thereof eventually became the film’s main shortfall in terms of maintaining an engaging, stimulating feel. Whilst there were climactic scenes scattered throughout the two hour run time which were truly overflowing with tension, there were an equal number of moments which felt slow and would have benefited from a more succinct approach.

It’s undeniable that Asghar Farhadi is an immensely talented filmmaker, however,

with his directorial proficiency lying most notably in his ability to elicit powerful and stirring performances from his actors.

The film’s second half contained much of its dramatic power, with Hosseini and Alidoosti’s nuanced performances delivering the kind of focused character development that the first half was lacking. The Salesman is most definitely creative in its ideas about the effect of psychological trauma on a relationship, with the growing rift between Rana and Emad emblematic of the difficulties couples face in not fully understanding the other person’s needs, and not being able to rise above one’s own primal emotions. Its pacing issues, however, created a lack of drive and cohesion which would have propelled the film to greatness.

3/5

Film 19

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Review

TV Catch Up

F**k That’s Delicious: Everybody Loves Chicago Action Bronson loves tacos, ice-cream and Chicago

Elegant scriptwriting and heartfelt acting has created the emotive masterpiece that is The Olive Tree

Alasdair Bayman Film Critic In the opening few minutes of Episode 10 of Action Bronson’s smash hit food travel show, F**k That’s Delicious, a Mexican woman asked precisely what is on every viewer’s lips —”who are they filming? This fat guy?” Staring at the women, Bronson replies “sí, comprendo.”

Laughter thankfully erupts between both parties and the rapper turns back to eating his corn on the cob. The setting is Chicago, Illinois — home to the famous deep pan pizza. The episode could have easily transpired into a sequence of pizza tastings but that’s simply not what Action Bronson and his crew do or eat.

However, we can all live and pray for a cross over episode of the Pizza Show with Frankie Pinello and F**k That’s Delicious.

“Chicago, you can still smell the gun smoke from the Tommy guns and hear the groans of Al Capone in the background,” declares Bronson in a montage of the city’s most iconic buildings and the upcoming episode. The calmness of the city and the cuisine are quickly juxtaposed to the wildness of the rapper coming on stage with friend Alchemist stood behind his DJ set up. We all long for a life of passionate hip-hop and sampling some of the world’s greatest food.

Firstly, visiting Xoco by Rick Bayless on Chicago’s River North, these tortas aka Mexican sandwiches do not look like your average ham and cheese butty. Furnished with an open kitchen, Bayless and his team serve up some of the meatiest tortas in Chicago. Showing Bronson the behind the scenes prep, the chef goes through the recipe for a Mexican pulled pork filling. With the whole pig is covered in an achiote marinade — cumin, lime, oregano, and chipotle — and then wrapped in banana leaves. “They protect the meat but also gives it a whole load of flavour,” Bayless tells Bronson.

Sampling the meat, it is clear from the steam rising that the cooking methods have served the pig well. Moving outside, the whole gang

Photo: VICE

are treated to a taster of the whole menu. With short rib, jalapeño sausage meatballs, shrimp, chicken milanesa, the ‘spread’ at Xoco looks fit for a sandwich king.

Polish cuisine in the UK is something relatively unknown. However, state side in Chicago it appears a little bigger. Arriving at the Taste of Polonia Festival on a warm sunny day, the array of sausages on offer looks enough to rival any German Christmas schnitzel stall.

Naturally, Bronson and Big Body Bes go for something a little different; a smoked Turkey drumstick the size of a small infant. Just like any average day, they pump into Joey ‘That Guy’ Kornatowski- a Guy Fieri impersonator.

Tucking into a polish shish kebab with boiled meat dumplings, buffalo wings and ice cream caps off their visit- alongside a boogie to some rock and roll.

Mentioning the latter, after their meat filled Polish adventure the next logical place to visit is Margie’s Candies — a half and half ice cream parlour and candy store. With its neo-lights filling the frame and large queue, you can see why this place requires a visit from F**k That’s Delicious. “Old school feeling, all this old a** s*** on the walls, I love it,” Bronson states.

The atmosphere clearly harks back to the 20s family run era when the store was set up.

Ordering three banana splits in an enormous egg shell, the cream almost overflows from the bowl. “This is a guaranteed spot, 100% happiness fulfilled. Margie’s Candies it’s crazy.”

Maxwell Street Market at Chicago Flea Markets embodies the city’s multiculturalism.

Specifically paying a visit to the Latin influence in the market, the crew dive into the variety of tacos etc. Sampling, a huitlacoche or a corn smut taco, the particular flavours of the bitterness clearly works on Bronson and Big Body. “This ain’t no restaurant food, it wouldn’t taste the same if it was made indoors, it has to be made in the street — the street is its seasoning for the food. You know what I’m saying? That’s the base, the foundation,” sums up street food accurately by Big Body.

Topping off their Chicago visit with Roister, Grant Achatz’s innovative modern restaurant rounds off the episode. Achatz has a specific episode of Netflix’s Chef’s Table dedicated to his cuisine and life which is well worth a watch. Helmed by Andrew Brochu, the venue is intimate and reminds you of an open sushi restaurant kitchen. Sat across from the chefs, duck hangs over an open fire with its juices flowing. Serving it up with a duck-leg sausage and citrus glaze, the dishes here look phenomenal as you would expect from Achatz. Finishing the meal is a whole milk ice cream with undercooked cookies and an oyster candy bar made from black walnuts, pretzel, marshmallow, foie gras and dipped in chocolate. Ending on a dramatic classical piece of music, it is clear from all of their reactions that this meal was the piece de resistance to finish their trip.

Preview

Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival Eliza Slawther Head Film Editor

The Olive Tree

Manchester Lift-Off Film Festival promotes upand-coming filmmakers

On the 27th, 28th & 29th March 2017, Lift-Off Film Festival is coming to Manchester. It will be held at Texture which is located on 67 Lever St, Manchester City Centre.

The festival seeks to promote the best of independent film making, from both students and professionals. Screenings include challenging features, short films and documentaries. The festival will end with a networking event and local filmmaker showcase.

The line-up includes; Northern Lights, Directed by Nicholas Connor.

Northern Lights is a coming-of-age film starring Katie Quinn as a young girl named Emma, who wants to enjoy her final years of youth but is weighed down by anxiety and pressure from her mother.

The Botanist, Directed by Maude Plante-Husaruk & Maxime Lacoste-Lebuis This award-winning short is about Raimberdi, a botanist who built his own hydroelectric station in order to aid his family’s survival during a crisis.

Where the Windmills Are Directed by Mads Erichsen This Danish film will premier at Lift-Off festival, and is a story of young love in a school in Denmark.

To see the line-up, buy tickets and watch the trailers, visit the LiftOff website which can be found here Ben Pohlman Co-Director and Co-Founder of Lift-Off has said of the festival “Our film festivals are the perfect place to meet up and coming filmmakers at various stages of their careers, from new to

award-winning talent, as well as other industry professionals.

Through the Lift-Off Film Festivals, we aim to build a community of talented filmmakers and film enthusiasts. We’re all people who love compelling storytelling and good cinema”.

James Bradley Co-Director and Co-Founder of Lift-Off commented; “Getting into any Lift-Off Film Festival is a massive achievement. The world of independent film has grown so much over the years that many of the grass rooted filmmakers and emerging professionals are left without much of a platform any more. We felt that many of these artists who were producing exceptional work were being hugely ignored – and deserved to be seen!”

Photo: Manchester Lift-Off

Photo: Morena Films

Flora Barker Film Contributor Directed by Icíar Bollaín, Spanish film The Olive Tree is a tender and heartfelt portrayal of a twenty yearold girl named Alma and her struggle to accept her grandfather’s dementia and inevitable death. Actress Anna Castillo excellently portrays the deep-rooted anger that Alma’s tough persona so clearly hides, as well as the vulnerability and hurt she has built up as a result of her relationship with her father. I was at first led to believe that this anger was merely a result of the fact that when Alma was still a child her father and uncle had decided to sell her grandfather’s beloved two-thousand year family olive tree for €30,000, losing the ‘sacred’ tree forever without having a trace of where it has ended up. Initially, I was dubious about why she had become so angry about this over ten years after it had happened when — after all — it is just a tree, yet the intelligent scriptwriting by Paul Laverty meant that I was later in no doubt as to why Alma was so angry.

Working a mundane job in a battery chicken farm, with the family’s restaurant bought with the money from selling the tree having failed, we are left begging the question, what did this family actually give up such an irreplaceable tree for?

The inside shots of the dilapidated restaurant and claustrophobic, dark family home where argument scenes take place in both the present, and in flashback, contrast with the wide, open space shots of the olive gardens where Alma’s grandfather searches for the missing tree. As we are taken on an on-the-road journey to get the tree back from Germany, we learn that Alma’s anger is about much more than a tree, and the film manages to explore deep set family tension against a background of economic downfall and the life-crushing effects the crisis has had on families and, in particular, the young. Although the plot can at times feel a little ridiculous, the film is successful in combining the everyday stresses of modern day life with the overriding theme of the importance and invaluableness of legacy. As Alma’s struggle to regain the tree is hijacked by environmentalists campaigning against the company which now owns it, the hype for this illustrated by the film’s inclusion of on-screen texts and in shot views of Facebook and Skype, which I feared would be over-done but just about managed to avoid trying too hard to be modern, as it worked in context with the plot. Another success of the film was its portrayal of Alma’s relationship with the various men in her life, the lack of trust for her father helping to explain why she puts so much effort into returning the tree to her Grandfather, as she loses the one man who has always loved and protected her. Humorous, sweet and tragic, The Olive Tree is certainly worth a watch.

4/5

Books

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Interview

Student Poet Interview: Ryan Norman Eliza Slawther interviews student poet Ryan Norman about his poetry, process, and influences “War poetry was the first hit for me”, begins Ryan Norman, recounting his earliest experiences with poetry that would lead him to write — and have published — his own poems.

“The way Owen uses the ‘s’ sound in “merciless iced east winds that knife us” to reflect the wind in the trenches

“I don’t think I’m at a place where I can do justice to the deeper feelings that everyone struggles to articulate” is unreal.

“There’s a great poem about an old-fashioned road bike out there somewhere whose poet I can’t remember, but he says that the bike ‘noses tangled coils of air/ cut with your pure/ purposeful geometry’.

Like, you would never think of describing a bike like that, but how accurate is it? Brilliant.”

Ryan goes on to explain that he first got into poetry at the age of 17, and wrote his own pieces in an attempt

to emulate the enjoyment he got out of reading it. Despite being published in The Cadaverine, and having just spent a weekend participating in the Mixed Borders residency scheme in London, Ryan still views his current writing as practice.

“I don’t think I’m at a place where I can do justice to the deeper feelings that everyone struggles to articulate”, he explains, and so he writes about absolutely anything.

“I have a pair of poems about an alligator and a ladybird that use a couple of the same phrases to explore the kind of similarities you wouldn’t necessarily notice, one about a pub, one about the racecourse I walk my dog around, one about a trip I made to Snowdonia with my friends over summer — it’s just a case of writing about all sorts, and finding ways of presenting the familiar in those poems in a new and interesting way, inventive sounds and images and the like.”

Expression is key to writing for Ryan, and he feels that poetry is not explored enough as a creative outlet in schools: “Even if it’s just trying to see the world in a new and inventive way, rather than profound philosophical exploration, it definitely expands the minds of young people.”

Ryan also tends to write on paper, and then edit on Word later. He likens writing the old-fashioned way

“Finding ways of presenting the familiar in those poems in a new and interesting way” to “that refreshing sense you get after reading a book”.

Ryan is currently based in Manchester, but feels that the scene is ‘mainly in London, but does leak up to Manchester with the Centre for New Writing’. He suggests that aspiring poets take to Twitter to find circles of those with similar interests, and make as many submissions to magazines as possible.

“Even just on Twitter, it’s easy to discover the poetry circle of who follows who, once you’re in on that you start to get the feel of what’s going on in poetry in 2017 and how you can go about getting involved” “To tip my hat to Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society,” he says, “if you want to make it happen, you can — just put yourself out there.”

Nellies I’ve always wanted to write about Nellies, but I don’t think I ever can.

The place isn’t what it is now; all that’s left of what it really is in the photograph of the 1962 piano smash.

It’s maybe in the pebble floors and the antique novelty bean cans, in their element in a light that surely was turned on 60 years ago.

It could be with my friend Charlie behind the bar, or the last chimney sweep in Britain sat in his corner, and it is sort of with the double denim cowboy hat wearing snooker player, but really it’s only captivated in the black and white photograph of triumphant men in white vests.

Ryan Norman

Poet of the Week

Poet of the Week Jake Piazza Jake Piazza is a writer and artist currently studying at the University of Manchester

2.

Twisted skeletal ashes lie strewn down department stores, a serenade of parapets draining my despair is a runway of flowers. Dragonflies stain my body glimmering with translucent haze. Synchronise Swan co-aligned a ring of cygnets across the deserted blue pond so green dragonflies and pond skaters’ skimmer across the water’s surface.

Poised, diagonal lines trace their memory through water to the sound of beetles clicking in the grassland. A baby rattle was found there. I rattle, girl lost crying at her bus stop, running rings round a tired winter. Dusting off his jewelled knife, scarlets empty within her crushed corpse lying dead in the forest. To what end did the Fox die strung a prise of his amorphic glass girl lost shards upon the sidewalk.

Photos:Jake Piazza

Photo: Northern Lights Writer’s Conference

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Food & Drink

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ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2016 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Rustik As its coming to that time of the academic year when work is piling up, weekends can become drab and samey. Those late nights out seem like a distant past, but it’s still so necessary to ensure weekends involved a bit of enjoyment. That’s why my Sundays seem to always consist of heading out to grab a bite to eat. Whether it be breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, Sundays are made for eating.

Rustik, a small café on West Didsbury’s Burton Road, invite Instagram pictures of appealingly large portions and colourful brunches, meaning this had been chosen for my eating destination for this Sunday’s early afternoon feast. When my housemate and I entered Rustik, we were almost discouraged by the completely full tables, however, a flustered looking waitress quickly pointed us in the direction of a few bar stools. We ordered a coffee and waited in the fairly squashed bar area for a table to become free. After a fairly short wait, we were seated on a high table and began hungrily scouring the menu. Rustik’s interior is pleasing to the eye, the wooden floor and tables allow the space to feel homely and I felt warm and sheltered from the ever-increasing rain outside. I didn’t really mind that the Saint Patrick’s Day decorations hadn’t been taken down.

The truffle chips were luxurious and moreish The menu is long, we took an age to scan through the multitude of options, something I don’t particularly like as when I have too many options, I always feel as if I’m missing out on something. In the end,

Miriam Mizzi Food & Drink Co-Editor we decided to order: ‘Rustik Eggs Benny’, the vegan option of an open Kobez flatbread, and some truffle chips to share. We turned to continue our drinks, only to realise a waiter had cleared them away unfinished. Undeservingly embarrassed, I had to head over to the bar to explain and get some new drinks as ours had already been abruptly poured away. But, mistakes happen, and after working in a busy café for four years, I know that more than anyone.

these were as amazing as they sound. Luxurious and moreish.

Our experience at Rustik left me confused. The café has bags of potential, they clearly have good chefs, a perfect location and an acceptable menu. But, the service was littered with faults and that’s something that can easily put off return customers, especially in a restaurant-saturated area like West Didsbury.

I sat back down, drinks in tow and we began the unknowingly long wait for our food. Multiple times during this wait we were approached with plates piled high with tempting looking ingredients, however, we had to reluctantly say they weren’t our orders. This was when we couldn’t help but discuss the poor organisation that was blatant all around us. Not only were drinks being wrongly taken away and orders being sent to the wrong tables, orders came out without the special requirements customers had asked for and the general lack of coordination left the whole room feeling slightly uncomfortable.

When our food finally arrived, we almost grabbed the plates out from the waitressed hands with hunger-induced anticipation.

The Kobez flatbread dish included falafel, hummus, puy lentils, pickled red cabbage, and spinach. Unfortunately, I had earlier been informed the kitchen had run out of butternut squash, essentially the main ingredient, so halloumi had been added instead. The dish included numerous punchy flavours, the red cabbage stood out as the best, backed up by the mellower flavours of the olive oil drizzled flatbread. I do wish the squash was included as I think this would have been a welcome extra to what was a completely delicious dish. The Rutsik Eggs Benny was made up of two poached eggs, cubes of halloumi, mushrooms, spinach and hollandaise sauce. The combination sounded tempting, however, the amount and taste of mushrooms on the plate were somewhat overpowering. Finally, the truffle chips –

Photo: Miriam Mizzi

198, Burton Road, West Didsbury, M20 1LH

Ricotta, pesto and spinach lasagne This meat-free take on lasagne is nothing short of indulgent and it takes half the time. Impress your housemates, parents, or just treat yourself to this indulgent cheesy bake.

Cooking time: 30 minutes Ingredients: For the white sauce: One garlic clove crushed

Miriam Mizzi Food & Drink Co-Editor

Method: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Begin my lightly frying the garlic and once finished set to one side. Next, start making your white sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan and then adding the flour. Stir until a smooth paste is formed and cook for around two minutes. Then, add a glug of milk and allow it to boil gently. Stir hard and slowly add the remaining liquid is small stages. Once the sauce has come to a desired consistency, add the garlic and set to one side.

40g butter Wilt the spinach either in a pan or steamer until soft.

40g plain flour

One bag of fresh spinach

Now, begin layering your lasagne in a baking dish.

As this lasagne is especially saucy, start with a layer of pasta so the bottom holds firm. After laying the first set of pasta sheets, top with ricotta cheese and a generous amount of white sauce. Then, lay another set of pasta sheets and top these with a spreading of pesto and pinches of spinach. Repeat until you reach the top of the dish.

Half a jar of pesto

Finish off with parmesan gratings, salt and pepper.

250g ricotta cheese

Place the lasagne into the oven and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the pasta is soft and the sauces and bubbling.

300ml of milk Other ingredients: One packet of lasagne sheets

50g Parmesan Sea salt Photo: Miriam Mizzi

Black pepper

@miriammizzi @hungoverhabits

Food & Drink 23

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Pie and Ale Kirstie O’Mahony Contributor Photo: Kirstie O’Mahony

As I stepped out into the relentless, bitter rain, and didn’t curse its appearance, I realised I was a changed woman.

Me, a south London lass with a propensity for saying “innit” and “fam” at every possible opportunity, now feels at home in what my parents affectionately call “the arctic wastelands” of the North. I’ve even started saying ‘our kid’ and ‘gone west’ non-ironically.

It’s not just my vocabulary that has changed though — my palate has definitely transformed since I made the move to Manchester almost three years ago. That’s why on that rainy night, I decided to take my boyfriend (Latvian born and bred, who now also feels at home in the city) to Pie and Ale, a haven of pastry and gravy.

Drenched to the bone, we entered the restaurant and were extremely thankful for the warmth and shelter it provided. We were greeted by Jay, who was happy, bubbly and

When pies spark a revolution, our southern girl finds her northern roots at Pie and Ale

showed us to a table immediately. I asked what locally brewed beer they had and unfortunately he replied they only had one on draft, a hoppy American Pale Ale brewed just outside of Manchester. Nick had a sip and said it reminded him of a forgotten barrel of hops, abandoned in the October rain. In other words, it was definitely an acquired taste, but grew on me immensely as I kept drinking it… quite like how I feel about the city it was brewed in!

To start, we ordered a portion of falafel to share — I may now be an honorary Northerner but I do find it somewhat difficult to let go of my deep-rooted pomposity. There were six falafel balls served with warm pita bread, rocket and chunky red pepper hummus. The falafels themselves were absolutely exquisite, as they were moist, had a slight kick and contained whole chickpeas that gave a wonderfully varied texture. The hummus was incredible, with red pepper giving it a sweetness that really complimented the falafel.

For our mains, I ordered the goats’ cheese and spinach pie with mash and minted peas, and Nick ordered a wild game stroganoff pie with mash and honey roasted root vegetables.

When they arrived, I was in awe. They were the size of my face, swimming in gravy and were adorned with little pastry decorations: A duck for Nick and a sort of squiggle (snake?) for myself. I did find the fact that they put the mash on top of the pie rather than underneath it somewhat peculiar but hey, I was in an edgy pie joint after all. I had to expect they would take any opportunity they could to mix things up. I mean, they had salt and pepper in reused

pale ale bottles... I definitely respected their commitment to the alternative cause.

Back to the pies though. As soon as I cut mine open the sweet earthy smell of goats’ cheese filled the room. Or at least our section. The crust was cooked with chives so the whole pie had a distinct oniony taste. My last minute addition of red cabbage was, as it turned out, a very good idea, as the sourness of it cut through the richness of the red wine gravy.

I’m also one of those people who tends to put salt on everything, but my whole dish was seasoned almost to perfection. I did try to add a little bit of pepper however, but it wouldn’t come out of the holes poked into the cap of the pale ale bottle it came in. Turns out being hipster isn’t always the most pragmatic of options when it comes to condiments. As I continued to eat, it became a little repetitive and was in the end difficult to finish. So many carbs!

Nick felt that his pie, despite it sounding delicious on the menu, had a problem. The meat overpowered the few mushrooms there were, leaving just the texture behind with the taste of meat, which he said was slightly unpleasant. The sauce, though, was incredible, and the whole dish extremely comforting. In fact, he said the game reminded him of cold wintery days in Riga, and hunting in the forest on weekends. The pie itself though was also distinctive to the North of England and he felt that when it was in his mouth he was straddling two worlds, feeling at home in both simultaneously… OK he didn’t say quite that, but words to that effect. Something like “it’s a nice pie,” or whatever.

We ordered apple and blueberry crumble for desert, and as we waited we became fixated on the exposed brick wall that our table was next to. Suddenly, we realised that an imperfection in one of the bricks was exactly the same as an imperfection in another one five bricks over from it. We then came to the realisation that this was not in fact exposed brick, rather it was a plywood imitation. This amused us immensely, as the lengths they went to appropriate the aesthetic of run-down inner city restaurants that you stumble across when lost (and that surprisingly make the best food you’ve ever tasted) was just extraordinary.

Again, a round of applause to their commitment to being as alternative as possible. Bravo.

The crumble was incredibly disappointing, as not only was it served in a basket of puff pastry (absolutely outrageous), the filling was ice cold in the centre, having had what I can only assume was two seconds in the microwave. It was a shame, as the fruit was sweet and sour with just the right amount of cinnamon, and could have been incredible.

Overall, we both had a lovely time, but other than the starter, neither of us were blown away by the food. The pies are all around a tenner each, and although they were both warm and homely, they didn’t exactly live up to their price tags. Still, at £43.60 between us, it didn’t break the bank, and now have the authority to go back to our respective families over Easter and say “yes, I went to a restaurant dedicated to pies. I’m a different person now. I’m grown.

I’m independent. I’m Northern” (sort of).

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Lily Carden Food & Drink Co-Editor

Oven at 170˚C Makes as many as you want, but I normally make 18, using 2 trays with 9 cookies on each Don’t forget to grease the baking trays or use baking paper Ingredients: 100g soft butter 100g caster sugar or light muscovado 1tbsp golden syrup 150g self-raising flour 85g-120g chocolate drops, depending on how much you like Beat together the butter and caster sugar until combined. It should be soft, fluffy and light in colour.

Add the golden syrup and mix it together before stirring in half the flour.

Tip the chocolate in next and gently stir to distribute.

And finally the rest of the flour needs to join the mix and stir everything until it is all combined.

Once it looks like cookie dough and there aren’t any left over bits at the bottom (if there are then add a smidgen more golden syrup) stop mixing and make as many balls of cookie dough as you want but 12-18 is best. Place your raw cookie balls onto the greased trays ensuring that they have space to spread.

Pop into the oven for 8-10 minutes, then remove and leave them on the trays for 5 minutes or so until you can move them onto a cooling rack without them breaking apart.

If you want to only cook a few then the rest can easily be frozen, just make the balls, place them so they don’t touch one another on a tray in the freezer and leave for an hour before transferring to an airtight container. To cook from frozen just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.

Photo: Lily Carden

Arts

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Feature

Cornerhouse Cinema Transformed into Amateur Art Gallery

Photo: Duncan Hull @Flickr

Georgia Welch takes a look at Cornerhouse cinema’s new and unusual link with homelessness The now defunct Cornerhouse cinema, which first opened its doors in 1985 and closed in 2015 after a merger with Manchester’s Library Theatre Company to create the much-loved cinema, theatre and art space, HOME, has been transformed into a temporary art gallery by a group of squatters, many of whom are homeless. The derelict Cornerhouse cinema building is one of many buildings throughout the city to have been inhabited by squatters in recent months, but the first to be used in such an inventive and rousing way.

Many have suggested that recent years have been some of the worst in modern history for rising homelessness and people living in poverty in the

UK. At a time when Manchester’s streets are lined with people struggling to find work, lacking a warm bed and roof over their head that most of us take for granted, it is truly inspiring to come across stories of Manchester’s homeless population channelling creativity and positivity to turn their experiences into something personally enriching, and engaging for others. Whilst it is yet unclear as to whether any action will be taken by local councils and land owners against the movement, for now it appears many locals, homeless or otherwise, are enjoying the display.

The group identify themselves as Loose Space and are made up of approximately twenty members.

They are said to have brought in and installed their own audio-visual equipment in order to be able to host film screenings, art workshops and music. The building is allegedly due to be converted into new flats, a hotel and restaurant in the future, but having been empty for so long since the opening of HOME just several hundred yards away on First Street, the group’s innovative use of the space for displaying a whole range of art and facilitating creative projects is a surely a testament to not only their own productivity, but also the building’s ongoing legacy as an enduring symbol of Manchester’s arts scene.

Photo: Cornerhouse @Flickr

Feature

Andrew McDonald is coming to Castlefield Gallery Manchester-based artist Andrew McDonald brings his existing works to his home city

Laura Joyce Arts Editor Castlefield Gallery will host a solo show in animation by Andrew McDonald this spring. The exhibition will unveil two new works, along with an array of existing pieces created during his practice over the last two decades.

Throughout all of his works, McDonald focuses on the theme of repitition, involving him drawing the same images over and over again. The animations he creates tend to revolve around one central figure caught in a black and white, dark surrounding on a

constant loop. His latest creation is slightly different.

According to Castlefield Gallery, “In a new twochannel video installation Fence/Hammock (2017), McDonald introduces two separate figures that are both busy striving for escape. One figure struggles with the entrapments of his hammock, whom then fatigued from his multiple attempts to find freedom, remains caught in an inescapable stupor; perhaps content to simply dream of freedom, to dream of another place. Another figure climbs over a fence and runs off, only to reappear on the screen. The figure is relentless in repeating these actions, despite making little progress at all. Where is freedom to be found here, on the other side of the

fence or in resolving to make peace with the futility and absurdity of the situation?”

Castlefield will also host the premiere of another of McDonald’s latest works called Restlessness (2017). Following the flow of liquid as it gurgles, splatters and stagnates, Restlessness explores the never ending journey of free-flowing water. Some of the artist’s works that will sit alongside these new debuts are Everyone wants revenge no2 (2009), Bucket (2013) and Comfort falls (2015).

Andrew McDonald’s approach to animation is quite astounding. He first set out on his creative path using tracing paper, then incorporated photocopying, editing the images scanned into his

computer. Today he uses a graphics tablet, allowing him to draw directly onto a computer.

McDonald himself said, “I lose myself in the process of drawing, an escape from the world, but the end result, an art-work, is the opposite – a confrontation with the world.”

The artist’s images truly take on a life of their own, and are unequivocally exciting in their unusual ability to repulse audiences whilst compelling them to pledge their time to them. This is undoubtedly one of this Spring’s most exciting exhibitions landing in Manchester.

28 April 2017 — 11 June 2017 Photo: Creative Tourist

Theatre 25

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Review

Yank! The Musical

Monthly Picks

A tonally confused musical lifted by some fantastic performances and moments of pathos and humour Sophie Graci Reviewer Some stories didn’t make the history books and ‘Yank’ sets out to correct that. Subtitled “A World War II Love Story,” the musical, making its UK première at Hope Mill Theatre, tells the story of Stu, a Midwestern kid drafted into the army in World War II, and the rest of Charlie Company as they battle with masculinity and love in wartime.

Seeing the story through Stu’s eyes (and diary) allows the audience to take the show to its heart from the outset. Scott Hunter is a likeable

performer and his portrayal of a boy struggling with whether he is cut out for the army, whilst he falls in love with his fellow officer Mitch, is sympathetic and multi-dimensional. Barnaby Hughes is also perfectly cast as Mitch, a wartime matinee idol type whose ability to ‘pass’ as straight gives him more freedom from harassment than his on-and-off partner. Whilst Hughes does a worthy job of showing Mitch’s confusion in his feelings towards Stu, the material he is working with makes the character difficult to connect with and I found his constantly changing mood grating. He is a far

more charming performer than the character he portrays.

We see Stu through all the classic tropes of ‘young gay man, big bright city.’ Except it’s 1943, and he’s in the army. Where ‘Yank!’ excels is in the moments it deviates from this cliché. James Baker’s direction is wonderfully judged throughout, but particularly in the more dramatic moments. Without giving away too much, one sequence in the final third brings the musical into more serious territory and it is all the better for it as we get a glimpse of what ‘Yank!’ could be.

Photo: Hope Mill Theatre

Reviews

Growing Pains

Tom Gill delivers a raw and emotional performance, in a play not to be missed Lily Brittain Reviewer Growing Pains, a Battersea Arts Centre Commission, is a beautifully honest piece of theatre. Based around the story of a young working class boy from Salford, this one man theatre show follows the struggles that ‘Gilly’ (Tom Gill) faces whilst attempting to pursue his career as an actor.

After its sell out run at the Edinburgh Fridge, Growing Pains showed for two nights only at the Royal Exchange’s studio theatre. The intimate venue adds to the connection developed with the multiple characters Tom Gill perfectly performs on stage over the course of the hourlong show. The range of emotions covered within such a short space of time shows Gill’s impressive ability to convincingly and breathlessly switch from character to character, portraying his story from many points of views using only himself and his acting talent.

The story takes the audience on a rollercoaster

Photo: Royal Exchange Theatre

journey of emotions, one moment catching your breath amongst fits of laughter and the next stunned by the violence unfolding, most of which comes from Gilly’s father. From the moment Gill steps on stage, his energy takes the audience on board, following his journey with fascination; I couldn’t help but feel instantly submerged and invested within the play. His ability to be several people on that stage meant that I was hooked, his performance was mesmerising. The play itself is something entirely new and innovative, original songs written and performed by Tom Gilly are present throughout, each of which exemplifies the intelligence behind the writing of this play.

It is a play completely different from many seen on stage, rather than elaborate tales it is something truly raw and down to earth, simply the life a working class boy with a dream of becoming an actor. Not only does the play emphasise the difficulty faced when trying to achieve success within such a tough industry, it emphasises how much more difficult that journey is when an aspiring performer comes from a background that does not necessarily support or encourage this. A play so wonderfully real —and what I can only describe as a breath of fresh air within the industry, addressing real problems in a realistic and utterly convincing way — is something I am sure many would love to see much more of. It meant that you don’t simply walk out and see it as a piece of theatre, instead it brings with it a much stronger message.

If I could watch this play again and again then I would not hesitate to, as I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it and I hope to see the director, Matthew Landers, and the starring actor Tom Gill in many more pieces of theatre in the future. They are definitely a pair to look out for, and certainly not to be missed, as I can assure you that you will not be disappointed.

Growing Pains showed from March 10-11th at the Studio Theatre, Royal Exchange and now continues its tour of the UK

This is not to say that there are not elements of the ‘lighter’ moments of the show that are not very entertaining. The tap sequences are beautifully choreographed by Chris Cuming and skilfully executed by the whole cast. A particular mention to Chris Kiely as Artie, who has a lightness of touch in both his acting and dancing which makes him a highly watchable performer. I would have loved to have seen more of the “ladies” in the comms office, an early sequence that had the audience laughing throughout. ‘Yank!’ is a show that occasionally revels in comedic stereotypes whilst simultaneously subverting them in the tradition of musicals such as La Cage Aux Folles.

Whilst enjoyable these interludes do feel somewhat out of place, although the direction and the performances mostly deal with the sharp tonal shifts effectively.

‘Yank!’ is trying to be three different musicals: a modern update on the Rogers and Hammerstein-style romantic comedy romp, a coming of age story, and a dramatic treatise on the way in which gay men and women were treated in the armed forces in World War II. Its ambition is admirable, but the outcome sometimes falls short. Nevertheless, this production is a genuinely enjoyable evening of theatre.

Yank! is running at Hope Mill Theatre until 8th April.

Brogen Campbell Theatre Editor The Suppliant Women at the Royal Exchange Theatre (March) One of the oldest wriiten plays depicts the story of fifty women fleeing forced marriages and seeking refuge.

The cast is made up predominantly by a community chorus (residence of Manchester). The play is on till the 1st of April .

Wonderland at the Palace Theatre (April) Musical adaption of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Coming to Manchester from the 24th to the 29th of April.

Thoroughly Modern Millie at the Palace Theatre (May) The musical based on the film is set in 1920s New York and revolves around Millie’s aim to marry

for money rather than love.Staring Joanne Clifton from Strictly Come Dancing.The Tony Award winning musical comes to Manchester from May 22nd to 27th..

Persuasion at the Royal Exchange Theatre (June) This Jane Austin classic is not one to be missed. It revolves around Anne and her first love Captain Wentworth.

Being performed from the 25th of May to the 24th of June.

Sister Act at the Palace Theatre (July) This feel good musical is back with Alexandra Burke playing the leading role made famous by Whoopi Goldberg. Catch it from the 24th to the 29th of July.

The Addams Family at The Lowry (August) The adventures of this notorious family has been turned into a musical. Watch the drama unhold from the 29th of August.

Lovesong

Part of The University of Manchester Drama Society’s MIFTAs season, this play highlights how important time is and has fast things can change Lily Brittain Reviewer A play by Abi Morgan Lovesong tells the tragic love story of Maggie and Billy at two very different times of their life, with this play set across the 40 years of Maggie and Billy’s marriage. This stunning production portrayed both the highs and the lows of this, from the whirlwind of excitement following their emigration to America to the very end, a time of darkness that very much contrasts what they once had and who they once were, and the very final decision that Maggie decides to make.

This entire play was wonderfully and professionally performed by all four of the actors involved, with the young versions and the older versions of the lovers entwining and crossing paths, the present and the past co-exist on stage alongside each other. The transition was beautifully captured, and enabled the audience to understand further the changing nature of the love story unfolding before them. By mirroring scenes the director, Bradley White, was able to truly show the how the relationship had changed in a very raw and realistic way. The inclusion of physical theatre moved me; it opened up for a wider understanding of the symbolism that was present throughout the entirety of the play. These visually powerful moments captured the couple over the years, with the younger smooth skinned versions and the old, cynical versions facing each other, the audience can’t help but pity them. We share their fears of “facing one another over a cooling cup of coffee with nothing left to say.”

Particularly moving scenes came from some of the most satire moments, with the audience laughing at the old man Billy had become, played by Oliver Maynard. However, these satire moments often turned into moments filled with emotion, capturing perfectly the vulnerability

of the lovers as their lives and their relationship as they knew it slowly slipped away before them. The presentation and manipulation of time and the idea of time slipping away is present throughout the entirety of the play, with time being a worry on everyone’s mind, the play became more personal and consequentially more emotional.

I thoroughly enjoyed this play; all of the actors gave professional and heart-breaking performances.

Walking away from it I felt that time really is of the essence, and the importance of not letting time slip away uncontrollably before you really is something we must all remember. Lovesong is beautiful, honest and real. After the final scene was over and the audience were struck back into reality, I think it was safe to say there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Directed by Bradley White Assistant director- Joe Large Producer- Jess Harkin Old Billy- Oliver Maynard Old Maggie- Pip Franks Young Maggie/ Margaret- Emily Tandy Young Billy/ William- Sam Ebner-Landy Photo: University of Manchester Drama Society

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Lifestyle

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Horoscopes Edinburgh: Seeing the city Emily Dadswell Lifestyle Contributor A cooperative aspect between Mars and Neptune this week sees spirituality in perfect harmony with the desire to take action across all signs of the zodiac.

Aries, March 21st – April 19th The New Moon in Aries, early in the week, will be most significant in bringing good fortune if you keep your world open to new possibilities.

However this is also a time for inner growth, ensure that your intentions take into account personal nourishment.

Taurus, April 20th – May 20th It may be time to re-evaluate close friendships, or else a potential romance may go undiscovered. Taurus’ have good intuition for these things, so do not be afraid to make the first move, the stars really are behind you!

Gemini, May 21st – June 20th This is the beginning of a socially agile week. Your thoughts are original and illuminating, combined with a desire to socialise, your intelligent discourse may put you in a strong position among your contemporaries.

Cancer, June 21st – July 22nd As Mars fuels your uniqueness and identity, now is a very strong time to show your hand. The idiosyncrasies which you feel hold you back may, in fact, bring about your success if you are able to open up to those around you.

Leo, July 23rd – August 22nd This week’s New Moon occurs in the area of your chart concerned with starting new journeys and setting new goals. Right now anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

Virgo, August 23rd – September 22nd You are set for several very profound changes to occur in your life, especially concerning your bonds to others. The depth and fluidity of these changes may feel like a loss of control but if you relax into the flow you and begin a phase of personal renewal.

Libra, September 23rd – October 22nd Do not expect too much of those around you, as you are at risk of severe disappointment, family bonds in particular may become difficult.

Taking firm action now could be beneficial in the long run.

Scorpio, October 23rd – November 21st This week’s New Moon should be seen as an opportunity to take a step back and re-evaluate aspects of your life in which you feel less successful. Your attention to detail is heightened and can assist you in picking up the most subtle negative elements in need of change.

Sagittarius, November 22nd – December 21st It may be tempting to pass judgement in the coming days, however this has few benefits. Instead offering kindness and sympathy will make a real difference to those around you.

Capricorn, December 22nd – January 21st Your home becomes the focus of your energies this week. Both enriching the environment you live in and bringing yourself closer to those who surround you will bring you the most happiness.

Aquarius, January 20th – February 18th Neptune, the planet of spirituality and inspiration, is feeding your imagination in the days to come. Receptivity, and faith in your own observations, should lead you down a creative path, do not be afraid to break away from the crowd.

Pisces, February 19th – March 20th A more self-sufficient phase is set to begin in the days ahead. You already have all the tools you need to achieve what you desire and as the negative aspects undo themselves there is very little holding you

in three days

With the Easter break coming shortly, Shannon Winterbone takes us on a tour of Edinburgh and points out the sites of a city which is much closer to Manchester than you might think Although my boyfriend and I had to wake up at 5:45am to catch the train to Edinburgh, the fairly short journey from Manchester meant that we gained a full extra day to explore the city whilst paying for two nights. We were tired from travelling early but the first day is best known as being perfect for exploring a relatively small city and getting some bearings. From Waverley Station, we took a walk through Princes Street Gardens to catch a stunning view of Edinburgh Castle. Princes Street hosts the main shopping area of Edinburgh while hiding some of the best-kept secrets; the back streets house a lot of great pubs, which all stock tens of bottles of whisky and various local ales on tap. On Rose Street, we found a great little pub serving haggis with sweet chilli sauce, probably being one of the easier ways to try this Scottish delicacy.

Photo: kaysgeog@Flickr

Photo: hagdorned@Flickr

On Saturday, we were unlucky as we faced torrential rain, so we headed to the Royal Mile to visit The Scotch Whisky Experience.

After taking a literal barrel ride through Scotland’s history of whiskymaking, we were able to sample some of their local produce among

the world’s largest collection of whisky. The museum is situated right next to Edinburgh Castle which, with the help of some sunshine, we spent the afternoon exploring. The castle itself is home to the crown jewels of Scotland and is the site of unparalleled views; over the battlements, it’s possible to get a panoramic view of Edinburgh, and even a glimpse of the North Sea. The castle consists of many different buildings, so it’s best to factor in 3-4 hours to discover as much about the castle and Scotland’s history as possible.

Our final day consisted mainly of visiting some of the independent pubs and whisky bars below the castle. Most pubs serve the obligatory Tennent’s lager on tap, but we also discovered Scotland’s Schiehallion, a lager with a distinctly hoppy flavour. Once we’d had our fill, we headed back to the Royal Mile to visit Holyrood Palace and the Scottish Parliament, which stand on either side of a road which opens out to a direct view of Arthur’s Seat. This is the highest peak of Edinburgh — it rewards you with a stunning view of the city after a day’s climbing, and is not to be missed by any lovers of hiking.

Realising how quickly the weekend had flown by, we then made our way back up the slight incline of the Royal Mile to catch the last train back to Manchester. Luckily, however, as it’s just a three hour train journey, Edinburgh isn’t too far away to visit again in the near future.

Photo: horrgakx@Flickr

Striking the right balance

Sometimes it feels like balancing your life at uni with work is impossible and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all… we’re here to help

Megan Byrne Senior Lifestyle Contributor

Sometimes it feels like balancing your life at university is impossible and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to keep your grades up, your diet healthy and your social life… well, existent. However, finding a good balance is the key to keeping all those metaphorical plates spinning — and contrary to popular opinion, it’s easier than you think! With deadlines ongoing and exams looming on the horizon, it’s so important to take some time to reflect on how you’re doing. Are you striking the right balance between work and your wellbeing, or are you prioritising one over the other?

Routine is the first step towards getting balance in your life. It’s important not to be too hard on yourself because a very strict timetable can be just as bad for you as having no timetable at all. Why not try restricting all work to designated “work stations”; this could be your kitchen table, the library, or your department’s student lounge. This will make you more efficient when you are working, as well as making it much easier to relax at home. This will help you to avoid the urge to ‘just do a bit of work in bed’ which we all know is code for ‘have a two-hour nap’. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

Making sure you’re eating properly is also a win-win on the life balance front. Cooking is a great stress-buster and it’s productive too. By cooking cheap, healthy meals and taking them into uni with you, you can save a fortune and avoid the preservative-packed, bland minefield that is the boxed sandwich. You can try out fun new recipes as a break from staring at essays and revision; plus, if you

choose smart foods such as eggs, avocados, salmon, and nuts, you’re doing your brain a big favour too.

Managing to see your friends with deadlines and exams around the corner is no easy task. Some good ways to keep your social life as active as possible is to combine it with other things. For example, you could gather your housemates and arrange to eat breakfast as a house on the weekend so you can catch up on the week’s gossip. Another good option is joining a sports team — there are so many to choose from on every experience level, and it’s an amazing way to meet new people whilst having fun and keeping fit. If there has ever been a time to think about getting fit, it should be now. In the runup to exam season, students binge on junk food and crash after major sugar highs. So take of your body for a change and get joining a team! Lastly, group study sessions have been proven to be one of the best ways to have a positive effect on your learning. Booking a study room at the library or the Ali G Learning Commons is quick and easy to do on the library website, or you could even gather your coursemates around your own coffee table and reward yourself with a relaxed night in after your work is done.

The most important thing to do is not stress yourself out or make yourself ill over uni work. At the end of the day, keeping a balance between the two is more important than meeting every single deadline or completing your essay weeks ahead of schedule. Take care of yourselves!

Lifestyle

ISSUE 20 / 27th MARCH 2017 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

27

LeFou or LeWho?

With the release of Beauty and The Beast this week, we look at the controversy surrounding LeFou and his (possible) homosexuality, and question whether the fuss is worth it

Polly Brown Lifestyle Contributor

Photo: evarinaldiphotography @Flickr

It’s a tale as old as time, true as they can be, a Disney movie premières and spams our Facebook news-feed. Unless you’ve not been online in the last few weeks you will probably have heard that the new Beauty and the Beast film is out in cinemas. Although the mass of Facebook Odeon check-ins featuring ‘feeling excited’ emoticons can be easily brushed aside as Disney-lover excessiveness, there are, actually, some bestial debates that you shouldn’t be too hasty to overlook. Like the matter of LeFou and his sexuality. Is it a much ado about nothing or a much ado about something?

In case you have yet to see the film(s), LeFou is Gaston’s sidekick…and Gaston is the antagonist. Oh, and LeFou is apparently gay. “Apparently” is the keyword here, because although it has been confirmed by Disney Studios, and the director himself, to be

‘exclusively gay’ moment that has warranted both a banning in Alabama and a postponing in Malaysia, is one that lasts all of two seconds and, quite frankly, one you wouldn’t have noticed unless someone had whispered, “hey, this is a gay bit.”

In the final moments of the film, LeFou is dancing with a woman before being stopped by another man. This is a man that, in a previous scene, had rather enjoyed wearing a dress. The two men begin to dance and the film quickly pans to all the other heterosexual couples looking happy and content. That’s it. That’s the scene.

So, erm, why has it become such a big deal? Well, because it’s 2017 and this ‘gay’ scene is weak at best. This is not to say that anyone was expecting a scene from Brokeback Mountain, but to say that if Disney are to boast about finally having a gay character, shouldn’t

true, it is a fact that is only alluded to in the film itself. In fact, this

it be more…obvious? Some say not. Which leads to some riveting

arguments from both sides of the love-it, hate-it divide.

The main argument for against is that although Disney have now acknowledged the existence of the LGBTQ community, it’s all made redundant by its lack of significance and its pantomime-like execution. Indeed, for much of the film LeFou spends his time prancing and sassing around like the true gay stereotype that he is. It’s hardly original and it’s hardly representative. Given the fact that this film was a guaranteed money-maker and the increased media coverage it received due to its first gay character, it’s not unreasonable to assume that said gay character should leave an impression. If they were going to talk the talk, they should have walked the walk and committed to major changes. Not least because the story revolves around a zoophilia romance. Anything is kid-friendly after that, right?

This being said, the film isn’t about LeFou. It’s about Belle and her weird curiosities. Although the ‘exclusively gay’ moment was, undoubtedly, understated, LeFou is not an integral character. He is a character that serves to support Gaston, hence the room to cast him as gay in the first place. There are complaints reading, “of course the gay character is a villain” but, pray tell us, which character would have allowed for such a development? Disney are behind, that’s for sure. One only needs to watch Shrek 2 to see this, but surely we should be rejoicing that this leading film company now has the integrity to say, “he’s gay and we won’t recut for anyone.” Although Disney were merely testing the waters, this doesn’t mean they won’t be bolder next time around. The scene wasn’t extraordinary, but this debatably represents same-sex relationships as, as ordinary, and as unnoticeable, as any other. This scene was not ground-breaking but it was ground-breaking for Disney, and it paves a promising future. One that involves both magical and cinematic worlds reflecting the one we live in. So, progress away Disney! Be our guest. Be our guest and put our speculations to the test.

Five more UK destinations to visit this Easter Continuing from last week’s article, Jack Greeney takes a look at five more great UK locations to visit over Easter break

Glasgow Taking just over three hours from Manchester Piccadilly to Glasgow Central, Scotland’s most populous city would surprise many. The port town is full of distinctive Victorian and art nouveau architecture, with a tremendous Gothic flavour that can be likened to many locations across continental Europe, not just the UK. Glasgow is brilliant 24 hours a day: spend daytimes wandering around one of the city’s many acclaimed museums, or at one of its two internationally famous football grounds; spend evenings in the revered National Theatre of Scotland, or in the city’s many restaurants and cafes; and perhaps most impressively of all, spend nights in and amongst Glasgow’s well and truly thriving music scene. Full of charismatic bars, pubs and musical venues, the city becomes a bustling cultural hub after sunset.

Photo : TruckinTim @Flickr

Haworth A village in East Yorkshire, Haworth is known for well-known as the location of the Brontë family home. The three Brontë sisters,

Photo : Jack Greeney

Charlotte, Emily and Anne, made up an incredible literary family of contemporary writers. This great history is marked by the presence of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in their honour, and has been listed as a Grade 1 site of the National Heritage of England. How to get there is just as interesting in itself: after taking a regular Manchester train to the closest station in Keighley and catch the heritage steam engine valley railway, one of very few left in the country and filming location of The Railway Children, for a wonderful steam train journey, and lovely UK countryside sights too once aboard.

London The UK’s capital city may be far, but is incredibly accessible. Trains straight from Manchester Piccadilly, which can be reasonably priced at off-peak times booked in advance, complete the 163 mile journey in around two hours. You could never run out of things to do or see in London, so there’s still plenty left for those who have already taken the most beaten paths of the city. For something different, try the V&A Museum for world class decorative art, stand

in the pits for a show at the Globe Theatre, take in views from the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral or the striking ArcelorMittal Orbit tower sculpture, walk on glass panels over Tower Bridge as ships pass underneath, or delve into the Camden Town markets.

The Midlands To those firmly identifying as northerner or southerner, the Midlands may remain a relative unknown, yet there are plenty of locations in the region crying out for a visit. Three in particular come to mind: Birmingham, Warwick, and Stratford-Upon-Avon, which can all be visited over a stay of a few days. Trains from Piccadilly to Birmingham, Britain’s second city, take under an hour and a half: other than the outstanding art gallery there’s Cadbury World to be found, and a secret garden on top of the library. From here take a short train to Warwick, for its iconic clifftop fortress castle and Charlecote Park; and again onto Stratford-Upon-Avon, for its Royal Shakespeare Theatre and other Shakespearean historical sites to see.

Lindisfarne The Holy Island of Lindisfarne seem far away and notoriously inaccessible, but makes a great trip for anyone interested in the Humanities willing to make the journey. A car ride northwards and eastwards is undoubtedly the quickest and most convenient option, but the tidal island may also be accessed by public transport. A train from Manchester Piccadilly to Berwick-Upon-Tweed, right on the border, will take just over three hours including a train change in York: from here take the 477 bus southwards and across the causeway. Lindisfarne is absolute bombshell of rich, preserved UK history, all the way from 6AD, with ruins, priories, castles, lighthouses, unusual obelisks and time-old beacons all ready and waiting to be explored.

Thanks for reading

From The Mancunion editorial team

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Sussex Varsity descends into chaos Sussex Varsity 2017 took a nasty turn this year as violence erupted between Brighton and Sussex students

Ethan Davies Sport Reporter The annual Sussex Varsity between the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton descended into chaos last Friday, as crowd trouble marred the inter-university annual sports event.

The problems began during the men’s football match when students from Brighton and Sussex Universities began to chant derogatory statements at one another — something not uncommon for many UK university varsity matches. However, the chanting took an ugly turn as “misogynistic, homophobic, and racist language” was used.

Following this, Brighton students began to burn down Sussex banners, leading to more crowd disruption and violence between rival fans.

Some were hospitalised after being hit on the head by objects launched on to the field of play by spectators.

The men’s rugby match was abandoned at half time following several pitch invasions.

Police were called to the Sussex campus in an attempt to control the escalating violence by separating the two groups of fans. Bars and shops across the campus were also shut down once violence broke out, presumably to stop fans drinking alcohol.

While the men’s football and rugby matches were brought under control, there were further reports of fights between fans at the men’s basketball game, after a Brighton player was sent off. The result of the rugby match was declared null and void, and would not be counted toward the final varsity total. Sussex retained the cup for a fourth year in succession, winning 12.5 – 8.5.

Naturally, the University Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) condemned the incidents, describing them as “dangerous and disrespectful conduct” carried out by a “a small number of spectators”. As part of their preparation for hosting such a big event on the university calendar, USSU hired an external security company to control crowds and keep spectators safe who undertook a “thorough risk assessment”.

Many students blamed the trouble on the poor planning and paltry safety measures put in place. Brighton fans were moved to an unfenced area of the pitch, thus allowing pitch invaders to interfere with the match.

A USSU spokesperson commented: “The decision to move Brighton spectators into an unfenced area was not made by anyone from the Students’ Union. We will be reviewing how this happened as it was not in our event protocols”.

In a joint statement, Professor Adam Tickell, Vice Chancellor of

Sussex University and Professor Debra Humphris, Vice Chancellor of Brighton University said that students involved in the violence would face “serious consequences”.

In addition, they commented “The

scenes witnessed at the annual Varsity sports day were shocking and disgraceful,” going on to say: “We unreservedly condemn the behaviour. The future of fixtures will be under review as part of our wider

investigation.”

Sussex Police are asking for witnesses to come forward and are currently examining CCTV footage of the incident.

Photo: Patrick Issit, The Badger

6 Nations Review: England at a crossroads With the dust settling on the 2017 instalment of the 6 Nations, Toby Webb reflects on the state of the England rugby team Toby Webb Sport Reporter The script was set. In beating Ireland, England were to claim back-to-back Grand Slams, being the first team to achieve this since Italy joined the tournament.

For English fans, the match was a severe anticlimax. While the result was kind to England, at 13-9, it was a dominant performance from the Irish. Eddie Jones, England’s head coach, was tactically outfoxed by his Irish counterpart Joe Schmidt. The Irish game plan, starving the English of useful possession through perfectly executed mauls and precise territorial kicking, eliminated the English attacking threat. On top of this, England were inaccurate and ill-disciplined: a tournament fully of largely average performances caught up with them.

England were left with what captain Dylan Hartley had warned against: The ‘dirty feeling’ of being presented with the tournament trophy having lost the final game. However, they are rightfully champions, the only team to win four of five games, and the only team to record an away victory of merit (to Wales), this effectively deciding the tournament.

With the tournament over, it seems like a good time to pause, reflecting on where the team is placed. International rugby works to the fouryear World Cup cycle, with the next featuring in Japan in 2019. Following defeat, Eddie Jones said “we are 14 months into a four-year project”.

There is truth in this statement. However, I think England need to start seriously thinking about the next World Cup now if they have real ambitions of winning it.

Since he took over, Eddie Jones has fully underlined the depth of quality in English rugby — there is little dip in quality between the starting XV and the bench. This has made the difference in many of the victories Jones has presided over. Jones needs to consider who will form the XV for the World Cup, who will be in their prime come 2019. These considerations must be factored into the remaining games before the tournament.

In terms of personnel, I highly doubt the starting front three from this tournament, Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley and Dan Cole, will hold their positions in 2019. I assume, had he not been injured, Mako Vunipola would have started over Marler. This change must be instated come the next international game, when Vunipola is hopefully fit.

I believe Hartley’s place in the team is in severe danger. If he weren’t the captain, Jamie George would be starting hooker. George lacks the throwing accuracy of Hartley, while superseding him in his ability as a ball carrier. I believe George will be the starting hooker come 2019, and thus should be starting more games to gain valuable experience. The same can be said of Kyle Sinckler, the unexpectedly dynamic tighthead. While only 22, I foresee him playing a big role in 2019; like George, he should

be given more game time in the one-off test matches coming up this autumn.

Maro Itoje worked well as a flanker, despite second row being his natural position. In 2019, I predict the soul of the pack to be made of George, Itoje and Billy Vunipola, all currently playing for Saracens. England are blessed with second rows right now: Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchberry were formidable this 6 Nations, while George Kruis, a star of 2016, missed the whole tournament with injury. Jones must persevere with a team selection that keeps Itoje, Lawes and Launchberry all starting, with Kruis on the bench.

Billy Vunipola is a certain starter at the number 8 position, and will be, bar something astonishing, one of the first names on the team sheet in 2019. There is uncertainty surrounding the rest of the back-row. Despite being 31, James Haskell has been magnificent since Jones took over; I doubt he can keep it up until 2019.

Up-and-coming flankers Teimana Harrison and Jack Clifford lack international pedigree at the moment — more game time will show if they are truly worthy. With the backs, I am happy with the current set-up. Bar Mike Brown (31), they are a young group who will have two more years of international experience come 2019.

However, I would like to see Anthony Watson at full-back, allowing for Jack Nowell and Elliot Daly to play on the wings.

In the up-and-coming matches, team selection must show consideration for 2019, as well

as getting wins. While the short-term impact of possible losses could be negative, it will undoubtedly benefit the long-term goal.

With Hartley’s place under heavy fire from Jamie George, captaincy will become an issue.

Owen Farrell appears the logical candidate to fill the role, however, I fear the burden would affect his play in the short-term. Captaincy will be a conundrum for Jones in the time up to 2019.

The defeat against Ireland illustrated vulnerability in Jones’s team. England were unable to adapt to stultifying Irish tactics — there was no back-up plan. Against Italy, England were similarly flummoxed, although in that game superior quality eventually prevailed. Jones must work hard on England’s adaptability. Ireland have offered the template of how to beat Jones’s team, which opponents will likely attempt to emulate. England must have an answer in future.

A double Grand Slam would have been special but I think we will learn more about Jones’s team following the Ireland defeat. Too much winning is unhealthy, breeding complacency and often resulting in a façade of invincibility; defeat highlights flaws and aids development.

The bitterness of a first defeat under Jones will soon fade. English rugby is in its best place since the dizzy heights of 2003. 2019 is now the aim for England.

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Photo: Artes Max@Flickr

Formula One: season predictions With the new season well and truly underway, Jack Greeney offers his predictions before a single wheel has been spun Driver’s Championship

extreme race pace, but maybe, just maybe, the era of total Mercedes dominance is over. rd: Valtteri Bottas (MercedesBenz): Filling Rosberg’s seat, and having only signed a one-year Mercedes contract, the Finn has a lot to prove, with raw talent, yet no race-winning experience. th: Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari): The hugely experienced Finn will be looking to fight fellow coun-

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st: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari): A shock return to winning ways it could be, but Vettel has vast experience and blistering qualifying pace, and has a seat in a Ferrari looking faster than ever. nd: Lewis Hamilton (MercedesBenz): The British driver will once again be pushing for the title, with his

tryman Bottas once again, so expect wheel to wheel action and closely fought points tallies. th: Max Verstappen (Red Bull): The flying teenage Dutchman, exciting and talented, will be hoping to replicate last year’s form, a future World Champion, in a car that’s not quite there yet.

6th: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull): Aggressive, all-out racing, with a tactical head to boot, Aussie racer Ricciardo will be a very close match

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for Verstappen. Red Bull have some supers drivers.

7th: Sergio Pérez (Force India): Force India finished 4th last season, significantly boosting finances; in an improved car, the calm and uniquely light-on-the-tires Pérez could surprise many.

8th: Felipe Massa (Williams): Brazilian veteran Massa retired last season, but couldn’t resist the lure of a return; the enormously experienced Williams driver will be tested to new limits.

9th: Esteban Ocon (Force India): In a season looking racier than ever, Force India can really make an impression, and Ocon, on the Mercedes development programme, has talent to prove.

10th: Nico Hülkenberg (Renault): Hülkenberg will be hoping that Renault have made strides with their new car since last season, and has the talent to hold his own with faster cars to boot.

11th: Romain Grosjean (Haas): Franco-Swiss racer Grosjean has proven to be highly talented, with ten podiums in lesser cars: sadly the Haas model does not seem to match his pace.

12th: Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso): The Russian is another driver with something to prove, after being shockingly swapped out of the Red Bull mid-season last term back into Toro Rosso.

13th: Carlos Sainz Jr. (Toro Rosso): Son of double World Rally Champion Sainz Sr., the talented young Spaniard should produce a very close battle with his teammate Kvyat this season.

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st: Ferrari: This is the opportunity for Mercedes’ dominance to end; Scuderia are looking to take advantage. nd: Mercedes-Benz: The German team have been successful in recent years and will push all the way for another title. rd: Red Bull: Red Bull have a superb driver line-up this term, with a car just a little work off becoming a winner. th: Force India: Force India exceeded expectations to finish a lucrative 4th last term: a repeat will be sought. th: Williams: Sir Frank and his British team Williams will seek a return to 4th, but with their car, might fall short.

6th: Toro Rosso: A clear secondary to parent team Red Bull, the true pace of Toro Rosso will always be a question.

7th: Renault: Renault have a good opportunity to move on from a poor 2016, but development seems slow.

8th: Haas: Haas will be entering only its 2nd year of existence, let alone competition: expect inconsistency.

9th: McLaren-Honda: Even Alonso can’t pull McLaren out of this mess — will the engine be able to survive a whole Grand Prix.

10th: Sauber: A weak-looking team, a weak-looking car and a weak-looking driver lineup: the new back-lappers.

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The Gym: Just a way of exercising vanity?

Going to the gym has its health benefits, but it is turning into a vanity project George Green Sport Reporter

The Mancunion conducted a survey at the Armitage Sports Centre, the gym capital for Manchester students, and asked members there, both male and female, how regularly they compare themselves to other people in the gym — 94 per cent said very frequently, and the rest said never. This is an alarming statistic, even though the numbers are based on this gym alone, it is likely that similar figures could be applied to other gyms.

Recent statistics show that there are around six and a half thousand gyms in the UK, a significant amount more than the figures from 2016. We wanted to find out whether these fitness facilities are being used for health benefits or for people to show off.

Some gym maniacs are completely obsessed with sculpting their bodies to look ‘ripped’ and ‘hench’. That is fine, it is their prerogative. But the fact that the protein shaking show offs prance around gyms in hideous vests and then record themselves lifting heavy weights and post it online is where the problem starts. It is so gymbarrassing.

How are videos of your 240 kg deadlift or a 130kg bench press beneficial to any other member of the human race? Surely this sort of thing should be kept as a mark of an individual’s personal achievements, and not a way of attention seeking to boast these achievements to the wider world

through the means of social media.

Individuals have different motives for going to the gym, whether it be strength, fitness or weight loss — but ultimately the main reason for going is to improve health. That is why after being subjected to loads of these videos everyday we are left questioning the real purpose of gyms.

This week we had a look at hundreds of fitness mad Instagram accounts. The most disturbing came from a man called Charlie, who captioned his squatting video “On my way to becoming the Hulk”. He was squatting 60kg, very

impressive Charlie. Another bloke called Phil only uploads videos of himself doing tricep dips very badly in his local gym in Kent. Thanks for that Phil, you can be confident that nobody in existence will ever in a billion years contemplate trying to copy what you are doing.

But what makes these people feel as though they need to do this in the first place? It could be due to them wanting to impress and show off, but it could also be a result of insecurity.

The Body Coach (Joe Wicks) is a very popular figure on the web.

He encourages the participation

of everyone, regardless of age or ability, to become healthy by following a variety of different workout routines that could be practised in your own home. With his likeable charisma, Mr Wicks also provides a range of dietary advice to coincide with the physical demand of the workouts. This sort of thing has a very positive affect and in some way it shows that the gym is not an absolute necessity, especially for those who feel intimidated by the vanity.

It is completely understandable that people may have insecurities.

The classic case of ‘small-man’s

Photo: Jon Clegg@Flickr

syndrome’ springs to mind. Some people who are way below average height, after comparing themselves to bigger people for many years, naturally want to make themselves look bigger. So it could be said that the gym is a successful way of restoring confidence.

One huge issue with comparing yourself to others is that people choose to go too far and occasionally feel the need to take steroids to enhance their muscular capacity — this is unhealthy and there is a lot of evidence to show how incredibly dangerous it is. This is regrettably born out of vanity and wanting to be bigger than other people.

One of the things that irritates so many people is the obsession with the summer body. It is stressed as an absolute necessity that people have to hit the gym hard in the months running up to summer.

This publicised need for a flawless aesthetic body is just wrong. Why should we have to go through insane workout routines for the sake of photos or for another person’s appreciation?

With the number of gyms increasing each year, obviously a huge number of people are very fond of them and think it is a good way to stay healthy, and for the most part, it is. The main issue is that the gym has such a stigma now that it is a way of promoting vanity and it is difficult to disagree with this. Ultimately the Gym should be a place where anyone can go to improve their health, not a place to show off and compare yourself to other people.

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Andy Murray in 2017 Much has changed in men's tennis in 2017, but for Andy Murray, a great clay court season would confirm his status as one of Britain's greatest ever athletes

Photo: Carine06 @Flickr

James Haughton Sport Reporter 2017 hasn’t been a memorable year for Andy Murray so far. While he won his first tournament of the year in Dubai a couple of weeks ago, good results in the biggest tournaments have eluded him; he suffered a surprise defeat to Mischa Zverev in the fourth round of the Australian Open — after Novak Djokovic, the man who had beaten Murray in four Australian Open finals, had been sensationally knocked out in the second round by Denis Istomin — before Vasek Pospisil beat him in Indian Wells.

Murray then pulled out of Miami with an elbow injury.

Murray’s position as World No. 1 is secure for the moment, despite his poor results, because Djokovic has also struggled, failing to replicate last year’s stunning form. But once the clay court season begins, Murray will have a heap of points to defend for the rest of the season.

For Murray though, he has more priorities than just retaining his number 1 ranking.

Although the Scot has long been considered a member of the Big 4, his list of achievements, while impressive, cannot match those of

Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

In particular, Murray’s haul of three Grand Slam titles pales in comparison to the 11 of Djokovic, 14 of Nadal and 18 of Federer. Those three players have also won each of the four Grand Slams at least once. Murray will likely be prioritising closing that gap, at least somewhat, and completing the Career Grand Slam — though he still needs to win the Australian and French Opens to do so.

The next chance for Murray to add to his tally will be at the French Open in May. Clay was long considered to be his worst surface, and his results confirmed that. Until 2015, despite reaching the semi-finals twice at the French Open, he only won one match on clay against a player ranked inside the world’s Top 10 — in 2009 against Davydenko at the Monte Carlo Masters. The last two years, however, have seen a shift in results, beating the likes of Stanislas Wawrinka, Djokovic and Nadal (twice), winning the Monte Carlo and Rome Masters titles, and reaching his third semi-final, and first final, at the French Open in 2015 and 2016 respectively, losing to Djokovic on both occasions. Murray is now a genuine contender to win in Paris, a prospect that previously would

have seemed laughable.

To win this year’s French Open, though, Murray will need to regain the form that saw him overtake Djokovic in the rankings last year over the next couple of months. Djokovic’s travails will make Murray’s job easier, but others have thrived this season. None more so than Roger Federer, who was the surprise winner of the Australian Open in January, and Indian Wells. In doing so Federer has played the sort of tennis that has left fans the world over captivated; he glides across the court hitting winners seemingly at will. What makes Federer’s comeback all the more incredible is that he spent six months recovering from knee surgery and beat his arch-nemesis, Rafael Nadal, in five sets, the first time he had beaten the Spaniard in a Grand Slam match for nearly 10 years.

Whether Federer will be able to continue his sensational form on clay is another matter.

Over the past few years his results have been worse on it than on grass or hard courts, as the slowness of clay partly neutralises his groundstrokes. With Wimbledon and the French Open separated by just three weeks, the Swiss maestro might focus his efforts on winning an eighth title at the All England Club.

A player who will be eagerly anticipating the move to clay, however, is Rafael Nadal, ninetime winner of the French Open and widely regarded as the ‘King of Clay’. While his defeat to Federer in Australia would have stung Nadal, reaching another Grand Slam final was a great achievement for someone who has suffered debilitating wrist and knee problems over the years. Even though he is lacking the consistent brilliance that he had in his prime, his groundstrokes are being hit harder and with more venom, meaning Nadal is a force to be reckoned with over the next few months.

As well as the Big Four, an intriguing collection of players will be looking to win big titles this year, from the mercurial big-hitting Stanislas Wawrinka to the returning Juan Martín Del Potro and the big-serving Milos Raonic.

Despite the wealth of talent in men’s tennis, though, Andy Murray demonstrated last year that he can dominate the sport. If he can put his current malaise behind him and recapture last season’s form, then he has a chance to complete his collection of Grand Slam titles and thereby secure his status as an all-time great.

Best Greater Manchester teams to see this season Fancy a taste of some local football outside of the top flight? Greater Manchester has you covered!

Jack Greeney Sport Reporter Bolton Wanderers F.C. League One team Bolton are pushing for automatic promotion this season. Currently sitting in 2nd and pushing to get ahead of Sheffield United for first, the Wanderers have been in fine, free-scoring form all season. The team have three home games left at the Macron Stadium and will be looking to go out and win each and every one of them: versus Chesterfield on Saturday 1st April, Bury on Tuesday 18th, and to end the season, Peterborough United on Saturday 30th. The third tier of English football may be a far cry from their time in the Premier League just five years previously: they have sunk far the Wanderers are looking to climb back up the football leagues.

How to get to Bolton’s ground: Trains to Horwich Parkway leave all Manchester stations.

Salford City Salford City may be at the highest competitive level in their history after being promoted to the National League North last season, but that doesn’t mean they’re planning on staying

there. Sitting high and mighty in third place, the Kersal-based team have been excellent all season. Half-owned by United legends Butt, Scholes, Giggs and the Neville brothers, Salford have the finances and men behind the scenes to go far. Three home games remain at the Moor Lane stadium in the regular season — versus Altrincham on Saturday 1st April, Curzon Ashton on Monday 17th, and Darlington 1883 on Saturday 29th — although impending playoffs should surely bring more.

How to get to Salford’s ground: Regular buses leave from the Piccadilly area.

Rochdale A.F.C. Rochdale are chasing a late run into the playoff positions in League One this season. Currently sitting tenth in the league with games in hand, the Dale will be entering the pitch aiming to win every game between now and the end of April. Four home league games remain for the side at the Crown Oil Arena, more commonly known as Spotland Stadium, against Northampton Town on Saturday 1st April, Port Vale on Tuesday 4th, Coventry City on Monday 17th, and to end the season, Bradford City on Sunday 30th. What’s more, you can go see them play away to nearby Bury too for a local derby, on

Thursday 13th April.

How to get to Rochdale’s ground: Trains to Rochdale leave Manchester Victoria station.

F.C. United of Manchester As the largest entirely fan-owned football club in the United Kingdom, FC United provide a wholly different experience altogether. Despite being in the sixth tier of English football, the club enjoys one of the highest home attendances in English non-league football. The Moston-based rank mid-table in the National

League North so far this season, with three home games remaining at Broadhurst Park versus Stalybridge Celtic on Saturday 1st April, Brackley Town on Saturday 15th, and Gainsborough Trinity on Saturday 29th. That’s not all though: FC United have a cup final coming up too, in the form of the Manchester Prem Cup, versus Stalybridge Celtic at Boundary Park in Oldham, Thursday 5th May. How to get there: Regular buses leave from Chatsworth House and surrounding area.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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End of season jubilation and despair The University of Manchester Men’s team have enjoyed a big season Josh Gamble Sport Reporter Much like events across the world, the 2016/7 season has proven to be a difficult and challenging period for the Men’s Football Club.

Going into the season, the club lost scores of players to graduation and the real world. It was always expected to be somewhat of a transitional year.

Despite the unavoidable struggle that this season was always going to be, the club has managed to survive it relatively unscathed.

The 1s managed to pull of a miracle escape, the 3s and 4s similarly avoided relegation, whilst unfortunately in spite of an end of season gusto the 2s were relegated. This year also saw the club achieve international recognition as 1s captain and all-round nice-guy, Ash Silverman was selected for the England Universities football squad.

The 1s came into the season off the back of a heart-breaking 3rd place finish in the Northern 1A division in 2016. However, this year would not see the 1s hit the heady heights of the previous year. With a seriously depleted squad the team remained rooted to the bottom of the ta-

ble for the majority of the year. The turbulent year was best exemplified by the struggle to find a starting goalkeeper, three different keepers would start for the 1s their first 5 games.

Eventually, fresher, Joe Palmer would make the spot his own and perform superbly in the back half of the season.

A change of results for the 1s, however, would take until the last 45 minutes of the penultimate game of the year. The 1s began the second-half away to the University of Sheffield’s first team, mathematically relegated, losing 2-1. Nathan Frazer-Carroll squeezed home an equaliser to draw the scores level. With the game going into injury time the 1s were still going down, only for captain fantastic, Silverman, to steal a last minute winner and take the 1s to a relegationdecider against UCLan. Following the late winner at Sheffield, the 1s were faced with a fairly simple scenario. Beat UCLan at home or face relegation to division 2 for the first time in long-serving manager, Stuart Leicester’s reign. The task was made much harder in the absence of Silverman, who was injured during his selection for the England Universities side. In front of a turn out of around 200 people, the first team delivered on a performance that merits the quality of their

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players.

Max Thompson and Ben Alport ran the midfield. Harry Chaldecott and Moses Seitler regularly embarrassed their fullbacks. The back four were resolute and strong. Even the crowd played their part, christening the underperforming UCLan right back “shit pings” following free kick scuffed along the surface – the fullback proceeded to have a mistake ridden game.

Though it took until the second half for club stalwart and captain for the day, Declan Ryder, to fittingly break the deadlock with precisely delivered free-kick. Frazer-Carroll then scored a sublime hat-trick. Late on freshers, Frank Charnock and Jak Alcock both scored eye catching goals – Charnock’s resembling a famous Denis Bergkamp goal.

The 1s ran out 6-0 winners and cemented their position in division 1A. Unfortunately the 2s could not replicate their achievement the following week, bravely losing 4-3 in their relegation decider.

Both the 3s and 4s survived with a bit of luck and hard graft. In particular the 4s survival is largely in debt to long-suffering 3rd year striker, Will Thom who returned to form this year after failing to register a goal the whole of last

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season. Something of club joke, Andrew Polydorou, also shocked the club and university at large as he put in several man of the match displays for the 4s.

Survival for the 3s on the other hand was largely due to the fact there was one team worse than them in Division 3A – thank you, Man Met Cheshire. Aside from results again Man Met the 3s struggled massively this year.

Their torrid season was sealed by a 12-1 thrashing at the hands of Chester to round off a forgettable year.

As expected the 2016/17 season has proven to be a stop-gap season. Nonetheless despite its disappointments and trials this season has shown all that it great about the club.

There have been moments of astonishing football, resilience and dedication on display all year. The 1s survival will live long into club folklore.

Club Captain, Dylan Newman and manager, Stuart Leicester have done an excellent jobs steering the club through a potentially disastrous season. Hopefully next year will be as enjoyed by new and old faces as the previous three have been for me. Fumble over and out.

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