Issue8 by The Mancunion

12th NOV 2012/ ISSUE 08 FREE

WWW.MANCUNION.COM

MANCHESTER’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Syria: my week on the frontline

Learning Commons to close for ‘several weeks’

Interview: McFly

P19

Women cheat twice as much as men at Manchester - - - -

Student discipline cases up by 70% International students make up majority of cases Academic Appeals against ‘poor supervision’ up fivefold Men four times more likely to ‘collude’

Richard Crook Editor

Twice as many women were caught cheating in exams than men, according to a report by the University of Manchester. The most recent figures from 2005/2006 through to 2010/2011 showed 61 cases of women cheating in exams compared with 30 male cases. However, the report also showed that four times as many men were caught ‘colluding’, which refers to two or more students working together to unfairly collaborate, copy or pass-on assessed work. The reports expose that Student Conduct and Discipline cases have risen on the whole by more than 70% since 2005. One final year student, who did not wish to be named, told The Mancunion, “I’ve used essays by people I know in the year above that did my module. I don’t copy it word for word though. “A friend of mine studied Chemical Engineering. They went to the toilet in an exam and looked at all these notes they’d written up and down their chest. It’s easier to cheat in those kind of exams.” Significantly, international students make up the majority of cases, as reported by The Mancunion last year. International students were responsible for over 56% of Student Discipline cases between 2005 and 2011 despite making up just 26% of the student body. When asked in February to explain the disproportionate cases of international students cheating, Mike Mercer, the Deputy Head of Manchester University’s Student Services Centre said: “I think

it is possibly due to parental and financial pressure to do well. Often they are not quite so confident and almost need it as a support.” Academic Appeals have also dramatically increased, rising from 111 to 284 in the same period. The 2010-2011 report admitted the rise in Academic Appeals and numbers of academic malpractice cases were of a “particular concern.” That concern will relate to the submissions based on ‘poor supervision’, which has escalated year on year. In 2005-2006, just 9 appeals in this category were made. By 2010-2011, that number stood at 49. The cases documented – which go up to 2011 detail only those formerly dealt with by faculties or the Student Discipline Committee and not the ‘significant’ number dealt informally. The report stated, “Case loads continue to increase annually, which is cause for concern both in relation to the quality of the underlying student experience and in terms of the administrative cost involved.” Concern over the disproportionate number of international student cases brought forward was acknowledged in 2010. “Each [report] highlighted the over-representation in the proportion of international and Post-Graduate Taught Students in the total number of misconduct cases – this continues to be a matter of concern.” The sharp rise in student numbers from 35, 654 in 2006 to 39, 732 in 2011 will go some way to explain the worrying figures, but the escalating Student Discipline cases and Academic Appeals go far beyond relative increase in students at Manchester.

Photo: Joe Sandler Clarke

02 : NEWS

ISSUE 08 / 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Highlights

Why does the University care so little about Welcome Week? Comment, page 11 Mancunian’s enjoy the fireworks at Platt Fields Park on November 5th. Photo: Luchia Houghton-Lloyd

Picture of the week

Street Style Fashion, page 16

Study Abroad: A year in Lyon Food & Drink, page 23

LAD culture

Students could face random drug tests as use of ‘smart drugs’ soars jonathan Breen News Editor

Students may face random drug testing around exam time due to concerns an increasing number of students are taking ‘smart drugs’. 10% of students in the UK and 16% in the US admit to taking ‘cognitive enhancing’ drugs to help them stay up late, concentrate and cram for deadlines, a report published November 7 found. The widespread use of ‘cognitive enhancers’ has led to concerns among colleges and universities it may be necessary to begin random drug testing, said a leading Cambridge psychologist Barbara Sahakian, who worked on the report. Sahakian told the Inde-

Barara Sahakian is a professor at Cambridge University pedent, “People are starting to think about drug testing. Some of the students who don’t use cognitive enhancers may demand it because they are concerned about cheating. Some admissions tutors are also concerned about it.” The most popular drugs

Visit Our Website www.mancunion.com

Lifestyle, page 26

Editor: Richard Crook editor@mancunion.com Postal address: Univerity of Manchester Students’ Union, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PR Phone (0161) 275 2933 Media Intern: Joe Sandler Clarke joe.sandlerclarke@manchester.ac.uk

are Ritalin, usually prescribed for attention deficit disorder, and Modafinil, prescribed for narcolepsy, named in the joint Academies study into ‘Human Enhancement and the Future of Work.’ The drugs are favoured because they do not have any serious side effects, such as mood changes or ‘highs’, commonly associated wit hrecreational use, the report says. Sahakian also said some senior academics had admitted to using performance enchancing drugs. “The head of one laboratory in the US said that all of his staff are on modafinil and that in the future there will be a clear division between those who use modafinil and those who don’t,” she said.

Restaurants ask customers to donate to the homeless for Christmas Ellen Conlon News Editor M a n c h e s t e r re s t au r a n t s a re h o s t i n g a n a t i o n a l campaign to help homeless people at Christmas. T h e S t re e t S m a r t C a m p a i g n i s re t u r n i n g t o M a n chester after success last ye a r, a n d i s a sk i n g f o r re s t au r a n t c u s t o m e r s t o vo l u n t a r i ly a d d £ 1 t o t h e i r b i l l t h ro u g h o u t N ove m b e r a n d D e c e m b e r. T h e s e c o n t r i b u t i o n s a re then donated straight to o r g a n i s a t i o n s t h a t p rov i d e s u pp o r t f o r h o m e l e s s p e o ple. A m a n d a C ro o m e f ro m t h e B o o t h C e n t re , wh i c h o f f e r s a dv i c e , a c t iv i t i e s a n d s u p port to homeless people in M a n c h e s t e r, s a i d t h a t t h a t campaign had been supp o r t i n g t h e m f o r a nu m b e r o f ye a r s . “ S t re e t s m a r t i s a g re a t fundraising scheme,”

sh e s a i d . “O u r c e n t re n o t o n ly h e l p s p e o p l e t o f i n d a new home, to sort out b e n e f i t p ro b l e m s a n d a d d re s s h e a l t h a n d a d d i c t i o n i s s u e s b u t a l s o ve r y i m p o r t a n t ly h e l p s t h e m t o re - s e t t l e i n t h e c o m mu n i t y a n d ge t b a c k i n t o e m p l oyment.” Last ye a r re s t au r a n t s in Manchester raised £ 2 3,0 0 0, s i m p ly by a sking people to add £1 to t h e i r b i l l , wh i c h w a s t h e n m a t c h e d by t h e gove r n ment. T h i s ye a r t h e c a m p a i g n is running until December 31st. G l e n n Po u g n e t , D i re c t o r o f S t re e t S m a r t s a i d : “ We a re i n d e b t e d t o M a n c h e s t e r re s t au r a t e u r s a n d t h e i r s t a f f f o r c o n t i nu i n g t o back the campaign. “Thanks to their efforts a n d t h e ge n e ro s i t y o f t h e i r c u s t o m e r s we w i l l b e a b l e to help those most in need t h i s w i n t e r, ” h e a d d e d .

Sub-Editor: Catherine May

Features Editor: Andrew Williams

webed@mancunion.com

News Editors: Ellen Conlon, Michael Williams, Jonathan Breen & Anthony Organ news@mancunion.com

Games Editor: Sam Dumitriu

Wed Developer: Aryeh Grosskopf

Lifestyle Editor: Dana Fowles, Keir StoneBrown & Zara Zubeidi

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Books Editor: Phoebe Chambre Music Editors: Sophie Donovan, Dan Jones & Joe Goggins Music Web Editor: Thomas Ingham Sport Editors: Ciaran Milner. Tom Acey & Matthew Barber sport@mancunion.com Theatre Editor: Josephine Lane Photography Editor: Patrycja Marczewska Web Editor: Jenny Ho

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ISSUE 08 / 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 03

Manchester PhD students

make zombie film at CERN The film, Decay, will be screened in Manchester and then released for free online Anthony Organ News Editor

Universit y of Manchester PhD students working on the L arge Hadron Collide r ( L H C ) h av e s p e n t t w o y e a r s a n d £ 2 ,0 0 0 m a k i n g a feature-length zombie f i l m b a s e d a t t h e f a c i l i t y. In the film, radiation from the Higgs boson – often termed the “God part i c l e ” a n d t h o u g h t t o h av e been discovered earlier this year – starts to transf o r m w o r ke r s t r a p p e d i n maintenance tunnels and a group of students are forced to fight for their lives as they attempt to escape. Luke Thompson, currently in the final year o f h i s P h D i n Ac c e l e r a t o r Physics, wrote and direc te d t h e f i l m . H e s a i d : “ I t ’s a bit of a gimmick but ideally people will also see t h a t i t ’s a c t u a l l y a n a l r i g h t film.” T h e f i l m ’s n a m e , D e c ay, r e f e r s n o t o n l y t o t h e l i ving dead, but also to the H i g g s b o s o n’s i n s t a b i l i t y, w h i c h c a u s e s i t t o d e c ay a l m o s t i m m e d i a t e l y. M r. T h o m p s o n e x p l a i n e d that the European Organisation for Nuclear Re s e a r c h ( C E R N ) s i t e a t Geneva, where the LHC is situated, is “a huge mishmash of buildings”, with some people “ working

in porta-cabins” and others in “the smartest offices you’ve ever seen.” Most buildings are linked at basement level by net works of maintenance tunnels and it was in these that M r. Thomson found his inspiration w i t h f r i e n d H u g o D ay, also a Manchester Accelerator Physics PhD student, who coo r d i n a t e d t h e f i l m ’s stunts. M r. T h o m p s o n s a i d : “ They ’re dark and n a s t y, t h e r e ’s d r i p p i n g w a t e r, a n d w e t h o u g h t ‘this would be prett y cool for a horror movie’. Then six months l a t e r w e t h o u g h t ‘ l e t ’s actually do it’.” They started discussing the idea seriously i n Fe b r u a r y 2 0 1 0 a n d A production still from the film. Photo: www.DecayFilm.com recruited Clara Nellist, a Manchester PhD student working in Par ticle Physic s, who became the Assistant able for free online under years and some is from D i r e c t o r. S h e i s a f a n o f a Creative Commons Lio t h e r p e o p l e s o i t ’s n o t zombie movies and had incence towards the end of l i k e I j u s t h av e a £ 2 ,0 0 0 dependently thought that the month and talks are h o l e i n my b a n k a c c o u n t . ” CERN would make a good being held to organise a He stressed that his resetting for one. s c r e e n i n g i n M a n c h e s t e r. search had not suffered D e c ay h a d a r e g u l a r c a s t Though they will not make b u t s a i d : “ Po s t - p r o d u c t i o n a n d c r e w o f t w e n t y, w h o m o n e y f r o m t h e f i l m , M r. has been prett y hellish, had no real previous film Thompson said the cost I ’ v e b e e n s t u c k i n my r o o m experience, and many was “ worth it.” for the last 6 months, my p r o p s w e r e e i t h e r s c av“ I t ’s a s e r i o u s c h u n k o f social life has kind of dise n g e d o r b u i l t b y t h e c r e w. money but the expendiintegrated.” T h e f i l m w i l l b e av a i l ture has been over t wo Mr Thompson has now

Learning Commons closed for “several weeks”

Jonathan Breen News Editor

The state-of-the-art Alan Gilbert Learning Commons will be closed for several weeks while structural work goes on in the building after a glass panel smashed last month. The brand new building was shut only a month after it opened, after a glass balustrade around the central atrium shattered at approximately 1:00am on Monday October 29. “The Learning Commons will remain closed for several weeks for essential work,”

a University spokesman said. “The work involves strengthening every one of the glass balustrades in the building.” “We aim to reopen in time for the exam period at the start of January at the latest, but it may open sooner.” It is not known why the glass shattered. As part of the strengthening, a protective film will be wrapped around the balustrades. The University is thought to have closed the £24million building due to precautions relating to student safety. Students expressed their

anger over the closure on social networking site Twitter. @AnthonyOsho said, “My uni is useless ‘the learning commons will be closed for several weeks’ £24million well spent UoM #disgraceful #libraryrammo.” “Can’t stand that the learning commons is closed have to come and sit in the shitty library,” said @Sofiyer. And @chloehelsey tweeted, “Hate that the learning commons are closed.” The main University library will remain open 24/7 while the work is carried out in the Learning Commons. A statement from the University said, “We are sorry the building has had to remain closed and thank our students for their patience.”

been left unsure whether to pursue a career in f i l m o r P h y s i c s , s ay i n g : “It would be very difficult for me to give any of these t h i n g s u p. I f t h e r e a r e o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o m a ke a l i v ing in one and to do the other as a hobby then it would be fantastic.” A s ke d w h e t h e r t h i s s c e nario could happen outside of film he said: “I will

s ay f o r t h e r e c o r d t h a t this will not happen.” But he admitted: “I cann o t s ay t h a t a s a f a c t , u n t i l s o m e b o d y m a ke s a z o m bie with the Higgs boson it c an’t be proved or disproved.” Although allowing the film to be released, CERN h av e i n n o w ay e n d o r s e d it.

‘All student journalists are dickheads,’ blasts Union President

on the 10th October. Ellen Tansey, a second year Queen Mary student was addressing the council to argue for a No Platform for Fascists motion. Williams argued against the motion, but repeatedly shouted, “You’re a liar” while she was putting her case forward. The Chair had to warn Williams that he would have to leave if he could not control his behavior. “It was my first time speaking at Council and I was really nervous,” said Tansey. “I felt belittled and undermined. “Babs had already told me he’d “tear my motion apart,” but I didn’t expect him to start shouting that I was a liar,” continued Tansey. “His shouting continued until the Chair threatened him with being banned from the meeting. It’s unacceptable that my Union President finds this to be an appropriate way to engage in student democracy. I never want to be on the receiving end of such behavior again.” Williams is yet to apologise for his behaviour.

Ellen Conlon News Editor Queen Mary Student’s Union President Babs Williams shouted threatening abuse at students during a University College London Union Senate meeting, brandishing all student journalists “dickheads.” At the Senate meeting on 11th October, Williams shouted at Jen Izaakson, London Student editor, and threatened to continue the confrontation “outside of working hours.” Williams had sent an email threatening to sue “University of London Union, the section editor, the editor, the journalist writing the piece and the company that

manages the print run” if London Student quoted him as “refusing to comment” on a issue involving racist posters that had appeared around Queen Mary’s campus. Williams had not pRovided a comment, had asked for further information and admitted at the Senate meeting that the email from London Student was the first he had heard of the posters. This led Williams to storm into the Senate, calling one student a “fucking moron,” and adding: “I fucking hate all student journalists, you’re all dickheads.” This incident came just a day after Williams was warned to stop shouting at a female student speaking at the Queen Mary Student Union Council meeting

04 : News

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Formely elected Trustees NEWS IN BRIEF to be appointed by Exec John Rylands library wins top tourism award John Rylands library in Deansgate has been named Manchester’s ‘Large Visitor Attraction of the Year’ at the city’s annual tourism awards. The building, which was reopened in 2007 after a £17m transformation, was described by judges as progressive and exciting. It was originally built in the 1890s by Mrs Enriqueta Rylands in memory of her husband John, Manchester’s most successful cotton tycoon.

Manchester Fire Brigade deals with over 500 calls on Bonfire Night Greater Manchester Fire and Recue Service received around 500 incident calls in just 4 four and a half hours last Monday night. At least nine people were seriously hurt. One of these was a teenager who was left with a badly burned face after playing with an aerosol around a lit wheelie bin with five of his friends when it exploded. The 14 year old was taken to Oldham Royal Hospital.

Buses powered by household waste to take to Manchester’s streets Arriva Bus UK has invested £2m in a fleet of 21 ecofriendly buses. They are powered by gases produced by landfill sites and will hit the streets of Manchester next year. Mike Cooper, managing director of Arriva UK Bus, said: “The buses have been specially designed for the British market and, as they run on bio-gas, provide a carbon-neutral solution to the environmental challenges we face as a transport provider in the 21st century.”

3 non-elected trustees will help shape the future direction of the Union Richard Crook Editor The Students’ Union Executive is set to appoint Trustees that were once democratically elected by students. Following the referendum on the new constitution last year, the panel of Executive members will now select their own candidates from the list of applicants. Andrea Strachan defended the move, telling The Mancunion, “Acknowledging that there are large numbers of our membership who are not interested in the political leadership of the Students’ Union, we can target involvement from previously underrepresented groups who’s skills, experience and interests may be better suited to the Trustee Board.” The role is unpaid and is described as non-political, though the job description says the position is at the “highest level of the organisation.” Ms Strachan added, “The membership also decided that the best way of ensuring the right skills are on the Trustee

Board would be to appoint the remaining people to the Board based on their skills and experience.” However, the Students’ Union website has stressed the panel are “particularly interested” in women, post-graduate, and black and minority ethnic students. Manchester graduate Charles Bailey, who ran the ‘No’ campaign at last year’s referendum, condemned the change. “The student body is simply not ready to be integrated with the Board of Trustees, because there is a lack of knowledge and trust between the students and their union. “If only 10% know about and are willing to vote in elections when there is a ‘buzz’ on campus created by candidates; what percentage will know about and apply to be a Trustee with no ‘buzz’?” Previously, the student Trustees were the Humanities Officer, the Post-Graduate Officer and the International Officer. Last year, less than 10% of students voted in the referendum.

Students’ Union Executive will now appoint Trustees that used to be elected by students. Photo: Hannah Reiss

Manchester’s award-winning £12.8m University funding Creative Writing professor boost for cancer research Ellen Conlon News Editor University of Manchester Creative Writing Professor Jeanette Winterson has won two acclaimed awards in just a week. Last week it was announced that Winterson won the Independent Booksellers’ Book Prize 2012 and she has just been named Stonewalls’ Writer of the Year. Both of these awards are for her memoir Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? This news follows her sell-out debut public engagement at the University, where she discussed gender and the imagination with acclaimed American author, A.M. Homes. For the Independent Booksellers’ Book Prize 2012, Professor Winterson’s book was chosen by the public from a shortlist of 10 titles, which were put forward by publishers and a panel of judges. Meryl Halls, Head of Membership Services at the Booksellers Association said: “We are delighted with the range and quality of the titles entered for the 2012 prize. “This year’S winners, having competed

against fantastic books in their respective categories, are outstanding favourites in UK bookshops.” Winterson described winning the award as an “honour” and said that she was “delighted” by the news. She told the Bookseller: “This award is particularly important to me because independent bookshops are the life of the book business and those men and women who own and run them read everything. They love books.” The Stonewall Awards were held at the Victoria and Albert Museum and acknowledges individuals and organisations that are critical in ensuring a positive representation of gay people in the media today. Judges included Broadcaster Alice Arnold, Channel 4 News Culture Editor Matthew Cain, England rugby star Ben Cohen, Author Val McDermid and UK Black Pride Managing Director Phyll Opoku-Gyimah. Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill said: “As ever, I’m humbled by the dedication with which this year’s award winners have been advancing equality for millions of people. Their efforts have never been more valuable and we will never be deterred from celebrating their contribution.”

Anthony Organ News Editor The University of Manchester has been awarded a £12.8 million government funding boost to help progress cancer research development. The money will make up part of a £38 million partnership between the University, Cancer Research UK and The Christie hospital to develop the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC). Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, ViceChancellor of the University, said: “Cancer research is one of our high priorities, so this award is fantastic news for the University and for our partners.” In 2008, the University was found to have the best cancer research of all UK institutions by the Research Assessment Exercise. It spends £23 million annually on such research. Manchester is one of fourteen institutions to win funding from the Research Partnership Investment Fund, which is awarding a total of £300 million to successful applicants. The scheme grants money to universities which are able to attract at least double the amount from businesses, charities or philanthropists, in an effort to “encourage

strategic partnerships”. Professor Nic Jones, MCRC Director and Chief Scientist at Cancer Research UK, said: “The MCRC is a wonderful example of partners working together to combat cancer. “Cancer Research UK welcomes the news of this award, which will facilitate further progress of the MCRC’s efforts over the coming few years.” The funds will be used to construct a new University cancer research building on The Christie site in Withington, full of specialist research equipment which will help develop new “personalised” treatments for patients. Such treatments will be tailored based on the specific characteristics of each tumour to combat them more effectively. Caroline Shaw, Chief Executive at The Christie, said: “We are extremely grateful for this funding which will help facilitate groundbreaking research right here in Manchester.” Last wEek also saw researchers from the University’s Paterson Institute for Cancer Research identify a “molecular flag” which will help doctors predict the effectiveness of treatment on breast cancer patients. The researchers hope to build on this discovery to develop new strategies to stop the growth of tumours and to overcome their drug resistance.

05: News

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Notorious anti-abortion group chanted off campus Women’s rights campaigners create counter-protest in response to graphic images on display Ellen Conlon News Editor

“We

were

Manchester encouraging

Pro-life

demonstrators

were

lobbying

people that group

come

on campus. The point of

strong

protest

them is that they go around

they

different universities trying

graphic

to intimidate students with

Wednesday,

brandished

huge

really massive graphic images

images of unborn foetuses. The

notorious

demonstrators, describe

Abort67,

themselves

“public education project” and believe that “the most effective public

way policy

to is

change to

first

of foetuses,” she said. “It’s a really hateful ideology to be presenting people with I think.” Catriona near

Centre

change public opinion.” Their method of doing this

explained

how

she heard that the group were

the

Aquatics

Oxford

Road,

having previously been in

is to display images of “the

Fallowfield:

reality of abortion.”

many

“We

just

people

got

together

the

day

as possible to do a counter

tweeted:

“In

protest,”

involved getting a big feminist

#mariestopes saving babies

banner and trying to block

from #abortionby #exposing

what

the #truth.”

their really graphic images of

Earlier Abort67

#ManchesterCentral

Catriona Gray, University of Manchester Students’ Union

she

they

said.

were

“That

showing:

foetus terminations.” Both

Catriona

and

Wellbeing Officer, heard from

Manchester’s

students that the group were

Officer, Tabz O’Brien-Butcher,

in Manchester and so rallied

tried

together a protest group.

of the group’s presence in

Women’s

raise

demonstration to let these

on Oxford Road faced a counter

students

need to organise a counter

aware

planning

Facebook,

join them in protest: “We

Abort67, who are an antichoice

awareness

know

that

they

cannot come and intimidate women

students

our

campus! Spread the word!” wrote Tabz. Catriona

told

how

the

group used a banner from the University of Manchester’s women’s

rights

collective,

The Riveters, to cover up the images, emblazoned with the slogan: ‘Yes she can.’ “There were about 15 of us counter protesting against them and at one point we got to about equal numbers when there 10 of them. There were a lot of men as well as a few women,” she added. As they began to chant, the The counter-protest team with their banner to cover Abort67’s images. Photo: Cat Gray

protestors began to disperse. “My body, my choice,” “Not

young people. They just use

the church, not the state,

very

women should control their

said Catriona.

fate” and “Pro-life men have

intimidating

have

pregnant let us know!” were

Sussex,

among the chants.

Cambridge

for these tactics and for going around and targeting different

campuses

and

students

especially.

They

think that they can influence

propaganda could result in

After their demonstration in Nottingham, the women’s

In the past month, Abort67

got to go, when you get

“They’re fairly well known

tactics,”

cover-up project.”

visited

Nottingham,

London

society created an online

students

feeling

Women’s

Officer

congratulated everyone who

and

staging any future protests

took part in the counter

universities

on any university campuses.

protest on Facebook: “Well

to protest, as part of a

It has only secured 65 of the

done everyone that came to

‘November tour.’

6,000 desired signatures.

the protest against Abort67!

They have tweeted their dismay

out

protests on these campuses,

protest,

saying:

calling

intimidation

counter-

Nottingham spoke

the

their vehicles cleaned while they are

attributes

at work. Prices start from £10.

seekers without his kind of basic

The car wash team will use an A car-cleaning service has started on campus to help unemployed locals find work. UniValet, which launched last week, aims to provide paid on-the-job training for local people who have been without a job for some time or who may have never worked. The University has teamed up with Rochdale-based charity Petrus, and alongside working for UniValet, the employees will attend The Works, a training and advice centre set up by the University, to help them find long-term employment. UniValet’s services will be available in car parks across the campus to University staff members, who will use an online booking system to have

environmentally-friendly

waterless

system and will offer wash and wax services.

“nationwide

strongly

about and

You are all awesome!”

the

“Abort67’s graphic

The

University’s

employers

expect.

Job

experience face real barriers getting into work.” While working for UniValet, the employees will be trained to Level

Assistant

Director Steve Grant said: “UniValet is

Two NVQ. UniValet’s

Team

Leader

Darren

the first in a number of programmes

Vickers

that the University is developing in

unemployed for 18 months before

support of the Greater Manchester

seeking help form Petrus. He said:

Commitment to Youth Employment.

“We’re all very excited about this

For many of the people who join this

new initiative and it’s great to see

training programme it will be a step

somewhere like the University of

onto the first rung of the jobs ladder.

Manchester opening its doors to

“This is not simply training people

was

homeless

and

support local people in this way.

to clean cars; we are training them to

“Hopefully, this scheme will really

go to work. We’re giving unemployed

take off, and then expand to include

people in Greater Manchester the

other big employers across the city.”

UniValet services will be available across car parks on campus

opportunity to learn about customer

to staff members, prices starting from £10. Photo: University of

services, team work and punctuality

Manchester

and all of the other skills and

Tabz

petition to bar Abort67 from

Car wash company launched on campus Ellen Conlon News Ed i t o r

harassed

and victimised.”

06 : News

ISSUE 08 / 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Student Action Week 2012 12th - 18th Nov This week is Student Action week, so weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re throwing the spotlight onto the wonderful work of Student Action. PLEASE GO TO OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROJECTS WE RUN

The Student Action team run a staggering 27 volunteering projects a week in the community, ranging from soup kitchens for the homeless, to supporting teenagers with learning disabilities and volunteering with the elderly. All the projects are student led and are a fantastic opportunity to gain new skills, make new friends and have a positive impact in the community. If you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t volunteer your time, you can still support Student Action by attending their fabulous fundraising night at the Ram and Shackle in Fallowfield on Thursday 15th November, from 9pm. The event will feature live music, heaps of cake and plenty of dancing. For more information visit the Student Action Facebook page

Website: www.manchesterstudentsunion.com/studentaction

ISSUE 08 / 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

NEWS : 07

Coalition to blame for low PCC elections turnout

Left to right: Winstanley, Gallagher, Ottewell, Woolfe, Lloyd. Photo: Cil Barnett-Neefs

Greater Manchester’s PCC candidates faced questions from members of the public at the University Anthony Organ News Editor The coalition government will be to blame if the turnout for the first ever Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections is as low as expected. That’s the view of the frontrunner for the job, Labour’s Tony Lloyd. The long-serving MP for Manchester Central was speaking as four of the five PCC candidates for Greater Manchester came together at a question and answer session with members of the public, ahead of the upcoming elections. Matt Gallagher (Liberal Democrat), Tony Lloyd (Labour), Michael Winstanley (Conservative) and Steven Woolfe (UK Independence Party) attended the session organised by the Manchester Evening News (M.E.N.) and held at the Uni-

versity of Manchester’s Roscoe building. Roy Warren, an independent candidate, was unable to attend for medical reasons. The event was chaired by David Ottewell, head of politics at the M.E.N. PCCs will be elected every four years, set the force budget and aim to form a link between police and public. They will also have the power to appoint and dismiss the chief constable. The elections are being seen as the biggest shake-up of policing in fifty years and Home Secretary Theresa May told the BBC: “For the first time ever [the police] will have a democratic mandate for the people for the work that they’re doing.” But the Electoral Reform Society has predicted that only 18.5% of people will vote, which would be the lowest turnout in

UK electoral history. Asked about this issue after the session, Mr. Lloyd said: “The government deserve the biggest blame for the whole thing. They haven’t said why it matters or got across that it could really make a mess of your community. “Some people have been suggesting boycotts but there will be a police commissioner, so it’s important that people do vote, especially students, or else we’ll get a crap commissioner.” An August YouGov poll found that only 21 per cent of people think that PCCs will “help the fight against crime” and that only 11 per cent have a good understanding of what they will do. The same poll found that 61 per cent disapproved of candidates being supported by political parties, but with a £5,000

deposit required to stand in the elections, compared to just £500 for parliamentary elections, some candidates required party support to enter. Mr. Gallagher, the only candidate with experience working in the police force, said that the Liberal Democrats agreed to fund his deposit to prevent all candidates from having political backgrounds, before it was known that Mr. Warren would stand. Carole Duggan, the aunt of the 29-year-old man whose death sparked the nationwide riots of summer 2011, was present and challenged the candidates to force all police officers to co-operate fully in any investigations by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). Most of the candidates stressed the need for transparency in any complaints process, with Mr. Lloyd saying that “it’s good for police officers” since those wrongly accused can prove their innocence. But Mr. Gallagher warned against forcing officers to co-

operate, claiming that doing so could undermine liberty by allowing the government to demand the same of other groups in the future. Asked about tougher sentencing, all candidates agreed that victims’ needs must be put ahead of those of criminals, with Mr Woolfe claiming: “The pendulum has swung too far so that the victim is no longer the primary concern.” But he stopped short of agreeing with a proposal for “zero tolerance”, along with Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Lloyd. Mr. Winstanley though said that “some judges are completely bonkers” and advocated tougher stances on crime as a way of “nipping the problem in the bud”. The £100,000 salary of the commissioner was also questioned, as one audience member asked whether the candidates would consider donating any of it. Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Winstanley each pledged around £10,000 a year to community projects, whilst Mr. Woolfe said that he planned to use half the salary to recruit people to help him look at cuts to the budget. But Mr. Lloyd, who stood down from his £65,000 post as an MP to contest these elections, refused to be drawn into a “bidding war”. He said: “I won’t enter a public auction here about who will come in as a cut-price commissioner. If we did then you’d get useless people, extremists and nutcases who can afford to do the job for nothing, rather than a commissioner you want.” The elections will take place on 15th November and the successful candidate will take office on the 22nd.

Mormons to open church on Oxford Road Andrew Williams Features Editor The site of a once-popular student bar on Oxford Road is set to be transformed into Manchester’s Mormon hub. Plans for a five-storey chapel, which will be occupied by followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, have been approved and work has begun on the building. The church is scheduled to open in 2014. Located next door to the Manchester Aquatics Centre, the site – which used to be the home of student haunt Scubar – has been chosen by the Mormon church specifically because of its close proximity to the city’s two biggest universities. The chapel will be used by 18-30 year olds for sports and social activities. Its no-

table features will include a rooftop basketball court, but in accordance with Mormon teachings the church will be strictly alcohol-free. James Holt, the church’s north-west spokesman, told the Manchester Evening News the chapel will serve as a dry haven for Mormon students who are inevitably surrounded by a drinking culture. “We recognise the fact that for many people, the university experience is about drinking. Because Mormons don’t drink, being at university can sometimes be an isolating experience,” he explained. Holt continued: “As well as being a place of worship, this will be a place where people can play sport and socialise. We hope Mormon parents might think about sending their children to university here because a centre like this exists.”

Mormns are building a church on Oxford Road, to include a rooftop basketball court. Photo Pete Birkinshaw @Flickr

The news comes in the week that Mitt Romney, America’s first Mormon presidential candidate, was defeated by Barack Obama in the race for the White House. Romney, 65, is a lifelong follower of the religion. His great-great grandfather, Miles,

from Preston, was one of the north-west’s first Mormons. There are around 7,000 Mormons in Greater Manchester today.

Students’ Union vote to stay part of NUS Anthony Organ News Editor

An assembly of students has decided not to hold a referendum on whether the University of Manchester Students’ Union (UMSU) should remain affiliated with the National Union of Students (NUS), by sixteen votes to one. The proposal was made online and then debated by a randomly selected panel of students. A vote under a threequarters majority would have opened the issue for all students to vote for online. Nick Pringle, general secretary of UMSU, argued against the referendum and said that he was “really pleased with the outcome”. Several other Students’ Unions are unaffiliated with the NUS, including the Imperial College Union and The University of St. Andrews Students’ Association. UMSU paid £55,000 this year for its affiliation with the NUS, though this figure allows it access to training for student officers and gives students access to the NUS Extra card for discounts at certain shops. Affiliated unions are also able to make use of NUS Services, the commercial side of the NUS which buys products at cut-price deals. The NUS website claims that savings made from this service can “can equal – or even exceed – the amount of the NUS affiliation fee”. Mr. Pringle said: “This year we estimate that the net financial benefit for the students’ union by being a member of the NUS is £120k. Just to put this into context, that amount is equal to the entire cost of the advice service combined with the entire societies budget.” But Paul Beaumont, President of Imperial College Union, which disaffiliated in 2008, suggested that savings may be exaggerated. He told The Mancunion that at a recent conference held at Imperial “your Education Officer, Luke (Newton), noted that our bar prices are the same as yours – even outside of the NUS bulk buying scheme”. The proposal made to UMSU suggested that a “referendum would directly help create a much more representative, self-determined, democratic and accountable students union by giving students the opportunity to directly decide where significant amount of their money is spent each year”. The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) disaffiliated with the NUS in 1998 but agreed to re-join when it merged with Victoria University in 2004 to create the current University of Manchester.

Feature : 08

ISSUE 08 / 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Syria: my week on the frontline

University of Manchester student Ibrahim Olabi talks to Andrew Williams about the horrors he encountered during a week-long trip to Syria - a country being torn apart as the backlash continues against a brutal regime Andrew Williams Features Editor

As it became clear that Barack Obama had been comfortably been re-elected to serve a second term in the White House in the early hours of Wednesday morning, his British counterpart must have been quietly delighted to hear the news. But rather than watching the drama unfold from the comfort of his Downing Street office, David Cameron was 6,000 miles away from Washington D.C., visiting Syrian refugees at a makeshift camp in Jordan. The Prime Minister described what he heard and saw over the course of his trip to the Middle East as “truly

horrendous,” citing a resolution to the Syrian crisis as a key priority for him and the rejuvenated President Obama. “Right here in Jordan I am hearing appalling stories about what has happened inside Syria, so one of the first things I want to talk to Barack about is how we must do more to try and solve this crisis,” Cameron said firmly. Not before time. It has taken over a year for the international community to wake up and smell the coffee, but perhaps Obama’s re-election will serve as the catalyst for serious action to tackle one of the gravest humanitarian crises the world has faced in recent years. Thus far, the international community has indicated that it has no desire to intervene militarily in Syria, opting

instead for mere rhetorical condemnation of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime. The region is, put simply, a volatile tinderbox; Syria lies at the very heart of the ‘fault lines’ of the Middle East, a microcosm of the region and its complexities. Take one look at Syria’s strategic location and observe the countries with which it shares a border – Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel – and the picture that emerges is of a complex crisis with no immediate solution. In the days following his end of year exams in June, one University of Manchester student decided that he had seen enough. Not content with serving as an anti-Assad voice from the sidelines, Ibrahim Olabi embarked on a journey to his beloved home country

to see the devastation for himself. His story is a harrowing one, illustrated by “pictures that will be carved in my memory forever.” Ibrahim was one of many young Syrians who sensed – having watched the Arab Spring topple dictatorial regimes across North Africa – that this was an opportunity for his country, too. Armed with little more than a backpack and burdened with what he calls a “heavy responsibility,” Ibrahim touched down in Turkey tasked with smuggling himself into Syria. It would be a perilous journey across the border. “Now it’s less dangerous, because [opposition force] the Free Syrian Army has taken control of the border entrances, but at the time it was more

Message of hope: Ibrahim is looking ahead to the birth of the ‘freedom generation’

difficult. We could hear shelling as we entered the country”, he recalls. “It was dangerous, but I knew it was dangerous and I wasn’t going there frightened. I understood the risk, but I had to do what I had to do.” Over the next week, Ibrahim travelled far and wide across a country in turmoil. “The Free Syrian Army escorted us because I didn’t know the way from city to city, and there may have been government ambushes… it was too dangerous to stay in one place,” he explains. Ibrahim was under no illusions about the risks he was taking upon entering Syria. As the uprising has gathered pace over the past 18 months, the regime has unleashed every facet of its brutal security forces. In a desperate attempt to cling on to power, Assad’s men have resorted to collective punishment, cutting off water and electricity supplies and besieging entire communities whilst employing tanks, bombs and rockets to shell cities – a horrifically violent reminder of the 1982 Hama massacre which killed as many as 40,000 people. The Syrian regime is firm in its stance – determined to crush the revolt as efficiently as possible – but Ibrahim and his fellow protestors are equally resolute. They will not allow the next generation to be crippled by the Gestapo-like culture of fear which has paralysed freedom of speech in Syria under Assad’s regime. Until recently, Ibrahim says, there was “barely” anyone he could trust. “If I saw a Syrian on a street corner here in Manchester before the revolution I wouldn’t speak to them, even here. It’s very dangerous because I’m then putting my relatives back home in danger, so I’m not allowed to speak about such things,” he says. “We were ruled by a police state. You couldn’t ask people for their opinions. You couldn’t trust brothers, you couldn’t trust siblings – you certainly couldn’t talk about the government to them.” It was with a brighter future for Syria in mind that Ibrahim risked his life to traverse sparse, mountainous terrain in unarmoured pick-up trucks and on motorbikes.

ISSUE 08 / 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

been internally displaced, plus there are refugees who have fled to Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq – it’s quite devastating.” Ibrahim’s profoundly personal anecdotes bring much-needed humanity to the horrific plight that his country faces. One cannot help but question

One guy died and I didn’t know until about a week later because when we had agreed to talk he wasn’t on Skype, and then a friend told me. I’ve lost a lot of friends. the international community’s failure to intervene decisively in the conflict, though Ibrahim suggests that the UK is “doing a far better job than the others” in working to bring about an end to the Assad regime. “William Hague has been speaking all of the time – but again, he is speaking,” Ibrahim laments. In an interview with The Mancunion last October, Foreign Office minister

Alastair Burt attempted to explain his government’s position. “The international appetite to [intervene militarily] in relation to Syria isn’t there, for a whole series of reasons. Syria is a much more complex issue in terms of the nature of the protest against the Assad government… we have made it clear that military intervention wasn’t part of that resolution, it isn’t being considered, it’s a wholly different situation. Pressure must be applied on the Syrian regime in other ways.” In recent weeks the government appears to have shifted its position, with Number 10 now claiming that “nothing is off the table” in terms of possible courses of action against Syria. Yet Ibrahim remains broadly sceptical: “There is no action that has been taken, because of the sensitivity of the area. America is fighting Russia over Syria, and Saudi Arabia is fighting Iran over Syria.” If it were not for the flagging American economy, Syria would undoubtedly sit at the very top of the presidential in-tray and, in the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election, analysts are daring to articulate an end game for the Assad regime. However, the despot himself remains defiant. “I am Syrian, I am made in Syria, and I will live and die in Syria,” Assad declared in the wake of Obama’s comprehensive victory. Meanwhile, Ibrahim has returned from his homeland more determined than ever to see Assad overthrown. He is keen to spread two messages; first, that the death toll we see reprinted in newspapers as we wake up to a

comfortable liberal democracy each morning represents thousands of human lives torn apart in the name of power. On the other hand, he brings a message of hope: that his younger compatriots will be the first members of the ‘freedom generation’. “What astonished me most was how, although now more than 31,000 people have lost their lives, people

still have high morale,” Ibrahim says tellingly. “I can tell having looked into these people’s eyes they are far from giving up, no matter the cost. Their drive? A just cause.”

Photo: Frredom House

Photo Credit: Name of photographer

“With a motorbike, if you see the army coming you can take a diversion into the trees and hide there. We used the trees to hide all the time, because planes cannot see through the trees, so whenever we see a plane, movement stops – everyone just goes in the trees and stays there into the danger has passed.” “The first day was one that I will never forget,” he continues. “I had a sleepless night because of the constant sound of the regime’s artillery, and wondered how those around me could sleep so deeply. They told me the next day that they had gotten used to the noise.” It is one of many astonishing stories which illustrates the bombardment that Syria has suffered at the hands of Assad governmental forces for over 18 months. “I know a lot of activists who have died,” says Ibrahim. “One guy died and I didn’t know until about a week later because when we had agreed to talk he wasn’t on Skype, and then a friend told me. I’ve had cousins disappear. I’ve lost a lot, a lot of friends.” During his time in the city of Taftanatz, Ibrahim encountered a mother sitting on her doorstep. She told him the tragic story of her son’s murder – shot in the head by a sniper bullet when he went out to buy bread. “He was 25, and he was just about to get engaged,” she told Ibrahim with a smile, holding back her tears. The UN estimates that at least 31,000 Syrians have been slaughtered over the course of the conflict, but Ibrahim suspects that the official figure may be the tip of the iceberg. “I’ve seen mass graves where you couldn’t tell by looking at them who people were any more – so damaged that you wouldn’t be able to tell. About two million people have

Feature : 09

Politics & Comment

ISSUE 09/ 19th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Photo Credit: Matty Major

Photo: Matty Major

My Political Hero... Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy was one of a number of princes of his era within the Russian Empire who, while both capitalism and imperialism were exploding and oppressing the common people, rejected this not with the dreary “scientific” state socialism epitomized by Marx and Engels, but with a critique of the nature of the state itself. Kropotkin, Bakunin and Tolstoy all imagined a world were humans were viewed neither as the value of their labour nor as a market commodity, but simply as human beings deserving of dignity by the sheer virtue of their humanity. These were the anarchist princes, and, though as a political philosophy this may seem somewhat idealistic, it was rooted in the humanist aristocratic virtues of the period. Where Tolstoy differed from the other anarchist princes, apart from his dislike of the term ‘anarchy,’ was his emphasis on the life of Jesus Christ.

A new dawn for policing? Tom Dahaner gives his perspective on whether the change at the top of policing will mean positive things for the service Last Thursday represented a landmark in our democracy. Each county in England and Wales will elect a Police and Crime Commissioner – a new role introduced by the current government under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act. Police Commissioners operate successfully in the US, although they are appointed rather than elected. The primary objectives of this policy are to give greater control to each of the forty-one constabularies, and to have one individual who is directly accountable to the county’s electorate. Police and Crime Commissioners have five major roles: to represent the community, to agree upon a Local Strategic Plan for the community, to hold the Chief Constable to account for implementing this plan, to set the budget, and to hire – and in some cases, fire - the Chief Constable. So, who carried out these tasks before? PCCs are replacing Police Authorities. Greater Manchester Police Authority has been in operation for seventeen years and is made up of nineteen individuals. A Transition Board will ensure that the progression from Police Authority to Police and Crime Commissioner is as smooth as possible. By now, many of you will have seen the televisions adverts of the Home Office about the forthcoming elections. For those who haven’t, the adverts show a series of crimes, including a mugging on a bus as well as a robbery at a corner shop. A cynical, but perhaps accurate, analysis would be that these adverts were an attempt to create a wave of interest in the elections, through scaremongering. The commercials almost suggest that the appointment of a PCC will miraculously put a stop to these crimes. It’s arguable that the Home Office could have

used these adverts to convey a clear message explaining two things: the reason for the policy, and the roles of the Police and Crime Commissioner. Here in Greater Manchester, there were six names on the ballot paper: Tony Lloyd (Labour), Matt Gallagher (Liberal Democrat), Roy Warren (Independent), Michael Winstanley (Conservative) and Steven Marcus Woolfe (UKIP). It is notable that there aren’t any female candidates standing for the office of PCC for this constabulary. A similar underrepresentation of women is true in many other counties. This suggests that more must be done to attract women to the role. In four years’ time when the first PCC’s term of office is complete, the Home Office must go further to encourage women to stand as candidates. This may even generate greater interest among female voters in local policing. Labour Party candidate, Tony Lloyd, is the overwhelming favourite to become the constabulary’s first Police and Crime Commissioner. Lloyd has stood aside from his position as the Member of Parliament for Manchester Central in order to run for the newly created position. Historically, the Manchester area has been politically safe for Labour. For example, Manchester Central has voted Labour since the seat was created nearly fifty years ago. Mr Lloyd enjoyed a majority exceeding ten thousand in 2010. Leaving aside the history, YouGov’s most recent poll suggests that Ed Miliband’s Labour enjoy a national lead in the polls of 11%. This leads one to expect that the Labour Party will fair favourably when Thursday’s results are announced. Leading up to this election, there have been two key difficulties faced by the Conservative Party. Firstly, the coalition government is

largely unpopular at the moment. YouGov released data last week, which showed that sixty per cent of people disapprove of the current government’s record to date. There is palpable concern, particularly in more deprived areas, that cuts to public services will damage communities in an irreparable way. The second national problem faced by the Tories is their failure to attract highprofile candidates to stand for election. This is partly due to the strict eligibility criteria, which means that individuals cannot run if they have committed the most minor criminal offence in their youth, for example. However, the Labour Party have managed to bring out the ‘big guns’ such as former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott. Is this election important for students in the city? Well, we know that one in ten students are victims of crime during their time in Manchester. However, the government is committed to twenty per cent cuts to the budget of each constabulary and this will unquestionably limit the effectiveness of the role of the PCC. The depleting resources, which will result in the loss of almost three thousand police employees here in Manchester, mean that a fall in crime is unlikely – regardless of who wins at the ballot boxes on Thursday. Only time will tell whether Police and Crime Commissioners are more effective than Police Authorities. At a cost exceeding one hundred million pounds, it is easy to see why there is disillusionment as to how worthwhile last Thursday’s elections were.

At the time of going to press, the result of the election had ot been announced.

Tolstoy detested the institutional mystical Christianity of the Russian Orthodox Church, writing in his theological magnum opus The Kingdom of God is Within You that a priest would more likely try and sell a copy of the Lives of the Saints than direct a believer to the Gospels, which tell the story of the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. For the rationalist Tolstoy, the divinity of Jesus was not an abstract doctrine, but was rather rooted in the deep compassion and true humanity of his teachings, particularly of the Sermon on the Mount. Tolstoy took these commandments literally, extrapolating from teachings such as “turn the other cheek,” and “do not swear oaths” a radically pacifist political philosophy that was opposed to not just the militarism of the Russian Empire and its state church, but also opposed to the notion of statehood itself, as for Tolstoy the state is dependent on institutions of violence such as the army, the police and the legal system, echoing Weber’s definition of a state as that which has a “monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.” Tolstoy’s essays are as starkly beautiful as his fiction, emptying imperial claims to religious authority with the simple “How can you kill people, when it is written in God’s commandment: ‘Thou shalt not murder’?” He was the first modern, and still most prominent, Christian anarchist. In his opposition to the Russian state, Tolstoy created a religious theory of non-violent resistance, and it was this in particular that influenced those key 20th century political figures of resistance Martin Luther King and Mohandas Ghandi. Ghandi himself corresponded with Tolstoy and was advised that only through passive resistance and love could the British empire be defeated, which he translated into his doctrine of Satyagraha. Tolstoy’s reasoning on non-violent resistance was dual; firstly, violence begets violence and is therefore an inappropriate tool for the creation of a peaceful society , expressed in the Gospels as “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword”; secondly, violence, even if it leads to a positive consequence, it is forbidden by God. Vegetarianism and teetotalism may seem an odd adjunct for a worshipper of a man who caught precisely 153 large fish in one load and famously preferred wedding guests to drink wine over water. In this sense Tolstoy probably had more in common with 1980’s hardcore punk fans than Jesus Christ, who was never known to describe himself as either vegan or straightedge. However, his vegetarianism was based on spiritual means, a Christian love of humanity extending to a love of all living beings, and he saw the slaughterhouse as a brother to war, violating man’s supposedly natural propensity towards sympathy towards living creatures, as is testified by the massive turnover of workers in slaughterhouses. Often I am personally struck by the weak connection made by many flesh eaters between animals and meat, although my convictions on vegetarianism are based on a more modern ecological arguments. Though Tolstoy is most famous for his works “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina,” his influence extends far outside the literary world. After resisting state violence for many years, and inspiring this resistance in countless others, he died in 1910. He was a man of unrivalled spiritual maturity, literary talent and political conviction. James Jackson

Comment

ISSUE 09 / 19th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

In the wake of last week’s failed attempt to disaffiliate the Union:

YES The Students’ Union is first and foremost a democratic organisation, run by students elected from the body it represents, and with a limited amount of funding. It is bound by two main duties, the first to represent the will of the student body (or at least the part of the student body that actually bothers to take an interest in these things), and the second, to ensure that the resources under its control are used in the interest of the students. I believe in maintaining the Union boycott of certain brands for two reasons; one ethical and the other health related. The ethical reasons are fairly straightforward. Coca Cola, which is not stocked in the union on ethical grounds has a long history of human rights abuses, both against its workers and against third-parties. The Colombia Solidarity Campaign (CSC) started the International Boycott following the murders of eight Sinaltrainal (Colombian

Alex Goldhill Food and Drinks Workers’ Union) which they say the company is complicit in. There have been numerous past boycotts against the company also, and elsewhere it has been reported that Coca Cola is responsible for groundwater shortages at their bottling plants in India, according to the India Resource Center. The boycott allows the Students’ Union to send a message to the world, on behalf of its members, that this will not be tolerated. Firstly, by continuing to punish brands for their past actions we send a message to the industry that these policies will have long-term negative effects, discouraging others from employing them and also by making an example. Secondly, Coca Cola is an industry leader and by highlighting them we send a message to the industry as a whole. As for the health reasons, I am sure it will come as no surprise to you that the fizzy drinks and sweets provided by brands such as Nestle and Coca Cola are not

“Should the Students’ Union boycott brands? ” exactly healthy. Now I won’t argue that the Union should boycott Coca Cola in order to save the students from unhealthy products; that argument is flawed on so many levels. It’s patronising to students to tell them what they can and cannot drink, the widespread availability of these brands makes such an effort ineffective, and it’s downright hypocritical whilst the Union still supplies cigarettes, alcohol and other unhealthy products (another debate for another day). By boycotting Coca Cola the Union frees up its budget to supply the students with better alternatives, both in terms of health and ethics.

Our Students’ Union is not there to make our decisions. It is there to support students, and represent the diverse demographic that makes up our student body. The range of opinions the students at the University of Manchester have should be reflected by our Students’ Union, which should be impartial and politically independent. By boycotting certain products it appears as though the union is acting politically on our behalf, something I don’t think anybody wants or expects it to do. If people want to boycott brands such as Nestle or Coca

Antonia Jennings Cola, of course they can and will. If enough students wanted the SU to not supply certain brands, they would choose not to buy them – resulting in a lack of demand, and the SU would stop ordering these products. The fact is the Students’ Union not stocking certain brands does not even make a negligible impact. If students are determined to buy a Nestle product, a two minute walk to Sainsbury’s will let them. The companies and brands the Students’ Union boycotts seem to be chosen in an ununiformed manner. While it is true Nestle and Coca Cola have terrible unethical scandals to their name, we should scrutinise other companies such as GlaxoSmithKline. The University continues to receive huge amounts of money from the pharmaceutical giant, despite its $3billion fine from the Food and Drugs

NO Association (FDA) this year for improper marketing and unethical behaviour. The Students’ Union has not publicly protested about this at all, even following Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK receiving an honorary degree from the University this year. I am all for boycotting unethical brands. However, I do not think that the Students’ Union should be doing this on our behalf, without all students voting on the matter. With turnouts as low as they are for referendums such as this one (often less than 5% of the student body), it is unjust for the Students’ Union to make a decision that will affect all students. If people want to boycott products they can and should, but it is not the place of the Students’ Union to do so.

Disagree? Tweet us @mancuniondebate, or email us at comment.mancunion@gmail.com

If you want us to endorse your hobbies, endorse our politics MUGSS social secretary Thomas Lee tells of his distress at the new funding policy at the Students’ Union This writer is not the sort of person who often engages in marching for democracy or participating in mass protests. This is not because I don’t value my freedom or regularly disagree with actions taken in Westminster, but because I choose - for reasons which are entirely my own business – not to demonstrate on the streets. I respect the choice of those who do. And I’m sure we would agree that in a democracy it would be fundamentally not in the spirit of things to disrespect or penalise me for my choice. I am not somehow an inferior citizen simply because I have not felt the compulsion to take to the streets. It is with this in mind that I voice my grave concern about the University of Manchester Students’ Union’s offer to ‘fast-track’ student societies to Silver and Gold STAR Awards if they send five or ten of their members to Demo 2012. The STAR system determines ‘levels of funding and resources’ available to societies

- Gold or Silver status permits discounts and services unavailable to Bronze societies, and more importantly, Bronze societies get less money. This status is upgraded partly through society members taking part in ‘Student Action’, including fundraising and volunteer work which is itself an estimable attempt by the Union to make a difference in the community. Even this, however, can worry smaller societies - or large societies that do not engage with political or social affairs - with the thought that their resources are being undercut by more politically active groups. The penalisation of societies that are - in the eyes of the Union - not as politically useful is a disturbing notion. But the attempt to coerce students into taking part in a political protest for financial recompense is nothing short of bribery. Asking societies that usually concern themselves with interesting board games, Red Dwarf marathons or comic operettas to either turf out their members as warm bodies to boost the numbers at a political demonstration or suffer from low levels of funding – whatever the cause of the demonstration and however just – is alarming and offensive on several levels. The Exec Team shock me alone by the fact that they would willingly drag a cause which they clearly feel so passionate about into the muck of Muamar Gaddafi level politics. The democratic integrity of their cause is clearly less important to them than increasing its apparent popularity, using tactics that were last seen in Manchester in the duplicitous electioneering of the 18th century. The Union executives are using their power over

people – a power routed in the control of the funds without which many societies would be unable to operate - to commandeer the freedom of action and expression which is unique to each of those people, and utilise it to further their own political agenda. This is a violation of our right to think for ourselves. What’s more, the sheer ignorance of the gravity of their actions is readily apparent in Tweets made by my union representatives, entirely missing the point of the uproarious reaction to their announcement by saying pro-cut marches would be ‘against Union policy’. This shows a sad inability for the Union to see politics in anything more than black and white – simply because I find their ultrapartisanship so disgusting, I am not necessarily an ardent member of the Tory party wishing to go on a pro-cut march. Manchester University encompasses students with a broad spectrum of political ideologies and an even broader spectrum of hobbies. The Students’ Union should be mature enough to

realise this, and more importantly to realise that its constituents are too intelligent to be duped into shouting chants that they don’t necessarily agree with purely so that they have the money and support to pursue their extracurricular entertainment. In short, I’m not going on their damn march just to foot the fee for my society’s next batch of member-specific novelty hats, nor would I be doing so if I had intended on going to Demo 2012 in the first place. Students who are not left-wing in their politics, or merely can’t muster the enthusiasm to go all the way down to London and mill around with a placard for a day, already found it difficult to identify with the University of Manchester Students’ Union, or foster a sense that it is an organisation which caters to their needs or represents their opinions. This recent policy, grounded on an abhorrent miscalculation by the Union themselves about the political makeup of Manchester’s students, will hardly help matters.

Comment

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

‘Do demonstrations actually change anything?’ Campaigns and Citizenship Officer Khalil Secker seeks to challenge the notion that protest is pointless, in the face of growing apathy

NUS National Demo against Tution Fees Rise, London. 10th November 2010 Photo - Tom Harrison

In the run up to national student demo on the 21st November, this is a question I’ve been asked a lot. The last student demo in 2010 against £9,000 tuition fees had a record 50,000 students turn up – but the government ignored them and raised tuition fees anyway. Surely then protest is useless? Surely the government just does what it wants regardless of what we say or do? But if we look more closely, the rise to £9,000 fees was won by 323 votes to 302 – a majority of just 21. The governments’ majority was cut by almost three-quarters after a five-hour Parliamentary debate, whilst 50,000 students demonstrated outside. Twenty-one Lib Dem MPs and six Conservatives disobeyed their party leaders and listened to students instead. We might not have won – but we made a big impact, made our voice heard and showed that we weren’t going to take it lying down. Demo 2012 gives us a chance to impact the national debate at a time when the rights of young people are too often ignored. Here’s a question for first year students: How many of your friends from school or college decided not to go to university because they were worried about debt? This year, 50,000 fewer students have gone to university because of the increase in tuition fees to £9,000. It is estimated that first year students at Manchester will be paying off graduate debt until they’re 50. But what about the rest of us who were lucky enough to dodge the fee increase? Why would we go on a demo? The answer is simple – youth unemployment is at a record high level of over 20%. This is whilst the government is cutting funding for the Job Centre and Connextions – both of which help young people back into work. Many of those unemployed are subject to a new system of unpaid labour called Workfare. People who are unemployed and have to claim Jobseekers

The Government just does what it wants, right? Protests are useless? Allowance are offered a job that pays no wages – despite being with companies which can afford to pay them. If you refuse to accept this ‘opportunity’, your benefits are stopped and you are faced with the very real possibility of not being able to put food on the table. Yet whilst many students struggle to find work after graduating, the university is shutting down one of the few courses where 100% of students go on to find work afterwards – Applied Youth and Community Work. Right now, we need as many youth and community workers as we can find. Research on the summer riots showed the average rioter was male, aged 21, unemployed and with a previous criminal record. To phrase it another way, there are thousands upon thousands of young people with no hope for the future and who don’t care about the rest of society. These are the people who youth workers focus on by working with them to build job aspirations and CV’s and in doing so working to keep them

out of trouble. Even if you want to take a purely financial look at it, it’s far cheaper for the taxpayer to fund youth workers than prisons. That’s why shutting the Applied Youth and Community Work course isn’t just going to damage young people in the local community, it’s going to damage everyone else as well through increased crime levels. But this demo isn’t just about focusing on what’s wrong. It’s chance for us to re-imagine how we want society to work in a fairer way and to make that view heard. One of the main alternatives to the cuts is clamping down on corporate tax avoidance. Protesters and campaigners from the grop UK Uncut claim that in 2010 Vodafone was allowed to avoid £6bn in tax just 2 months after £6bn of cuts were announced to public spending by government. Conservative estimates of corporate tax dodging as a whole say that it costs the country at least £45bn. Due to consistent protests, this is being gradually clamped down on. A Robin Hood Tax on banks is another alternative to the cuts supported by charities like Oxfam and the Salvation Army as well as two Nobel-prize winners for economics. It is a tiny tax of just 0.05% on financial transactions carried out by banks, which could raise £20bn in the UK each year to be reinvested in education and healthcare. Demo 2012 is a chance to highlight what’s going wrong with education and society and how we can work together to fix it – that’s why the tagline is ‘Reclaim your education. Re-imagine society.’ So let’s make our voices heard and vote with our feet.

Disagree? Tweet us @mancuniondebate or email us at comment@mancunion.com

Demo 2012: should we care?

On the 21st of November the NUS will be organising a mass protest in London. The demonstration will address the grievances they have with the government’s handling of the economic crisis and the impact it is having both on education and youth unemployment. So why should we care? Well according to the NUS website, for three very good reasons: Education, Employment and Empowerment. Since getting into power the coalition government has embarked on a campaign of austerity and cutbacks across the social sector. Tuition fees went up, despite promises to the contrary by the Liberal Democrats; restrictions were placed on international students; the EMA was scrapped, damaging the educational prospects of the poorest sections in society; and

most fascistically despicable of all, the elimination of funding for post-graduate education. On the employment front the situation is also pretty grim. Youth unemployment is high, and rising, with almost 22% of under 25s (about 1 million give or take) not in education or employment; a problem that isn’t helped by the government cutting funding for the Job centre and Connextions. And what has been the government’s response to all this? Not a great deal, beyond perhaps Nick Clegg’s too little too late apology for stabbing his core constituents in the back. “There’s no major piece of policy being debated in Parliament at the moment”, according to Manchester University SU Campaigns Officer Khalil Secker, “and no general election for another two years”. The

demonstration, timed to coincide with Prime Minister’s Questions, is hoping to change that, and rekindle the debate on these vital issues. But that still doesn’t full answer the question. Why we should care? Whilst we may lament the impact of the cuts on the most vulnerable in society, what is the worst that happens to us? I, like most of us would have enrolled in Uni before the rise in tuition fees took effect. The only person in my immediate family who is going to be badly affected is my youngest brother, and I never much liked him anyway. So unless you’re a fresher it doesn’t seem like you have much to complain in that area. Speaking as a person who, intends to go on to do a Master Degree, the elimination of funding certainly annoys me. But

even then I would say that most of us going into higher, higher education, would not be deterred by that. There are always going to be ways to make ends meet, even if it means having to make cut backs on frivolous things, like drinks, DVDs, or dinners. No one applies to do a Masters because it’s going to be easy, it truly is a labour of love, and whilst the funding would make it a hell of a lot easier, for all but a few it won’t be the end of the world. So beyond a certain degree of moral self- at the suffering of others righteousness (not to disparage moral selfrighteousness, it has its uses), do the majority of us have any good reason to support Demo2012? Well, yes actually, we kind of do. To focus only on what affects us directly is a short-sighted myopia that prevents us from seeing the

wider stakes we hold in society. Education is a public good; we benefit by living alongside other people who are intelligent, and who have had the education possible to turn that intelligence to good use. I personally like living in a society that is totally inhabited by idiots, imbeciles and ignoramuses. I sleep better at night knowing that there are doctors and nurses with the proper training to look after me, that there are engineers that can stop the buildings I use from collapsing around my head, that there are computer scientists who can keep pushing the achievements of the Digital Age to new heights. An overabundance of trained and skilled individuals is infinitely better than a deficiency of them. I understand that times are tough and the government needs

to find some way to fill the massive deficit in the budget. Now I don’t (always) pretend to know what is best for everyone, or how best to do everything, but there are ways the government can tackle the deficit without jeopardising the prospects of an entire generation; close more tax loopholes, aim for a longer-term austerity program instead of trying to close it as quickly as possible etc. But damaging the education sector hurts all sections of society in the long run. So I would encourage everyone to support Demo2012 and fight for the future, not just for you, not just for your fellow students, but for all our sakes. Any additional information about Demo2012 can be found on the NUS website.

Alex Goldhill

ISSUE 11/ 3rd DECEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Got a comment about one of our stories? Or something you want the students of Manchester to hear ? email: letters@mancunion.com

Getting Involved! Meeting Times & Contact Information News Editors: Jonathan Breen, Anthony Organ, Ellen Conlon & Michael Williams Email: news@mancunion.com Meeting: Mondays, 11am The Mancunion office 1st Floor Students’ Union Features Editor: Andrew Williams Email: features@mancunion.com Politics & Comment Editors: Emma Bean, Lisa Murgatroyd & Antonia Jennings Email: comment@mancunion.com Meeting: Fridays, 4pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union Film Editors: Nihal Tharoor & Sophie James Email: film@mancunion.com Meeting: Mondays, 5.15pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union Fashion & Beauty

Editors: Jake Pummintr, Elizabeth Harper & Jessica Cussack Email: fashion@mancunion.com Meeting: Tuesdays, 5pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union Music Editors: Sophie Donovan, Joe Goggins & Daniel Jones Music Web Editor: Tom Ingham Email: music@mancunion.com Meeting: Tuesdays, 5.30pm Room 7, 2nd Floor, Students’ Union Books Editor: Phoebe Chambre Email: literature@mancunion.com Meeting: Tuesdays, 6pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union Games Editor: Sam Dumitru Email: games@mancunion.com Join the Facebook group ‘Mancunion Games Section contributors’ Food & Drink Editors: Jess Hardiman & Emily Clark

Want to write for the UK’s largest student paper? Then pick a section and come to one of their meetings!

Email: foodanddrink@mancunion.com Meeting: Tuesdays, 1pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union Arts Editor: Harriet Hill-Payne Email: arts@mancunion.com Updates on the Facebook page: http://www. facebook.com/TheMancunionArtsCulture Theatre Editor: Josephine Lane Email: theatre@mancunion.com Meeting: Mondays, 5.30pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union Lifestyle Editors: Keir Stone-Brown, Dana Fowles & Zara Zubeidi Email:lifestlye@mancunion.com Meeting: Tuesdays, 5.30pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union

Meeting: Wednesdays, 4.30pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union Sport Editors: Ciaran Milner, Tom Acey & Matthew Barber Email: sport@mancunion.com Meeting: Thursdays, 6pm Student Activities 1st Floor Students’ Union Photography Editor: Patrycja Marczewska Email: patrycjam@live.co.uk Meeting: Mondays, 6pm Room 8 2nd Floor Students’ Union

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Film

TOP

Miscast Roles 5. George Clooney-

Batman and Robin Seeing as this is one of the worst movies ever made it may seem harsh to lay the blame with Clooney. It is his worst performance, looking so lacklustre it’s evident he doesn’t want to be in it. However nothing could have saved this abomination.

4. . Sofia CoppolaGodfather III Director Francis Ford Coppola cast his own daughter as the daughter of crime boss Michael Corleone. This proved to be a mistake as her awkward and immature performance contributed to making it the weakest film in the trilogy.

3. Katie HolmesBatman Begins A rare misstep by Christopher Nolan, Holmes plays assistant district attorney Rachael Dawes and is clearly out of her depth considering her background in teen soap operas. Unsurprisingly she didn’t reprise the role in The Dark Knight.

2. Kevin CostnerRobin Hood Prince of Thieves American actor Costner landed the role of the mythical English outlaw but decided not to attempt an English accent. Zero marks for authenticity!

1. Orlando BloomThe Lord of the Rings Trilogy It’s simple, watch the films and look at his face. His method of acting is to look wistfully into the distance like he’s recalling a particularly good episode of Baywatch. Awful. Dan King

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

The Revenge of Tarantino Nihal Tharoor takes a look at what makes a Tarantino film so brutally entertaining In the last decade Quentin Tarantino has had an undeniable fetish with the concept of the revenge fantasy. Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2 (2003-4) are, in essence, revenge films, where Uma Thurman tracks down every person responsible for the massacre at her wedding party and enacts incredibly brutal and entertaining justice. Tarantino’s lesser-known Death Proof ‘s (2007) explodes with the tagline ‘buckle up for a crash course in revenge’ as we follow an ex-stuntman who, murdering young women in staged car accidents, finally becomes hunted by those he is stalking. Inglourious Basterds (2009) creates an historical fantasy world where we can see Hitler and the Nazis comically degraded and suffer brutally at the hands of American soldiers and Jewish civilians, the very epitome of a revenge fantasy. It certainly makes sense for Tarantino to have maintained this winning formula of recent years. His films rarely lack in striking and colourful violence, and the sweet sense of justice that is always achieved by the end of these films

emotionally satisfies, allowing us to exalt in their brutal killings. Now this winter brings us Tarantino’s seventh feature film Django Unchained, which looks to follow strongly in suit of this theme, particularly with the historical vengeance of Inglourious Basterds. Set in an America before the emancipation of slavery, it follows Django, a slave turned bounty hunter attempting to rescue his wife from the yoke of a brutal Mississippi plantation owner. Slavery is the greatest injustice in America’s history and it feels perfectly fitting, conscious or not, that Tarantino has built up his revenge fantasies to this. With the fiery Jamie Foxx taking the role of Django the slave, and an exciting supporting cast of both Tarantino regulars (Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz) and newcomers (Leonardo Di Caprio, Kerry Washington), it does look like all the right buttons are being pressed – the trailer shows us Foxx energetically whipping what could only be a slave master. It would be nice though, after this release, to see Tarantino put the revenge fantasies to one side and return to the

colourful LA backstreet setting where the unique complexities of Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994) and Jackie Brown (1997) thrived. Yes these films reveled in graphic violence, and even the sweet revenge fantasy (think back room pawn shop scene, where Mr. Wallace is about to go ‘medieval’ on their asses), but this stood as secondary to a hilarious script, interesting characters, and innovative structure and form.

Of course you can argue these last ten years of Tarantino has provided us with highly entertaining films, so why change a good thing? But I think few would dispute that Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs is why, twenty years on, ‘a Quentin Tarantino film’ still has the ability to pack out theatres worldwide. Nihal Tharoor

Preview

The Sapphires Director: Wayne Blair • Starring: Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman It’s 1968 and there’s revolution in the streets. Over the water, the war in Vietnam is raging, but in the back and beyond of aboriginal Australia, four girls are discovering that their shared talent for singing could change their lives forever. The driving force behind them, and the man with all the big ideas, is Dave (Chris O’Dowd–Bridesmaids, The IT Crowd) and as their manager, this family affair becomes a fully formed girl band ready take Vietnam by storm and sing for the US troops. First discovered singing Country and Western, Dave takes them from timid young girls unaware of their potential and introduces them to soul, rousing them with his passionate words of strength and courage, teaching them: “every note that passes through your lips should have the tone of a woman who is grasping and fighting and desperate to retrieve what’s been taken from her”. Based on a true story, this show stopper is more than a light hearted morale booster. Moments such as Dave’s request

Director

PROFILE Name: Sam Mendes Age: 47 Best known for: American Beauty, Skyfall

regarding the girls singing: “before you do it again, can you make it sound blacker?” suggest the serious racial undertones explored in this temperamental era. The ‘whitest’ girl in the band: Kay, (Shari Sebbens – in her debut role), for example, has clearly had a different upbringing to the rest of the girls – which is later explained, and thus one of the more poignant sub-plots of this tale is her re-integration into black aboriginal culture. In conjunction with this, Gail (Deborah Mailman – part of the original stage show production, The Secret Life of Us) the most domineering of the girls, learns to accept that Kay’s different upbringing does not necessarily define her as a person and so she begins to accept her own place in the world. The other two girls in the band are Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell) and Julie ( Jessica Mauboy). For Julie, the film follows her coming of age, running away from home to join them, but ending up becoming the lead singer and a woman along the way.

Described by Deborah Mailman herself, as “fun, fabulous and powerful” this film previously penned as “part drama, part comedy, with a classic soundtrack”, is contagiously uplifting. With The Sapphires being billed as Australia’s answer to ‘The Supremes’ who can resist making comparisons between this and the box office smash Dreamgirls. With an exceptional ten minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival and international rave reviews, this foot-tapping, feel good film about friendship, love and war is one not to be missed. Alexandra Matthews

Sam Mendes’ Skyfall is the film of the moment and he is personally receiving the most stunning reviews a director can hope for. However I, the only person in England not to have seen the new Bond film, will attempt to show why my love for Mendes runs much deeper than his newfound Bond groupies. Mendes’ CV is quite the read. At the tender age of twenty-four he was directing Judi Dench in the West End. He is by nature a theatre director and has had tremendous success in a number of productions, notably Cabaret, with which he changed many perceptions of musicals, and Richard III, to name just a few. In his role as artistic director he turned the Donmar into one

of London’s most notable theatre venues. Mendes effortlessly merged into film and

his debut, American Beauty, won five Oscars including Best Director, cementing his reputation as a uniquely gifted director. His films are characterised by their visual grace, clarity and unerring respect for the dialogue. Mendes brings, with unnerving consistency, a theatre-like intimacy to his films; this is done because of the importance he bestows on his characters and their relationship with the audience. That is why the Mendes ingredient being added to the shaken-not-stirred James Bond cocktail was always destined for greatness. Joshua Brown

Film

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Preview

End Of Watch

A Year In Film: 1939

Director: David Ayer • Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Anna Kendrick To define End Of Watch as a stereotypical cop blockbuster with a famous actor in the lead role would be doing the film an injustice. I admit, Jake Gyllenhaal’s name (and face) instantly grabbed my attention. His previous critically acclaimed roles have marked him as an incredibly successful film actor, bringing to the media’s attention the indie thriller Donnie Darko and the challengingly controversial Brokeback Mountain. Costarring Michael Peña and America Ferrera, the End Of Watch cast is full of recognisable faces (Anna Kendrick also stars as Jake Gyllenhaal’s girlfriend – lucky thing!) yet the diverse mix of unknown actors interweaved throughout allows us to appreciate the film as a believable story instead of a distracting who’s-who-andhow-do-I-know-them. Shot by handheld camera work, the audience is sure to be blasted by an immediate sense of intimacy, involving us in the relaxed and comical banter of Gyllenhaal and Peña’s police partnership and consequently the danger they become involved in. Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Peña) are typical cop-buddies, patrolling the streets as a darkly comic duo on the south central

Los Angeles police force. They have a seemingly easy job, enjoying the recognition and perks with little hard work, yet are very likeable characters. The relaxed atmosphere does not last however, as the two policemen are soon threatened and targeted by a dangerous Mexican gang. Subsequently high-octane shoot outs, swinging camera action and night vision create a severe contrast to the blissful personal lives they lead in the meantime. Rotten Tomatoes have awarded End Of Watch 86%. Clearly this cop saga is successful at differentiating itself from the usual buddy cop genre, or the good cop/bad cop motif. In many opinions

the use of handheld cameras is somewhat clichéd especially after Cloverfield, but don’t let this put you off. It can be the perfect technique to create the sudden visceral changes in tempo that End of Watch claims to be full of, highlighting the vast contrasts between ordinary car patrols, smooth arrests and tense night-time searches. End Of Watch is an intriguing mix of the stereotypical genre. I am certainly fascinated to see whether the gamble is as successful as the reviews say. End of Watch will be released on 23rd November 2012.

Ally Mitchell

1939 represents one of the studio system’s finest hours. Drawing near to the end of this Golden decade as the war in Europe was declared, 1939 saw the age of femaledomination in motion pictures on a scale never seen before. Dames now stood with a greater role on the screen as America’s sweetheart, Dorothy graced the yellow brick road in vivid Technicolor in The Wizard of Oz, leaving an imprint on popular culture with that song about a rainbow. You know the one. 1939 also saw the age of great adaptations, bringing novels to life with sharp screenplays. The year brought us some of the most romantic stories including The Hunchback of Notre Dame and British literary classic Wuthering Heights. In addition, the career of John Wayne was launched and John Ford did not disappoint, presenting us with his first feature with sound: Stagecoach. Amidst the epic setting of Monument Valley, Stagecoach took the ‘western’ to a new level. But 1939 didn’t just tailor for the Hollywood epic. The screen also connected more personally with tales about ordinary people. A more

sentimental tone was added to the screen with the releases of Mr. Smith goes to Washington, starring James Stewart, and the classic tearjerker Goodbye, Mr Chips. And, how could we forget Gone With The Wind? Not only did this civil war epic leave one of the most recognised quotes in film history, it took in more at the box office than any epics of the 1950’s such as Ben Hur (1959) or any of the Disney films. In fact, it sold more ticket receipts than any other movie in history. If there was a film that embodied everything 1939 had to offer,

from a great adaptation to female dominance, this is it, as it swept the board picking up eight Oscars including Best Picture. With film becoming a more dominant art form, it’s no wonder that 1939 proved one of the most popular years with audiences. From lions, tigers and bears to Miss Scarlett O’Hara. It is safe to say that 1939 has indeed left its mark on the silver screen and I have no doubt that it will do for a very long time. Faye Broadbent

The ‘Argo’-naut

Sophie James celebrates the many talents of writer, actor and director Ben Affleck as the ultimate comeback kid

Ben Affleck is a case of the child star made good. Starting his working life on PBS’ children’s series The Voyage of Mimi his career since has been filled with ups and downs but has seen him become one of the few to conquer within the three main disciplines of film-making: screenplay, acting and directing. Having acted in various TV shows, as well as directing his first short, the curiously named I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney (1993), it wasn’t until 1997 that Affleck

LISTINGS

was plunged into the critical spotlight with his stunning screenplay debut: Good Will Hunting. Not only did this receive great critical acclaim and public attention, but also consolidated his life long friendship with Matt Damon (his 10th cousin once removed, if you’re to believe everything Wikipedia tells you!). The screenplay was amazing and the few scenes featuring Affleck were said to be the best of the film – Ben Affleck was becoming a household name in Hollywood. As an actor he’s done some good things – Shakespeare In Love, Daredevil and the cultclassic Dazed and Confused to name a few – but he’s also had disasters, plumbing the depths with Pearl Harbor. Despite being a box office hit, the critics were famously unimpressed, banishing Affleck into acting oblivion. How was he to come back after that? Very easily. It seems that such blunders only caused Affleck to regroup and regenerate – coming back as director and writer of Gone Baby Gone in 2007. An adaptation of the novel by Dennis Lehane, Gone Baby Gone may not have been a box office success, but won him much industry acclaim with the award for Best Directorial Debut from the National Board of Review. From then on the only way has been up for Affleck. The Town (2010), which not

only starred, but was written and directed by Affleck, was this time praised both by critics and box office. Grossing $150 million worldwide, The Town was nominated for nearly every film award under the sun. But with all of these achievements, the best and most appealing thing that Ben Affleck has proved is that, he’s only human. No matter what your opinion is, there haven’t been many who have been able to successfully venture into, and maintain, a career in acting, directing and screen-writing simultaneously, so a few mistakes can be forgiven. To keep going even after having been frequently named “the worst actor ever” and having endured a relationship with, and then a highly-publicized break up from, Jennifer Lopez, shows some skill! With his most recent film Argo (out on November 7th 2012) already receiving rave reviews and being tipped for multiple Oscar nominations, could it be that in the future Ben Affleck’s name will be said in the same breath as Quentin Tarantino or Woody Allen as a multi-talented actor-director-screenwriter? Who knows, but it certainly looks like Affleck is doing all he can to beat back the critics and prove us all wrong time and time again. Sophie James

The Master Come the end of this autumn, one film will scream out to be revisited during the long winter evenings – Paul Thomas Anderson’s, The Master. Having been exclusively screened at London’s West End Odeon in 70mm projection before its national release (16th November), the anticipation is mounting with a Cornerhouse experience sure to quench every film-lover’s thirst. Anderson (There will be Blood, Boogie Nights) rallies together an allstar cast, collaborating with the likes of Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Moneyball) - for the third occasion, Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line) and Amy Adams (The Fighter). The Master tells a compelling story that will stimulate your every sense and have you covered in goose bumps. Captured masterfully by Anderson, the narrative hones in on troubled Naval veteran Freddie Quell (Phoenix) as he struggles to reach any level of normality upon his arrival back home from service in WW2. Drifting through life and suffering a series of post-traumaticstress driven breakdowns, Quell crosses paths with charismatic intellect Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), forming a bond that ignites the film into life. Having already swooped to win three awards at the Venice and Hollywood Film Awards, this unique vision is sure to attract further praise and adulation in the coming months. Anderson excels after five years out of the limelight and provides the platform that allows Phoenix and Hoffman to deliver their best performances to date. A masterpiece is born. Sam Parr

SKYFALL (12A)

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 (15)

THE SAPPHIRES (PG) DIRECTOR: WAYNE BLAIR

DIRECTOR: SAM MENDES

DIRECTOR: HENRY JOOST

STARRING: CHRIS O’DOWD, DEBORAH MAILMAN

STARRING: DANIEL CRAIG, JAVIER BARDEM, JUDI DENCH

RUNNING TIME: 103 MIN

RUNNING TIME: 142 MIN

SHOWING: 12:15 15:00 17:50 20:40

SHOWING: 17:15 17:30 18:00 18:15 18:30 19:00 19:15 19:30 20:00 21:00 21:30 21:45 22:00

ARGO (15)

MADAGASCAR 3 (PG)

DIRECTOR: BEN AFFLECK

DIRECTOR: ERIC DARNELL

STARRING: BEN AFFLECK, BRYAN CRANSTON

STARRING: BEN STILLER, CHRIS ROCK, DAVID SCHWIMMER

RUNNING TIME: 120 MIN

RUNNING TIME: 93 MIN

STARRING: KATIE FEATHERSTON, KATHRYN NEWTON

SHOWING: 12:45 15:35 18:20 21:15

SHOWING: 12:20 14:50 17:20

RUNNING TIME: 88 MIN SHOWING: 13:50 16:10 18:30 20:45

Fashion

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Beauty and the Tramp Alice Tofts and Miles Zilesnick on how to take the style from the street and adhere to tramp chic...

Pour femme: The desire to look messy, dishevelled and slightly worse for wear has become more and more apparent during the last ten years. Much to the dismay of my grandmother, girls have a blatant lack of concern for having ladders in their tights and holes in their jumpers. Unlike our grandparent’s generation who strived to emulate the rich, current trends appear to romanticise the poor. As loans run dry, the weather gets colder and stylistic inspiration is lost, naturally the smartness of our attire may decline. The good news is that tramp chic is ideal for student life and budgets. If holes in tights appear, there is no need to buy a new pair. Who cares if the knitted jumper you got in the charity shop is 2 sizes too big? Tramp chic is all about simplic-

ity practicality and carelessness. Forget attention to detail when putting together an outfit. Clashing patterns and textures should be encouraged not spurned. A tramp chic wardrobe consists of heavy and chunky pieces. One of the most practical items is the chunky knit. However to give it an edge, wear it with a maxi skirt to make the outfit appear unbalanced. Sturdy, comfortable shoes are prescriptive in this trend. Doc Martins and Creepers are practical for daily life in Manchester. As for hair and make up, less is more. Use natural shades around the eyes. Keep grooming to a minimum and allow knots and dreadlocks to gradually accumulate just in time for Christmas when your grandmother insists on buying you a hairbrush and a nice new pair of tights.

Pour homme: Tramp chic is a confusing trend. For such a relaxed “I don’t care look”, it can take a lot of effort to achieve it: Step 1: Before clothing even comes into question, think about your overall appearance. Let your facial hair grow for a bit. Don’t be afraid to trim and keep it a little neat. It’s tramp chic, not just tramp. Step 2: Facial hair sorted, turn the attention to the mop on your head. Nothing really to do here except grap a beanie. This style is all about keeping warm so a hat is perfect in this respect. Step 3: Any plain t-shirt will do, make sure it’s clean though, you don’t need an accompanying smell. Then to go over this, a knee length parka will do, especially in Manchester for that Gallagher effect. Fur hood optional. Step 4: Going down, we need to focus on trousers. My recommendation is black or grey tight skinnies, with some optional tears in the knees. Step 5: Shoes. This one is pretty open, either some military leather boots would work well,

or an old beaten up pair of Converse would be appropriate too. Step 6: The finishing touches can add to it all, so get a pair of fingerless gloves to begin with, a nice watch and a couple of bangles or festival bands for your wrists and you’re set for that Tramp Chic look. Now, you have the steps for the style go and trawl through Oldham Street for all the cheap vintage stores, and remember Afflecks too. One of my prized jumpers came from there and was a mere £2, in true tramp chic style.

Street Style

TOP

This week: The Thrifty Issue

Occupation: Student of Fashion Buying and Merchandising at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Occupation: Student of Fashion Design and Technology at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Spotted: Oldham Street, Northern Quarter.

Wearing: T-shirts by Cindy’s House, Shoes by Office, Jacket by Thriftette, Belt by Moschino, Bag by Anucci Vintage, Fur collar from eBay, Jeans that he made himself, padlocks from B&Q and headband by NY.

Wearing: Coat by Topship via eBay, Shirt by H&M, Jumper by Primark, Jeans by Topshop, Boots by Dune and a vintage bag.

Icon: I don’t really have any specific style icons. I dress in terms of ‘what I see is what I want’. I like the whole grunge trend and have worn these padlocks as necklaces since I was 15, which Effie from Skins did shortly afterwards, but whatever.

Icon: I suppose it would be Alexa Chung because she is messy and cool all the time, very effortlessly.

Thrifty fashionista Tilly Miller shows you three easy steps to stud up your wardrobe at home.

Tramp Iconic An issue on tramp chic fashion would be nothing without mentioning Hollywood’s most stylish twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Have you ever been flicking through your favourite fashion magazine on a quiet afternoon when you spot the most amazing nail designs that leave you desperate to replicate them? However, one problem; no personal A-list manicurist. And let’s face it, every flick of that tricky nail brush just seems to push us further and further away from the masterpiece we ultimately set out to achieve. Well, I went on a quest to find the best and easiest nail art trends bang in vogue right now...

1) The Newspaper Nail Simply paint a base coat onto your nail (colour is optional), find a section of newspaper you want to transfer onto your nail, dip it in water and wipe away the excess, place it on your nail (only once base coat is dry!) and press firmly for approximately a minute and a half. Carefully remove the newspaper and voila, there you have it!

I think everyone can agree that when it comes to fashion, why spend more when you can spend less and still look just as good?

2) TheVelvet Nail It has already made it big on the catwalk at Monique Lhuillier’s Fall 2012 Runway Show and at just £14 for the entire set (by Ciate) including a paint pot, one pot of crushed velvet powder (in navy, plum or mink) and a little black brush, it’s not exactly hard to understand why.

3) The Glitter Nail

Got any odd buttons, poppers or crafty materials lying around somewhere under that mound of uni work? Well it’s time to put them to good use as 3D nail effects are the new season must-do. You could use anything from rhinestones to parts of toys, or even punch a hole in your nail to attach chains... We’ll leave this one entirely up to you.

Emma Richards

At the moment studded denim shorts, shirts and leather are all very ‘in’. The only problem is that they tend to be particularly expensive items to buy on the high street. But don’t fear! If you don’t have the money to splash out in Topshop, why not start studding your own stuff? A lot of people have jumped on this thrifty fashion trend simply because it couldn’t be easier, or cheaper!

Mary-Kate and Ashley embody the lasting success of the tramp-chic trend. As a pair and as individuals they emulate the ability to look oh-so expensive in the most bedraggled of fashions. These days Mary-Kate is better known for her ability to pass as a well-dressed Magic Bus Lady than for her and Ashley’s on-screen achievements. Ashley has a similar style but definitely resembles the more ‘chic’ side of tramp-chic. Together they present the best aspects of fashion by showing how dressing down can be so much more effective than constantly glamming it up. Take, for instance, their ensembles of choice for the 2010 CFDA awards (see above): the hair that is shiny and expensive looking yet still tousled and Mary-Kate’s distressed, high end accessory shouldn’t work, but it does. Why? Here we have the perfect example of the contradictory nature of the trampchic phenomenon. Going against the mainstream is always on trend, and thus the Olsens fore-go the prim and proper look meaning they stand out amongst the red-carpet masses. It’s safe to say that with their growing fashion empire, the Olsen twins will continue to influence trends- whether it’s amongst the tramps or the chic.

1. Buy some gold or silver pyramid studs, as these tend to be the easiest to apply. You can buy these from Ebay or Amazon all are priced under a fiver for a pack of 100 studs. The ones used on these shorts are silver pyramid studs from Amazon (see top right). 2.Decide where you want to place the studs on the item (I’m using shorts as an example); it doesn’t really matter where they go, as you won’t feel them once they’re in. Then push the back spikes of the pyramid all the way through the material like a pin.

Grainne Morrison

If you have misplaced the studs or just fancy taking them out again, use a pair of scissors to lift the metal

Beauty

Even though the caviar manicure gained many avid followers, it was still overpriced and not as long wearing as you’d expect. However, a solution has been found: the salted manicure. Simply apply salt to wet nails and allow to dry. When you’ve just got no fresh nail art ideas, go to the kitchen cupboard.

5) The Embellished Nail

spikes back up and pull the stud out from the front. They don’t leave an obvious mark once removed either, so are perfect for those of you who love to mix-up your fashion trends every now and then!

3. Push the back of the spikes inward towards the hollow centre of the pyramid to clasp the stud in place, and voila! Home made biker-shorts.

4) The Salted Nail

Name: Helena Colvin

SIY: Stud it yourself

Nifty-Thrifty Nails

The Fashion World has gone glitter mad this winter, no wonder then that this made the cut. This is the easiest nail design of them all and much more fun than buying glitter polish. The joy is in the creation, so let your imagination run wild.

Name: Ruairi Spence

Beauty in the Bigger Sense: Winter Warmers As promised, Jessica Cusack attempts to revive your frostbitten body and belly… Here is a little slice of something good for you, dedicated to making you look and feel better from the inside out, rather than covering up with tricks of the beauty trade. Although those are also very essential right now because the permanent circles under my eyes are just not cool. It’s November, the temperature is getting lower and the days are getting shorter. It’s deadline time and by now you know the library cleaners better than you know your own housemates. My guess is that we’re not feeling as sparkly as we would want – those winter blues are setting in pretty fast and we need some remedies… Exercise is essential at any time of the year but in winter especially. You’re pretty much stationary, being stuck inside all day on account of the Arctic weather, and seeking comfort in fast, cheap food which is not doing anything for the approaching party season body. Might I recommend heading down to the Manchester Aquatics Centre (or any other exercise establishment, but this one

is conveniently located 5 minutes from the library…just sayin’) where you can participate in a wide range of exercise classes, join the gym, or go swimming, all of which will have you feeling fighting fit pronto. Those little things called endorphins (remember them?) make you feel great, giving your mental and physical health a big old boost in this dreary month. Join me and participate in how not to look attractive: getting red, hot, and sweaty. Food is another issue this time of year, when after a long cold day all you want to do is whack something stodgy and comforting in the microwave and be done with it. Step away from the radiation machine I say! Taking an extra half an hour to make a proper nutritious meal will stand you and your digestive tract in good stead, plus you need all the nutrients available in order to get your immune system through the winter months. The Hemsleyandhemsley.com site has loads of great recipes which make you feel healthier by just looking at them. However, no amount of healthy food and exercise will prevent

the inevitable sniffles rippling through the library. If this is you, take tissues and for God’s sake BLOW YOUR NOSE. Speaking of the library, try to plan ahead and take healthy snacks with you, instead of buying Coca-Cola and chocolate when the afternoon slump begins. Having a latte and a banana, some nuts and raisins, or something filled with protein like bouncefoods.com energy balls, will fill you up and enable you to work more efficiently for longer. And whatever you do, do NOT miss breakfast. It’s a sure-fire way to feeling awful and once again reaching for a sugary substitute. You need to kick start your precious metabolism in the morning, and if you feed it badly, it will work badly, making you more prone to weight-gain and spots. Frightening, I know. Lecturing over, it’s time to put a little more time and effort into your health this wintertime. So get some rest, wrap up warm, and thank me come the Christmas season and summertime, which does, contrary to current belief, actually exist.

Music

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMEBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Interview

Editor’s column

To buy or not to buy Daniel Jones Music Editor Whether you agree with it or not, free music downloading has gradually become a part of everyday life over the past 20 years. Napster, Morpheus, Kazaa, Limewire and Pirate Bay have all come and gone, but the peer-to-peer sharing bug seems impossible to stamp out once and for all. With every attempted copyright crackdown, the filesharing community reacts by evolving and multiplying. It’s a bit like fighting the giant Hydra out of Hercules; every time you cut off one of her heads, another three grow back in its place. You should soon realise that cutting off heads is not the solution. One of the main problems with free downloading is that it compromises the ability of independent artists and labels to make a living from physical / iTunes sales. That’s a given. CDs, MP3s and vinyl are still an important source of income for labels and, to be fair, if you love an album that much then you should be willing to support the people who made it, in some way. Spotify is another route; it’s alright for those who can stand the iffy catalogue but you can never really know how directly you are contributing to an artist’s cause. It’s a shame that the cost of new vinyl is so goddamn expensive because it’s the only format that you can truly get a sense of the tangible effort in production. You get the beauty of the sleeve, the guaranteed audio quality of each track and the knowledge that you are helping to sustain the career of somebody who genuinely inspires you, as well as the format itself. But wait, if it wasn’t for peerto-peer sharing then most up and coming artists wouldn’t even exist in the listening sphere of

SONGS 5 IN THE FIELD OF... Footwear Tom Ingham

the average human being. In the technological age, free downloads are essential gifts at the beginning of any budding new musician’s path to stardom. They are an attempt to get the world to sit up and take notice, to persuade the listener to want to hear and see more. It’s not about being paid, it’s about being heard. Touring is the real money-maker (unless the artist is very old, or dead) and in that sense, free downloads are necessary to accumulate a global fan base. But as soon as popularity looks on the cards, free downloading becomes illegal piracy. There has to be a middle ground. No surprise then that the problem has been met with a few interesting reactions from those within the industry. In Rainbows revolutionised the way in which artists can offer their work to the world by championing the paywhat-you-want template. Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter offer a service for musicians who are trying to raise money to subsidise independent projects, so there are possibilities available to those who value their music as a gift and not as a cash cow. It’s not an overnight process, but the way music is financed, bought and sold is definitely changing. Gone are the days when you had to wait a month for your copy of the latest Motown 45’’ to come through the post. Technology has enabled artists like Radiohead and Amanda Palmer to set the wheels in motion, and there will undoubtedly be others who jump on the bandwagon. It is important to support the artists that you adore, but if can’t see them live and you can’t quite afford to spunk your loan on a wax copy of their latest album, I won’t judge you for using Mediafire for the time being.

Kidnap Kid Matt Relton AKA Kidnap Kid talks to The Mancunion about Sheffield’s musical heritage and spreading the love It’s been an compelling year for Kidnap Kid. Since the release of the Alphaville EP, the Sheffield-born producer and DJ has done his bit in helping the reemergence of Garage and House music. With numerous remixes coming out, an up and coming tour with Black Butter Records and a forthcoming EP in the new year, it’s hard not to get excited about what Kidnap Kid is bringing to the modern dance scene. But Kidnap Kid AKA Matt Relton tells The Mancunion that the origins of his productions are found deep in club music’s history. “I guess it all came from 90’s Garage, that was the start of the movement. It’s since merged with early 2000’s R&B and thats merged with the House resurgence and formed its own ‘poppy-thing’, it’s tricky to trace.” Indeed, the influences of Garage and R&B underpin a lot of Relton’s work, as 4x4 rhythm meets vocal samples. Whilst many will argue that these sounds have existed for decades, this new generation of producers, which includes the likes of Karma Kid, Disclosure and of course Kidnap Kid himself, are taking this formula and proving that it can be successful in a commercial environment. Notably, Disclosure are currently eleventh in the charts, but Relton does not see this musical era continuing in the future: “It’s changed so much in the last two years, in a years time it won’t sound the same at all. I think everything is going to go it’s separate ways, I don’t think it will last. Some people will go further into House and other people will go into different places, it’s gonna move quite quickly. At the minute I’m listening to stuff thats a bit slower, more Funky Bassline kind of thing.” Hailing from Sheffield, a city of rich club music heritage, Relton admits this must have had some influence on his style: “It’s the obvious answer because the Bassline scene - the classic Sheffield Dance movement - is quite big really. But at the time I wasn’t actually

1. Paul Simon Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

2. Elvis Costello (Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes

Surely the whole point of wearing diamonds is to attract jealousy from unsuspecting onlookers who are much less fortunate than yourself. It’s a vulgarian display of the highest order. Well actually, this girl was so stinking rich she just stuck them on the bottom of her shoes – why? Because she could.

As cool as Elvis Costello is, I don’t think that he can pull of red shoes. No matter who you are, or what you’ve got on, you’ll look ridiculous. Even Father Christmas himself opts for a more dignified black pair. Let the angels have them if you ask me, unless you are in actual fact Noddy, steer well clear!

I’ve been doing a lot of background production, but I can’t really say what... I’m trying to hide my name a little bit. into it that much.” It’s fair to say that Kidnap Kid was indeed just a ‘kid’ back in the days of Niche nightclub, but today he hopes that his music will give off a better vibe than that popularly associated with Bassline culture: “My music is pretty happy, pretty loved up. My message would be of spreading the love, an overall positive message. Just try and spread some happiness.” Isn’t that lovely? It is. And that is the overwhelming feeling Kidnap Kid’s music gives off. It sure won’t spark off many dancefloor brawls, that much is certain. We might as well face it: there is a lot of abysmal music out there that has the cheek to brand itself under the generic umbrella of ‘Dance’. Unfortunately, most of this music is not widely viewed as shite, but thankfully it is the likes of Kidnap Kid that are saving the scene from completely slipping into the

abyss. In terms of production quality, Relton’s sound is second to none. You might as well give up before you begin spending a day listening to Kidnap Kid trying to find flaws they don’t exist. But Relton admits he’s not sure of what it takes for a track to be ‘finished’: “I can’t really put my finger on it to be honest. It usually takes a long time, but I just kind of know. I rarely send anything out, I don’t even make a large amount of music. I just spend a long time on one thing and it’s finished when I can listen to it completely without finding any faults.” In the ever changing musical sphere, it is essential for any artist to stay fresh and with Kidnap Kid’s latest remix for Naughty Boy feat Emeli Sande now a month old, Relton assures that new music is not far away: “At the minute I’m just writing my next EP that should be out very early next year. It’s been quite a long process, working with vocalists, which is new territory.” However, aside from a prosperous solo career, Relton concedes that he has also been working on other projects: “I’ve been doing a lot of background production, but I can’t really say what (laughs). Well I dunno, I’ve just done a single with a girl called Loulou James which seems to be doing quite well, but other than that it’s more background stuff because I’m trying to hide my name a little bit.” Respectably so, it would appear that fame is not always not a priority of every young musician, and this certainly fits with the effortlessly humble nature that Relton and his music gives off. Kidnap Kid will play on 22nd November at Hi Ku (Joshua Brooks) alongside Drop/Dead. Tickets are £2 early-bird on Skiddle. 11:00pm til 4:00am (last entry 1:30am)

Sam Bartram

3. KC & the Sunshine Band - Boogie Shoes

4. Elvis Presley Blue Suede Shoes

5. Black Sabbath Fairies Wear Boots

Although KC don’t specify exactly what shoes constitutes a ‘boogie shoe’ I think it’s safe to assume that even a pair of Crocs would do the trick when you’ve got a groove like this. Beware though, once you put them boogie shoes on, they’re not coming off! One size fits all.

Elvis was a pretty fashionable chap, but not the most practical when it came to footwear, I have to say. When you’ve got to wade through endless streams of fluids from you’re crazed female fans after every gig, the last thing you want to be wearing is suede – an absolute nightmare to clean!

It’s quite hard to picture Tinkerbell wearing a pair of Doc Martens. I guess once you’ve taken as many drugs as Ozzy has then it isn’t totally inconceivable. I like to imagine that when Sharon isn’t around, it’s these fairies who help him through the day to day turmoil of being Ozzy Ozbourne.

Music

ISSUE 08/12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Interview

McFly McFly talk to The Mancunion about pop, strings and pseudonyms Emily Clark, Food and Drink Editor Okay, so it was only Harry (drums) and Danny (lead vocals and guitar) – not the fab four. I haven’t listened to McFly for about 5 years, but I did see them in concert when I was 15 and danced and screamed for the whole thing. They’re still big enough to headline the Christmas Lights switch-on at The Trafford Centre, where I was lucky enough to interview them. After enduring questions from three other girls about what they want for Christmas, I brought the conversation to music. “Now you’ve got your own record label, how much influence do you specifically have over your songs – do you get to decide the orchestration, a violin here, an organ there?” I wanted to know how much they actually contributed to their finished product - I wasn’t expecting them to written every line of music, to have arranged and orchestrated whole songs or even to have produced them. Harry boasted “yeah we do absolutely everything, 100% and have done since the first ever song written by McFly. When we

first started, we were working with producers that have worked with legendary musicians and artists over the years. We were completely out of our depth; didn’t know how the whole process worked. We learnt a lot along the way and took a lot of advice. Songwriting-wise it’s always come 100% from McFly, especially now Danny’s been producing.” “That’s why I’m ill” piped in Danny. Just to clarify their definition of “absolutely everything” I asked “do you literally write out the string parts though?” Suddenly both of them animatedly corrected themselves - “nah, no, that’s what I was going to say” said Harry. “No, no, that’s far too complex” said Danny. “So you don’t arrange it?” I asked. Harry explained once they’d written a song, they decide the song would lend itself to strings and then they’d meet an orchestrator who would essentially take care of all the partwriting. Danny said “this is what is amazing about studios, you’ve got a blank canvas and the way you speak to each other like maybe you could do this (he sings) – it’s like different language we speak to Harry, we don’t know the technical

terms for fills or anything, but we’ve got this this weird language and I think all of us have got that sort of in us.” Harry put in “having said that, Danny’s done production too and he’s put string parts on themselves with pads and keys. It was amazing for the second album because we had huge orchestras playing on the album. Orchestration is a whole other world and Simon Howells who we first worked with (the guy who did Jamiroquai) did all the strings. If you took the strings out of ‘It’s All About You,’ that’s what Tom wrote. For us it’s an incredible experience. [To Danny] Remember when Tom was singing with a forty piece orchestra, for us at the age of 18, we were just like wow. It was really cool.” Feeling that I’d grilled them enough on production, I asked “do you have any guilty music pleasures? Mine is Call Me Maybe, can’t get enough!” Danny replied “the thing is, people often describe us as a guilty pleasure so I think it’s a good thing.” (Phew, good to know you know). But they said their recent guilty pleasures were Taylor Swift, Busted’s first album, One Direction’s first single ‘That’s What Makes You Beautiful’ and

Rihanna. Harry expanded on the appreciation of cheesy music “when we joined McFly at the age of 17, we were at the age when we were trying to be really cool, like playing drums and saying I’m into all these hardcore bands. But as soon as you’re in McFly and you’re writing pop music and you’re in a pop kind of scene, it opens you up to writing more types of music and you can actually admit you love Abba or The Backstreet Boys – like coming out.” Danny continued “it’s important to be open-minded, especially for song writers, less of this pigeonholing bollocks. I was stuck in it, coming from Bolton, I thought I was Liam Gallagher playing my guitar when I first got in the band. And then suddenly I was opened up to this huge world where you could appreciate any music – whether or not it’s Abba or Oasis or dance music.” I think most people would agree

that McFly have seen their heyday. But let’s not underestimate that heyday – they were the youngest ever band to have got to no.1 with their debut album. Their last album was a greatest hits, suggesting they’d creative juices were running dry. But Harry proved that wrong - “if you’re a talented songwriter like Danny or Tom, they have the ability to write all sorts of music - McFly is just what we’ve done from an early age. There are songs that we have written and recorded that people wouldn’t believe are done by us, but we wouldn’t release them.” I couldn’t help but exclaim, “you should release them under a pseudonym!” Harry said “we’ve thought about it.” And Danny says “we should create a band! Imagine if we stuck a song down and give it to a radio and say we don’t know who this is, but it’s awesome, under a random name-” Harry interrupted, saying “mate we talked about that, do

you remember.” Somehow I don’t think they’re going to. Harry went on “it’s interesting these dilemmas, if you go through the songs we’ve got this year, it’s all so different, but do we want to release that? We want to stay true to what we’ve been. That’s the frustrating thing about being in a pop band, because you have full creative control. It’s almost easier to be in a boy band where you get given the song by great songwriters who can churn out album after album. It takes longer these days for us to get music out – we’ve spent a year writing but we’re going away in January because we’re not sure if we’re happy with what we’ve got.” As the interview came to an end, Danny says “we’re a confused band” and chuckles.

Live

How to Dress Well Soup Kitchen - 3rd November 2012 Having not been to an out right, definitive ‘gig’ in a while How To Dress Well served as unapologetic reminder of the format. A small dark, dingy basement offering overpriced drinks and a modest stage. Tick. A young, handsome man bashfully emerging from a crowd in which his ‘trendy’ attire had previously afforded him anonymity, being applauded rapturously by excitable fans. Tick. A small group crowded round the stage singing each and every word

whilst staring adoringly at the project’s curator, Tom Krell and thus completely ignoring the unoriginal brooding image projections. Tick. An obnoxious heckler whose unintelligible, declarations, questions, or maybe even suggestions (?) are apparently collectively understood and considered to be very funny by everybody but me. Tick. However the evening failed to tick one crucial box; an exciting experience created by an engaging performance. Perhaps it is a the strain of

3/10 the European tour promoting the new album Total Loss, or the pressure of immense hype from the likes of Pitchfork, but the band seemed tired and were incapable of reaching the emotional climaxes expected of the “chill wave” darlings. Krell’s insistence that the “beats” be blasted as loud as possible in order to create intensity backfired. The sound quality was poor and his voice was overpowered. A far more captivating decision was his to sing a dedicated a capella version of ‘Clown Town’ as an encore. The beauty and fragility of his voice when stripped of any distraction was magical. An entire evening of hearing the simplicity and delicacy of his naked sound would have been far more successful in creating a sincere atmosphere. But the crowd were predominantly very happy and gushed to congratulate him and themselves, reminding me not only of the gig format, but a feeling that pervaded my entire teenage years; what have I missed? Jordan Thomas

The Walkmen HMV Ritz - 30th October 2012

Halfway through tonight’s triumphant set The Walkmen’s vocalist Hamilton Leithauser pauses to regale his audience with the sad tale of their first visit to Manchester. ‘They didn’t want us to play’ he tells us, relating how they ended their brief visit on the Curry Mile. In another frontman’s hands this anecdote might have formed part of a then-and-now victory lap, but as Leithauser darkly quips later on that tickets for tonight were going for a tenner outside, one gets the sense that little has changed for the band in his view. The Walkmen are a band who have had to fight to play venues of this size, and they sound like it. A shaky opening salvo of songs from their latest album, Heaven, seemed to confirm rumours that they were unpredictable live, with Leithauser’s ill-timed vocals jarring against his restrained rhythm section. Fortunately, by the time ‘Angela Surf City’, the rousing lead single from previous album Lisbon kicked in, the ever-modest singer was firmly in control of his material, caterwauling into the microphone while looking resplendent in his aristocraticBrooklynite attire.

Strangely for a tour promoting new material, the songs from the band’s last two albums sounded more rehearsed. Whereas the dense arrangements of ‘Blue as your blood’ and ‘Red Moon’ were sometimes a difficult listen on record, they became bona fide anthems tonight, with Paul Maroon’s ornate guitar lines allowed to unspool at their own pace as Peter Bauuer’s organ thrummed around the room. Yet there were also signs that the new songs are catching on - Heaven highlight ‘We Can’t Be Beat’ got one of the biggest singalongs of the night. There’s something quite fitting about this for a band who are as nostalgia-tinged The Walkmen, whose lyrics borrow

7/10

heavily from jazz age literature to describe twenty-something angst. Constantly evolving their stately sound while refining the vitriol of their early work, The Walkmen beat on, slowly carving themselves a niche as one of the best US bands of their generation. Their progress on this gradual trajectory was neatly demonstrated by Leithauser’s decision to exit through the crowd. Gently mobbed by shocked fans wishing to shake his hand, he left grinning, confident that he wouldn’t be returning to the Curry Mile any time soon. Thomas Short

Music

ISSUE 08/12TH NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Mancunion Recommends

Now: The Staves Dead and Born and Grown Atlantic Records; 10th November 2012

Dulcet tones and beautiful harmonies are the basis for this charmingly stripped-back album from The Staves. The trio of sisters from Watford deliver an easy listening debut album full of thought-provoking lyrics and acoustic guitar. Formed back in 2008, the sisters started playing local gigs and since then the band has come a long way providing vocals for a Tom Jones record in 2010 as well as touring with some big names notably Bon Iver, Ben Howard, Michael Kiwanuka and The Civil Wars. As well as this, the StaveleyTaylor sisters have worked with the infamous producers Glyn and Ethan Johns (who have worked alongside the likes of Bob Dylan, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones) surely a promising sign for the future of The Staves. This album, entitled Dead and Born and Grown,

has an autumnal feel and will certainly be a winter warmer as its soft, yet rich melodies will fight away those bitter Manchester days and winter blues. This melancholy album with tracks entitled ‘Winter Trees’ and ‘Snow’ provides the perfect soundtrack for this winter season. Tracks such as ‘Mexico’ and ‘The Motherlode’, already released as singles, are sure to be favourites on the album and have already received significant recognition and praise. The album owes much of its charm to its simply produced songs and unmanufactured sound. It is clear that these sisters have a raw talent and the simplicity of production provides an intimate listening experience as the songs and lyrics are laid bare. The Staves have mastered harmonies in a way that only sisters can as their voices intertwine and have a comforting effect on the listener. In recent times the folk scene has made a comeback with the likes of Mumford and Sons, Of Monsters and Men, and Laura Marling modernising the genre of music. The Staves are no different as they rejuvenate the folk scene and give it a quintessentially English touch of class. This album is something a little bit different. It’s something to relax to and something to enjoy on a quiet evening in. If you like any of the mentioned artists it is sure to be your cup of tea. It is a brave and beautiful album delivering serene and romantic songs with stunning harmonies and compelling melodies. This is a timeless album you will have on repeat for a while. Abi Aldred

Then: Manic Street Preachers Generation Terrorists Columbia Records; 1992 (reissued last The effect of time and age on a band is a joy to behold. Generation Terrorists, the Manic Street Preachers brash statement to the world is now celebrating its 20th Birthday. And from their initial manifesto of releasing one album, taking over the planet and then imploding, to performing softrock ballads on Strictly come dancing – the Manic Street Preachers are essentially the same politically charged punks, but just a tad more grown-up. The working title for the album, Culture, Alienation, Boredom & Despair is pretty damn effective in covering all the bases for the album. The Manics in themselves were ‘Generation Terrorists’ if you like; highly politicized nutters with no regard for establishment –thankfully they favored guitars over grenades. Take the opening track ‘Slash ‘n’ Burn’ straight away it’s a cold hard slap in the face. The Guns N’ Roses style riffs coupled with the bitterness in the lyrics “Madonna drinks Coke and so you can too, Taste’s real good not like a sweet poison should”. Nicky and the late (we assume so anyway) Richy provide most of the ammunition for the album, however the real credit for me goes to JDB for crafting actual songs given lyrics such as – “Obedience to the law is free desire, Under curfew from neon barbed wire, Wasting away this country, wearing like a born dead, Free heroin shots for those who never beg”. As a whole piece, my first encounter with Generation Terrorists was a difficult one. Over faced by the sheer audacity and arrogance, tracks like ‘You Love Us’ I’m ashamed to say kind of passed me by. On first impressions the abrasive nature and nofrills production was quite overwhelming, but the album is actually pretty varied in its styling. From

the amalgamation of Rage Against The Machine and Guns N’ Roses-esque tracks like ‘Another Invented Disease’ to the lush softer sounds found on ‘Little Baby Nothing’, James Dean Bradfield really excels as the sole musical contributor, and shows why many consider him the guitarist of his generation. To most, the creme de la creme of the album is the anthemic ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’ – comfortably taking the title of ‘that song you know, but aren’t sure who it’s by’. It epitomises the whole album, and in many ways showcasing the best of what the Manic Street Preachers have to offer. 20 years on and Generation Terrorists is still as potent and relevant as ever. Tom Ingham, Music Web Editor

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

November 2012 Architects

Auction For The Promise Club + Tankus The Henge + Annaca

Thursday 22nd November - £8

Monday 12th November - £15

Alabama Shakes

Emerging Icons Live featuring

SOLD OUT

Hundred Reasons + Hell is for Heroes + Cable

Monday 12th November - £16.50

Friday 23rd November - £15

Ryan Bingham

Turbonegro

Tuesday 13th November - £15

SOLD OUT

Friday 23rd November - £13.50

Ladyhawke + Swiss Lips Tuesday 13th November - £14

The Revival Tour 2012 feat. Chuck

Ragan + Jay Malinowski + Cory Branan + Rocky Votolato + Emily Barker

Wednesday 14th November - £14

Blood On The Dancefloor + It Boys

+ The Oceans Eyes

Wednesday 14th November - £8

That Sunless Tide + Signature 67 + Throw Us To The Wolves + Bury The Memory Friday 23rd November - £6

Chris Moyles Live + special guests

Saturday 24th November £17.50 SOLD OUT

Boomin Saturday 24th November - £6

Monster Magnet + My Sleeping

Parkway Drive

Karma

Thursday 15th November - £16

Saturday 24th November - £17.50

Royal Republic Thursday 15th November - £8

Dead Circus + The Hermitage + Nervous Company

Passion Pit

Saturday 24th November - £6

Fri 16th November - £13.50

Buckcherry

Seether

Sunday 25th November - £15

Fri 16th November - £14.50

Rodrigo Y Gabriela

Sham 69

Monday 26th November - £20

Fri 16th November - £12

Crystal Castles

Shooting Pigeons + Standing For

What + The Entity

Converge

Fri 16th November - £6

Thursday 29th November - £13

Levellers feat. Citizen Fish Saturday 17th November - £22.50

Absolute Bowie

Alabama 3 Friday 30th November - £18

Miss May I

Saturday 17th November - £12

Friday 30th November - £10

Jake Bugg Saturday 17th November - £8

Wednesday 28th November - £16

SOLD OUT

The Band Perry Sunday 18th November - £13.50

Tyler James Sunday 18th November - £12

Feeder Sunday 18th November - £20

Band Of Horses Monday 19th November - £18.50

December 2012 Therapy? Sunday 2nd December - £17.50

Rodriguez Sunday 2nd December - £17.50

Dappy Monday 3rd December - £15

RESCHEDULED Original tickets remain valid

The Milk Monday 19th November - £10

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Books

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWw.MANCUNION.COM

Book Club: Francesca Freeman, 22, archaeology student A ‘live’ conversation with Book Club turns from fantasy to the very real threat technology poses to reading Book Club: Hi Fran, what are you reading?

Bond vs Smiley In the wake of Skyfall’s release and flurries of best Bond talk, Joelle Jefferis pits two British literary espionage incarnations against one another A sombre Smiley, as recently played by Gary Oldman faces off a ‘flashy’ speedoed Bond, played by Daniel Craig

Francesca Freeman: I’m currently reading two books, The Life of Pi by Yann Martel and Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, The Long Walk to Freedom. BC: Why are you reading it/them? FF: The Nelson Mandela because I’ve had it for a really long time and I’ve always meant to read it; I’m now taking two modules this term associated with the slave trade and Africa and I thought it would tie in quite well. I’ve read The Life of Pi before, and I’m actually reading it with my boyfriend. It’s a bedtime read. We take turns reading a chapter aloud. BC: How lovely. The Life of Pi’s a strange breed of ‘fantasy’ fiction, right? FF: Yeah I like things like – a really prosaic example, but things like Harry Potter. I love things that form complete worlds you can put yourself into. I like the everyday stuff as well. But if it’s everyday the book kind of has to work harder to capture your attention. Do you think it’s therefore more difficult for realistic books to be successful, because, like fantasy genres, you have to believe in them, but they are tied to a reality that we all know and experience? Yes, in some ways. I think everyday books depend on a lot of investment in the characters on the part of the reader. For instance I never invested in the characters in Wuthering Heights. Whereas in Jane Eyre I completely identified with the characters, despite the story being really extreme. So in that respect you have to have a deep investment in the characters, regardless of the genre or the setting. I would have to agree that there are so many ‘realistic’ fiction books that are just unbearably bad, because you have to find that balance between a captivating story and an accurate portrayal of reality. In that sense, it really has to reflect the reality of the reader, for you to be able to invest in them. Yeah, I think I know what you mean. I’m reading short stories by Miranda July at the moment, and the stories don’t confine themselves to realism, in the sense of completely realistic depictions. But still you somehow really understand the stories on some kind of deeper, physical level – beyond the words and the intellectual understanding of them, which only sketch this other meaning. And this suggests that these stories are reflecting your (the reader’s) reality, but a part of it that can’t be communicated in words. I think when a story or book does this, for me this is what only fiction (and maybe poetry) can do at its best. And it’s both unsettling and satisfying. Well, it still comes back to the characters, for me. I have to associate with a character, and that’s the only way I can enjoy a book. Wuthering Heights is the perfect example of that. I didn’t identify with any of the characters, so I can’t appreciate it at all, not on any level. I want to be absorbed by a book. I agree. I want to be completely compelled by a book, for reasons that I don’t necessarily understand. I haven’t read stuff in ages, though. Because I’m always reading uni stuff, it’s just not a break. I know, it’s terrible. OK, real question now. Paperback or e-book? Paperback! I have a strong hate of ‘e-readers’. I basically think that they are wrong and unnecessary, and completely take away from the experience of reading. They’re not physical. And you need a physical connection to the story; turning the pages is a big part of reading. I know, I feel like e-readers are the buyable sign that we’ve taken a wrong turn and it’s too late, we’ve now destroyed everything good about the world. But I don’t allow myself to say this, for some reason I force myself be moderate and say things like ‘well, they’re good for old people’, and people with bad backs. But if you don’t endorse them at all, do you allow yourself to buy any books on Amazon? No, I don’t buy any books on Amazon. Really? Yes, why so surprised? Ok, well I have bought a couple of course books. But I draw the line at ‘pleasure’ books. I tend to buy them at charity shops.

The latest James Bond film, Skyfall, has just been released, and there’s been a lot of talk of British-ness. It seems that Bond has become synonymous with a certain concept of British-ness that begins with the Union Jack and Her Majesty and ends with Aston Martins and sharp suits. James Bond’s image is one of a stalwart protector, serving the greater good. However is Bond really what we consider a “true Brit” or in fact the idealisation of what Brits are not? Last time I checked, us Brits were famed for our addiction to tea and dedication to the perfect queue, and yet James Bond invokes images of suaveness and seduction. Forgive me the blasphemy, but isn’t that meant to be Italian men? Ian Fleming developed the character of James Bond after working in the Naval Intelligence Division during World War II. He said that Bond was an amalgamation of all the agents he met doing this work, and that there really was at least one agent who wore

hand-stitched suits and was chauffeured around in a Rolls Royce. However, I’d like to suggest a different literary spy as a bastion much closer to real Britishness and that is John Le Carré’s creation, George Smiley. Smiley was first introduced to readers in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy as a middle-aged spy who, after being forced into retirement, returns to espionage in order to search out the Russian mole in the British Intelligence Service. As a character he is superficially less exciting than Bond. Far from international playboy, Smiley is easily pictured as a small, grey, accountant-type figure whose wife has left him for someone more debonair. It’s this though that I think makes Smiley all the more the true Brit – despite his life crumbling around him Smiley faces it all with a stoicism and determination that reminds me only of the image of the British Bulldog. In comparison, James Bond is just too flashy. He may be based around real agents but those

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were agents of a bygone era, of an overly privileged class whose work was mostly to protect the cosy gentlemen’s clubs that they all frequented. Le Carré presents Smiley’s real opposition in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy as being just this type of agent. They are charming, sure, but one of them is the mole who is betraying their country. After all, this is what it comes down to, patriotism. Despite being betrayed by the service, George Smiley dedicates himself to finding the mole for his country. We know that all James Bond does is “for Queen and country”, but he seems to get a little too distracted by other women along the way. Ultimately, I say that the true British spy is the one who is more likely to order a cup of tea than a martini, shaken, stirred or otherwise! Joelle Jefferis

in spoken word

Tales of Whatever #14

Yeah, Amazon is really the death of browsing. I only go there if I need something specific.

7.45, 14th November, The Castle Hotel, Oldham St.; Free This live storytelling night sees participants tell a true story off the cuff – no notes and no props. This one looks as if it will be as popular as ever, so get there early and hunker down with an ale or two and get ready for the halcyon comfort of storytime.

Do the books that you’re currently reading come anywhere near making your Top 10 desert island books?

Bad Language’s Second Birthday

I like the idea that buying some physically is so dependent on chance. If you buy something in a charity shop or even a small bookshop you are reliant on their selection, and on stumbling across things.

Well I remember Life of Pi being really good, but it’s a bit disappointing second time around. Possibly because George [the boyfriend] is a really terrible aloud reader, I’m really good, but he just can’t do the voices. He has no tonal variance. What are you going to read next? Do you have a list of classics that you feel almost morally obligated to read? I’ve never read any Dickens and this is the source of a real sense of failure. No, I literally just look at the back of the book. I really don’t like reading stuff just because there’s loads of hype about it. It’s almost always a mistake. That happened with 50 Shades of Grey, and One Day. Yeah but those two books were hardly meant to be classics, most of the ‘hype’ was about how terrible they are. I know, but they were still disappointing. The same thing happened with Atomised, that Michel Houellebecq book that I read because a friend recommended it. I just like to come across books, and then my reading list is just my bookshelf. I’m working my way across it.

7.30pm, 28th November, The Castle Hotel, Oldham St.; Free Champions of the spoken word, the local literature organization Bad Language has been holding a mike up to new writing talent for two whole years now. They began gathering language lovers together at the local to listen to a democratic blend of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. And now they’re celebrating in traditional style, with readings from established Bad Language voices like Rodge Glass alongside the open mic acts – and there are still slots left, so one of them could be you.

Scroobius Pip 7.30pm, 4th December, The Ruby Lounge; £10 Advance The genre-bending spoken wordsmith is taking his show on the road, and will be playing in Manchester in early December. His combination of wit and grit has propelled poetry out of its seemingly permanent resting place in the hands of GCSE English teachers, earnestly angsty teens, and beret-wearers, and onto CDs. Any day now it’ll get onto the World Wide Web.

Games

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

The Playstation Network comes of age Dylan Wiggan looks at the improvements Sony has made with the Playstation Network 2012 has undoubtedly been a banner year for the PSN, the colloquial name for the online services of all Sony’s PlayStation platforms. With a slew of impressive games recently released and upcoming for next year, not to mention a revamped store, pre-download pre-order system and the increasingly costeffective PlayStation Plus, Sony seems to finally have developed a platform to compete with Microsoft’s rival service Xbox Live Arcade/ Marketplace. In the aftermath of the infamous ‘Network Outage’ of 2011, in which all PSN features were suspended for a 24 day period after a hack compromised an estimated 77 million users accounts and personal data, Sony had a mountain to climb to just convince people to use its online store once again Acting like a company out to prove itself, after this dark period Sony essentially put its head down and focused on what its best at making great games. The standard of the PSN titles and, in particular, its exclusives, has increased dramatically over the past few years. The most notable success being Journey released in March earlier this year, and developed by thatgamecompany under the stewardship of Sony’s in-house developer ‘incubator’ Sony Santa Monica. Journey was a critical and commercial hit with PSN sales records and 92% rating on metacritic. More importantly, for Sony, was that it brought positive attention to their online store for the first time in years. In June this goodwill was further extended with the announcement that its paid subscription service PlayStation Plus was getting revamped with a new feature called your ‘Instant Games Collection’. Whilst the previous free content offered was mainly small and obscure games or ‘minis’, the ‘Instant Games Collection’ gives

free full retail games such as: Little Big Planet, Infamous, Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands etc. This service, already a bargain for gamers, was now a no-brainer for hardcore PS3 owners. Add to this the fact that PlayStation Plus was also at this point announced to be coming to the PS Vita and Sony’s perceived generosity was doing wonders to improve the image of its online services. Whilst Journey was a great success, it would take more than one game to really add credibility to Sony’s PSN platform, and fortunately the rest of 2012 built on Journey’s success and suggested the future would continue to. Interesting and truly alternate experiences such as Tokyo Jungle and The Unfinished Swan typified Sony’s online output. And titles buzzed about title to be released next year such as Rain and Until Dawn hint at a strong future line-up of games. And finally, truly showing Sony’s online advancement is its revamped store. With a better user interface and improved design the store is much less cumbersome to use. But perhaps more effective is new features such as Paypal integration, the Steamesque pre-download system. This means gamers and already have a game downloaded onto their system before it’s officially released, then at midnight of its launch day begin playing immediately. This shows Sony is ready for the inevitable all digital future, with major releases such as Resident Evil 6 already using this system. Overall it is clear that this year Sony’s PSN services have come along leaps and bounds. After years chasing the heels of Xbox’s rival services, Sony have finally found their digital footing and with the next generation looming its timing is perfect.

Top 5 PSN Games: Limbo is a gloriously dark puzzle game that follows the tale of a boy trying to find his sister. Genuinely scary and enriched with a black and white design that creates a persistent truly sinister atmosphere; Limbo is the best PSN game of the generation. The Walking Dead is a point-and-click adventure game adaption of the popular zombie franchise is an emotional rollercoaster. With Heavy Rain-style branching narratives and conversation choices, your decisions decide your character’s personality and some plot points. Great characterisation and storytelling mean these decisions stay with long after you play. Journey follows on the success of fl0w and Flower, is shows thatgamecompany full of confidence and given free rein to let their imaginations run wild. Journey is a truly unique game that surely settles the interminable debate on whether ‘games could be art’. PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX manages to keep fresh this legendary franchise with great new gameplay innovations keeping classic formula fresh. Online leader boards, plus a funky soundtrack and design make this title is a must buy. Tokyo Jungle has you play as a variety of animal’s aiming to survive as long as can in a post-apocalyptic Japan where all humans are dead. Whether hunting, scavenging, marking territory or even mating- Tokyo Jungle is bizarrely addictive.

Alasdair Preston takes a look at GameBoy classic Metroid Fusion Nothing drained my Game Boy’s batteries quite like Metroid Fusion. It closely followed the formula of the SNES classic Super Metroid, the action-adventure platform shooter of choice for many gamers. The series famously revolves around exploration, fighting and solving puzzles to earn upgrades, then backtracking to do it all again. Fusion involved roaming around various sectors of a space colony, trying to stop a powerful, hostile parasite from escaping and infecting the galaxy. All the while, you had to evade a parasitic clone of Samus leading to some of the most intense gaming moments of my young life trying to stay hidden when the SA-X stomped into the room, the only other option being a futile attempt to run or fight. Also, just for good measure, there was a Metroid boss and a countdown to beat at the end. Bold, colourful, and easy to control, Fusion was one of the first games that made me want to replay it over and over. With a hundred power-ups to find, most of which weren’t exactly right under your nose, scoring 100% was a benchmark that I have still yet to achieve. I could cave and use an online guide, but young me didn’t have that option and would probably judge me if I did use it. Unusually for a Metroid game, the story actually came mostly from Samus herself via some journal entries and inner monologue during Fusion (also known as Metroid 4). The plot even had twists, with a few handfuls of intrigue and betrayal. As the latest Metroid title chronologically, a follow-up would go down well. However, despite rumours of a sequel in the works we’ve yet to see any actual evidence of the so-called “Metroid Dread”. Nintendo inadvertently added fire to these stories by giving Fusion to the early adopters of the 3DS as a downloadable title.

News

THQ to delay releases after profits fall

‘Orc Assasin’ gets elected to State Senate

Game developer delays Metro and Company of Heroes sequels

WoW player Colleen Lachowicz has been elected to the Maine State Senate

This week games developer THQ was forced to announce the delay of three of its most anticipated titles due for release next year. Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light are now both expected for release in summer 2013 rather than early spring whilst South Park: The Stick of Truth is likely to be held back until early 2014. The gaming giant’s fiscal problems had become increasingly apparent in recent months after the sales

World of Warcraft player Colleen Lachowicz has won her race for State Senate in Maine. In her spare time, Colleen is a level 68 Orc Assassination Rogue on the MMO World of Warcraft and her hobby became a key talking point in her race for State Senate. State Republicans ran vicious attack ads against her, highlighting her time on the Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. One postcard sent out to Maine voters said “We need a Senator who lives in our world, not Colleen’s world.” The attack campaign included a website highlighting posts she had made on WoW forums and taking comments out of context including “I like to stab things” and “I love poisoning and stabbing! It is fun” alongside more political statements like “I may have to go hunt down Grover Norquist and drown him in a bathtub.” “These are some very bizarre and offensive comments, and they certainly raise questions about Lachowicz’s maturity and her ability to make serious decisions for the

figures for recent titles failed to live up to the company’s expectations. Whilst the Saints Row Franchise provided some respite THQ now believes they are unable to produce games of sufficient quality within the time frame they initially set for the three titles. THQ’s second quarter $21 million loss primarily comes as a result of the developer’s slow reaction to the shift of power in the gaming industry from consoles to mobile

devices. The profits made by other developers have been largely missed out on by THQ after their exploration of the Tablet market with the development of uDraw failed to take-off and delivered a $100 million loss. A long run of less than convincing profit margins has also played its part with titles such as Darksiders 2 failing to make the grade in an inflated RPG market. THQ bosses will be hoping for a much-needed payday following the release of WWE 13 on November the 2nd. The game has a loyal annual following much like Fifa and other similar titles and will be expected to help deliver the money THQ badly needs if their dreams of a South Park title and a Company of Heroes sequel are to become reality any time soon. Jack Crutcher

State Senator Colleen Lachowicz and her Orc Rogue alter ego, Santiaga

people of Senate District 25,” said Maine Republican Party spokesman David Sorensen. Colleen explained herself in a CNN interview “It’s just a hobby, just like anything else.” She spoke of receiving support from all over the world, including from conservatives who thought the attacks was wrong. Republican gamer Kara Zielke told the Maine GOP that “We may have different political views but I wont stand by while my fellow Horde are treated this way,” It appears the Maine GOP’s strategy has backfired, alienating younger

voters who identify as gamers and appearing out of touch. With over 10 million subscribers, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft is one of the world’s most popular games. Colleen isn’t the only gaming politician, PM David Cameron claims to have complete Angry Birds and Labour MP Tom Watson has defended gaming in parliament numerous times. Culture Minister Ed Vaizey recently requested gaming systems be installed in his Ministerial office. His request was declined. Sam Dumitriu

Food & Drink

ISSUE 08/ 12TH NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Bon appétit: a study abroad year in Lyon Recipe Joanna Fox reminisces about the food in culinary hospot Lyon While shivering from the cold weather and slaving away over my computer last week in Manchester, I was lamenting at having fallen behind with my dissertation and my subsequent refusal to trek to the supermarket. This sequence of events has left my cupboards bare - maybe next week the Food and Drink section could run an article on what to make with mixed herbs, Weetabix and baked beans. My mind thus strayed to my far better culinary circumstance this time last year when I was on study abroad in Lyon, France. Aside from it being warmer and less academically strenuous, Lyon is the (some say self-proclaimed) food capital of the world. It didn’t disappoint, the city’s love of fine dining permeated its streets and culture, yet there was a noticeable absence of obesity that the English are so used to. I attribute this latter observation to the fact that Lyonnais dining isn’t about filling your stomach; it’s about pleasuring your taste buds. Allow me to

take you through the basics of eating and drinking in Lyon. The world famous Michelin Star chef Paul Bocuse has some of his best restaurants in Lyon and has set up an amazing food hall - think of Harrod’s but tenfold in variety and quality. Situated on the cours Lafayette, the market is just a stone’s throw from the station and a ten minute walk from the stunning views of the Rhone that Lyon is host to. This somewhat unassuming looking building is a veritable cornucopia of breads, cheeses, meats, wines, oysters, cakes. If I only had one day in Lyon, I would not be going to visit all the wonderful friends I made in Lyon, or the city’s fantastic museums, but I would frantically be running down to the Cellerier cheese counter. The most famous Lyonnais restaurant is called the Bouchon, literally meaning corks. Bouchons divide into two categories, traditional Bouchons, such as the downright alarming Chez Paul, and

more touristy ones in the Old Town, such as my personal favourite Le Laurencin. The first category serves traditional Lyonnais fare, which tends to include lots of animal parts in unrecognisable forms as well as black pudding, tripe, pickles and delicious desserts of the day served up by waiters who find your revulsion hilarious. A great dining experience, but not for anyone who wouldn’t class themselves as a big meat eater. Le Laurencin, however, gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I remember it. For 15€ I could get Le Menu Lyonnais, which had a wide choice. For starter, Salade Lyonnaise comprising green salad leaves, crisp bacon lardons, two perfectly poached eggs with a creamy dressing, mopped up nicely with a thick hunk of bread (in France the bread basket actually gets replaced during the meal and isn’t just a tide-me-over while you peruse the menu). For main, Bavette of steak, cooked rare, in a shallot sauce with potatoes

dauphinoise. More bread. For dessert, any of the French classics, done to perfection. I was often too full at this point to really enjoy it, suffice to say the crème brûlée was far beyond anything you’d get at a gastro pub in Britain. To conclude, while my department probably want me to extensively elaborate upon the academic benefits of year abroad (and they were many), my year in Lyon was very much defined by the city’s love affair with food, one I have definitely brought home with me. I heartily recommend Lyon as a fantastic city break and study abroad location but even if you can’t make it in the foreseeable future, what I’d like you to take away from this article is that food should be a gastronomic delight, a real pleasure, something you carry with you in your heart. Nonsensical sentiment, perhaps, but the next time you’re tucking into greasy, slightly cold chips, remember, there is better out there!

The student foodie generation

Slices of sirloin steak on sourdough bread with caramelised onions and mustard: are you a student foodie?

At the age of 21 do you find yourself buying organic chutneys to match the rather expensive Serrano ham you have just bought, rather than purchasing the rudimentary bottle of Sainsbury Vodka? Or becoming overwhelmed with the desire to venture down to Didsbury to visit ‘Cheese Hamlet’ to get your dairy fix? Is your ideal night out (or rather, night in) flexing your culinary muscles cooking a dinner party for your friends? Or have you ever YouTubed knife skills and found yourself lost in a mountain of celebrity chefs’ recipes because you didn’t know what to do with that belly pork you bought? If you’re nodding your head, you are part of the new and increasing ‘student foodie generation.’ The dramatic increase of cooking programmes over the last few years has sparked a new interest in food across the nation. Students have not been exempt from the trend. Simply

look at Facebook for proof to see countless pictures of people’s dinner with smug captions that go along it: “just whipped up a little something” otherwise meaning “behold the mastery of my superior culinary skills.” For those infected by the ‘foodie bug,’ long gone are the stereotypes of student eating. Baked beans and Smash have been replaced with the likes of risotto and garlic-infused mashed potato. The tin openers have been put away and out have come the mortar and pestle. Many a potted herb plant has lived and died on the halls windowsill. It doesn’t just stay in the kitchen. Open your ears around university and you will hear many a gastronomic discussion between two enthusiasts usually boasting about what they ate or a new amazing little restaurant they’ve found. This is because a great majority of foodie fever involves showing

off. “I’ve mastered the soufflé.” “Well I can confit a duck leg.” It is a competition to out-cook your mates and great pride is found in your knowledge of what ‘quenelle’ means or in the admiration of your well stocked cupboard. So when you are reading this and thinking things sound very familiar, fear not! You aren’t alone. Be unashamed of your Nigella Lawson cookbook or your ability to recall the last three years’ MasterChef winners. Go forth and drink your Rioja, bake your Camembert and spend your loan on lunch deals and cake tins. Do it because, as Virgina Woolf said, “one cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” This speaks all too true when you are at university. Elizabeth Stancombe

A perfect recipe for all you student foodies

Mark Addy’s rabbit with root vegetables, ham hock and chestnuts Executive Head Chef Robert Owen Brown of the Mark Addy has kindly given us a recipe for this delicious rabbit dish. The comforts of wintery food combined with the rich and meaty flavours are sure to help you tackle the bracing Manchester climate. The Mark Addy is known as ‘The Original Riverside Pub,’ situated on Manchester Ship Canal. The restaurant sources top quality local ingredients to make Robert’s ever popular signature dishes a well as daily specials.

Ingredients: 1 wild rabbit, prepared and jointed 2tsp chopped parsley 125g unsalted butter 60g plain flour 400ml chicken stock 200ml dry white wine 175ml double cream 2 sprigs thyme 1 finely diced carrot, onion and stick of celery Chestnuts The meat from 1 medium ham hock, cut into small chunks A perfect way to use seasonal chestnuts. Photo: Steven Mills

Method: Toss the rabbit in the seasoned flour, then gently fry in half the butter until the meat is sealed. Add the root veg to the pan and cook gently until soft, then add thyme, ham, chicken stock and white wine. Cook gently until the rabbit is soft and falling off the bone. Strain off the liquid and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the cream and reduce further until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Season, add back the cooked ingredients, the parsley and remaining butter together with a handful of chestnuts. Stir well and serve. Maddy Hubbard

Two days of unrelenting, solid rain combined with several particularly long days at Uni had severely blackened my mood. I turn to comfort food for quick nourishment. Cue revelatory discovery that I can make a risotto-style meal in under 15 minutes. I achieved this using something mini pasta shapes, a concept introduced to me by my friend whose Mum always cooks this for her when she’s ill, to make her feel better. To make one dinner, plus one to reheat the next night: 200g baby pasta - I used orzo but any tiny pasta pieces will do 1 packet of bacon lardons 1 onion, chopped 4-5 sun dried tomatoes, chopped 285g of a tomato-based pasta sauce of your choice 1 small tin of peas, drained Splash of Worcester sauce 25g grated cheese

Cook pasta according to instructions. Meanwhile, fry the lardons, onion and sun dried tomatoes together until the bacon is cooked (approx. 5 minutes). Drain the pasta and then mix it into the fried mixture on a low heat. Mix in the tomato sauce, peas Worcester sauce and cheese. The consistency should be quite thick. Continue heating until the sauce is heated and the cheese is melted.

Joanna Fox

Arts& Culture

1 0 T H I NG S

you should know about

LEONARDO DA VINCO

ISSUE 08/ 12TH NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Feature

Planes, Parachutists and Penny Machines How does Manchester Museum of Science and Industry deliver on its promise of bringin ‘innovation to life like no other?

Miss Lucy Johnson, painted by da Vinci

ART HISTORY LESSONS with Lucy J

He was able to write notes with his left hand and paint on canvas with his right hand at the same time.

Leonardo was gay. His famous portrait, the Mona Lisa took him all of four years to complete. He was not a man to be messed with. He threatened to use a difficult religious patron as the model for his figure of Judas in his painting ‘The Last Supper’ in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan.

Promising to ‘bring innovation to life like no other, the Manchester Musem of Science and Industry gives itself a lot to live up to. Mostly, it doen’st disspoint - recent funding has seen the main entrance hall transformed into a welcoming and interactive space - each visitor is given a registration card, and having taken your photo on the automatic photo column machines, your picture is held by the museums permanent records and your face starts to flash up on selected screens throguhout the museum, following you around. The Museum doesn’t always deliver, but here are a few things guaranteed to entertain: 1. Thistle Jacket by Adrian Banner Made entirely from the seeds of the thistle plant, this featherlight ‘jacket’ is on permanent display in the textiles collection. Blurring the boundaries between high fashion and art pieces, the airy texture of the thistles create something which would obviously fall apart should you attempt to wear it, but you can’t help but want to try anyway.

CONNECT

2. Engines in the Power Hall The warehouse setting is perfect for this part of the exhibition – a vast space packed with old engines, strange mechanisms and a few interactive exhibitions, designed with the under 10’s in mind but they certainly kept us entertained. Should you visit on a Wednesday afternoon, you may be lucky enough to meet Peter, an elderly engine enthusiast who was more than happy to explain the inner workings of the more exciting contraptions in this, one of the largest collections of working steam mill engines in the world! 3. The Ariadne Sadly, you can no longer board the Ariadne as a passenger, but you can climb up to look into the carriages and engine room at the front of the train. The brightly coloured carriage designs which look like they should be decorating a ‘retrochic’ Ladybird mug conspire to make this feel a little like Brio for grown ups, but the towering 30-tonne hydraulic accumulator reminds you that these were the engines that ran the country, some only decomssioned as late as the 70s.

4. Air and Space Hall Another huge space, with planes suspended in mid flight, parachutists (not real ones) jumping down from the roof, and cars and motorcycles on the ground. Make sure you don’t miss the triplane 1954 Avro Shackleton which takes pride of place in the gallery; designed by A. V. Roe & Co. Ltd to locate and attack submarines, it’s finally resting near home – it was made in Stockport. 4. The Penny Machines

And last, but not least, are the penny machines which seem to pop up around every corner, each promising an even better souvenir of the Museum and encouraging you to literally throw away your money - for 50p you get an unusable penny. I spent £2 on four pennies now beaten into varying degrees of thinness, all now branded with a MOMI logo and an assortment of locomotives. How better to remember your visit?

follow us on twitter @Mancunion_Arts/ keep an eye on our facebook for updates and links to articles/ drop us an email arts@mancunion.com if you have an idea for a feature or would like to be added to our contributor mailing list.

Exhibition Leonardo was a vegetarian. Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo’s master, threw down his paintbrush for good when he realised that the skill of his apprentice surpassed his own whilst they were working on the painting The Baptism of Christ toegether. Despite being one of the most celebrated artists of all time, Leonardo saw his position as an artist secondary to his position as a researcher and scientist and made groundbreaking discoveries in subjects such as the biology of the human body. Da Vinci was not Leonardo’s family name but literally means ‘from the town of Vinci’ which is where he was born in 1452. He wrote his notebooks in back to front ‘mirror-writing’ in order to keep his ideas secret. His inventions included machine guns, an armored tank, cluster bombs, a submarine, the first mechanical calculator and an early form of solar power.

Review: Jane and Louise Wilson Clayton Fuller vists the Whitworth to check out the latest exhibition from Turner-prize nominated duo Jane and Louise Wilson Under a dim light, on the second floor of the Whitworth Art Gallery, sits the bronze casting of a 35mm Konvas Avtomat -- a symbolic resurfacing of the camera Ukrainian filmmaker Vladimir Shevchenko used to document the Chernobyl explosion in 1986. In the days following the accident, Shevchenko used that camera to intimately record the confusion and solemnity at Chernobyl. It was only later, while editing, that he noticed alarming distortions in the film. It soon became clear that the static noise and ghostly flashes were the first visible effects of the radiation. The film survived, its creators did not. Shevchenko died in the following months and, for the last 25 years, his camera has been buried somewhere outside Kiev -- dangerously radioactive and altogether forgotten. Except by Jane and Louise Wilson, that is. It seems a foreboding coincidence that, from a perspective directly in front of the camera, the three protruding lenses give the abstract appearance of a gas mask. It is with Shevchenko’s camera and film, Chernobyl: A Chronicle of Difficult Weeks, that the Jane and Louise Wilson exhibition begins its investigation of

the aftereffects of man-made devastation. The twins’ own film, The Toxic Camera, contemplates the Chernobyl disaster with the assistance of interviews with surviving members of Shevchenko’s camera crew. The film includes scenes recorded in Kiev and Orford Ness -- a former hydrogen bomb testing site here in the UK. Nearby is Atomgrad (Nature Abhors a Vacuum), a series of eight photographs, impassively featuring the desertion of Pripyat -- a city within the Chernobyl exclusion zone that was once ‘considered one of the finest places to live in the USSR’ . The crumbling remains of a gymnasium and a theatre, among other rooms, are quietly disturbing. Perhaps the only consolation is the seemingly incongruous presence of thriving plant life outside the rooms. The highresolution and large size of the photographs allow viewers to approach and ‘step into the scene’. If you count yourself among the growing number of eccentrics hoping for a zombie-apocalypse, this opportunity to bask in the emptiness and decay of such a world is not to be missed. The Wilson sisters continue their exploration of the consequences of man-made devastation with a set of installations that conceptually, and almost clinically,

examine the CCTV footage and events surrounding the assassination of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in 2010. One of these is False Positive and False Negatives, a collection of sixteen screenprints of Jane and Louise wearing dazzle camouflage -- the use of shapes painted on the face to muddle facial recognition technology. It is, perhaps, an impressive meditation on the invasive nature of CCTV recordings -- though most of the suspected assassins caught on tape have still not been brought to justice. As visitors wander from room to room within the Whitworth Art Gallery, they’ll notice a continuous presence of yardsticks. It can be easy to dismiss the impact of their meaning as artistic superficiality, but at least will yourself to contemplate Blind Landing -a representation of our reliance on technology. After witnessing the conflicting results of Chernobyl and CCTV’s role in the Al-Mabhouh assassination, it’ll be worth considering, “Has our reliance on technology gone too far?”

Clayton Fuller Contributor

Tate so we made some installation art of our own (check our twitter feed for photos); Beasts of the Southern Wild at Cornerhouse WHAT WE SAW THIS WEEK: other beautiful cinamatography and very comfy seats.

Turner Prize at the Tate. modern and confusing, featuring live installation art, slightly pretentious we thought; An empty Turbine Hall at the

Theatre

ISSUE 08/ 12th November 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Must see 12th-19th November

Preview and Interview

American Idiot Josephine Lane previews ‘American Idiot: The Musical’ and interviews it’s stars Trent Saunders and Alyssa de Palma

Orpheus Descending Whilst being one of Tennesse William’s lesser-known plays, Orpheus Descending, still has plenty of what we love about him: a young male drifter, an unhappy Southern belle and lots of passion. Stars Imogen Stubbs as Lady Torrance.

Runs from 24th October to 24th November at The Royal Exchange Theatre Student Tickets £10 or £5 on a Monday or Friday

André & Dorine Spanish theatre company Kulunka Teatro bring their masked performance about an old couple suffering from Alzehmiers to the Lowry this week. Winner of the Birmingham European Theatre Festival Award 2011.

Runs on the 16th November at the Lowry Theatre. Tickets £5-£10

Peter Pan The Bolton Octagon’s family festive show this year is the timeless classic we all know and love: Peter Pan. With a talented cast of actor-musicians playing originally composed music, the show is sure to bring out the child in all of us!

Runs from 16th November 2012 to 12th January 2013 Tickets £9.50-£22

Small Steps In Random Directions The University of Manchester Drama Society presents the first play of its Autumn Showcase. Written by student Jack Busby, the show is a selection of interlinking scenes about the futility of existence. Runs from 10th to 12th November at the Council Chambers Student tickets £4.50 or £4 with an UMDS card

The Green Day musical American Idiot comes to Manchester this week as part of its UK wide tour. The show brings to life the story narrated in Green Day’s 2004 album of the same name. It tells the tale of Johnny and his two best friends, Will and Tunny as they yearn to leave the boredom of suburbia for the bright lights of the city. Whilst Tunny and Will take different paths, Johnny is sucked in by the wonders the big city. He falls in love with wild rock-chick Whatsername and develops n fearless alter-ego, St Jimmy, who forces Johnny into taking heroin, leading to the downfall of his and Whatsername’s relationship. Now alone, Johnny comes to his senses and returns home, learning to accept who he really is and the importance of his roots, family and friendships. The creation of American Idiot: The Musical was a collaborative process between musical theatre director Michael Mayer and Green Day front-man Billie Joe Armstrong, who claims the band had the idea of a musical in their heads whilst writing the album. When working on the book for the musical, Mayer added little dialogue to the show as he felt the lyrics were expressive enough on its own. The show ran for two months in Berkeley in 2009, before being moved to Broadway for a year-long run. After winning numerous awards, including two Tonys and a Grammy for ‘Best Musical Album’, the show

After its year-long run on Broadway, the musical adaptation of Green Day’s album: American Idiot comes to Manchester as part of its UK tour. The epic show follows Johnny and his adventures as he leaves Suburbia for the bright lights of the city.

Runs from 12th to 24th November at the Palace Theatre Tickets £22.40-£44.40

assembled a brand new cast for this three month UK tour before returning to America. To learn more about the show from the inside, I caught up with it’s stars Trent Saunders and Alyssa de Palma, who play St. Jimmy and Whatsername respectively. The actors start by telling me how they landed the roles. Trent tells me he was at university studying musical theatre when the casting director came in auditioned them in class! He tells me fellow cast-member, Jenna Rubaii was also cast from the same class. Alyssa’s story of how she got her part was certainly an inspiring one. She tells me, ‘I saw the show on Broadway two years ago and saw Rebecca Naomi Jones perform ‘Letterbomb’, Whatsername’s big song. Afterwards I just looked at my friend and just said ‘I have to play that role’. After I finished arts college I went to live in New York and was working in a restaurant. I heard about the opening role and knew it was meant to be. I just had to go for it’. They both go on to tell me how they far they needed to push themselves in the roles. For Alyssa, she says it was about letting her naturally shy side go to become a powerful, sexy and fierce woman who was described to her as ‘the mother of the revolution.’ For Trent, who is in contrast very confident, he was more concerned with filling the shoes of those who had

played St. Jimmy before him. He tells me, ‘Both Billie Joe Armstrong and Tony Vincent are from rock star backgrounds whereas mine was musical theatre. I really had to find my inner rock star which was scary but also a lot of fun. I couldn’t have done it without the creative team either, who turned my curly afro brown hair into a blonde straightened Mohawk!’ They both agree that they felt at ease in pushing themselves because of the trust and support that they felt throughout the cast. Alyssa says, ‘I fell in love with each and every cast member as soon I met them’. Trent then tells me of his admiration for the cast’s passion: ‘I guess it’s because we are all so young, so we can really relate to the themes in the play.’ Alyssa then tells me about the respect she holds for the shows director, Michael Mayer, who she says is a really hands-on director. She tells me: ‘It was a big deal working with Michael as he literally directed all the shows that made me want to do this for a living, but despite all that he wasn’t threatening at all, and really takes pride in having fun as he works with a cast’. According to them both, audiences have been going crazy for ‘American Idiot’ and the show has received countless standing ovations. Trent said he spoke to one group who had come all the way from Germany just to see the show. He added that audiences have been a real mix of hardcore Green Day fans and just regular theatre-goers. I ask why Manchester should come and see American Idiot. Alyssa quickly replies. “There are loads of reasons, but the best one is: you are guaranteed to have your face rocked off, and if that’s what you’re looking for then that is what you are gonna get.’ ‘American Idiot’ runs at the Palace Theatre from the 12th November to the 24th November

Review

Orpheus may be descending but Imogen Stubbs is on the rise Hannah Lawrence reviews the latest production at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Orpheus Descending Five Stars out of Five Stars

American Idiot

I’m not even quite sure where to begin, to be honest. One thing that I can definitely say is that this was one of the best things I’ve ever seen on stage. This performance of Orpheus Descending directed by Sarah Frankcom and starring Imogen Stubbs brought out the bitterness and passion of Tennesse Williams’ play of repression, alienation and small town snobbery in America’s deep south. It was, essentially, Imogen Stubbs’ performance which particularly stood out. In fact, I spoke to another audience member afterwards who, in an almost trance-like state, simply said ‘Imogen Stubbs was just absolutely incredible’. Stubbs’ portrayal of ‘Lady Torrance’ – the play’s central female character – perfectly balanced the psychological complexity of the character without loosing

audience sympathy for a woman caught in a loveless marriage and isolated within a repressive culture. Her performance kept pace throughout, gradually growing in intensity until the final act in which she gave a powerful performance of Lady Torrance’s demise, exposing all her insecurities following her husband’s revelation. However Stubbs’ performance didn’t stand alone. Luke Norris, playing the male lead Valentine Xavier, matched Stubbs’ committed portrayal. His depiction of a young passionate wanderer created a perfect balance to Lady Torrance’s initial cold and hardened outlook. However as the play progressed Norris began to reveal the fraught complexity behind Val’s initially mystifying demeanor. The stage setting was also cleverly executed, the use of a circular stage creating a feeling of inclusion for the audience. In

fact, some audience members sitting in the pit were so close to the action that at one point they had to move their legs out of the way as a fiery Stubbs stormed towards a topless Val. Here the stage setting not only established the audience less as viewers and more as participators but it also added to the sense that the characters, within their own lives, were being constantly observed by others in society. Here the staging reinforced the idea of characters being under constant social observation; constantly under judgment against pre-established societal conventions. To an English audience depictions of life in America’s deep-south often contain a certain mysticism. However, the production really brought home the raw side of this American community. The performance dealt with racism in a direct and powerful manner, giving

a damning portrayal of the hypocrisy of ‘White America’ and their attitudes towards African-Americans, something embodied in the characters of Dolly and Beulah. Williams himself described the play as being superficially ‘’the tale of a wild-spirited boy who wanders into a conventional community of the South and creates the commotion of a fox in a chicken coop. But beneath that now familiar surface it is a play about unanswered questions that haunt the hearts of people and the difference between continuing to ask them and the acceptance of prescribed answers that are not answers at all.” Certainly this performance of Williams’ classic brought out the deeper issues which lie beyond the play’s surface. ‘Orpheus Descending’ runs until 24th November at the Royal Exchange Theatre

Lifestyle SECOND 60 ‘LAD’ culture: the truth ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Feature

Interview

We talk to Anthony Scott Logan, Creative Director at La Vida Magazine

What made you launch La Vida Magazine?

Dana Fowles examines the LAD culture which dominates university life

out of various pubs and clubs after downing dirty pints and ‘getting rowdy.’ How very attractive. The top

Manchester is a silent hub of talent and creativity that not many have recognized. I saw this niche and decided

LAD’s only ambition in life is to ‘bang’ as many girls as possible and to then rate them out of ten. Admirable, I am sure you will agree. Their mothers must be so proud. The truth of the matter is, however, that the top LAD is what can only be referred to as a massive pussy. Their fragile ego rests on whether or not they ‘pull’ and if their hunt for a mate is unsuccessful, they practically cry about it. Yet they are only capable of communicating with females when they have Dutch courage. They believe that to care about anything or anyone is a weakness and run a mile if they begin to

Photo: A. Scott Logan

develop ‘feelings’ for you. God forbid that the LAD should actually like a girl and not just want to ‘destroy’

that it was time to give Manchester a voice as a fashion and lifestyle capital in the UK, which can compete alongside its London rival.

her. So, my plea to LADs everywhere is to start acting like

Photo: D.ana Fowles

gentlemen as opposed to cavemen. Invite a girl out for

According to Urban Dictionary, a ‘wolf pack’ is “A

‘top LAD’ specialises in the arts of heavy drinking and

dinner instead of back to yours ‘for a shag,’ talk about

brotherhood of attractive male friends who are bonded

womanising, and also in ‘creating and distributing

something interesting (not about how ladish you and

What has been the highlight of your role as creative director so far?

together by concentrated awesomeness.” Now, while

exquisite banter.’ Trademark top LAD attire consists of

your fellow wolves are). Whatever you do, do not

I have to admit that the first part of this definition is

chinos and any t-shirt with a label on it (Hollister and

‘kick off ’ and get floored by a bouncer – it’s just plain

usually true, the latter is certainly not.

Abercrombie & Fitch being particular favourites).

The highlights have been plentiful, but I would say the best part has been the pleasure of working alongside some really talented people. I have been fortunate enough to meet an array of interesting people and it is always refreshing to meet other creative minds who are as passionate about what they do as I am.

embarrassing. If you follow these tips, then you may

Typical wolf pack behaviour involves being what is

The natural habitat of the top LAD is the rugby pitch,

commonly referred to as a ‘top LAD.’ Apparently, a

although they can also often be found getting kicked

What are your plans for the future? Without revealing too much, our plans are to keep growing over the next few years to launch and expand nationally, maintaining our growth as a respectable recognised fashion/lifestyle magazine. What does Manchester mean to you? I grew up in Lincolnshire and moved over to Manchester two and a half years ago. I absolutely love this city. It has so much to offer with an abundance of diversity. I think being Northern is something to be proud of. Manchester is constantly growing as a city and there are so many interesting events constantly occurring. Through La Vida Magazine I want to ensure such talent is showcased.

Photo: D.F

actually increase those all important numbers and who knows, you might even get a girlfriend.

Feature

‘Us’ and ‘them’

Dana Fowles looks at the campaign to secure equal marriage for gay couples As it stands in the UK, marriage is exclusive to heterosexual couples. Marriage is a long standing part of the society in which we live, yet 3.7 million members of that society are actually excluded from making that commitment. Lord Carey, a speaker for the Coalition for Marriage campaign, stated that to enable same sex marriages to occur would be an “act of cultural and theological vandalism.” This comment insinuates that giving lesbian, gay or bisexual couples the same rights as heterosexual couples would see marriage destroyed. Joe, speaking on behalf of Manchester’s LGBTQ society feels that this comment is “backwards” and “out of order.” Whilst it must be said that the creation of the Civil Partnership Act in 2004 was progressive acknowledgment towards same-sex relationships, it also adhered to the “othering” of the LGBTQ community. By devising an almost identical system, whereby same-sex couples can commit to each other but in

a different way to heterosexual couples makes a definition between “us” and “them.” In the words of the Coalition for Equal Marriage campaign, “Separate But Equal Is Not Equal.” Heterosexual couples can choose between civil or religious marriages and many argue that the choice for homosexual couples should be the same. Deans and Bishops across the UK support this. The Dean of St Albans said, “The Church has never refused to marry a heterosexual couple that can’t have children, so why refuse gay couples?” The argument against giving samesex couples the opportunity to marry is one of power and superiority. In the eyes of supporters for the Coalition for Marriage, giving heterosexual couples the sole opportunity to marry gives them a universally acknowledged status within their local communities and also within their national and global societies. Denying gay and lesbian couples that same right, makes that right a privilege…and heterosexual couples the ‘privileged.’

Photo: Nick Smith

Blind Date at Trof, Fallowfield will be back next week. Thanks to the guys down there for getting involved. To check out their menu and what’s going on there head to http:// www.troffallowfield.co.uk/ To sign up for blind date please e-mail your name, year of study and course to keir.stone-brown@student.manchester.ac.uk with ‘Blind Date’ as the subject .

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Career

My Year Abroad Experience

Lifestyle STUDENT 101 Enjoy Manchester on a budget

Andy Bayliss talks to us about his year abroad experience in Sweden

Want to enjoy the high life but worried your student loan won’t stretch far enough? Well, fear not. By simply choosing the right places to socialise on the correct days of the week, your money will go a long way.

What was the teaching like? The teaching over there was amazing! The lectures were like classrooms with about 25 of us. The professors let us do the presentations in each class and everyone was involved.

Eating the same ready-made lasagne every week definitely takes its toll and leaves you longing for a meal out. Start the week right and visit The Slug and Lettuce to seize their irresistible ‘Happy Monday’ offer of 50% off all food, all day, every Monday. Even better, enjoy their 2-4-1 curry night on a Tuesday and their 2-4-1 cocktail offer all day, every day. If you’re looking for a serious budget friendly meal, then try TOPS Restaurant which prides itself on offering a vast range of cuisines such as Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Indian. Their lunchtime buffet is 12-3pm and is £6.99. It’s a case of Man V’s Food for this one, just grab a plate and eat as much as you like!

Did you learn any Swedish? I didn’t learn one bit of Swedish. Everyone speaks perfect English. Plus, it’s a really hard language to learn, especially the pronunciation and they have sounds that we don’t have in English so they wouldn’t be able to understand me even if I tried. They don’t really expect people to learn Swedish because their population is only 10 million.

Fancy a film? There’s no need to be ripped off for a cinema ticket in Manchester, just head down to AMC cinema and get your ticket for £4.80 with the presentation of a valid NUS card. If you see a film at the Odeon Monday-Thursday before 5pm, their ‘Super Saver’ deal entitles you to a £5.00 ticket with a

What was the nightlife like? The nightlife was completely crazy! It’s hard to explain how it works, but when you arrive you become a member of a nation. These nations are open during the day when you can have lunch and meet with friends, and some are open on certain nights. I was a member of Varmlands Nation. The other big nation was Stockholms Nation. Altogether I think there were 26 nations, but the main ones were Varmlands, Stockholm, Snerikes and V-Dala. Snerikes night was Tuesday, Stockholm on Thursday, and Varmlands on Friday. They were basically the only student clubs in Uppsala. But they weren’t really clubs, they were more like arenas! They were huge! And because Swedes love their house music and DJs, the DJ would always be sick!

Nightlife in Sweden Photo: Andy Bayliss

What were the main differences in culture between UK and Sweden?

different cultures live in different segmented areas, whereas over there everyone combines together. Also, we have a massive drinking culture in England. All the time you see people steaming drunk, falling over and getting into fights, but in Sweden you don’t see any of that. People have a few drinks before a night out, but only get slightly tipsy. You will never see anyone staggering home!

The most obvious difference in culture was the way people behaved over there. Everyone seems to respect everyone else and they all get along together. Sweden isn’t very multicultural so it’s mostly white people that converse together, whereas in England, there are lots of different cultures and we are quite segregated. Here,

The Palace Theatre Photo: Lisa Murgatroyd

We Ask, You Answer student card. Of course there’s always the ‘Orange Wednesday’s’ offer which guarantees 2 for 1 cinema tickets every Wednesday, just text ‘film’ 241. If you’re not on an Orange network, ask a friend who is to bag you a code!

This week, Dana Fowles asks: What is your most embarrassing drunken tale? “Last year, I got home from Uni for Christmas at 4 o’clock. By 8 o’clock I was out downing pints with some old mates. As soon as we reached the club we were going to, I started giving the bouncer some abuse. He kicked me out and, once I was some distance away from him and his bouncer friends, I shouted, “I could have kicked your asses anyway!” I then fell flat on my face. My little sister ended up having to take me home. That was pretty embarrassing. Toby After a bad break up, I decided to heal the pain with alcohol. My friends and I were predrinking and I had already

managed to get seriously us into a bush to hide from the sizzled in my fragile state. commander and then they both Wonderwall by Oasis came on ran off. Digging our way out of and I decided to get up on a that bush was hard work... chair, remove my top AND my Lizzie and Totally Enormous Newer artists like Tom Vek, Delilah, bra and do some kind of sad Extinct Dinosaurs are destined to have successful sexy dance. One of the guys performances based off the buzz them. I got around so drunk one Christmas there decided to capture it on that artists I fell into my mum’s real Annie Mac and electronic like Gold Panda will video and I’veClub never lived it music Trumpet Christmas tree - in front of my be the main Venue: sounds coming off the stages. down. ????????? Date: ?????????? whole family. I was scraped Samantha Newer artists like Tom Vek, Delilah, and Totally Enormous Price: ?????????? off the floor with pine needles Extinct Dinosaurs are destined to have successful sticking out of my hair and put performances based off the buzz around them, while DJs My best friend and I were on to bed. I wanted the ground to such as Annie music likenext Gold day a girl’s night out. We Mac met and twoelectronic swallow meartists up the will be the main off the marines,Panda got with them and thensounds andcoming my mum hadstages. to get a fake headed back to their barracks replacement tree. She was not at about 5 am. We had to be happy! snuck into the barracks and got Naomi caught in the act. A commander emerged and began shouting at During Fresher’s Week I got the guys. One of them shoved

completely intoxicated and ended up stumbling down an alleyway once the night had finished. I fell asleep on the doorstep of a Fire Exit and woke up at 7 am and had to ring a taxi back to halls. That was pretty rough. Adam My friends and I went to Missoula on Deansgate Locks one weekend. I got so drunk that I ended up giving a man who was at least 50 a lap dance. My friends found it hilarious but I was mortified when I was reminded about what I had done the next day! Lucy

Alternatively, for a more cultural experience, why not visit the Palace Theatre? Their next performance is ‘The Lion King’, showing between Saturday 1st December 2012 and 31st March 2013. It is a worldwide theatrical phenomenon, seen by over 65 million people already and is still drawing crowds at London’s Lyceum Theatre in its 13th year. Don’t hesitate to book tickets early as prices start at £20 but will increase to up to £75 as bookings fill up. Paying a visit to Manchester’s Art Gallery is definitely worthwhile. It is free entry all week between 10am-5pm Monday to Sunday. It is currently holding an event called ‘The first cut’ to exhibit the fantastic works of art produced by 31 international artists who cut, sculpt and transform paper into an eye-catching piece. The list of offers for students in Manchester is endless so keep scouring the internet for the latest deals. We’re all suckers for a bargain! Lucy Firth

Do you have a horror sex story that you’d like to share? Send them to lifestyle@mancunion.com

Dream Job Chef Qualifications needed: NVQ, HNC or HND in cookery (not essential) Salary: £8K - £150K Location: Worldwide

Contrary to what television would have us believe to be a chef doesn’t mean you have to be naked, someone who clearly has anger issues or a raunchy housewife. It is necessary however that you can cook well, be prepared to work long hours and be a team player. However the potential prize at the end of the tunnel outweighs all the hardship that you may go through. To be a top chef will open a new world of possibilities with regards travel, the people you will meet and the experiences you will have. Many of the worlds top chefs own restaurants in several of the worlds finest cities. For example Gordon Ramsay, as well as owning restaurants all over Britain, also owns restaurants in New York, Tokyo, Dubai and Paris.

But where do you start on your road to chef super stardom? Most future chefs begin working in a kitchen doing menial jobs such as washing dishes, cooking chips or just chopping vegetables and then progress on to becoming a sous chef. The role of a sous chef is to prepare food and to help the head chef oversee what others are doing in the kitchen and ensure that they are doing it efficiently and on time. He or she will also be expected to know the menu intimately and be able to cook any dish at short notice. It is only after lots of experience of being a sous chef do they progress to becoming a head chef.

It can also be helpful to gain experience at a cookery or culinary school where you will be taught some of the basics that will help you thrive in the heated environment that is a busy kitchen. Most culinary schools offer qualifications such as higher national diplomas (HND) or national vocational qualifications (NVQs), which can really enhance your CV as it shows commitment to the profession. Becoming a chef sure isn’t easy but the rewards can be out of this world.

Keir Stone-Brown

Lifestyle

ISSUE 08 / 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Travelling alone

Booze

Lucy Gardner takes you through the must-dos before travelling alone With higher tuition fees and a question mark hovering over whether just a degree will secure you a job nowadays, many young people make the decision to take a gap year before, and even after, university in an attempt to see the world. However, when all of your friends decide to head off in to the world of further education or employment, who are you going to go jetting off with? Travelling on your own is daunting and without a doubt your parents will give many a lecture in an attempt to keep you nice and safe within the UK despite you being 21 and not having lived with them for 3 years. However, staying safe on your own is easier than you may think, here’s some tips on how to get by: 1. Make a plan and let people know it. If you have a rough idea of where you’ll be and when, write it down and give a copy to your nearest and dearest. Then if anything happens or you’ve ignored today’s 10th call from your mum at least they will know how else to contact you in case of an emergency. Leaving your hostel’s number may also come in handy.

ask

KEIR

Hi, I’m in 2nd year and one of my mates is getting drunk pretty much every night. A group of us are pretty worried he’s developing a problem as last year he would drink alcohol but only when we all would and it wasn’t anything like this year. He’s also missing pretty much all of his lectures so I don’t know how he’s going to pass his exams. We haven’t tried talking to him yet as we think he might get quite tetchy about it but is there anything you suggest?

2. Keep your documents safe. This seems simple enough but remember when you insisted you weren’t going to lose your second student ID card on that night out last week? You don’t need to strap your passport to you Eurotrip style but check that your hostel has a safe available for you to store things in overnight and when you’re out ensure that everything is safely zipped up in your bag and you keep it close – big cities are rife with pickpockets waiting to catch tourists off guard. 3. Packages. If you don’t fancy seeing the sights completely alone (someone needs to take the embarrassing photos of you holding up the leaning tower of Pisa) check out offers aimed at gap year takers and students. STA Travel and similar websites offer a range of volunteering holidays around the world where you are part of a group who will be living, volunteering and socializing together for the duration of your stay – a great way to make new friends and connections all over the world!

4. Research your destination. What areas are safe to go? What should you be careful about and look out for? Know where you are going and learn some of the local lingo, being alone means you and only you are responsible for your safety. 5. Be sensible! Okay, this one sounds patronizing but really, getting a bit too tipsy at the friendly local bar with your new friends might seem like a good idea at the time but getting back to your accommodation with all of your possessions safely is a bit difficult when you are finding it difficult to make out the foreign street signs. Also, no matter how tall, dark and handsome the helpful stranger may be, keep your wits about you. 6. Get comfortable and have fun. Don’t feel self-conscious about sitting alone at the Parisian café or Berlin bar – enjoy seeing new places (without being dragged around yet another art gallery by your mum or to that football stadium with your dad) and meeting new people!

Ask Keir is a column aiming to answer all your health questions. If you want to know about that funny looking lump that won’t go away, why your GP won’t give you those antibiotics or anything at all to do with health get in touch at: askkeir@gmail.com

in the last few years and there’s a reason why. Students tend to be one of the largest alcohol drinking groups especially with binge drinking. One of the main reasons people turn to the drink is because they want to escape from problems going on in their life, which cause depression and anxiety. These conditions can be due to pressures that people feel unable to cope with and, as much as people outside the student population think we, as students, have it easy, there are numerous pressures (exams, essay deadlines, moving to a new city, making new friends), which means that we can turn to drink. One quick method GPs use to identify whether someone has a drink problem is the CAGE questionnaire. Its just 4 questions

and will pick up 93% of those with an alcohol dependency. Have you ever felt the need to cut back on alcohol? Have you ever been annoyed at someone criticising your drinking? Have you ever felt guilty about drinking alcohol? Have you ever used alcohol has an eye opener in the morning? If you answer yes to two or more of those questions it suggests a ‘significant alcohol problem’. I have a feeling many students may be surprised by their results. However it is important to recognise that a score of 2 or above is not a diagnosis. You’re right to be wary about confronting him or her over drinking because it can be a very sensitive issue and most people don’t want to risk a friendship.

However if you are seriously worried there are a few things you can do to try and help. Perhaps begin with not talking about alcohol but ask whether there is anything they are worried about in life at the moment and if there’s anything you can do to help. Often people open up straight away because of the relief of just having someone to talk to. If not then it’s perhaps worth being reasonably blunt but make sure there’s another one of your friends with you that is also concerned as it adds greater legitimacy to what you are saying. The university offers a great counseling service, which can be found online if they want someone to talk to and also suggest going to a GP if they have any other worries.

A Get your trunks on! The misuse of alcohol in students is an issue that hasn’t escaped the news

Keir Stone-Brown says get down to your local pool for a body to die for Do you want a summer body to be proud of ? To be able to strut along the beach with a torso you can only dream about and without a care in the world. Well then swimming could be your exercise of choice. With the Aquatics Centre in close proximity to the university as well as a host of other public and private swimming pools in Manchester there is no excuse not to don your swimming costume and get out and do some lengths. Swimming is one of the most popular sports in the UK and there are many reasons why.

add use of the swimming pool onto it for only an extra couple of pounds each month. It’s low impact

Photo: Airman Magazine @flickr

It works different muscle groups If you want the dream body, then swimming is one of the only activities that can help you achieve your goal. It involves using all parts of your body including those muscle groups that are notoriously hard to exercise, but are essential noneheless, such as your core muscles. Each of the different strokes uses a slightly different combination of muscles as well so during your swim you can target the parts of the body you want to improve the most.

There’s nothing worse than getting into rhythm of going for regular work outs only for it to be halted by an injury which sets you back a couple of weeks. So instead of guzzling down food to quench your sorrows, get down to the pool. Due to it being a low impact sport your joints don’t take a heavy pounding like they do in running and it will mean you can keep exercising for longer. It’s not weather dependent

It’s cheap The public swimming pools in Manchester offer an unlimited time swimming session for £2.40 and it works out even cheaper when you sign up for a monthly programme. This is significantly less costly in comparison to how much a gym membership costs or if you already have a gym membership you can usually

Uncovered

We all know the feeling of setting yourself up for a run only for it to tip down and consequently give you a perfect excuse to have the day off. So stop excusing yourself and get indoors at your nearest pool!

. Drink up. Photo: Ian Wilson

All we have been banging on about for the past few weeks here at Lifestyle is healthy eating. What we have failed to mention so far, however, is healthy drinking – if such a thing exists. The harsh reality is that, as students, it’s probably those 17 shots in Baa Bar that are increasing our daily calorie intake. Booze best avoided comes with one general rule: the more colourful it is, the unhealthier it is. While alcopops are usually cheap (and lipstick friendly with their straws), they are the dieter’s devil drink. A 275ml bottle of WKD averages at 230 calories and let’s face it, it’s not like you’ll just have one. The same goes for cocktails. Don’t be fooled by the Sex and the City cast – they are not the answer to everything, especially when it comes to maintaining your weight. Shocking statistics show that the average piña colada contains a whopping 586 calories, which is more than a Big Mac and a 12-inch pepperoni pizza. Opt instead for a Bloody Mary, which comes in at a far more forgiving 180 calories. Or, better still, choose a Peach Schnapps and diet lemonade at 75 calories a glass. Lads beware! At an average of 200 calories a pint, beer is also a calorie-laden drink. The best brew to stick to is Guinness, at a mere 126 calories a pint. Note that the jagerbomb comes in at an eye-watering 205 calories. Only £1 on Factory Wednesdays, they may seem bank balance friendly, but they’re committing crimes elsewhere. If you really are in need of a quick fix to get you drunk, the best drink is tequila, which contains a mere 40 calories per shot. So, which are the best drinks for all you weight watchers out there? Drum roll … and the winners are … gin and vodka. Remember to use low calorie mixers with these clear liquors (such as soda water or diet soft drinks like lemonade or cola) and you will be onto a winner. Your average gin and tonic should contain around 120 calories. Likewise, a single vodka and diet lemonade has around 110 calories. Surprisingly, coconut rum is also a dietfriendly liquor, meaning a Malibu and diet cola will only steal 70 of those 2000 or 2500 calories. The verdict: dieting doesn’t mean giving up our POUT Mondays, Sankey’s Thursdays or our Warehouse Project weekends. Thank God for that.

Beth Currall

ISSUE 08/ 12th November 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Manchester Young Greens

Societies

council elections.

Do you have any other plans for the near future? We are hoping to send people to the Demo2012 march in London along with many other students from Manchester protesting for a better future, so check that out. As a smaller party the Greens listen to the youth wing meaning you can have a real impact on the direction of the party.  Also on the 6th December we will be hosting a talk and discussion called “Can the Free Market save the planet?” which should be a really interesting evening. Who are you looking for and how can people get involved?

University of Manchester Young Greens Society. Photo: Joel Smith The Young Greens society is part of the youth branch of the Green Party. They discuss what they think the government at all levels should be doing. I spoke to Joel Smith from Young Greens and asked him about their aims, ideas and plans for the society. How do you go about ‘organising students and young people to fight for a fair economic system, for good and free education and to stop global warming’? We organise a wide range of events from film screenings to talks and discussions right

through to political campaigning for the issues we are passionate about. We believe society can work better and that we can make it better if we work for it. Our society was formed last year and we had many successes. For the local elections we campaigned for seven students to become Green councillors and came second in three which was fantastic. We organised the food co-operative collaborating with other societies as well as lobbying the council to provide recycling bins to all homes. We also campaign with local green candidates in elections and believe we can get a seat in Manchester at the next

We want people to check out the Green Party website policy page (tinyurl.com/greenpolicy2012) and if you think that sounds like a better system then come along to some of our events! We promote and organise everything that’s going onto Facebook and Twitter and if you don’t use either of them then drop us an e-mail, we’re looking for energetic people who want to get more engaged with politics and meet some fun people. It’s free to join and you can come as little or as much as you want. www.facebook.com/youngandgreenmanchester Rachel Heward

East African Playgrounds Find out about how you can volunteer in Uganda for a month through RAG. Manchester RAG has organised a trip to Uganda for twelve students as a part of the East African Playgrounds project, which aims to build playgrounds, create communities and give hundreds of children in Uganda somewhere fun, exciting and safe to explore and play. While play is fun, it is also a vital part of child development that is often overlooked. The East African Playgrounds trip involves a team of Manchester students going out to Uganda for one month to live and work alongside one of their building teams and local communities. They build a brand new playground from start to finish and help to run arts and play sessions with hundreds of excited kids. They even organise amazing weekends away on safari, white water rafting or just chilling on the beaches. To be a part of this each volunteer has to raise £700, all of which gets spent on the building of the playground. As a charity EAP feels that it is really important to be open with regards to donations. They keep all of their administration costs really low and fund the running of the charity through direct donations for that purpose. There are many ways to raise the money and in the past volunteers have raised well over Children enjoying a playground built by East African Playgrounds. the target. They have used methPhoto:EAP ods such as Just giving, Give

Societies

Events

as you live, asked friends and family, done three peaks challenges, bake sales, car washing, bucket shakes, auctions, date nights, quiz nights, pie nights, pub crawls and lots of other things. Fund raising can be done in many ways and can be loads of fun! The trip for Manchester students is between 8th June- 7th July. But for those who would like to come but can’t make those dates, EAP have two other dates where they can fit them in with another University group. The charity and projects are not new this year, although they are new to Manchester RAG. They were set up in 2009 by two students at Leeds University. Since then they have run four summers of playground building projects with nine different Universities. To sign up for this fantastic opportunity, email the EAP RAG project leader at eap@ manchesterrag.com or contact the charity directly at volunteer@eastafricanplaygrounds. org. Hurry up, there are only twelve places and they fill up fast! You don’t need any previous experience, you will only be gaining some as EAP volunteers are trained up for the projects they work on.

Rebecca Leddy, from MUSEA talks about the society, what workshops they have to offer and their trip to Berlin. MUSEA stands for the Manchester University Society for Emerging Artists. We aim to cultivate a collective group of like-minded people who are both interested in and have a passion for the practice of contemporary art. We are a forum in which Manchester students can develop artistic skills, techniques and ideas through regular workshops and socials, welcoming all abilities and study backgrounds. There are a whole host of workshops we organise including: drawing workshops, art classes, talks, events, gallery trips, film nights, socials and exhibitions. Currently, we have drawings from our last two socials exhibited at Font Fallowfield, with whom we have collaborated to display MUSEA art and receive10% off with our membership card. Membership also entitles you to discounts at Nexus art café and H.Blyth & Co., both in the Northern Quarter. Is your society directed at people who are experienced artists, or is it an opportunity to learn to draw and paint? It is without a doubt a platform from which art students or those interested in art can excel and get the opportunity to exhibit their work; but by no means is it specifically directed at arts students. Our workshops and life drawing classes purposely encourage development of skills, and we often have an art tutor to talk our society members through sketching skills during workshops. I am a management student and have learnt many creative techniques from MUSEA;hence the concept of cultivating emerging and budding artists! What are the different workshops you offer? Our signature workshop is the life drawing session, which takes place every two weeks. We have an up and coming paper silhouette workshop which will be accompanied by a city gallery tour, as well as t-shirt design and printing, to encourage interactive and personalised art. We regularly attend exhibitions to inspire new ideas for future workshops; first up is our trip to the David Shrigley exhibition at Cornerhouse. Plans for this year? This year we are trying to organise more regular events around our life drawing and encourage more integration from members which will help us qualify for the Manchester societies silver award. In addition we hope to collaborate with other like-minded societies to give our members more scope for creativity; consequently we have a workshop with Photo Soc coming up, and a social at Platt Chapel with Manchester Art group. We also want our members’ talent to be locally recognised, so we have organised continuous exhibition space at Font which will be publicised through celebratory socials! We’re also have a trip to Berlin coming up, so keep an eye on our facebook page for more details. Facebook: MUSEA Manchester Twitter: @_MUSEA

Life drawing class with MUSEA. Photo:MUSEA

Tuesday 13th November

SOUP KITCHEN

CAKE AND HOTCHOCOLATE STALL

Outside University of Manchester Student Union

CIRCUS SKILLS

11am-12pm

WARPED:SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY SOCIETY

ROLE PLAYING SOCIETY

2pm-4pm

Council Chambers, Barnes Wallis Building, 6pm-7pm

MUSEA

Kate Bullivant

Monday 12th Novenber

Jabez Clegg 8pm-9pm

Wednesday 14th November Burlington Society HOMELESS AWARE TALK UMSU - Room 6 7pm-8pm

MUGSS - CREW MEETING

Thursday 15th November

The Arch - outside Barnes Wallis building, North Campus, M1 3NL

STUDENT ACTION FUNDRAISER

6 30pm-7 30pm

9pm onwards

HARMONY GOSPEL CHOIR Upstairs in Jabez Clegg 4pm-6pm

Ram and Shackle KNITSOC-SOCIAL UMSU 5pm-6pm

30 : SPORT

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM

Taking a stand against modern football Mark Smith talks to The Mancunion about his unique fanzine Stand Against Modern Football

Goal music, grown men wearing face paint, soulless out-of-town stadiums; the list of wrongs with modern football is almost endless. Aguero’s last-minute winner may have provided some of the most memorable footballing drama in recent memory but it can’t hide the farce the game in this country has become. Events over the summer break only served to reiterate the sorry state modern football finds itself in. Cardiff City, a club who have played in blue since 1908, underwent a makeover which now sees them play in red. The Bluebirds have become the Dragons. Why, you may ask? Cardiff’s new Malaysian owner Vincent Tan gives two reasons: one, he sees red as a lucky colour, and two, he believes Cardiff will now be

STAND is a new fanzine which aims to highlight the problems of modern football in Britain. Co-editors Daniel Sandison, Seb White and Mark Smith may have only met each other on a handful of occasions but social media has given them the platform needed to stay in touch and create a fanzine which – unusually - isn’t divided along club lines. Against Modern Football is a movement which is already prominent in Europe but for one reason or another it’s one that has never really taken off on our shores. “With some notable exceptions, the relationship between club and fan has never been particularly stormy over here, whereas on the continent fan groups are much more political and willing to go further to make their point.” Smith explained.

“Ticket prices have

”

risen 716% since 1989 more marketable in the Far East. History and over one hundred years of tradition apparently has its price. Closer to home, problems have also surfaced. The Glazer takeover has left Manchester United saddled with debt. Slightly further afield, Stockport County are still reeling from years of an unjust ground share agreement with rugby union’s Sale Sharks. If any of this strikes you as being wrong don’t worry: you are not alone.

“There’s almost no coverage of fan issues in the mainstream media but there’s certainly an appetite for it, which is perhaps why people have so readily got behind what we’re doing.” He isn’t lying about the positive reception either. Dialogue on a messageboard soon led to a Twitter account being created. Almost instantaneously, they were trending within the UK. Their first issue – released at the start of this season – sold out all of its one

thousand copies within a matter of days. This may not seem a huge figure but with printed press struggling more than ever before, this is hugely impressive for a small start-up publication with no marketing budget to speak of. Even the national press has taken notice, with a positive report featuring in the Independent last month. Such success has seen STAND double its number of copies with its recently released second issue. “For the latest issue, we’ve tried our best to highlight one of the biggest bugbears - inflated ticket prices. It’s a fact that if a pint of beer had increased at the same rate as top flight football tickets, you’d be spending £8.85 a pint.” Other examples further underline how obscene prices have become. On average, ticket prices have risen by 716% since 1989. If such an increase was to have taken place within the property market, the average house would set you back over half a million. Your student budget would also take a hammering if high street prices went up accordingly, with a pair of trainers costing you £327.60. How then, has this been allowed to happen? “If you put a frog in boiling water it’ll jump straight back out. If you put it in cold water and boil it slowly it won’t notice it is boiling until it’s too late.” Smith said. “I think for most people, the changes have been too gradual to notice.” All this may leave you with the impression that STAND is little more than a collection of old men moaning but fortunately it’s

Photo: coutesy of Sand Against Modern Football

Matthew Gibney

interspersed with a fair share of humour. “After reading two or three rants on the trot, things can easily become repetitive. We’ve countered that quite well I think, by including original artwork, daft humour and even poetry. In launching STAND we felt a traditional fanzine format

and tone would be the best way to do things and so far we’ve stuck to that. First and foremost, STAND aims to be a decent read.” Smith is fully aware that there is no easy solution to the problems and STAND isn’t trying to change the world. It’s just a fanzine, albeit a very good one. But by giving fans

across the country a collective voice and a platform to voice their discontent, STAND might just make some people wake up and try to fix some of the wealth of problems football in this country faces. STAND #2 is available to buy for £2 from www.standamf.com

England still have a mountain to climb to be competetive in the the RL World Cup

Despite some good performances in the Autumn Internationals, England still lag behind RL heavyweights New Zealand and Australia Andrew Georgeson The fact that Australia and New Zealand chose not to play in this years Autumn International series, traditionally named the four nations, perhaps speaks volumes of their ambition in their preparations before next year’s World Cup. Instead of pinning themselves against the cream of Europe, the Southern Hemisphere sides decided it would be best to play a test series between themselves, which Australia ran out winners. The Autumn Internationals, despite providing entertainment, are in reality only a series of practice matches. England currently sit third in the rankings behind Australia and New Zealand, who are in first and second place respectively. However, though there are only technically two places separating England from the pinnacle of the Rugby League world, the gap is, in reality, massive. The last time the two nations played each other, in the 2011 Four Nations

final, Australia eased to victory by 30 points to 6. Since then Australia have beaten New Zealand twice, as well as strengthening their squad with new talent such as James Tanou, the New-Zealand born front rower who has already looked dangerous in the early days of his international career. Australia’s supremacy of the sport has firm foundations. The Australian NRL is the pinnacle of the domestic Rugby League, the State of Origin is also one of the most intense sporting rivalries around, and finally the sport is a played nationwide. Unlike in England, the NRL is not in the shadow of its middle-class cousin Rugby Union. The history of University Rahs playing Union in comparison to working class League is still an image that the sport is recovering from. The fact that it was only 2008 when Team GB disbanded into the separate home nations means that there has not been any long-term development plan that could have been organized yet in comparison to a established side like Australia.

However, it is not all doom and gloom for England. Next year’s world cup is primarily being played on home soil, despite some matches being played in France. This could prove to be an invaluable bonus, as we saw this summer with the huge boost the home crowd gave our athletes at the Olympics. The squad also gives England plenty of reason to be optimistic. The team boasts a talismanic captain in Sinfield, who led his team to victory in the Grand Final this year, as well as the creative flare of Tomkins alongside other experienced NRL players such as Graham and Ellis. This experience, as well as the fact they defeated New Zealand in 2011 Four Nations, sets the scene for a fascinating World Cup next year. Unfortunately, despite Sinfield working miracles in the Grand Final, pulling the same miracles in a World Cup final may be a step too far.

England have must impove to compete with the RL heavyweights Photo: paddynapper@flickr

SPORT : 31

ISSUE 08/ 12th NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.MANCUNION.COM/

Manchester back on track with victory over Nottingham Impressive performances from Crosley, Canning and Davies as Manchester record their second win University of Manchester

Tom Acey Sport Editor Two penalty strokes from Sam Davies and an excellent goalkeeping display from Helen Stevenson saw Manchester beat Nottingham in an entertaining contest at the Armitage Centre. Despite last week’s 5-0 thrashing at Loughborough, Manchester looked like a team who are now very much settled in the Premier Division, and they played confident, attacking hockey in recording their first win since the opening day of the season. Captain Tulisa Fateh will be particularly pleased with the way her team responded to a late Nottingham charge, as they calmly saw out the victory by retaining possession and starving the visitors of goalscoring opportunities. Fateh and her defence were kept busy in the opening stages, with Nottingham playing fast, flowing hockey right from the off. An early move from the visitors was halted by a sprawling save from Helen Stevenson, before a sharp interception from Manchester’s Georgina Everett released Hannah Cobbold, who did well to test the visiting ‘keeper as she ran away from goal. It was a pattern which predominated for much of

14th November: Mens: Badminton: Mens 1st vs Loughborough Armitage Site 15:00

University of Nottingham

Upcoming home fixtures:

the first half – Nottingham dominant but wasteful, with Manchester sharper and more incisive on the break – and it was of no surprise that a swift home counter-attack lead to the first goal of the game. After collecting it near the halfway line, the hosts moved the ball cleverly before it was illegally blocked inside the Nottingham D, and Sam Davies tucked away the resulting penalty stroke. Despite not making the most of their possession, Nottingham were arguably the better side, and in the 26th minute their dominance was finally rewarded. A wellworked penalty corner drew another stop from Stevenson, but her defence failed to clear the rebound to leave an easy tapin for the visitors. After levelling the scores, Nottingham grew in confidence and began to open up the home defence with alarming regularity. Numerous chances were spurned in the final minutes of the half, with Stevenson again saving brilliantly to keep the score at 1-1 going into the break. Although they might have been fortunate to be level at half-time, Manchester made the most of their luck in a superb secondhalf performance. It was a performance that was typified by the second goal, which resulted from the

Badminton: Mens 2nd vs Nottingham Trent Armitage Site 14:00 Fencing: Mens 1st vs Edinburgh Sugden Centre 14:00 Rugby Union: Mens 1st vs Sheffield Hallam Armitage Site 14:00 Captain Tulisa Fateh escapes the attentions of two Nottingham players Photo: Cil Barnett-Neefs finest move of the match. After a quick exchange of passes, the impressive Tori Canning escaped the attentions of two Nottingham defenders down the right flank before crossing sharply from the by-line into the opposition D, where Everett timed her run perfectly to slot home. After a relatively quiet opening period, England international Sophie Crosley frequently demonstrated her quality in the second half, and it was through one of her many mazy dribbles that Manchester further cemented their lead. After breaking through the Nottingham defence, she turned away from the onrushing ‘keeper,

BUCS league standings League Points

Cup Points

Individual Points

Total Points

Loughborough University

1675

2148

University of Bath

1335

185

1520

Durham University

1381

1446

University of Exeter

1357

1426

University of Birmingham

13338

1392

Leeds Metropolitan

1200

1214

University of Nottingham

1104

1142

University of Manchester

1049

1111

University of Edinburgh

831

156

987

Newcastle University

919

43.5

980.5

Oxford University

910.5

934.5

University of Leeds

871.5

910.5

Northumbria University

902

910

Cardiff University

805

866

University of Warwick

822

858

University of Bristol

786

838

Nottingham Trent

786

807

Cardiff Metropolitan

769

793

University of Stirling

592

143

735

Swansea University

573

136

730

who could do little but bundle three players to yellow cards and Crosley to the floor. The referees Nottingham frequently giving UoMpenalty Tabel Tennis team. Photo: Ming Lauto awarded a second away soft foulsDong as they tried stroke, and after a considerable get back into the game. delay (due to the prolonged However, the home side protests of the visitors), Davies remained solid against a wave again put it away with ease. of Nottingham pressure, and Both teams were guilty of losing a late second for the visitors their discipline in the final 20 proved to be a mere footnote as minutes, with Manchester losing Manchester calmly saw out time.

BUCS Hockey 2012-13 - Premier North P

PTS

Durham 1st

Birmingham 1st

Loughborough 1st

Manchester 1st

-2

Nottingham 1st

-2

Table Tennis: Mens 1st vs Edinburgh Sugden Centre 14:00 Basketball: Mens 2nd vs Cumbria 1st Armitage Site 18:30 Football: Mens 2nd vs Liverpool John Moores Armitage Centre 14:00 Womens: Lacrosse: Womens 1st vs Edinburgh Timperley Sports Club 14:00 Tennis: Womens 1st vs Sheffield Sportcity 13:00 Football: Womens 3rd vs Salford 1st Armitage Site 14:00 Hockey: Womens 2nd vs Bangor 1st Armitage Site 14:00 Volleyball: Womens 2nd vs Edge Hill 1st Sugden Centre 14:00

SPORT WWW.MANCUNION.COM

2 12th NOV 2012 ISSUE 08 FREE

Women’s hockey: UoM 3 -2 Nottingham

Taking a stand against modern football

P31

P30

Manchester comeback Premier North earns memorable win 2012-2013 BUCS

PTS

Stirling 1st

Lo’borough 1st

Nottingham 1st

Sheff Hallam 1st

-4

Manchester 1st

Northumbria 1st

-6

RESULTS: Wednesday 7th November Manchester 1st 3-1 Loughborough 1st Stirling 1st 5-0 Sheffield Hallam 1st Northumbria 1st 2-3 Nottingham 1st FIXTURES: Wednesday 14th November Nottingham 1st v Manchester 1st Sheffield Hallam 1st v Northumbria 1st Loughborough 1st v Stirling 1st Manchester had gained only one point this season before Wednesday’s win. Photo: Cil Barnett-Neefs

University of Manchester

Hall 77’, Botham 80’, Hornby 83’

Loughborough University Emmerson 30’ Matthew Barber Sport Editor Loughborough arrived at the Armitage Centre sitting at the top of the Premier North table with maximum points gained from their opening two games. But after an extraordinary second-half fightback, Manchester earned a memorable victory over last season’s runaway champions. It was Manchester who made the better start of the sides, as an early chance fell to Gregory, who perhaps should have shot earlier after a weaving run

from the left. But as the half progressed, Loughborough began to impose themselves on the game with Emmerson impressing in the number ten role. With twenty minutes on the clock, his fizzing drive from twenty-five yards was palmed over acrobatically by Heltrop in the Manchester goal. Emmerson swung the resulting corner in to the back post, and striker Cook missed a point blank header to give Loughborough the lead. Despite resolute defending from Manchester’s backline, it was Loughborough who

broke the deadlock with thirty minutes played. Midfielder Elliott floated a searching ball from the left towards the back post, where Emmerson was unmarked to prod home. Manchester responded well to going behind, as just a few minutes later Kolonas fed Gregory, who again used his pace to beat the Loughborough backline, only to see his shot rebound off the inside of the left post. In the final action of the first half, Emmerson was once again the catalyst for his side sending a teasing free-kick into the Manchester area, but none of his team-mates could connect. The teams re-emerged for the second half, and Manchester immediately stepped up their game as they pressed for an equaliser. Striker Botham, often isolated

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in the first half, was unlucky to see his shot blocked from the edge of the area, while Hall combined well with Kolonas but skewed his shot wide. Though Loughborough did not dominate as they had the first half, they did have chances themselves, with Webb’s jinking run dealt thwarted only by a combination Manchester’s Kelly and captain Osho. Manchester grabbed a deseved equaliser with just under fifteen minutes remaining. Striker Botham received possession with his back to goal, turned and evaded two defenders and slipped it through to Hall, who smashed the ball into the top left corner. With Loughborough clearly rattled, Manchester took full advantage and scored another

within three minutes. Hall was scorer-turned-provider, as after a great run down the right flank, his floated cross found Botham unmarked, who nodded in to the jubilation of his team. Manchester wrapped up the win with a third goal just minutes later. A seemingly innocuous throw-in was left by both Loughborough centrebacks, allowing Manchester substitute Hornby to steal in, round the keeper, and finish. With a fantastic win under their belts, Manchester will be hoping to exhibit their clinical second-half performance on a more regular basis. Having earned just a point from their previous three games, the boys in purple will now look to kick-start their campaign in what is clearly a very tight division.

MANCHESTER HELTROP

OSHA (C)

ANSAH-PALMER

KELLY

HARPER

HALL

MACINTOSH

KOLONAS

JONES

BOTHAM

GREGORY

LONG

ELHASSASI

WEBB

EMMERSON

ELLIOTT

NADIN

BAXTER (C) WILKINSON PARTRIDGE TARAWALI

Email: mancunion.sport.editors@gmail.com

HOWARD LOUGHBOROUGH